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Take Fifa for example, a regular member of the Playstation's games listings. This is a game that can be argued both ways, but in my view it is pretty much below average. Sony's latest incarnation of Fifa titles (not including World Cup 2002), Fifa 2002, is a very poor game and another good example of when sequels fail to improve on prequels. It's proven evident to us gamers that the Fifa team are having a hard time trying to keep up with the likes of the team at Konami, but Fifa 2002 really tops it all off for them. The whole game itself just doesn't feel special, not just because of Fifa's poor rep, but because when playing the game it just feels like Fifa have tried too hard on this occassion. The player's response isn't up to scratch and the passing is just too complex for all audiences to attempt. You could just be running down the wing and all of a sudden a dotted yellow line pops out of nowhere telling you when to make a through pass. This seems like a terrible feature. Look at Pro Evolution Soccer and you'll realise that knowing when to play your own throughballs is much better and it increases you ability in the game. Fifa 2002 doesn't allow much freedom as the passing and shooting styles are quite limited, whereas Pro Evolution Soccer has a range of totally different passing and shooting techniques depending on the buttons pressed.
Sony have still kept their contract with Fifa and they're still making annual sequels. There's no real problem with that, but if they keep producing poor quality football games, Sony's good reputation may start to disintegrate like Sega's did.
With the Sony Playstation 2, there seems to have been a lot of high anticipation before it was launched; much more than the GameCube and X-box launches. However, compared to both of these consoles, Sony produced a poor amount of quality launch titles. This left pre-orderers with a limited choice of games, which may have looked impressive at the time, but didn't really surprise Sony fans as much as it could. It wasn't until a year later that the Playstation 2 really started to perform, allowing for broadband capabilities and very impressive games, which at the end of the day was gamer's first priority. That's why it's still surprising now to think that Sony can allow their contract developers to produce such poor games like FreakOut and such pointless and bizarre games like SOE. (the sound of rioting soon gets annoying!)
Look at Sony's stats and you'll see that they're one of the best technologically advanced businesses around with products like Digital Sound Tvs, Mini Disc players, DVD players and so on, being made by them. They even attached a screen to the newer PSOne versions. That is why I was pretty annoyed that they didn't add more little advanced touches to the PS2, like being able to play your own choice of music during a game like GT3. X-box made this possible in PGR, showing their strength in the console wars. Nintendo's GameCube has also outsmarted the PS2 as it has cracked down on piracy as well as reducing loading times even though it uses Midi-Disc Technology. Why didn't Sony think of this? Are they leaving this room for a far more superior console like say, THE PS3! I damn well hope so, but why didn't they just make the PS2 far mor advanced than it quietly is now?
The one thing about Sony that's so annoying to Sony extremists is that their quality in their games is never constant. A great game will be made, then the next game they make ends up being absolutely rubbish, or simply average. It's hard to expect quality games from developers all the time, but Sony's rep demands this! One thing I've noticed about Playstation and Playstation 2 games is that they're either re-runs from the PC or are re-ran onto the PC. There's no problem with their games being re-run on the PC for Sony fans ( maybe for PC fans), but games being re-run onto the PS2 takes the whole element of surprise away because most PS2 fans have a Pc and play games on it anyway. PC re-runs only work if they're an improvement to its counterpart otherwise there's really no point ot them other than giving console fans who don't have a PC a chance to play a certain game. Sony is well known for its games being re-made for the PC, but it seems like more games are coming over from the PC onto the PS2. Everyone knows that the PC so far is the dominant form of gaming, so what's the point?
Sony produce top quality games most of the time, but in comparison to the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo they don't seem to look that revolutionary anymore. One thing that keeps me reassured about Sony and the Playstation 2 is that it always produces something new. Never mind poor developments like the Fifa series or other poor titles, Sony always impresses people all over the world with games like GTA3 and Medal of Honour: frontline, and with sequels coming out later this years for both titles, fans don't really have an excuse to dismiss Sony.
To Sony's future
PK
Very few WORTH TALKING ABOUT! ;-P
Besides, considering Sony's been into gaming for over 10 years, that's not such a big list. It also contains games made by companies that they've bought out - like Psygnosis.
And aside from a few like the GT series and Wipeout (made by Psygnosis but I suppose it sort of counts), hasn't made very many titles that you'd associate with a Sony console.
It's biggest games (likes tombraider, fifa, Resi and MGS) came from third parties.
> Sony produce very few games
Ignore this nonsense.
Go here:
http://www.scee.com
Click on Software, then scroll through the list headed "Developer" and choose SCEE, SCEA or SCEI to see just how many games Sony develop themselves.
What I mean is that the PS2 is a very capable console that can take on the good graphics as well as fast gameplay. This makes it an easier job for developers. But still, the developers CAN be blamed for what they make of their games. When Sony relies on people like Rockstar or Konami, it doesn't rely on them to make poor games, it relies on them to make decent games so more Sony games can sell.
Fifa does sell a lot, but with games like Pro Evo knocking it off the topspot for sales, it's only a matter of time before people stop buying their Fifa games.
Sony's rep needs to be kept up by advanced hardware devices and a reasonable amount of decent games being produced. I'm sure that by now they'll have noticed which third party developers aren't producing the quality games and had a word or two with them. If not, the likes of GameCube and X-box will recieve an even better reputation when people compare them to Sony.
Now, that wouldn't be good!
As a result, they leave it to the individual companies to do what they will with the hardware, and it's up to these companies to make the good games.
Sony didn't exactly encourage the devellopers, especially as they made the PS2 hard to work with, but knew they could rely on them to feed their console with titles and can't be blamed for what the companies make of these games.
Besides, seeing as Fifa sells so well, why should Sony stop?
Likewise, Nintendo and Microsoft have allowed EA to release the same Fifa 2002 on their consoles as well.
If the game sells then people obviously like it and although the hardcore gamers tend to agree that it's pretty crap, they don't HAVE to buy it.
I knew better than to buy it.
If other people splash out then it's not MY problem.
Take Fifa for example, a regular member of the Playstation's games listings. This is a game that can be argued both ways, but in my view it is pretty much below average. Sony's latest incarnation of Fifa titles (not including World Cup 2002), Fifa 2002, is a very poor game and another good example of when sequels fail to improve on prequels. It's proven evident to us gamers that the Fifa team are having a hard time trying to keep up with the likes of the team at Konami, but Fifa 2002 really tops it all off for them. The whole game itself just doesn't feel special, not just because of Fifa's poor rep, but because when playing the game it just feels like Fifa have tried too hard on this occassion. The player's response isn't up to scratch and the passing is just too complex for all audiences to attempt. You could just be running down the wing and all of a sudden a dotted yellow line pops out of nowhere telling you when to make a through pass. This seems like a terrible feature. Look at Pro Evolution Soccer and you'll realise that knowing when to play your own throughballs is much better and it increases you ability in the game. Fifa 2002 doesn't allow much freedom as the passing and shooting styles are quite limited, whereas Pro Evolution Soccer has a range of totally different passing and shooting techniques depending on the buttons pressed.
Sony have still kept their contract with Fifa and they're still making annual sequels. There's no real problem with that, but if they keep producing poor quality football games, Sony's good reputation may start to disintegrate like Sega's did.
With the Sony Playstation 2, there seems to have been a lot of high anticipation before it was launched; much more than the GameCube and X-box launches. However, compared to both of these consoles, Sony produced a poor amount of quality launch titles. This left pre-orderers with a limited choice of games, which may have looked impressive at the time, but didn't really surprise Sony fans as much as it could. It wasn't until a year later that the Playstation 2 really started to perform, allowing for broadband capabilities and very impressive games, which at the end of the day was gamer's first priority. That's why it's still surprising now to think that Sony can allow their contract developers to produce such poor games like FreakOut and such pointless and bizarre games like SOE. (the sound of rioting soon gets annoying!)
Look at Sony's stats and you'll see that they're one of the best technologically advanced businesses around with products like Digital Sound Tvs, Mini Disc players, DVD players and so on, being made by them. They even attached a screen to the newer PSOne versions. That is why I was pretty annoyed that they didn't add more little advanced touches to the PS2, like being able to play your own choice of music during a game like GT3. X-box made this possible in PGR, showing their strength in the console wars. Nintendo's GameCube has also outsmarted the PS2 as it has cracked down on piracy as well as reducing loading times even though it uses Midi-Disc Technology. Why didn't Sony think of this? Are they leaving this room for a far more superior console like say, THE PS3! I damn well hope so, but why didn't they just make the PS2 far mor advanced than it quietly is now?
The one thing about Sony that's so annoying to Sony extremists is that their quality in their games is never constant. A great game will be made, then the next game they make ends up being absolutely rubbish, or simply average. It's hard to expect quality games from developers all the time, but Sony's rep demands this! One thing I've noticed about Playstation and Playstation 2 games is that they're either re-runs from the PC or are re-ran onto the PC. There's no problem with their games being re-run on the PC for Sony fans ( maybe for PC fans), but games being re-run onto the PS2 takes the whole element of surprise away because most PS2 fans have a Pc and play games on it anyway. PC re-runs only work if they're an improvement to its counterpart otherwise there's really no point ot them other than giving console fans who don't have a PC a chance to play a certain game. Sony is well known for its games being re-made for the PC, but it seems like more games are coming over from the PC onto the PS2. Everyone knows that the PC so far is the dominant form of gaming, so what's the point?
Sony produce top quality games most of the time, but in comparison to the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo they don't seem to look that revolutionary anymore. One thing that keeps me reassured about Sony and the Playstation 2 is that it always produces something new. Never mind poor developments like the Fifa series or other poor titles, Sony always impresses people all over the world with games like GTA3 and Medal of Honour: frontline, and with sequels coming out later this years for both titles, fans don't really have an excuse to dismiss Sony.
To Sony's future
PK