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Reaction: Solid Xbox Showcase Should Give Sony Some Incentive to Stop Being So Damn Cloak and Daggers About PS5, PS4

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Sony has historically done an incredible job of signing marketing deals with the industry’s biggest names, but Microsoft brought the heat with a selection of major, traditionally PlayStation-centric series, like Persona 3 Reloadand Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The strategy from the Redmond firm’s outreach team appears laser targeted at titles with historic Sony association, which makes sense.

Elsewhere, while trailers for Clockwork Revolution and South of Midnight lacked substance, it’s clear that Microsoft’s substantial investment into acquisitions is slowly beginning to bear fruit. There were a lot of first-party games in the livestream, including Fable, Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga, and Avowed. Some will point to the absence of meaningful release windows outside of Starfield and Forza Motorsport, but that doesn’t mean their presence should be ignored.

And all this comes after an underwhelming PS Showcase which left Sony’s roadmap of PS5 exclusives looking uncharacteristically light. We know that it’s partnered with Square Enix to secure console exclusivity for Final Fantasy 16and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but outside of those two there’s only really Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Helldivers 2 to look forward to. Yes, it’s publishing Death Stranding 2, Stellar Blade, and Rise of the Ronin, but it’s fair to say we’re largely being left in the dark.

The platform holder attempted to use its presentation last month to introduce new studios Haven and Firewalk, but neither Fairgame$ nor Concord really whet the appetite. And with Marvel’s Wolverine being the only other publicly known first-party project from the ever-industrious Insomniac Games, we’d argue it’s time for the cloak and daggers approach to the organisation’s upcoming titles to end. The next time Sony takes to the YouTube stage, it’ll needto deliver.

 

[supernova8]

PS4?!?!?!?!?!!?!

Glad to see that Xbox didn't show any (major) first party stuff coming to XB1 (I think?).

 

[Jigsaah]

They don't care man...come on.

They'll do a State of Play that has gameplay and all will be forgiven.

Been that way for years, Bob.

 

[Chechack]

Its always like this every year after any xbox show.

People will praise xbox killing it and all that jazz but as time goes by we know what happens with all their promises and outputs

 

[Robb]

It’s just the classic ‘too successful’ syndrome. When/if MS ever catches up and starts to actually compete for once you’ll get the best showcase Sony’s ever made.

 

[supernova8]

It’s just the classic ‘too successful’ syndrome. When/if MS ever catches up and starts to actually compete for once you’ll get the best showcase Sony’s ever made.

Which is precisely why we all shit on Xbox (it's like tough love), and also why I started to think it might not be such a bad idea to let Microsoft buy Activision. Sony needs to get punched in the mouth.

 

[Umbasaborne]

Seems like Sonys gotten too complacent, and it’s made them boring. But that being said, sony has proven themselves with games this generation, even if they are light on news. Ms however has yet to really do that. Hopefully these games move xbox consoles so sony feels some kind of pressure to stop dragging their feet on announcements

 

[El Pistolero]

I am yet to be convinced that this will have any negative impact on the trajectory of the PS5. FFXVI, and especially Spider-Man 2 are going to push a lot of consoles, imo. But I could be wrong!

 

[clarky]

I am yet to be convinced that this will have any negative impact on the trajectory of the PS5. FFXVI, and especially Spider-Man 2 are going to push a lot of consoles, imo. But I could be wrong!

Yep the momentum with the PS5 is unstoppable right now. It would take at least a 12 month dry spell to even slightly affect them, which obviously won't happen.

 

[EDMIX]

Who cares?

The reality is, who the fuck is buying a game today, cause they saw it 6 years ago? MOST of gaming is buying a game based on the quality of what they see prior to buying it, not fucking 5 or 6 years prior or so crap. I don't see any real data to support that knowing about any of this now, will really effect your purchase that much compared to the footage near release.

They are right to STFU and reveal when they can strike while the iron is hot and the media cycle is completely dead, dry and its a nothing news day, now filled with just them revealing some game out of no where.

They have no ode to rush out a fucking trailer out of spite to reveal games super early cause some event.

I'm playing FFXVI, Spiderman 2, AC Mirage, SF6 and many more this year, until next year, I simply don't fucking care and will care when those games get closer to release.

 

[adamsapple]

PS4?!?!?!?!?!!?!

Glad to see that Xbox didn't show any (major) first party stuff coming to XB1 (I think?).

No, I'm pretty sure outside of Sea of Thieves, TSO and Fallout 76, everything they premiered was new gen and PC only, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[tusharngf]

Sony needs to step up their game now. I hope they will put another show in a month or two.

 

[Gen.Grievous]

They're fine if they keep releasing quality games. Those big shows are just giant PR jerk fests that won't move the needle unless you actually deliver something.

 

[EddieVanHelgen]

I don't think they're being cloak and dagger, I think they showed what they had ready to show. Which is a bit painful as an early adopter of PSVR2, but there's not really any advantage in playing cards close to their chest at this stage in the gen.

Also, we need a 'cope' reaction.

 

[X-Wing]

I think people need to cut Sony some slack. PlayStation 5 has been out for 3 years and the console has had massive AAA first party games every single year since release. Just last year GT7, Forbidden West, God of War. If the competition was matching or doing better than that I could understand, but they aren’t so why would Sony waste time and resources with announcements just to cater to some Internet dwelling fanboys?

 

[ZehDon]

I mean, why does Sony need to do anything right now? They're selling everything faster than they've ever sold things before, and they're laughing all the way to the bank. Until that changes, shutting up and letting the money roll in is the best strategy. Don't fix what's not broken.

 

[StueyDuck]

I agree with the premise that Sony Don goofed.

There showing was terrible.

But I don't agree that they should unload just because xbox or whatever.

I want to see them put together a show when they are ready to blow the lid. Long play announcements with actual game gameplays similar to how they did it during 2016-2018 shows.

A bunch of random cg or "in-engine" trailers should may as well be farted on their yt channel. Cg marathon man running has the exact same hit as it would if it was just a blog post one day

 

[Cyborg]

Let's be honest here; FF16, FF7R, and Spider-Man 2 are bigger games than anything shown by Xbox. Why would anyone be worried? That being said, both showings were a big letdown in terms of ''raw'' gameplay.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Sensationalist silliness. OMG Xbox had a good show! What’s Sony gonna do?!?!

Dumb.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Yep the momentum with the PS5 is unstoppable right now. It would take at least a 12 month dry spell to even slightly affect them, which obviously won't happen.

100% this. Sony are killing it and this poor showcase won't do much.

The great Xbox showcase should hopefully just increase sales of Xbox, but it shouldn't impact sales of PS5's - Spider Man 2 will be huge and I cant wait for it!

 

[diffusionx]

Gamers/game sites always overrated E3 and now overrate these. Even accepting the premise, we are talking about MS' "round 1" of games while Sony's studios have been putting out games for a while. For example, Forza 8 will probably be pretty good, but we've had GT7 for over a year now. Spiderman 2 is going to be Insomniac's third PS5 release. Etc. And P5RE/LaD8 are both coming to PS5, we all know this.

Ultimately - the Xbox showcase was very good but it doesn't matter. Even if Starfield is an 11 out of 10 people aren't going to be selling their PS5s.

 

[Poltz]

I value uncut gameplay. These teaser trailers etc are boring.

 

[RoboFu]

Cloak and dagger? Lol

 

[skyfall]

This is why competetion is GOOD for you guys, and fanboyism is dumb

 

[Ozriel]

People will praise xbox killing it and all that jazz but as time goes by we know what happens with all their promises and outputs

If you’re counting on that to continue indefinitely, you’re in for a shock.

I value uncut gameplay. These teaser trailers etc are boring.

Article seems more focused on future roadmap than trailers

Let's be honest here; FF16, FF7R, and Spider-Man 2 are bigger games than anything shown by Xbox. Why would anyone be worried? That being said, both showings were a big letdown in terms of ''raw'' gameplay.

You think FF17 and FF7R are anywhere close to being as big as Starfield?

It’s just the classic ‘too successful’ syndrome. When/if MS ever catches up and starts to actually compete for once you’ll get the best showcase Sony’s ever made.

Agreed. Sony are doing very very well, and they’ll rise to the occasion as MS ramps up competition. Gamers benefit.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

The next time Sony takes to the YouTube stage, it’ll needto deliver.

Let me check those sales numbers...

 

[NahaNago]

Sure the showcase for xbox was great but none of the games from them in the next year and a half are probably gonna hit as hard as FF16 or spiderman or any of the big games Sony have released so far this gen. Starfield is still debatable for me but I still haven't watched that starfield showcase. I'll probably watch it tomorrow. Where I see Sony stumbling in the future will be the gaas they will start pushing out.

edit: Fables did look good.

 

[Poltz]

If you’re counting on that to continue indefinitely, you’re in for a shock.



Article seems more focused on future roadmap than trailers



You think FF17 and FF7R are anywhere close to being as big as Starfield?



Agreed. Sony are doing very very well, and they’ll rise to the occasion as MS ramps up competition. Gamers benefit.

A future road map including games announced in 2019 and 2020 etc is meh to me. Sony or Nintendo showing me 2028 games would not appeal to me in the slightest.

 

[Ozriel]

A future road map including games announced in 2019 and 2020 etc is meh to me. Sony or Nintendo showing me 2028 games would not appeal to me in the slightest.

Roadmap is for games release…when you actually get to play them. It matters absolutely nothing when they were revealed.

Of course stuff that’s years and years away isn’t going to drum up hype, but the 2024 - 2025 window is fair game.

 

[Clear]

Reaction: Solid Xbox Showcase Should Give Sony Some Incentive to Stop Being So Damn Cloak and Daggers About PS5, PS4

Roadmap will soon be required

www.pushsquare.com

Such a weird double standard here; Both showed similar stuff, both finished off with extended looks at their big holiday offers, both "hid" multi-platform titles among the exclusives, both overused cinematics and "in-engine" footage in lieu of gameplay, what's the diff?

The only thing I noted was Sony showed more titles (to the extent they could hold over FF7r part 2 for Keighley's showcase) with a heavier emphasis on online multi-player over their usual offer.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Sony needs to step up their game now. I hope they will put another show in a month or two.

Do they? They’re riding care free on top.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

This is a weird article lol.

So none hand, they talk about the competition showing games that are also coming to the PS5...

Then they talk about how they know sony has exclusive rights for (then mentioned two games) FF16 and FF7RR.

Then say outside that we only have SM2. (so that's 3 games now)... then go onto list 3/4 more games... three of which are exclusive to the PS5.... ( so that's 6 games)

But this is about the next year of the PS5 being bleak?

 

[Ronin_7]

Push Square still relevant? Loser without Dead end Job thinks he knows how to run a business? He should be Sony CEO!

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

It’s just the classic ‘too successful’ syndrome. When/if MS ever catches up and starts to actually compete for once you’ll get the best showcase Sony’s ever made.

Why doesn't this apply to Nintendo?

 

[Dolomite]

Why doesn't this apply to Nintendo?

No one expects them to. Also Nintendo doesn't beat their chest...or really have to atp

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

No one expects them to. Also Nintendo doesn't beat their chest...or really have to atp

Well by that logic Sony & Microsoft shouldn't have to, either. It would be nice IMO if there was a legit competitor to Nintendo in the portable/handheld space again because that would drive them to do even more than they currently do.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Honestly I just want games to be announced at most 9 months out from release. Have actual gameplay ready to show.

 

[Umbasaborne]

for the people defending them, why? Yes sony is making a lot of money, so they don’t need to do anything. But as a fan, don’t you want more from them? I dont give a rats ass about their bottom line. All I know is that the future of sony looks boring right now and that’s not the case for their competitor. Of, I wanted microsoft to do better because im a fan of their games. Same with sony. I don’t care that they are making a ton of cash, that shouldn’t excuse complacency. Same with Nintendo

 

[Gudji]

I mean they could have announced more shit for sure but what's the point we already got a ton of CGI trailers. Also if ND and the others are working on new IP its going to take a while.

If next year they keep showing only GaaS shit then yeah I hope someone stick it in their ass.

 

[Dolomite]

Well by that logic Sony & Microsoft shouldn't have to, either. It would be nice IMO if there was a legit competitor to Nintendo in the portable/handheld space again because that would drive them to do even more than they currently do.

But both Sony and MS beat their chest at one another. Sony gives a smug aura of "we're industry leaders and here why" MS pushes their "most powerful hardware and most studios" angle

Nintendo quite literally crushes the competition on their own island rehashing the same stories to their extremely loyal fans. Who do they have anything to prove to

 

[Robb]

Why doesn't this apply to Nintendo?

It doesn’t?

We haven’t even gotten a new Mario Kart since MK8, for example. That’s definitely because they’re too comfortable. Had they been struggling we’d have gotten that ages ago.

 

[diffusionx]

for the people defending them, why? Yes sony is making a lot of money, so they don’t need to do anything. But as a fan, don’t you want more from them? I dont give a rats ass about their bottom line. All I know is that the future of sony looks boring right now and that’s not the case for their competitor. Of, I wanted microsoft to do better because im a fan of their games. Same with sony. I don’t care that they are making a ton of cash, that shouldn’t excuse complacency. Same with Nintendo

I just don't understand this POV. Their "top devs" released significant, 85-95 MC games very recently. Just the fact that MS had a good show does not mean that Ragnarok, GT7, Horizon Burning Shores, etc. ceased to exist. Yet those studios like SSM need time to put something new together, so I am not really sure why I should consider Sony's future boring or bad. Another example - we know Sucker Punch is working on Ghost of Tsushima 2, would you feel better if they did a title screen and then showed nothing for 3 years like MS did with Avowed/Fable/Hellblade? We know Wolverine is in development. Etc. The games are being worked on.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

But both Sony and MS beat their chest at one another. Sony gives a smug aura of "we're industry leaders and here why" MS pushes their "most powerful hardware and most studios" angle

I think it's like that more because of us conditioning that expectation to be the case. In reality I always felt Sony's business model took more from Nintendo than it ever did Microsoft. I guess it's just more to the fact they both rely on 3P more than Nintendo, and still make powerful home consoles, why people pit them against each other.

Nintendo quite literally crushes the competition on their own island rehashing the same stories to their extremely loyal fans. Who do they have anything to prove to

It's not about who they have anything to prove to; it's about wanting more out of them. We might've gotten a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey, or even a new F-Zero or 3D Earthbound by now, if there were stronger direct competition with Nintendo in the portable/hybrid market segment.

They can do more than the few games they've been relying on for the past several years, that's for sure.

It doesn’t?

We haven’t even gotten a new Mario Kart since MK8, for example. That’s definitely because they’re too comfortable. Had they been struggling we’d have gotten that ages ago.

Sony's not struggling though, and I don't think a platform holder needs to "struggle" in order to have competition.

So going by that yes Sony & Microsoft can be rivals, I'm just saying it'd be nice if Nintendo had someone more directly competing with them as well.

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

I like how people are giving advice to sony, as if they need it

 

[TGO]

I hope Sony is just playing it's cards close to its chest and seeing what the competition has before revealing.....but I have doubts.

 

[Robb]

Sony's not struggling though, and I don't think a platform holder needs to "struggle" in order to have competition.

So going by that yes Sony & Microsoft can be rivals, I'm just saying it'd be nice if Nintendo had someone more directly competing with them as well.

That’s the point though, Sony isn’t struggling so they don’t feel any pressure to show stuff they don’t feel like showing.

Everything’s relative. If Switch sales suddenly started to dwindle when the Ps5 launched I bet Nintendo would react and put out more stuff. Switch would still have been a huge success even if it started to slow at 77M units sold back in 2020. But if sales slowed down due to the competition back then I’d definitely say that they’d be struggling, despite being immensely successful.

 

[poodaddy]

Its always like this every year after any xbox show.

People will praise xbox killing it and all that jazz but as time goes by we know what happens with all their promises and outputs

This post attracted an army of console warrior thumbs. Conveniently grouped up.

 

[AcrosstheSea]

It was definitely a weak show for a showcase and I think they should put on something better when they build something up like that but this feels console war like.

" Sure they have FXVI and FF7 Rebirth..." Yeah, they are massive games. Do we need to see games like that at the show to know Sony is fine? We know these huge games exist, we know Sony has a big war chest. Them not showing them off means nothing, they still exist.

It really just feels like a :

I want sony to have a better showcase than Xbox.

 

[Crayon]

Oh, enthusiast bubble. Xbox is constantly poised to turn the corner and pounce. Sony always arrogant and on the edge of being toppled.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

I voiced my concerns about Sony going quiet in 2018 (edit: and I got slaughtered for it.) and effectively allowing Microsoft to grow - and grow quickly they have - when Sony could have piled on the pressure and prevented the executives at that horrible company from opening the war chest. But they got a hand on a ledge and look at them now. Acquiring so many studios and talent, as well as one, soon to be two, major publishers. Their line-up of games is finally starting to come together. It's looking great for XBOX owners.

And I have to agree, if you look at the announcements and shows that have come out where content has been announced for PlayStation platforms in that 18 month wait between main shows, and take in all the great stuff from the odd state of play videos, you genuinely have an ass kicking conference right there. I can only genuinely believe that the PlayStation division within Sony don't want to give Microsoft more argument for the ABK deal to go through. Even though, it's Microsoft, they'll get it to go through. Whether they do it legitimately or throw their weight around, bribe people etc. It's going to happen and it'll hurt. I don't think Sony aren't happy giving their direct competitor any cash at all - and now Microsoft are making a cut on any MineCraft, Bethesda and soon to be ABK content sold on PlayStation. I mean why bother outgunning them when you can just turn your competitor into part of your revenue.

Rant aside, Sony need to step up. I'm a huge PlayStation enthusiast, I always have been and never have I been as let down as I am right now. I don't like how Sony have moved away from trade shows, I don't like this new form of communication with blog posts and sporadic State of Play's which in some cases are either a whole load of indie content, a whole load of indie for a AAA announcement or just a show case for a singular title. I don't like this push towards GAAS. The games shown by Haven Studios and Firewalk look generic as hell. I don't see why they're pushing for a slice of a market they clearly aren't thinking about properly. Sony have been very, very quiet about a lot of things. I the Square Enix conference where they showed Rebirth for the first time and the Konami conference that showed Silent Hill 2 Remake, could have well been shown at Sony's own conferences.

The only thing that makes sense so me, is they're still in defence mode right now, when Microsoft have a monster in attack mode with cookie cutter. Not only will they destroy the monster on the field but they'll hit you for life points too. Just hit back the best you can. It's all you can do. Don't hold back. Continue to do whats worked for you, continue to gradually diversify your IP and studios. Develop your major IP, make deals where sensible and listen to your fans. Right now it doesn't feel like a great deal of that is happening.

This so called conference we've 'all been waiting' for could have been reduced to a State of Play. If that's all Sony had to show for 18 months worth of quiet then it's embarrassing.