Holiday Lineup for the Ages
What’s really going to carry a lot of weight in 2017 is the holiday season, thanks to two new pieces of hardware from Nintendo and Microsoft. Launch years always mean extra oomph come the winter months, with each company vying for your every dollar by throwing bundles, games, and other goodies your way. With Sony not having anything new in terms of hardware (from what we know as of the time of writing at least), all they’ll have is bundles and games. Not just any games will do, though, as the competition will undoubtedly put their best foot forward to make waves for the holidays. That means it’s time to dip into that upcoming exclusive lineup and pull some games into a locked in 2017 release date.
Now, there are clearly some games that will not be able to make the cut such as The Last of Us Part 2 and Detroit: Become Human. However, there are some games that don’t have a window that can potentially squeeze themselves into 2017. Marvel and Insomniac’s Spider-Man (which is a PS4 exclusive) has a chance of coming out this year to keep the Spider-Man hype alive after the release of Homecoming this summer. Another prospect is God of War, which is looking very good so far as it changes how players experience the series. Santa Monica has their work cut out for them thanks to stellar showings by other Sony studios, but if anyone can deliver a blockbuster this year, it’s them. There are also some third-party exclusives that can really turn everyone’s holiday shopping attention to Sony such as Ni No Kuni 2, a follow-up to the critically acclaimed RPG.
With a strong hardware push that can take a sizable head start from the competition (Nintendo, which releases its hardware first, isn’t putting out anything until March), some strategic use of anniversaries and first party titles, as well as a solid holiday lineup, Sony can really seize 2017 for itself. It’s not going to be easy, because you can bet dollars to donuts that Nintendo and Microsoft will both be pushing hard as well, but Sony has proven that they can make things happen when necessary.
