Why does Playstation have such an obsession with movie games?

With MS now acquiring Bethesda, one would figure Sony would try to diversify Playstation a bit and maybe acquire another studio or 2...or 3 or whatever.

But NOPE...Shuts down Sony Japan...why? Well according to one of the guys that left before Sony Japan got the axe

https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/keiichiro-toyama-left-sony-to-keep-making-games-in-his-own-style

Mostly because Playstation restricts creative freedom and Jim Ryan and Hermen Hulst only want movie games. If you don't want to make a movie game then you aren't welcomed at Playstation

Appealing too much to the west

Better to stick with XSX

why? because they sell and get awards like crazy. should they? no - I don't mind them in moderation but restricting the creative freedom is obviously not something i want to get behind

Appealing to people with exceptionally lame taste in games is where the money is. Sadly.

Market research and sales history.

What? You think creative people dictate what games Sony invests in? 😆

Yeah, I kinda miss 3D platformers and FPS.

Every Sony game now is a third person action game or RPG.

I really wish that they would make a sequel to Legend of Dragoon or even just another JRPG.

Because they sell well and get critical acclaim. Why change a formula that is working?

Still confused what a movie game is. An action adventure title with high production values and plenty of gameplay isn't a movie game. A game where you do nothing but watch interactive cut scenes and select dialog options is a movie game. ( IE: David Cage games).

In an industry where we get a new GAAS game every month I'm glad someone is doing quality single player games.

@iamthetruth101: Alt, you might want to figure out what a movie game actually is or you'll just continually make an ass out of yourself.

Ghost?

The thing is Sony has so much quality whether they are movie games or not they are great experiences to many.

I fucking love movie games!

Gaming is all about sitting back and watching. Actually playing is no longer necessary. It is a great time to be a gamer. 😐

They can't make anything quality that isn't a movie game though. Sony has pretty much shat the bed in everything that isn't a movie game

Destruction All Stars is a prominent example.

Having high quality cutscenes doesn’t make a game a ”movie game”. It’s the lack of gameplay that does. Sony’s games tend to excel in both areas. So they are not really ”movie games”.

to save everyone the click the article says mainstream not movie game, which could be just about any genre within reason in this day and age, but you all knew that anyway.

still, a studio made by the creator of silent hill and gravity rush, and the last guardian producer does sound like it'll make some creatively diverse stuff. the article hints at a horror based game with photography theme mechanics which sounds quite cool. and when you look at the concept art it doesn't look sony aaa mainstream. but when you've got that kind of pedigree you probably don't need to rely on sony bank rolling you

@iambatman7986: Exactly what companies like Nokia said when they were the biggest selling phone company on the planet.

That would actually mean you and a teeny tiny forum minority have sad taste.

Sony games usually have mediocre gameplay though ei Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon's Melee combat, Death Stranding's shooting, Spider-man's melee combat, Uncharted everything etc

Your point ??? Sony has been following trends left and right ... they added Joystick and Rumble to the controllers when the trend was headed that way, they embraced the FPS fad when it was at its peak and now they are making heavy narrative games that still sell like crazy.

When the next big thing hits, Sony will be there to get with the times just like they've been doing for their entire existense, nothing similar with Nokia at all.

Is this bait?

"Movie Games" are only games that you play by pressing button prompts and there's only a handful of these games.

Cinematic games with amazing stories, gameplay, graphics and cutscenes are not "movie games" as most people mention.

I actually enjoy and love these games and I wish there was more of them.

There's a reason why Sony almost always win game of the year/ the most game awards, because people actually enjoy and loves their games.

The term "movie game" is such a stupid insult. It's not even remotely accurate in describing Sony games. If pressed for an example, I would say that Until Dawn or most David Cage games are movie games. However, TLoU, GoW, HZD, GoT, ect don't remotely fit that kind of gameplay.

Right now, I'm playing The Medium on Game Pass. Nice game and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It's closer to a movie game than anything Sony puts out.

@cdragon_88: It's either bait or pure stupidity.

LOL, this thread pretty much confirms what I've long concluded. After I asked about definition and dividing line of so-called "movie games" and got nothing but vagueness and arbitrary nonsense, I adopted the policy of assuming that anyone using the term are doing it ironically.

Either that, or their opinions deserve to be treated with the same seriousness as you treat a circus clown attempting to explain String Theory.

PlayStation does need to diversify their portfolio but, their games sell, review well and, move consoles.

To appeal lowest common denominator thus they review well and sell well.

Yep there was an article not too long ago about how Playstation gamers generally have the lowest skill level and dislike challenging game

@madsnakehhh: So they will change a formula then? I’m confused.

Point is Sony make 3rd person action adventure sp games and sell them at a premium (Sometimes charging for upgraded versions of the same game) the vast majority of the time.

That’s a policy that has worked well so far, but when competitors offer a high end console, a controller, Gamepass for pc, gamepass for console, xcloud, eaplay, games with gold, Xbox live as well as perks like Disney+ included for a monthly fee which is half of what a single ps5 game costs....then it just makes me wonder if Sony can just maintain the status quo.

A game such as TLOU2 has more quality GAMEPLAY than Halo 4 and Halo 5 combined. Also, its not anybodies fault that Sony is able to produce stories on par (or even surpass) with movies. MS on the other hand is like a teenagers writing as essay lol that's how they write their stories, they ask teens to write some random shit, give em $15 and job's here is done. Explains their 5-7/10 scores on average.

Because it sells.

@iamthetruth101: are bloodborne, r&c and demons souls movie games? Astros playroom is a movie game? 🤔

Most likely not, Jim Ryan himself has stated that they'll announce something in response to Game Pass soon

The last STALKER2 trailer was nothing else but trying to be like a Sony game.

@sealionact: nintendo is doing all that and it's selling like hotcakes...

Can’t say I agree. Spiderman has very good combat for its genre, only rivaled by the Arkham games imo. It’s not meant to be Bloodborne (another Sony game btw). Horizon is not really a melee game, not sure what you are getting at there. Days gone has perfectly fine gameplay with horde fights being a standout. DG at least has better gameplay than Red Dead Redemption.

I also think GoW had a fantastic combat system.

Because they don't have good game designers and it's hard to design actual gameplay systems than writing a B movie level script at best and propping it up with production values and voice acting/performance by celebrities.

Their entire existence PS studios have been following trends while trying to copy and chase them. Why would they change it now when they finally found a formula that is selling.

@sealionact: Good job at changing your narrative, like the Nokia example wasn't accurate, you searched another one. And yes, the point is that ... Sony will change the formula as they need it like they've been doing it.

@madsnakehhh: Great. So you agree with me? And Sony embraced the FPS genre .... with what - killzone? How was the FPS genre a “fad” when the biggest selling titles continue to be FPS games?

The current UK top 10 and the NPG Top 10 for January only have 1 FPS game in each - the latest Call Of Duty.

Way to dominate the gaming industry.

You know what they say about Sony's "games" if you've watched one, then you've watched them all.

But when you look at the people giving out those awards, they're not exactly unbiased. So I'd take those awards with a pretty fucking big grain of salt and be my own judge about which games I think are the best. If awards were based on anything objective, Nintendo and PC would be winning them all because Nintendo sells more consoles and games than the other two combined and PC sells more than all three of them combined.

In the past there have been numerous reports that stated many gamers are drawn to games that look and play like their favourite movies. That's actually a somewhat outdated notion, but it's still a fairly safe bet to make. They're basically going on what the marketing research tells them, plus it's always nice to have something that differentiates your brand from the rest of the pack.

As for why Ryan's Playstation is choosing to drop devs instead of adding...that's a very good question. Last year we were seeing rumours Playstation was going to revive Konami properties and work with Kojima again. Now it sounds like they're trying to distance themselves from anything Japanese. It's bizarre. I'm a bit worried Playstation is going to enter a poor leadership era.

Because they sell well.

Also - for alot of "gamers", gameplay doesn't seem to be particularly important.

Which ones are movie games , and which aren't?

• Demon's Souls
• Astro's Playroom
• Sackboy A Big Adventure
• Spider-Man Miles Morales
• Destruction AllStars
• MLB The Show 21
• Returnal
• Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Gran Turismo 7
• God of War Ragnarok

Story driven single player games sell. It's the same reason Microsoft is loading up on WRPGs. At least they have gameplay and combat instead of being boring like The Medium.

@Nike_Air: All of them (at least that's idiots would say).