Remember when Sony would have weird, quirky games on their consoles, like No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, Incredible Crisis, Intelligent Qube, LSD Dream Emulator, and Vib Ribbon? Whatever happened to that Sony?
I miss PS1-PS2 era Sony.
- Thread starter CastletonSnob
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Out of those games two were actually published by Sony and only one was developed by them.
So, you tell me what happened?
I could tell you what happened in a general sense, and that is that game development has become infinitely more complex and expensive over the last 25 years.
By more complex I don't mean the actual programming part, as that has probably become easier thanks to more sophisticated engines and development tools, but the market has changed a lot, the bar of what is considered a modern game has risen, the bar of what will wow and move customers has risen.
Back then you could slap a few polygons together, call them a hover ship and you'd basically have a state-of-the-art, modern game.
Swap a couple of sprites around in a 2d side scroller and you'd have a game to rival the newest Mario game.
Back then the barrier of entry for a company to create a game and potentially make money was significantly lower than it is now. You could get away with a couple of people for a development team and basic graphics and likely make a good buck. That barrier is a bit higher nowadays, so you'll find less small development teams and companies trying their luck with creating small quirky games.
Aside from trying to stand out, or just match up with trends, on a technological level there's also the fact that the market is saturated with small and quirky games on mobile and Steam's indie sections.
Something like Vib Ribbon was cool mid-90's, but nowadays it's something you'd expect from a flash game for free on the internet, not something you'd want to spend money on.
So, you tell me what happened?
I could tell you what happened in a general sense, and that is that game development has become infinitely more complex and expensive over the last 25 years.
By more complex I don't mean the actual programming part, as that has probably become easier thanks to more sophisticated engines and development tools, but the market has changed a lot, the bar of what is considered a modern game has risen, the bar of what will wow and move customers has risen.
Back then you could slap a few polygons together, call them a hover ship and you'd basically have a state-of-the-art, modern game.
Swap a couple of sprites around in a 2d side scroller and you'd have a game to rival the newest Mario game.
Back then the barrier of entry for a company to create a game and potentially make money was significantly lower than it is now. You could get away with a couple of people for a development team and basic graphics and likely make a good buck. That barrier is a bit higher nowadays, so you'll find less small development teams and companies trying their luck with creating small quirky games.
Aside from trying to stand out, or just match up with trends, on a technological level there's also the fact that the market is saturated with small and quirky games on mobile and Steam's indie sections.
Something like Vib Ribbon was cool mid-90's, but nowadays it's something you'd expect from a flash game for free on the internet, not something you'd want to spend money on.
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Sony (or Microsoft or Nintendo) don't dictate what games other publishers and developers make.
Sony wasn't responsible for those games' existence, in a direct sense, so why ask what happened to Sony now that those games don't exist anymore?
As for a more elaborate answer, I edited my initial post if you feel like having a more elaborate talk.
Spot on in so many ways. In particular, quirkey games are still out there aplenty. I'll likely pick up something called "Oneshot" when I see it for about $3 or in a Humble Bundle. If anything, it is a great time to be a gamer as there are these sort of things that are even free, while AAA games like G-d of War for PS4 simply was not possible 10 years or so ago. And still cost $60.
I'd be concerned about the Hollywood effect if not for other factors (AAA movies are so expensive to make they become cowardly and give us what they think is safe junk) those factors including, thanks to so many new avenues over which to enjoy content, we're getting a ton of movies and TV too now.
I think "those" types of games (offbeat, low-effort) sort of found their niche in the indie market.
I just miss a time when Sony had a variety of games, instead of mostly gritty, depressing games that try way too hard to be movies.
Look at the library for the PS1 and PS2, and compare them to PS3 and PS4. PS1 and PS2 had platformers, RPGs, racing games, shooters, puzzle games.
Look at the library for the PS1 and PS2, and compare them to PS3 and PS4. PS1 and PS2 had platformers, RPGs, racing games, shooters, puzzle games.
I've actually been quite pleased with PS4 games this generation. I think it will be fondly remembered.
There's literally like a dozen games come out some weeks, many of which are those oddball quirky things.
Granted, they aren't getting hurled front page promotion, though looking at the playstation twitter they're currently promoting some outer space salvage sim game thing.
Granted, they aren't getting hurled front page promotion, though looking at the playstation twitter they're currently promoting some outer space salvage sim game thing.
I think it's easy to look back at a console's library after several decades have passed and say "Oh, look at all these quirky games! Didn't this generation have SO many more quirky games?" after so many people have spent scouring for these games and have brought them out into the light many, many years later.
I don't think those games are any more or less lacking in quantity than they always were. They're just not brought into the limelight right now because they're still new and being overshadowed by the consoles more broad appeal titles. Much like the quirky games of the PS1/PS2 era were.
Plus it's far easier to get those kinds of game on the PC market rather than licensing out to a console. That's likely where the majority of them can be found nowadays.
I don't think those games are any more or less lacking in quantity than they always were. They're just not brought into the limelight right now because they're still new and being overshadowed by the consoles more broad appeal titles. Much like the quirky games of the PS1/PS2 era were.
Plus it's far easier to get those kinds of game on the PC market rather than licensing out to a console. That's likely where the majority of them can be found nowadays.
I mean, a lot of the reason was during the PS1 days people were still figuring out 3D and what gaming in 3D would entail and even into the PS2 era the entire view was still being perfected. As such, even ideas about how combat, exploration, and platforming should work were just trial and error as developers experimented
As much as I appreciated that those games got made, I can't say they really stuck with me beyond their novelty. When I think back to PS1 and PS2 era Sony I mostly think of Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and God of War. All games that weren't designed to be quirky, but to have mass market appeal. So Sony is pretty much doing the same thing they've always been doing. And even with games today being "mostly gritty, depressing games that try way too hard to be movies", Sony still gives a lot of room for developers to come up with new IP's, just like they did during the PS1 and PS2.
Honestly Sony hasn't changed much.
Honestly Sony hasn't changed much.
I wouldn't recommend getting attached to any sort of brand in that sense. Everything changes with the times, and companies even moreso. It's nice to romanticise in this hellscape of a reality of course, but there are far too many interacting factors contributing to that era beyond the simple branding of sony.