PixlBit

The PlayStation 4 reveal in New York is complete.  We didn't get to see the console, or very many games.  All we got was a great shot of some one holding a newly redesigned Dual Shock 4 controller, complete with a touch screen.  There were a few surprises in launch titles, or games revealed to be for the PS4 at some point.  I'm enthused about Diablo 3 on consoles.  But I felt a distinct lack of support for the PS4 from Sony's home nation, Japan.

It's still very early in the life of the PS4, but so far I can only count two Japanese studios among those listed as developing launch titles, or three if you count Square Enix's next Final Fantasy.  So we have Capcom's Deep Down and another counter-culture, effervescent indie game in the vein of Braid, Flower or Journey, entitled Knack by Studio Japan.  Am I sensing a theme with the names of these Sony backed, non AAA titles?  Journey, Braid, Flower, Flow, Fart and Knack.  (Note: Fart is not an actual title.)  Like I said, it's early.  But I think Sony is shooting themselves in the foot by not revealing more about the games we really want to see and play, such as the Last Guardian.

I know very little about economics, but what I do know is that the marketplace is driven by consumer confidence and certainty about the future.  They want to know what they're getting, when it's available, where they can get it and how much it will cost.  The PS4 reveal gave us none of this.  But it's not unusual for a new console to be revealed but still steeped in just as much mystery as before.  It usually ends up being a mistake, but not unusual.

I think most of Japan and the developers that shifted to mobile or casual gaming thought of the last generation, PS3 and Xbox 360, as a practice generation and introduction to HD.  Sony cannot afford to let important titles dangle in purgatory.  Neither can Square Enix.  Their latest entries in the Final Fantasy series, 13 & 14, have been disasters and they still refuse to give any information about Versus 13.  Cancel or continue, it's not a hard decision to make.  If it was me in charge, I'd fire everyone at Team Ico, bury the game, and simply move on.  Five year development cycles waste everyone's time and money and is inexcusable.

I want this game!

It wasn't just Sony first party developers and giant uber studios that flaked out on joing the HD era in a confident manner.  Atlus, the great developer of JRPGs like the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series, had just one entry on the PS3, and that was Catherine.  Atlus themseleves claimed it was a practice game of sorts, building an all new engine that would power their future titles.  Still no word on Persona 5.  Sega was positioning themselves to sit right along side Atlus with great JRPGs, like Valkyria Chronicles on PS3.  But all of it's sequels ended up on handhelds.  Sega might come back to PS4 with another Sonic game rumored to be in development.  But I don't want another Sonic the Hedgehog game.  I want the Last Guardian, Persona 5, Valkyria Chronicles 2 in HD and maybe Six Days in Fallujah.  Whatever happended to that?

A lot of the fault goes to third party developers and publishers for their issues with staying relevant.  It's not entirely because of Sony or Microsoft and HD hardware.  The last generation was a strange one.  Epic development cycles and ballooning budgets led to delays and closures of games studios.  Naughty Dog's the Last of Us and Grand Theft Auto V are delayed.  THQ went bankrupt  and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning developers Big Huge Games and 38 Studios were shutdown after a mignight move, abandoing their offices and leaving Curt Shilling with a massive debt.  Some studios never even tried to join the HD era.  And now we have the second iteration of the HD era, the PS4 with still the same developers producing the same games.  Another Killzone.  Another Infamous.  I might be the only one, but those are not the reasons I bought a PS3 nor the reason I would want a PS4.  Nor do I care about social media integration and taking snapshots of my games with a button that replaces the 'start' and 'select' buttons.  Call me old school, but the only thing I want is games.  All sorts of games.

Sony is in a better place than Microsoft to help heal the rift developing between the HD consoles and all the indie outlets like PSN/Xbox Live games, mobile gaming, and cheesy Facebook one hit wonders.  Sony has all the firsty party developers and a better reputation with hardcore gamers.  But PS4 dents that a little, at least for me.  Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way.  I gave up on Nintendo a long time ago.  And if Sony makes progress with their tech for everything but games on their next console, I may have to move on as well.  Valve?  Apple?  PC?

I want the Last Guardian, Persona 5, Six Days in Fallujah, Final Fantasy 15, Dark Souls 2.  In HD.  And I want everyone to join, moving forward together.