Why Are First-Party Sony Video Games Unpopular?

Aside from Gran Turismo and God of War, video games published and/or developed by Sony do not have the same mass market appeal as Microsoft and Nintendo titles.

[ape007]

ads sony ads

uncharted\R\LBP are gems,ads should be spoted on moon

[CaseyRyback_CPO]

and is publishing their sequels.

This generation is caught up in thinking spending 30 million to advertise is normal, its not. When the games stop coming, thats when its time to voice concern imo.

Saying new ip 2 million + sellers aren't as popular as 2 large known franchises is silly. I'm sorry. Mass Effect did 2 million right as a multiplat? What new 360 Ip has sold more than uncharted or little big planet? Curious, Was it LIPS or You're in the movies? Just Cause?

[original seed]

Mass effect was not multiplat and it sold 2 mil.

Gears1 sold 5 mil. That was a new ip and it sold more than Uncharted and LBP combined.

The thing is, MS have released alot of 1st party titles.

Sony has 20 studios. They should be pumping out games like no tomorrow. I love new IPs, I bought Uncharted and LBP but Sony needs to release some sequels also. They are money makers.

[-EvoAnubis-]

Couldn't have said it better myself. That's exactly it. Just because MS tosses money about like it's confetti, everyone seems to think that's normal behavior. They are wrong. I guess it's easy when you're MS and you only have maybe 3 or 4 1st/2nd party games coming out in a year; you have all the money in the world to advertise with. Sony has more first party studios to worry about.

From the article:

"Nintendo is famous for their casual and family-friendly games. Microsoft is known for their mature-rated titles and online service. Sony falls somewhere in-between the two. If anything, they may have too much variety, from family-friendly titles (Ratchet & Clank) to matured-rated titles (God of War). The problem lies in the fact that Sony does not have the same popularity with the family-friendly and mature audiences as Nintendo and Microsoft respectably does. Therefore, Sony has an identity crisis with their brand of video games."

I disagree here. Were it not for the PS2, the Wii wouldn't even have a market. Sony made gaming mainstream, and it was great games and great variety that made that happen. "Identity crisis?" Don't be absurd. The thing about the PlayStation brand is that no matter what type of gamer you are, the PlayStation has what you need. You like platformers? Ok, here's your R&C. First person shooters? Ok, here's your Resistance and your Killzone. You like racing sims? Ok, here's your GT. And so on and so forth. What this article is trying to pass off as a weakness is actually their greatest strength.

Nintendo is indeed known for its casual games and family friendly stuff. Therefore, if those aren't things that interest you, why would buy it? What if you want games that are a little deeper? Then you're not going to buy a Wii. This label that this article seems to think is a good thing is exactly why games like No More Heroes and Madworld didn't and won't sell.

MS is indeed known for mature rated games and online service. Nothing wrong with that, until you're trying to sell a game like Banjo-Kazooie (sorry if spelled wrong) or Viva Pinata. Your system is known for one thing, but now you're doing something different, and it shocks you it's not selling?

Meanwhile, look at the PS3. Mature games like MGS4 and Resistance 2 sell. Games like flower and LittleBIGPlanet, not mature games, still sell. Why? Because the brand is known for its variety, so when it gets a variety of games, its selling to the exact market it was meant to.

Just that simple.

Edit: Wow, I typed more than I meant to! Sorry about that.

[Genesis5]

Gears 1(Epic) Mass Effect(Bioware) Do not classify as 1st party. What does MS have that is 1st party? I honestly can't think of any. Only 2nd and 3rd party.

I like the part where he says they(Sony) just don't have the popularity of MS and Nintendo. Yet Sony has more consoles in peoples homes than those 2 companys combined.

According to Neilsons(an American stats company). More hours are still looged on the PS2 than the 360 and Wii combined.

Becuase Sony relies more on word of mouth than massive advertising. Their games sell more steadily over the life of the console instead of one big spurt at the launch of the game.

[heroicjanitor]

Gran turismo and God of War = established franchises. Sony have been making new games, Nintendo and Microsoft have been releasing the same stuff for years now.

Edit: Please don't point out wii (insert title here). They sell because they are bundled/have a gimmick. When it has wii in the title people think it is a defining experience.

[SoapShoes]

Microsoft has not been pumping out many 1st party exclusives. Gears is not a first party game, it's third party. To answer the question, it's money! Microsoft just markets the hell out of their games.

Also people are more harsh/critical of Playstation and Playstation games because it has been on top for two gens and brought some of the best games in gaming history. People just expect PS3 to unrealistically top both the PS1 and PS2's lifetime of games right off the bat.

[ZuperAmazingCooKie]

Sony sells them.

In the PS2 era I never got to enjoy Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper or Jak & Daxter, probably because they didn't get as much hype as 3rd party exclusives like MGS2, FFX, DMC, GTA, etcetera. Spyro was a gem, so was Crash Bandicoot, and now they belong to Vivendi Universal. I actually never owned any, only played crash in demos, and that's it. I now played spyro on PS3 from PSN and it still is a great game. Sad that Sony had to let it go.

I guess it's better from a business standpoint for Sony to make new IP, not advertise for it but let it sell slowly on word of mouth, and then selling it once it reaches its peak of popularity than keeping and advertising them. It's likely that Uncharted 2 will be more successful than the first one because of word of mouth and not because of ads. Maybe Ratchet, Sly and Jak won't belong to Sony next-gen, and maybe Uncharted and Resistance won't belong to Sony two gens from now.

"Because most of them are just B quality games.

Sony will never have a new I.P in the same level as say Gears of War. There isn't a single PS3/Sony game that has sold more than 1m in the United States (only exception was the launch title Resistance). "

Gears of War is not even a part of Microsoft's IP. You're only talking out of your ass here. You wish Gears of War had gameplay, graphics and storyline as polished as Uncharted. Not saying Gears of War is bad or anything, it's just that Uncharted has a better engine, a more experienced team in terms of gameplay and storyline than Epic Games. The only thing Gears has over Uncharted is multiplayer.

"bu bu bu... teh sales!!"

Reported as ignorant fanboy.
---------
@JOY, below:

The thing is, Microsoft isn't buying exclusives anymore, mostly timed exclusives. As a multiplatform owner myself, I sometimes wonder why did I buy a 360 if most of its best games are being ported to PS3, bioshock and ninja gaiden included. Mass Effect is likely to get the port treatment. If valve's games don't appear this gen on PS3, they will for next-gen unless Microsoft actually buys Valve (but they're dismantling studios so how likely is that?). And as for gears of war... well, Microsoft doesn't even own the IP. You saw how Publishing rights mean jack sh1t with Ninja Gaiden, so I wouldn't be surprised if by 2012 we see the whole Gears trilogy "Sigma" on PS3 if not PS4.

Sony has the best strategy because they can get more exclusives for their system AND they eventually get those games that were thought to be exclusives on other platforms. If I had to choose a single console I don't think I'd choose a defective console where I have to pay to play online when that is a free service everywhere else, not to mention that all or most of its "exclusives" are not really exclusives. What would be the point? Getting content a year earlier? I rather get the platform that will get the most content and will give me the most bang for my buck (not to mention one that works).

[JokesOnYou]

To the consumer a great exclusive is a great exclusive no matter WHERE it came from? If micro can continue to buy great exclusives from talented 3rd party devs then good for 360 owners. Hell theres plenty of examples of multiplats being just as good or better than both consoles exclusives, do I care?...Hell NO!, I can't wait for the next COD MW.

JOY

[SoapShoes]

I was just correcting him and there is cause for concern. PS3 is doing well and the software on PS3 is doing well. It will be increasingly hard to buy 3rd party exclusives from what I can tell.

Anyway I hate to say it but I just don't see COD MW2 being any good unless it uses a whole new engine. It'll probably be World at War set in modern times... just like World at War was COD4 set in WW2. Although I won't be so quick to pass it off yet.

[SaiyanFury]

Sony's first party games are unpopular? When did this happen? As far as my knowledge goes they seem to do quite well.

"Typically, Sony doesn't choose continue their franchises
into future systems. They would rather create new and unproven brands. Therefore, Sony titles does have a huge already-established fan base like Nintendo does that could help spur sales figures."

Sony doesn't continue their franchises on upcoming systems? Really? I guess Ratchet & Clank Future doesn't count. I suppose Daxter on PSP doesn't count. I just picked up Resistance Retribution on PSP so I guess that doesn't count either. Oh yeah, leave us not forget Gran Turismo, a series that originated on the original PlayStation over a decade ago.

"They would rather create new and unproven brands."

And this is a bad thing? Sony continues it's great franchises as well as coming up with NEW ones to keep originality and creativity moving forward. They don't ride the sequel train nearly as much as Nintendo. And yes, they do have as many mature titles as the 360. Hell, most of the PS3's audience is made up of mature, 20+ year olds. Sony may not have the sheer casual presence of the Wii, but considering the audience and focus of it's demographics it does just fine. Even though it does have it's casual games, many of which are fantastic.

[Dark General]

"Typically, Sony doesn't choose continue their franchises
into future systems. They would rather create new and unproven brands."

Which is exactly what i like. Variety, who wants to play the same few franchises bi yearly? (No disrespect to Nintendo) but i like variety and new gaming experiences. I guess it's why so many titles that break the conventional gaming mold of capitalizing on proven concepts fail to sell through (usually). Some people are scared of trying something new or rather plunking down their cold hard cash on something unproven. I rather like trying something new. Even though it may not get the entire formula right it does have the enough of the right ingredients. Just take a look at Mirrors Edge for example.

[Why o why]

a couple years ago it was all about 'the library' and 'exclusives' now its not so important ¬_¬

Simple

continue old successful franchises AND create new ones

Do you really feel that sony could of created so many franchises if they went the MS way by spending that much marketing money on the titles they had. Its a trade off and the proof of this is the lack of new ip's owned by MS due to the lack of studios. Its simply not viable to send huge amounts of money on both. Sony and MS have their legitimate reasons for why they do what they do, I just prefer sony's model as of now and as long as the games do well enough to turn a profit and/or warrant a sequel then im good.

Listen up because some people have REALLY forgot the fundamentals of gaming. I play games, NOT sales. If the game i enjoyed gets played by 2 trillion people it doesn't make that game ANY better or worse. Do you feel that I enjoyed shadow of the colossus or okami any less because it didnt beat halo 2 or wii fit in sales........FCUK NO. Some people on N4G have totally got caught up in the financial side of gaming whilst forgetting THE most important thing ENJOYMENT.

[Seraphim]

Mass Effect is multiplat if you consider the fact it was released on PC.

As for the First Party deal. This makes absolutely no sense considering the fact that Sony hasn't even released many games thus far. Insomniac is an independent studio who chooses to develop for Sony exclusively so you can disregard Resistance and Ratchet. Naughty Dog has only dropped Uncharted which seems to have done well considering. GG's Killzone 2 has done quite well thus far. Warhawk probably hasn't done too bad for an online only game/new IP that has little appeal. MLB The Show is the Playstations best selling baseball franchise & has sold well for a sports title...

Overall many games should be selling better but consumers aren't buying everything and anything these days. No online play = no buy. Short campaign = no buy, and the list of excuses goes on. Thinking every game is going to sell 3-5 million plus is crazy. Games typically have sold about 700k-2 million tops over the course of the decade. RPGs are lucky to hit 500-700k... At the end of the day though Sony's first party titles have sold a respectable number of copies so this article makes absolutely no sense to me...

[Saigon]

Its not about the ads, it is the way sony does business...they always did it this way, so why change now...look at all their blockbusters from PS1 - PS3...every game sold to great sales over time...again, I repeat over time...sony games are not a one shop and drop game...honestly to see LBP and many other games contiue to sell well even after their release several months ago shows how sony does their business...its about quality...

All I have to say is don't get mixed into the MS pot...Don't beleive everything they report to the media...rememeber they are about making a dent in the console home base this generation, so they will spread as much PR bs as they can...

@ZuperAmazingCooKie, you didnt enjoy thos games because you choose not too...Sony didnt drop any of the 3 you mentioned there, example R&C already came out with a new version on the PS3...also J&D is coming out with a new game, but when is up to ND...and SC, I heard sucker punch is working on something after they are finished with inFomous...and note each of those devs that made those games have comeout with something new on the PS3...expanding their credibility...

[eagle21]

MotorStorm sold 3.3 million and won Racing Game of The Year 07' at AIAS. That's "popular"..lol

MS only has halo really as first party mega sales going by the standards of this idiot.

The Metal Gear Solid franchise (MGS4 4.6m) is super popular which is an example of third party exclusive mega sales. Gears is third party exclusive for MS.

Uncharted franchise will grow like Jak did on ps2.

MLB: The Show franchise on ps2, PSP, and PS3 is VERY popular!

REAL GAME MAKERS :Sony and Nintendo.

[-EvoAnubis-]

"In the PS2 era I never got to enjoy Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper or Jak & Daxter, probably because they didn't get as much hype as 3rd party exclusives like MGS2, FFX, DMC, GTA, etcetera."

That's the dumbest ****ing thing I've seen all day except for the HHG bull****. What the **** does hype have to do with one's enjoyment of a game?

[MazzingerZ]

(I didn't know the original article was posted here...I posted some comments on another post which was a kind of answer to this one...)

That's the thing, SONY has franchises for all kind of gamers, that's the difference, not only 2 that sells 5M each but dozens of good selling franchises...some people got a PS3 just because HotShots Golf, other for Singstar ABBA others for GT5P, etc, etc,...franchises sell the console, that's the main reason why you see PS3 sales figures are solid worlwide

Despite the "high" price gamers get the console....people paid that price for the X360 not long ago and everybody thought it was ok just because it had Gears and Halo and still today it only has Gears and Halo hence the price drop was the only way to keep competing

Do you think if Microsoft had all those franchises they would had needed to cut the price?, nop, they could compete with games instead of price-wise.

Just during the last 2 years Motorstorm, Resistance, LittleBigPlanet were born...and still we have several´franchises to come to the PS3, such as Syphon Filter, Sly Cooper, Jak & Daxter, Twisted Metal, Ape Escape, Arc The Lad...

One would think Microsoft would have started to build more first party devs studios worldwide but they are instead closing down them...it takes years to build that kind of infrastructure and I don't see how Microsoft can compete with SONY in that department in the coming years really.

[Marceles]

nice post Evo, you broke it down

[original seed]

The reason why u said GEARS is because it on Xbox ONLY and that paticular title can't be done on PS3 due to contracts etc.

Also, It was published by Microsoft. Also, LittleBigPLanet is not 1st party either. Its just like Gears of war.

[Saigon]

that is not fair you can't say that...what you don't know is that like gears, sony owns the publishing rights to LBP...LBP will never be own another console...

epic developes GeoW and MM developes LBP...GeoW is published by MS and LBP is published by sony...as long as they hold the publishing rights...these games will never see the light of day on the other console...

You stated sony has 20+ studios and they should be pumping games out left and right (don't worry because the brigade is coming, and we started to see it end of last year)...well the difference in Sony and MS is that they care about quality...look at all the 1st and even 3rd party exclusive MS has...which are the top games...GeoW and Halo3 (note that they are 2 shooters), they have a couple of others, but those two stand out the further than the rest...with sony you can not say that...10+ exclusives of different genres that all sold over a million...can ms make that calim...

[peedie16]

because sony doesn't advertise their games

[Saint Sony]

Because most of them are killed by THE HYPE (can't live up to the hype)

Also most of the PS3 owners bought PS3 for blu-ray movies. Not because it's a gaming consoles as well.

[happyface]

its not all about ads, sony doesn't know how to make games that appeal to non-internet nerds

look at little big planet - what adult in their right mind wants to play with a creepy sack doll?

Metal Gear is embarassing for anyone over the age of 14

resistance and killzone are generic tripe

Gran Turismo is the one good IP sony has that the mass market cares about

[SoapShoes]

What about Twisted Metal? I'm willing to bet the new one will be a mass hit, or at least make lots of people jealous. Twisted Metal has always sold Playstations and it's just time for a comeback.

[Unicron]

Happyface... the only thing embarrassing is your posts.

Please don't bother attempting to speak for "all gamers" out there again, the pathetic tripe that spews from your gums would be better suited for the gradeschool playground.

Edit- Aw, that's nice. I figured if I pulled the "no you" on games you'd point that out as well, but hey if that's what you want -

Creepy sack dolls eh? Considering we have millions of people that want to play with a fat italian plumber, it's not much of a stretch. I highly doubt Sackboy himself is detrimental to the LBP experience.

Metal Gear? Hah, in my opinion, its embarrassing to play as generic space marine 47 or Marcus Cliche and his band of Hollywood cliches. But if you're saying the mass market appeal is big, dumb, and stupid... sadly I have to agree. MS has that in the bag it seems.

Resistance and Killzone are generic tripe... just like Halo and Gears. Doesn't mean that can't all be great.

See, unlike you, I won't run into an MS title related article and spam about how it's all a joke (even though it is). But hey, you're good at stirring up crap, even I fell for it. Kudos troll.

Screw GT, I'm more of Burnout fan.

[happyface]

ad hominem responses make me lawl

[ActionBastard]

"look at little big planet - what adult in their right mind wants to play with a creepy sack doll?"

Angry you can't play LittleBigContra? When the alternatives are playing pinatas in a pinata garden, the choice is simple.

[CBaoth]

you've shown us you can type big words. However, you do understand them?

[frayer]

Because you can't sell a $399.99 console to the masses- these games' intended audience. The core gamers will eat it up no doubt.

[heyheyhey]

who said they are unpopular? they don't sell as well as Halo or Mario games.. but the PS community love and cherish them, and most sell over a million and past the 2 and 3 mill barriers

[Raoh]

lack of proper marketing.

sony only seems to promote to their board members, stock holders and already fansof sony games that hunt down sony info.

the rest of the world is oblivious to sony games.

[Lfmesquite]

popular games are hard to come by. I mean outside of Halo and Gears, Microsoft has had it's fair share of average games also. Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Too Human, Project Gothan Racing, Kameo, Ninja Blade, Crackdown, and more these are average hits that didn't really tear up the market in sales.

It's hard making new IP's popular, sometimes I swear it just comes down to luck. Some games get lucky.

Sony has introduced some good new IP's this gen. Resistance, Uncharted, Killzone 2, Little Big Planet.

And personally, I think all have under sold. Killzone 2, the low sales have me puzzled, in Europe it seems like a hit, unless Killzone 2 sells another 300k in March's NPD which I seriously doubt, sales are really disappointing in the US, and I don't know why.

Third Parties struggle with this all the time. They all complain about how new IPs usually sell sh*t, and that's why they have Resident Evil 15 and Mario 23. Third Parties, that's there only job, to sell and market games, and they will tell you that it's a pain in the ass to come up with something new that sells well.

Sony's new IPs have done okay, I think they have some moderate hits in Uncharted and Resistance, Hopefully Uncharted 2 sells good, it seems to have gotten some respect.

Killzone 2 and Little Big Planet, have sold decent but in my opinion those games should be tearing up the charts. I don't get it.

But they gotta stick with it, Sony hasn't had to rely on first party games since the PS1 era. As they go, I'm sure targeting the right audience and marketing will also improve. I'm really looking forward to a new Twisted Metal, Team Ico's new game, and Heavy Rain.

But Sony has so much first party power, that it is a concern if their first party games don't sell well, they need to improve their marketing and get better at targeting the right audience

[predator]

when were PGR and Crackdown average?

[mintaro]

Most of the 360 games you listed are far from average, unless you're one of those people who constantly scream "anything under a 90 is average".

[likedamaster]

PGR, Kameo and Crackdown all sold over a million. I could bet you Sony has more average exclusives than Microsoft has average 3rd party.

[Bill Gates]

They are only unpopular with the stupid BABOON community. The rest of the smart and educated gaming community thinks they are gems and give these games nothing but praise. You BABOONS sure are nothing more than pilas de mierda.....AAHAAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA

[Xwow2008]

sony first party is awesome :)

[mxdan]

Actually if you weren't so niave by your xbox religion you would know that sony has some very good first party games. It's just that they haven't made 'the' game that everyone caught on too and loved.

[Hallucinate]

ssony really needs a socom2 level game

[chasegamez2]

i love all first party games

[frayer]

This article fails. Almost every first-party title released on the PS2 by Sony sold more than 3 million copies. Which goes back to my other point.

[threepy]

Sony need to advertise heavily because it would get a fair few software and hardware sales. Some of the Sony 1st Party titles this generation have been fantastic and I hope this continues. But people don't know unless they advertise.

[Knightofelemia]

Sony just needs to advertise the hell out of the games and show the customer why this is the must have game.

[Fatal Blow]

I don't think they are unpopular do u think god of war 3 or gran turismo 5 is unpopular?

[kewlkat007]

These days in any industry you have to push whatever product/services to the fullest.

Some say putting games on Dew cans is stupid...or on a doritos bag and other advertising mediums but your so wrong.

When selling a product and if you have the capital, you have to maximize it's potential, as well as the developers hard work.

For whatever reasons, maybe it's the finances Sony have not been able to push it's games on every media channel as effectively. All you have to do is compare the Big titles and their launch effectiveness.

If your not properly marketing a game then your gaurenteed to loose the attention you might have gotten or even an extra sale.

Sony needs to realize it's no longer the most dominant console out right now and they are gonna have to actually spend some money unlike the past few gens were they have coasted..

[OhMyGandhi]

you people are thinking too far into it.
Realistically, Sony needs to advertise more.
They make amazing games, but THEY NEED TO ADVERTISE.

More ads = more attention
more attention = more possible sales
more possible sales = more money
more money = happy family.

pretty simple.

[Freakwave003]

Because Gran Turismo and God of War are already part of an already hugely established series, while when you first heard about Uncharted people were like, "eh", though when I heard it was Naughty Dog, I went out to get it.

[heyheyhey]

and by the by.. Gran Turismo has always sold more than any MS franchise, and most Nintendo franchises

[OOG]

u mean it did with a 100+ million user base... now lets see how it will do when it comes out... Gran Turismo never used to have competition.. and now it does... and I dont see it selling as great as people think...

Im sure it will do really well tho.. its frickn GT.... but not like it used to.

[PirateThom]

GT5 is going to launch with a bigger userbase than GT3 launched with.

[mastiffchild]

The ads Sony, the ads. You either lose the audience by puzzling them or don't advertise at all.
They advertised R&C far more during PS2 days than they seem to have ANY game this gen. If you weren't a gamer what chance did you have to know anything about the first Uncharted before it had been and gone?
It really seems like they don't get either who or how to advertise first party software these days. They don't HAVE to blitz us like MS did with Halo3 and Gears2(and Lips and , and)but they do need to let people know what they've got and they really fail at doing this. I saw the ten second(in the UK)KZ2 teaser loads overthe space of two days but the full ad never seemed to arrive for me-WTF? I thought they had budgeted more for promo that time?
I wouldn't look far beyond the ads to be frank as when the wider audience does get hold of a title a bit(eg LBP which eventually, after a poor start is still selling pretty well)it tends to burn slowly while the timing of R2 sucked with far too many games out at the same time. It isn't a Gears size franchise so it suffered despite the all round package being just as much fun, imo(both great but gears2 online is just silly).

[Omega4]

Sony really should of got all their big known exclusives out first like GOW3 and GT5 to get a much bigger installbase. THEN they should of started releasing the new IPs and with all the money they made from games like GOW3 and GT5 they could spend on ads for the new IPs so they would see better.

[eagle21]

Nintendo and MS need NEW first party IP's for existing fans.

[Argento-Nox]

Programming PS3 games in the 1st year was difficult, due to the unique PS3 architecture. It's better IMO that Polyphony and Santa Monica studios waited a bit before producing their destine sequels. The point is, the PS3 installbase will expand, regardless of when GOW3 and GT5 actually arrives.

[DJ]

If Sony's 1st party titles weren't popular, they would all be selling 200K units each. Most of them are multi-million selling titles though.

These complaints seem to be stemming from individuals who think that a game being purchased by 50% of the userbase is somehow normal, when in fact it points to an unhealthy software lineup. It's about both individual AND total sales across your lineup.

[Strikepackage Bravo]

360 sells more in the USA, and people in the USA buy games like crazy.

Also, the new Sony games tend to be 360 wanna be's, Resistance was a Gears wanna be, Killzone is a Halo wanna be, the originals tend to do better than the wanna be's.

Not as many people outside of the PS3 fanboy world are excited to play Killzone after they have had Halo and Gears, there is just nothing special about Killzone to the casual gamer, its just another FPS. And most people have been there done that on 360 already.

Sony needs to stop copying MS with the shooters and come up with some original ideas, and not the kiddy crap, no more LBP, and Rachet & Clank crap if you want sales.

[Unicron]

....that was by FAR the most ignorant, STUPID trolling post I've ever read on this site.

Congrats.

[Strikepackage Bravo]

the truth hurts sometimes. You should be more specific though, you sound more like a troll than I did.

[brycespitler]

resistance is nothing like gears of war...theres no similarities besides aliens. comparing a fps and a tps is retarded to begin with

resistance is more like halo and they are both pretty equal in terms of quality

resistance has way better story, halo has a better multiplayer, resistance has better coop

its far from a copy though

and killzone 2 is better than halo 3 in terms of quality

i dont see how killzone or resistance COPIED any of those games

your an ignorant fanboy who doesnt know what he's talking about

[Unicron]

Well, thank you for acknowledging that you did indeed sound like a troll. Moving forward -

I hardly see how Sony is a "wannabe." I still do not see any parallels between an alternate history FPS and a futuristic TPS. Also, Killzone and Halo have pretty much NOTHING in common aside from their genre. Even their gameplay focus is quite different. The only connections are those the idiot media love to make to stir up fanboy controversy.

Your "observations" about Halo and Gears are a tad bit presumptuous as well, as well as labeling Ratchet and LBP "kiddy" and ignoring other franchises like Uncharted.

But hey, if you believe all that, good for you.

[ultimolu]

...Since when did Sony copy off of Microsoft?

Then I guess Microsoft came up with the concept of LBP, Gran Turismo, Uncharted, God of War...are you this ignorant in real life?

GET REAL.

[hippo24]

Since they both became businesses.

They both rip each other off more often then not, neither is morally higher then the other, both want money and if copying the other seems like it will get them the green, then they'll do it. Theres no award for originality in todays market.

(unless you happen to be valve)

[Horny Melon]

and check out the PC.

Halo is a tribes wanna be. Gears of War is a third person camera mod from Unreal.

Killzone 2 in mutant space nazis, but it isn't meant to appeal to the casual gamer. That is what pixel junk monster, pixel junk eden, and flower are for.

[Strikepackage Bravo]

I must have done a really bad job at making my point since so many of you missed it. The games I mentioned as wannabe's are not as such because they are anything like Halo or Gears, but rather what they were meant to accomplish.

Resistance was supposed to be to PS3 what Gears was to 360, and if you didn't have a 360 then Resistance was supposed to be the alternative on PS3. Killzone was the same compared to Halo3.

Sony is copying MS because they noticed that FPS's tend to become huge cultural successes in America, and sell millions, Playstation is suddenly a FPS console, I forgot about Haze, it was also supposed to be a Halo killer, failed miserably.

These games were all meant to counter the effects of the Halos and Gears on 360, so if you planned on getting a 360, for those games, you could instead get a PS3 because it too has the same bread of exciting shooters. Its corporate logic, not mine, Im not saying it is a smart strategy or not, Im just pointing it out.

[crillyconlig]

play the games first before making an opinion based on nothing

[no-spin]

you either dont have a PS3, or dont buy the good games, either way is your loss

[Kamikaze135]

Because Sony swears their name will sell their games.

[likedamaster]

I remember wanting to play uncharted before it actually dropped and asking my (360) friends what'd they think about it. To my amazement they had nothing good to say. Lo and behold I rented it anyway, and absolutely loved it. Not that it was a perfect game, far from it. Visuals were inconsistent, laughable animations, and the gunfights were a little too much. Environments were some of the best but suffered from pop-in. Other than that a very well polished and excellent game overall. The graphics, the controls(minus L1 to aim,R1 to shoot <--hated that), the story and gameplay along with trophies and unlockables(later on) made this game worth every penny, in my opinion.

A gem indeed.

[rbrtchng]

Animation is probably the best I've ever seen at the time (Drake had like 10 different animation just for taking cover at the same cover). You are the first to ever complain that gunfights are "too much." I don't even know what that means. Too much guns? Maybe there are some pop-ins that I've failed to notice because the game really is gorgeous. And L1 to aim and R1 to shoot is borrowed from COD4, which is arguably the best shooter in..ever.

Idk. you have weird complaints.

[Fatal Blow]

Yeah i agree with u there and Uncharted is one of my best game's of all time thought it was gonna be crap but when i heard it was naughty dog's
game got it day one and there's nothing like this amazing game out there can't wait for the 2nd one even the 3rd one lol

anyway sony's first party game's are great if u own a ps3 then am sure u will no about there first party game's cause they all way's say our first party game's are gonna show what the ps3 can do i can't see why they are unpopular

is renaissance unpopular?

[Unicron]

Million sellers are now "unpopular?" You know, not even gonna bother... armchair analysts sicken me.

Sony's first party IPs are some of the best in the business right now.

[cc_star]

What about SingStar to Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank to inFamous, and many more like MLB The Show

All convientiently forgotten to further the agenda of gaining hits from n4g

[Zeus Lee]

Apart from Halo and Gears of War,what first party Microsoft games have mass market appeal?

Forza,a game that had to be bundled to cross 2 Million in sales...just like Motorstorm 1 on Ps3?Crackdown,a game that had to be bundled with the Halo 3 beta to sell over a Million copies?Fable,a game that sold to the hardcore market....just like Resistance on Ps3?

-What happened to Lips aka the Singstar killer?I mean,Singstar underperformed in NA,but did over 500,000 copies in EU!

-Nuts&Bolts absolutely tanked at retail,what's up with that?

-The last Viva Pinata sold very poorly to the mass market as well,explain this please....

***************************** **********

Killzone 2 just came out,LittleBigPlanet is still selling well after crossing the 2 Million copies sold mark,BOTH Resistance games have crossed the 1 Million mark,Motorstorm 2 has been confirmed to sell over 500,000 copies,Flower has done exceptionally well for an Artsy downloadable title,I could go on all day long.

Sony's marketing has been absolutely horrendous this generation,but you're completely ignorant if you think Sony's first party games aimed at the mass market are under-performing at retail.

[brycespitler]

gears isnt first party

motorstorm 2 was already confirmed to sell over 1.2 million

we all know sony games always reach over a 1.5 million sold so why argue with ignorant fanboys

[switch-it]

Somehow it make me think of the Gamespot review of Ratchet and Clank Future..

[resistance100]

Yet another website which looks at America only.

I'm sorry but

-Heavenly Sword
-Uncharted
-motorstorm 1 & PR
-Resistance 1 & 2
-Killzone 2
-GT5: Prologue

All had fantastic sales in Europe and are some of the most popular titles.

[jmare]

So essentially, this article says Sony games are unpopular. This guy needs to learn about a little thing called research. His reasons why Sony games are "unpopular" are: Advertising (or lack thereof); Reliance on 3rd parties; lack of Brand Identity; and lack of legacy.

He has a point about advertising. Sony doesn not market their games as well as MS or Nintendo.

As for reliance on 3rd parties, it's almost too hard to know where to begin. Did he forget that the only truly successful 1st party game for the Xbox and 360 was Halo? Every other game that is popular for the 360 is 3rd party. At the other end of the spectrum is Nintendo whose success lies solely with first party games. Sony uses third party games to their advantage, but realizes it's exclusives that sell consoles; games, not just DLC.

Lack of Brand Identity, this is kind of right and kind of wrong. It is true that there is no ONE game that defines the playstation brand. But that is not a bad thing. Playstation has always been about appealing to as wide as possible an audience so why everyone may play different game, they all play them on a playstation. Nintendo is known for kiddie games and the 360 is known for shooters, particularly Halo and Gears.

As far as legacy is concerned, why would you want to run all you franchises into the ground? Nintendo keeps pushing Mario down people's throats like he's heroin and MS seems to be trying to drive the Halo name into the ground now that Bungie's gone. But why would you want to turn all your franchises into jokes like Mario and Tony Hawk and Medal of Honor and Call or Duty. Not that they are bad franchises or that there weren't great games from those franchises, but they were driven into the ground by being rinsed and repeated over and over and over again.

All in all, Sony might not be doing as well this round as they have in ther past, but they know what they are doing and they still won huge with bluray.

[Counter_ACT]

Considering Uncharted is a 2 million seller, its a pretty idiotic image to use next to that title.

[Strikepackage Bravo]

I think we all expected Uncharted to do even better, we also expected it to sell much faster, if the game and the console is as great as you guys say, Uncharted should have sold 2million in the first few days Halo style, and should be around 6 million by now. After all most of you would argue that Uncharted is better looking than anything on 360.

[Counter_ACT]

Yeah, it does look better than most of the games on 360 but that's got nothing to do with sales. It was a new IP on a console that barely had its legs. Not many games sell 2 million on the first day, be realistic.

[Strikepackage Bravo]

with you completely, but Im saying according to the hype and claims made by PS3 fans, this game is superior to Halo, Gears you name it, a game that great should have brought in tons of new buyers to the console and did things most games can't do.

So instead of claiming the game was the second coming of Christ, maybe PS3 fans should have just called it a great new IP with very good graphics.

[no-spin]

and the 36o should be a reliable console- fails
and if 360 is sooooo easy to developed for and "close in power to the PS3" (lmao) where are the quality games that are supposed to surpass PS3- nowhere to be found. oh i know ALAN WAKE is coming soooon.

PS3 $600 at launch, currently doubles the price of the 360, and manage to have over 4 titles selling over a million.

360 blockbusters are far in between and when they get released many 360 owner have to buy it, otherwise what use is the 360 without the once a year blockbuster

[stuntman_mike]

this article is full of it. sonys first party games are selling well in europe anyway, i have nearly all sonys first party ps3 games as they are some of the best games around this gen.
and later this year will be another onslaught of great first party titles.

but to be honest im not a sony salesman and i dont really care about sales aslong as i get more uncharted, killzone, infamous amongst others.

[ultimolu]

ADVERTISE.

Sony needs to put a foot up the asses of the guys in charge of advertising.

They're doing better with it now but there's no excuse for them to advertise the living crap out of games like LBP and R2...or even KZ2. I barely see any Sony ads around where I live.

[OOG]

Its all about getting the game out to the audience... and Sony sucks at that right now... so hopfully that will change.....

Whats more impressive is when a game can be sold at 59.99 even a half a year after release... and I havnt seen any Sony games this gen that can keep a high retail price for long.....

But this year has tons of good games so maybe its time for a change...

[Chrisy]

Generic, mediocre and boring shooters. The exact kind off sh*t xbox1 was unpopular for.

Doing the exact opposite of what made you a massive success in the firts place and the exact same thing that made your opponent fail.................sony must have contracted some serious retardation illness @ the end of the ps2 era to pull a dumb stunt like this:\

[Too_Hyped]

Another stupid fanboy article. I would feel frustrated too if I had nothing to play as a 360-only user like them, so it's ok.

Every day another PS3 exclusive is announced, every day another 360 exclusive is coming to PS3 too (ninja gaiden 2 sigma), it must be depressing.

Still, pigs don't fly, earth is not flat, and IPs like Gran Turismo, God of War, or Metal Gear Solid are still by far the most popular in the world, with only Halo trying to compete on the other side. Continue shaking your hands, it will surely alter the reality.

Thanks for the laugh.

Back to the best fps ever, Killzone 2.

[otherZinc]

Play another machine with the popular game objectively & see how great it is. Then go back & play your PS3 game & see why the sales of: Killzone 2, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, Uncharted, LBP, GT Prologue, even MGS 4 (long @ss movies), damn play some other games.

It isn't advertising either, you cant make mediocrity a Star, the game must be a star in advance.

I have a prediction for you SONY fans: Uncharted 2, Infamous, & Heavy Rain are going to sell on the very low side of what you fans are thinking.

[Aclay]

Sony 1st party video games aren't "unpopular", it's just that a lot of Playstation exclusives appeal to a certain niche market.

Team ICO's next game will be huge, it will get tons of hype and I'm looking forward to it like crazy, but most likely it will sell about 2 million copies max. Is 2 million copies sold bad? No, it's not bad, it's just that a lot of Playstation exclusives aren't highly commercialized games, and most of them have never been... even in the PS2 era, many 1st party Playstation exclusives like Jak and Daxter weren't highly commercialized.

Sony has never relied on one or two particular franchises for Brand Identity and never have. Games like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot were popular on the PS1, but each generation, Sony likes to mix things up and introduce fresh new IP's.

Some may say that Sony not having much of a Brand Identity with their games is a weakness, but personally I think it can be a strength...Even though Halo is popular, I seriously wonder if a future Xbox could even flourish without a Halo (or Gears) game because that's a franchise the Xbox brand is so dependent on... but Sony is never dependent on just one particular franchise for their consoles because they introduce so many new ones.

[HDgamer]

Because he says they are unpopular, therefore its true never mind the sequels.

[felidae]

maybe because they're not as good as Nintendo Wii and 360 games

[Timesplitter14]

I don't know why. It doesn't make any sense. It's ridiculous.

[Rhezin]

I used to think like you UNTIL I ACTUALLY TRIED THE PS3 1ST PARTY GAMES. I wasn't disappointed. You probably have not picked up 1 single ps3 game. GTFO

[jBat17]

haha.. also wiki says Motorstorm, LBP, and KZ2 did better than other M$ titles, like that gaybear and bumjo game

[ELite_Ghost]

it's gotta change...

[CrimsonFox13]

Well this was a stupid article. Their first party games sell over twice as much as multiplatform games, from what I've seen.

[cmrbe]

i have 21 PS3 exclusives sofar as oppose to 6 multi-plats.

[be_wrong]

why really? unpopular? then why do many xbots bash about it? what does xbox offer? halo? :P

[frictionini]

but PS3 owners got and will get the best of it as most exclusives are gems

[LiquifiedArt]

All the spoiled Playstation Generation SellOUTS, who needed the NEWEST thing. Got an xbox360 when it released. Once you start paying for XBOX live, it makes it very hard to try anything else. (Since like an MMO, once you start paying for service and build a profile worth yoru $$$ and time you are reluctant to give it up). So you wind up getting this slew of HARDCORE gamers and all their HARDCORE gamer friends who aren't loyal Playstation fans, who sold out and now most HARDCORES have an xbox.

[Sephiroth503]

They don't sell like Gears or Halo because the Sony fanbase is broader and expects a more varied selection of games to choose from. Gears and Halo are shooters and that is what the 360 is known for, Resistance and LBP have nothing in common and exemplify just how varied the PS3 can be.

Not all PS3 owners only play shooters/racing/whatever, the PS1 and PS2 were known for their variety and that is continuing on to the PS3, Sony are making sure to cater for all their audiences and keeping everyone happy: LBP for the casuals, GT for the racers, Resistance/Killzone for the shooters, Heavy Rain or MGS for the story lovers, GOW/Infamous for the action fans and so on.

You can't expect all PS3 owners to buy every single Sony published/owned game!

[Shane Kim]

Very stupid article indeed. It says besides GoW and GT, well that's the same amount as MS first party games couse all they got is Halo and Gears. But on the other hand, Uncharted has sol 3.5-4 million copies and R&C 2 million. Then we have other games like LBP and Resistance. MS first party titles are nowhere near that.

[RumbleFish]

Only thing I can say: Never follow the link when the headline is like this one. Stop giving those sites traffic! They earn money with bad journalism and those who follow the link support them. We are the ones that can clean up with this mess in games journalism.

Boycott everyone with this kind of headlines!

The don't earn money from the heat on N4G, they earn money if you follow the links!

[Rock_On_PS4]

People on here are mainly X360 or Wii owners pretending they care about PS3. Hardly anyone buys PS3. Its sales are very low in comparison to X360 and Wii.

So PS3 releases a new exclusive first party game and people just make 100's of threads. Oh wow look a new PS3 game. It will save PS3 and sell millions of consoles and 2 million copies of the game will be sold on day one. lol. Always the same and always huge let down all the time.

PS3 pretend fans are classic. I have been on other websites and pretended to be a PS3 fanatic/ anti-any other console fan and I would make just the most annoying crap just to annoy people.

PS3 needs a price cut and that may help it slowly get back to second spot in console wars in three or four years time from now.

[Mr Arthur Ritis]

sony made video games mainstream? how old are u? 12? nintendo made games mainstream.

[GarandShooter]

I disagree. When the videogame industry was basically Nintendo vs Sega, videogames were thought of as children's playthings. When the PS1 was released, and brought with it more mature titles, the appeal widened. Therefore, it could be inferred that Sony, while I won't say soley made gaming mainstream, did make a very substantial contribution to gaming becoming mainstream.

[LinuxGuru]

FUD