Sony would 'hate to see all PS4 games being FPS or very photorealistic'

"We were like yeah we hate to see all the PS4 games being FPS or action-adventure or very photorealistic, you know big-budget blockbuster games," Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said.

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The first officially revealed PS4 exclusive was Knack, a cartoony adventure from Sony's Japan Studio. While Sony could have opted to debut their new console with a bombastic graphics showcase (like they later did with Killzone and DriveClub), their decision to start with Knack was very intentional.

"We were like yeah we hate to see all the PS4 games being FPS or action-adventure or very photorealistic, you know big-budget blockbuster games," Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said. "You know people like these games but these are not the only kinds of games that people can have fun with."

Of course, it probably doesn't hurt that Knack is being designed by Mark Cerny, the "system architect" for PS4. As executive producer on the original Crash Bandicoot for PS1, Knack's reveal ties Sony back to its roots.

"The biggest message that we wanted to send in preparing for the event as well as in designing PS4 was... we at Sony and we at Sony Computer Entertainment, it's just natural for us to enhance the core technology and performance of the hardware, but it's not the hardware that is the biggest focus," Yoshida told Edge. "When you look at the five key principles behind designing PS4, none of them are hardware related, actually. It's all about how people use and experience, enjoy games, realized by the system software features and network functions."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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  • reply
    April 23, 2013 1:30 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Sony would 'hate to see all PS4 games being FPS or very photorealistic'.

    "We were like yeah we hate to see all the PS4 games being FPS or action-adventure or very photorealistic, you know big-budget blockbuster games," Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said.

    • reply
      April 23, 2013 1:47 PM

      Interesting, but what can they do to encourage developers to produce more diverse game experiences at the AAA level?

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        April 23, 2013 1:48 PM

        Emotion chip!

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        April 23, 2013 2:14 PM

        That's the question we're all asking, I think.

        Personally, I'm way more excited about Knack than just about anything else that's being targeted at next-gen hardware. But, I don't consider myself a "core gamer." Sony's (and the industry's) battle is to bring in more users from outside of the traditional user base. However, so many AAA publishers are risk-averse and rely heavily on their core audience, and they'll only be swayed by numbers indicating that unique games are in fact raking in the dough.

        I think Sony's doing the right thing by leading with Knack as well as supporting the indie game industry through PSN. Strategies like this are possibly the best means of bringing in new blood, which is the best way to get AAA publishers' attention.

        Of course, MS will come out with their next console entry pretty soon, and they seem to have a quite different philosophy. With AAA publishers wanting to target all major platforms (for better or worse), this could end up meaning there's a lack of high-profile titles being released for a significant section of Sony's target audience.

        tl;dr I dunno. Time will probably make a strategy clearer.

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        April 23, 2013 2:26 PM

        It's really exciting when you see something diverse and fresh pop up. From this generation, I remember the first time I saw Eye of Judgment, that augmented reality card battler for the PS Eye where you place cards under the camera and the come to life on the screen. Super cool stuff and it ended up being a really fun card game.

        Anyway, hope we see more stuff like that.

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        April 23, 2013 2:37 PM

        At best do what they can to push down development costs. That is breaks/deals on licensing costs for games that offer variety, agreements to share engine technologies, tools, etc that have been developed by their first parties. I believe they have been doing a lot of this already with the PS3 currently and I think we're starting to see a nice variety of successful games that aren't FPS or pushing graphics as a primary attraction.

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        April 23, 2013 3:16 PM

        Games don't have to be AAA. If they generate a healthy profit and more importantly brand loyalty then the game did its job. A problem with the games industry right now is everyone feels the need to generate multi million dollar projects. This is why 38 Studios crashed and burned.

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          April 23, 2013 5:21 PM

          38 Studios, THQ. Square Enix is headed that way. Konami used to be one of my favorites and they put out, what, one game every two years now? What's going to happen when the next MGS doesn't do well? Activision and EA probably aren't that far behind, either.

          Plenty of market out there for non-AAA titles with the PC market being the obvious example. Sony has done a good job cultivating their arcade/indie storefront on PS3, in my opinion. Having that "middle class" of gaming will help them next gen.

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            April 23, 2013 5:50 PM

            Konami isn't going away. Even though they rarely release big titles, I think they are one of the top mobile/social game in Japan. They also have the pachinko stuff which is making them money.

            It's too bad we may never see ZOE (What the hell happened to the HD Remaster) or another Suikoden title. I'm quite surprise they haven't release more things for the 3DS since the hardware is not that demanding to make, but I guess MGS3 didn't make expectations on the system.

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              April 23, 2013 10:55 PM

              HD ZOE/ZOE2 has been out for a while. In fact, you might need to grab it soon before it gets hard to find.

              Also, Konami has done some excellent games for the DS, but they were so under the radar, no one ever heard about them or played them. I REALLY recommend Lost in Blue for a nifty desert island survival sim and especially Time Hollow, which is a truly creepy and original adventure game.

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          April 23, 2013 9:48 PM

          Atlus does a good job at this. Nothing so big that they're going to "risk it all", and still manage to put out a lot of quality gaming.

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        April 23, 2013 3:36 PM

        [deleted]

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      April 23, 2013 3:18 PM

      While I agree that PS3 was an inferior system overall, Sony did a great job in embracing unique games and had a very strong set of first party exclusives. I hope this carries over with the PS4.

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        April 23, 2013 5:03 PM

        remove everything before the comma and i agree.

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          April 23, 2013 8:38 PM

          As much as I want the PS3 to be the winner, Sony took a beating with this generation and newcomer Microsoft was boosted many notches higher. It's not a matter of preference. I like the PS3 more too but the system did not perform at the market as well as the 360 and was plagued with many issues.

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        April 23, 2013 5:12 PM

        lol at inferior system

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        April 24, 2013 7:55 AM

        I don't own a PS3 (or any console) but I think the only game that would have made me a sad panda on it would be Skyrim. Other than that it appears to have been a great system.

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      April 23, 2013 4:48 PM

      I would also hate to see all next gen games be photorealistic blockbuster FPSs.

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      April 23, 2013 5:42 PM

      I agree with the sentiment a bit as we do need more game variety and more crazy new ideas for art style and gameplay. Graphics are great when they help add to the immersion of certain games just like they do with movies. At the same time we can have movies like Shrek and Toy Story that can be equally good. It is just being open to different ideas as to what can be fun.

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      April 23, 2013 9:07 PM

      I like what this guy is saying and where Sony seems to be going this generation. I have to wait and see what MS comes up with... but Sony is definitely making it a more difficult choice for me than last time (I don't have the desire or room or time for both of these things).

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      April 23, 2013 9:36 PM

      I ....actually like where they are going with PS4 so far. Hmmm...might be a possible purchase in the future if they manage to continue this gamer-centric attitude. It's looking appealing to PC gamers such as myself. PC can do sims and realism better with more control options, not to mention FPS are much better with a mouse/keyboard. If Sony can make some awesome controller-centric console games thinking out of the box I can definitely justify supporting them there.

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      April 24, 2013 12:54 PM

      Sony is a company that has obviously slipped in recent years. As much as I've been disappointed with them I am willing to give them a chance with the PS4 to regain my support. They seem to be stressing the importance on games constantly so hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.

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