No Firm Dates For Any Of Sony’s Big Exclusives
A succession of critically acclaimed exclusive titles during the first quarter of 2017 has been a real boon for Sony. There’s a narrative now that the publisher has hit top gear and is consistently delivering brilliant games. So in the build-up to this year’s E3, one of the big questions was whether it would maintain this momentum for the rest of 2017, and now we have our answer.
Unfortunately, as has been the case for the PS4’s entire lifecycle so far, Sony will lean on third parties during the autumn. None of its heavy hitting, highly anticipated games – God of War, Detroit: Become Human, Days Gone, Spider-Man – are due out this year. It’s a huge disappointment, especially given that several of those games had already gotten fairly substantial reveals at E3 2016.
Frustratingly, not only are we not getting a single title from this mouthwatering second batch of exclusives this year, we’ve got no definite dates at all. I was sure at least one of the games would end its splash screen with a firm release date, but all we got were vague windows. Is this Sony trying to avoid blushes later down the track or safeguarding against painful delay announcements? Either way, it’s disappointing to see these excellent looking games and still not know when we’ll be able to play them.
Still No Virtual Console on Switch
The fact that the Nintendo Switch has managed to garner a significant following void of online capabilities and Virtual Console is pretty incredible. It speaks volumes for just how much its hybrid functionality has resonated with gamers, especially in Japan where the console is absolutely soaring. But the honeymoon period is over now; E3 should have been a platform for Nintendo to transition away from what has felt like a soft launch. Yet still, we’re left waiting for news on one of the most beloved and valued features of any Nintendo console: access to its catalog of classic games.
So what on earth is going on with Virtual Console? Reggie Fils-Aime did speak to its absence at E3 in an interview in which he made it quite obvious that Nintendo is still figuring out how best to offer its “legacy content” (Nintendo isn’t actually calling the feature Virtual Console). He stated the company has heard the message and is busy trying to implement a system to tie in with Switch’s online subscription service. That essentially boils down to Nintendo working out how best to monetize those classic games and tier pricing and availability. Distressingly, though the bottom line is that an announcement still seems a way off.
Ultimately, Nintendo is aware of just how appealing its classic roster of games is going to be on Switch. Virtual Console, or whatever it will be called, is going to be highly lucrative for the company, and it wants to execute a solid strategy to take advantage of that.
Xbox One X Price
The Xbox One X’s $499 price tag has been the subject of huge debate since the console was officially unveiled last week. On the one hand, Microsoft’s iterative upgrade is offering 4K gaming at a comparatively low price to PC equivalents. On the other hand, the X is $100 more than its competition, PS4 Pro. Despite being significantly more powerful, this might see it struggle to appeal to a broad audience, particularly given that a 4k television is required to take full advantage of the extra performance.
Consider that the Xbox One S (now $200, for a limited time) is less than half the price of its big brother but still boasts identical content and features. There’s a huge performance gap, of course, though we aren’t exactly sure how that is going to be utilized beyond 4k resolution. After all, the PS4 Pro has already provided a case study, and it hasn’t exactly been wildly compelling for gamers using 1080p televisions. More stable frame rates, slightly faster loading times, better anti-aliasing. Improvements, certainly, but is the Xbox One X really worth a whopping $300 more for a few tweaks?
There’s also too little separating the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X to warrant the extra $100. Those expecting significant advantages over Sony’s own iterative upgrade might be yet be disappointed.
Indeed, several third-party developers have already stated a parity between Pro and X moving forward. Destiny, Metro, and Assassin’s Creed origins run similarly on both systems. So are users in danger of purchasing a console that won’t ever be pushed to its potential with the exception of first party content? If that does turn out to be the case, Microsoft’s poultry line-up for the rest of the year doesn’t convince me Xbox One X is worth the money, yet.
No New IPs from Microsoft’s first Party Studios
After Sony’s “games, games, games” message at E3 2016, Microsoft was clearly trying to emulate that same focus for its own conference this year. It was a good call; content is what drives the industry, and Xbox users want assurances that the future looks bright.
42 games were proudly showcased, and Microsoft did a great job providing peace of mind that the Xbox family isn’t going to suffer from a lack of content. That being said, the whole exclusive-but-not-exclusive thing was slightly irritating. 22 “console launch exclusives”, actually boils down to just 7 true exclusives, most of which were familiar names. And it is that familiarity factor that was the biggest letdown. The absence of Halo and Gears shouldn’t have bothered too many people, but where was the tease of something new? Microsoft is turning into Nintendo, rinsing and repeating crowd favorites rather than branching out, except its games aren’t nearly as good.
Microsoft needs to start generating some hype with inventive new IPs. The problem with leaning on familiar franchises is that they’re only likely to draw in the same crowds as before. You could, of course, point to Sea of Thieves as a good example of something unique and different from Microsoft. Third person, story driven blockbuster games are the zeitgeist right now, though, but as Sony cashes in, Microsoft is floundering with nothing similar in its lineup.
It’s time for Microsoft to give us a roadmap of what’s coming in the future, even if it does end up teasing content that is some years away.
Sucker Punch’s Absence
It’s been three years since Sucker Punch Studios’ last game, Infamous Second Son. It didn’t quite replicate the dizzying heights of the PS3 originals, but there was plenty to like about the early PS4 exclusive. Apart from remaining one of the prettiest games on the console to this day, Sucker Punch absolutely nailed super-hero traversal and combat. In fact, from a pure gameplay perspective, few open world games are as entertaining as Second Son — an aspect to its dynamic that Sucker Punch doubled down on with combat arena challenges in First Light, the game’s standalone DLC.
The big question now is what the future holds, both for the Infamous franchise and Sucker Punch. It remains one of the only Sony first party studios to have still not shown its hand in an ecosystem that is otherwise well forecasted. At one stage, it was rumored that the upcoming Spider-Man game might have been the studio’s next big project, particularly given its experiences with Infamous, but that has since been quashed (Insomniac Games is working on Sony’s new AAA open world superhero game).
So does that mean Sucker Punch are busy at work on a new Infamous title or are they pushing the studio in a new direction while anticipation for Spider Man brews? We’ve recently seen one of Sony’s studios drop an established franchise in favor of something different — Guerrilla Games found critical acclaim swapping Killzone for Horizon Zero Dawn. Perhaps Sucker Punch the next Sony-owned studio aiming for success with a change of pace. Whatever the outcome, Gamers are dying to know what they’ve been up to for the past two years, especially given the developers prestige among Sony’s first parties. The big announcement is surely impending, I’m just sad it didn’t prove to be what could have been Sony’s fever pitch moment at this year’s E3 conference.
