Topic: Is Sony playing it too safe on the PS4?

With a few exceptions like Dreams, Sony seems to be sticking to safe bets on the PS4. Whether it be sequels or reboots (Uncharted 4, Ratchet & Clank), Glorified tech demos (Knack, The Order), Remasters (Last of Us, God of War 3), or games that shifted development from the PS3 (Last Guardian). It feels strange going from pumping out consistently innovative games on the PS3 like LBP and Folklore, to just going through the motions for the most part. Hell, even Andrew House said their 1st party output on the system is pretty weak. What do you think?

A change of pace!

I guess you could say so, but even on the PS3, it took forever for the Interesting exclusives to pop up. There were exclusives, mind, they just generally sucked.

The PS3 wasn't selling like hotcakes, though. I guess in this modern age, exclusives don't really matter anymore.

@TheMisterManGuy: I think it's really the whole concept of giving the fans what they want. Whether you're considering Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft what the fans want are "more of the same" and if you give it to them then the console will sell extremely well but the library will be rather weak overall. This is where Nintendo's "ignorance" of the fans kicks in, they don't want just that so they try and avoid what the fans want in favour of things that the fans don't know they want but infact end up pleasantly surprised. This strategy of course was a huge success story at E3 2014 with Splatoon but massively backfired in E3 2015 with Federation Force, Amiibo Festival and a few other titles.

@CanisWolfred: I kind of have to disagree with you there. Exclusives do matter a LOT especially for Nintendo.

Even outside of Nintendo, they still matter. Like I can't get Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on Steam because its only on 360 and PS3.

Also, besides the virtual console, you can't get Sega Master system games anywhere else.

EDIT: As for Sony, I personally don't see them lasting the playstation brand that long because after 10 years, PS4 needs to either be on the level of PS2 or exceeding it. PS4 is mostly the 3DS level at this point. Not bad sales but not as high as its predecessors.

That said, I doubt Sony can make an even more powerful console after PS4 because it would just make it look like a movie instead of a game.

@Grumblevolcano:

At the same time though, I prefer that. I don't want more of the same. Yes it's nice and it gives me something I know I'll enjoy to some extent, but I also like being thrown new experiences, and props to Nintendo for at least trying.

This though, is where the PS4 is faltering. The end of the PS3 completely lost my interest, but it was new things, in addition to some other more sequelised stuff. It just didn't interest me. Now all we are getting is all that re-mastered, or more of the same. And while more of the same isn't totally bad, I at least want it to interest me. Hence why I say I'm part of a dying breed of gamer. We don't sell anymore. So if it's new, it's based on current fads, and if it isn't, it's a current fad.

At the moment they are, yes, but come the middle years and beyond, I am pretty sure we will see a little bit more variety.

On the other hand, when you have new IP's like Knack, Driveclub, The Order, Bloodborne, Until Dawn (coming out soon-ish) and Tearaway Unfolded (this is much, much more than 'just' a port), then you kind of have to say that at least they are trying!

As for what Artwark has brought up, regarding sales, the PlayStation 4 is only just behind the Wii in terms of momentum of (their) sales so, I am not sure how - or why - you came up with the 3DS comparison. Put it this way, the PS4 has sold on average 1,300,000 units a month worldwide.

The Wii was selling a shy over 1,400,000 a month and we all know that the Wii was nothing short of a phenomenon; if those PlayStation 4 numbers doesn't impress you, then I don't know what will!

@Artwark: They matter for Nintendo because they don't have much to offer besides Nintendo games...

They don't really have alotta money to be going wild with 1st party exclusives. All that money is clearly going to 3rd party exclusive content and advertising.

So far i really like my NetflixStation 4

really, i barely touch the thing.

So far, the PS4 didn't do anything outstanding, but I think the bigger issue is that it lacks "direction". They're basically repeating the same mistake as with the VITA: a powerful and sturdy console, but they have no idea what to actually do with it, or how to underline its strong points. A game with good graphics can happen on XBone, as well, but what does the PS4 allow that is unique to it? Unless Sony finds an answer to that question, I doubt they will come out of their shell and leave the risks to 3rd-parties.

Everyone is this gen.

^^ Definitely that.

I'd definitely say so at the moment. They've kinda been using smoke and mirrors tactics for a little while, and is honestly the reason the PS4 has sold so well. Between the whole "we're for the gamer" shtick they pulled at E3 2013 in response to Microsoft's PR disaster and the "here's some games you've been wanting that you never thought would happen; the catch is they aren't available for quite sometime" thing they pulled at this year's E3, they've certainly had good PR.

They've sorta been hiding the fact that Bloodborne is still the only major exclusive for the thing. Not much of a reason to pick up a PS4 over an XB1 at the moment, especially when the multiplats don't really run any better on the PS4 (unlike last gen where the multiplats ran far better on the 360 for the first few years).

However, I expect that to change once they get the ball rolling on quality exclusives.

@IceClimbers: You're forgetting inFamous: Second Son. A number of multiplays also do run better on PS4 too.

The difference isn't huge, but multiplats usually reach a higher resolution on PS4 than Xbox One. Also, a couple of games run at a higher framerate.

@CanisWolfred: Well there's Amiibo, Pokemon Trading cards and Fire Emblem cards.

There's also toys that they made which are a huge success.

I don't know about "playing it safe." Sitting back and continuing to live off of 2013 is more like it.
I just picture that this is the daily scene at Playstation HQ.

@Ryno: Ha! That was honestly pretty funny.

I don't really think they're playing it safe. They're playing it normal to me, if that makes sense. The PS4 is a console that is coming out with games. Plenty are exclusive, whether they're 1st or 3rd party. Also, they're leading the console sales. So, if they really are playing it safe, they need to keep doing it. But I wouldn't say that they're playing it safe.

Yea, I mean, @TylerTheCreator is pretty much right. They're not exactly pumping out exclusives, but they do have a few, and obviously the PS4 gets every third-party game that comes out. It's going to be quiet on the console through this holiday season, though, which I'm a bit upset about (though I will have Uncharted Collection in October), but they do have some fantastic stuff in the pipeline. I still think it will be interesting to see if a big chunk of their "lead" dissipates over the next quarter, though.