Sony Playstation Marketing: a quiet place in days gone?

I think the request for vision at the end of the generation is a little irrational. It's basically asking sony to tell MS what their future plans are. The word "vision" is usually followed by PR crap which feels good but doesn't actually promises anything tangible.

Shifty keeps saying there's no positives to customers from sony keeping quiet about their plans. I maintain that's not true.

Not a sure shot, but it could be better for us if the silence provides them a competitive edge, meaning in turn the next platform becomes highly successful. It directly impacts the money they'll invest in first parties. It's the most critical aspect of a game console longevity.

I want the next platform to retain it's dominance because I am invested in that platform, I have a lot of ps4 games, I'd rather not have to switch platform next gen. I gain from Sony making the best marketing moves. This is more important to me than knowing far in advance their business plan.

It's positive for us if the features announced are only announced when they are sure it will work. Don't announce psvr compatibility until you're 100% sure, otherwise you end up like MS promising amazing VR on xb1x which was not going to happen. See all the E3 from MS where their amazingly clear vision was followed by complete reversal and cancellations. From my point of view, MS vision have zero potency because they have a history of saying anything that sells and then change plans. That looks worse than keeping quiet until it actually works.

The more sony keeps their cards close to their chest, the more we see the xbox fans insecurities showing up online. Just like 2012 was filled with "sony is bankrupt" and "they have no money to make a console" and "sony have no choice but to add online drm too". For some, it looks like sony is getting punched, but their silence until unveiling was perfect. About online drm all they said was "we are closely listening, please trust us to make the best decision" despite the anger on forums wanting an answer NOW. And they waited until MS couldn't backtrack, then they went for the jugular, it was a perfect storm.

This time if MS announce a massive focus on gaas and cloud, sony needs to wait for them to commit to it. Then they announce their entire next gen plans and services, including their cloud plans. They know from their many years of experience with streaming how difficult it will be. They kept completely quiet when MS was overselling cloud augmentation. They were actually working very hard on gaikai becoming psnow. They simply let MS lose customers trust by overselling the cloud with a questionable vision. They said nothing and they didn't have to.

TL;DR
They hate us cause they ain't us!
 
So we're all guessing Q4 2020?
Yea, it's getting to about that point in time. Testing and Kits go out for about a year and then a ramp up in production and go?
 
I think the request for vision at the end of the generation is a little irrational. It's basically asking sony to tell MS what their future plans are. The word "vision" is usually followed by PR crap which feels good but doesn't actually promises anything tangible.

Shifty keeps saying there's no positives to customers from sony keeping quiet about their plans. I maintain that's not true.

Not a sure shot, but it could be better for us if the silence provides them a competitive edge, meaning in turn the next platform becomes highly successful. It directly impacts the money they'll invest in first parties. It's the most critical aspect of a game console longevity.

I want the next platform to retain it's dominance because I am invested in that platform, I have a lot of ps4 games, I'd rather not have to switch platform next gen. I gain from Sony making the best marketing moves. This is more important to me than knowing far in advance their business plan.

It's positive for us if the features announced are only announced when they are sure it will work. Don't announce psvr compatibility until you're 100% sure, otherwise you end up like MS promising amazing VR on xb1x which was not going to happen. See all the E3 from MS where their amazingly clear vision was followed by complete reversal and cancellations. From my point of view, MS vision have zero potency because they have a history of saying anything that sells and then change plans. That looks worse than keeping quiet until it actually works.

The more sony keeps their cards close to their chest, the more we see the xbox fans insecurities showing up online. Just like 2012 was filled with "sony is bankrupt" and "they have no money to make a console" and "sony have no choice but to add online drm too". For some, it looks like sony is getting punched, but their silence until unveiling was perfect. About online drm all they said was "we are closely listening, please trust us to make the best decision" despite the anger on forums wanting an answer NOW. And they waited until MS couldn't backtrack, then they went for the jugular, it was a perfect storm.

This time if MS announce a massive focus on gaas and cloud, sony needs to wait for them to commit to it. Then they announce their entire next gen plans and services, including their cloud plans. They know from their many years of experience with streaming how difficult it will be. They kept completely quiet when MS was overselling cloud augmentation. They were actually working very hard on gaikai becoming psnow. They simply let MS lose customers trust by overselling the cloud with a questionable vision. They said nothing and they didn't have to.

TL;DR
They hate us cause they ain't us!
BC, commitment to VR and first party are all really good signs. While we don't have all the details there's enough there to say this hardware is advanced enough to do new things.
 
I'm not convinced Sony's timetable will centre on November, if you remove the need to launch with a bunch of games because you now have backwards compatibility, you can launch any time your hardware production is ready and you have some genuinely new games to really show off your system. I'd say March, April, May are real possibilities, as is September and October.

Why I said no later than Nov 2020.
 
Why I said no later than Nov 2020.
I know, I thought it was just worth throwing that in because I think most people expect a November release because that has been considered prime time for new consoles as they dovetail with new games arriving in a period where there is traditionally a lot of spend.

The downside is obviously there are a lot of things competing for finite consumer money.
 
Given that the article is very vague in details, at least for this forum audience, I would think this is some sort of knee jerk reaction to the backlash they received from the State of Play broadcast.

I think more to do with them sending out a lot of dev kits from now on and things will start leaking so might as well get ahead of it?
 
Shifty keeps saying there's no positives to customers from sony keeping quiet about their plans. I maintain that's not true.

Not a sure shot, but it could be better for us if the silence provides them a competitive edge, meaning in turn the next platform becomes highly successful. It directly impacts the money they'll invest in first parties. It's the most critical aspect of a game console longevity.
What would have been the negatives in telling us six months ago that PS5 would have BC?
 
What would have been the negatives in telling us six months ago that PS5 would have BC?
Perhaps they had to overcome some technical hurdles as we saw outlined in the recent patent filing since some PS4 games use GNM their low level architecturally specific API?
Unlike Windows DX which is hardware agnostic.
 
Such a move would have: 1) kept consumers engaged more than keeping silent. 2) Improved consumer confidence in the current product because they know their games are going with them.
and 3) lead most consumers who were undecided between purchasing a PS4/Pro and waiting for the PS5 to wait for the PS5.


So we're all guessing Q4 2020?
No.
Almost all rumors from fairly reputable sources that talked about release dates mentioned Sony being undecided between Q4 2019 and Q1 2020.


At least now we know PS4 BC is confirmed. But I am not much satisfied yet. What about PS3, PS2 and PS1 BC?
Would you be completely satisfied if they had specifically mentioned BC for 10-20 year old platforms, or would you find something else to be unsatisfied for?
 
What are the negatives because they didn't tell us six months ago? (and saying a few forum members moaned about it doesn't count!)
More interest in XBox and consumer eyes wandering. People who wouldn't have even looked at an XBox have now learned that it's fully BC and mostly cross-platform so those beloved 3rd party games that make up the majority of their library will run on console and PC and potentially even mobile in the future through streaming. If they knew PS5 was BC, XB being BC wouldn't have had any significant weight.

And why is it that those arguing in favour of Sony's current actions have to be so damned salty about how they present themselves? :???:
 
I expect better from this forum.

With that being said, glad we got information about stuff. Most of the information was things we've kind of assumed for years but its nice to have confirmation that Sony is not rocking the boat IMO.
 
More interest in XBox and consumer eyes wandering. People who wouldn't have even looked at an XBox have now learned that it's fully BC and mostly cross-platform so those beloved 3rd party games that make up the majority of their library will run on console and PC and potentially even mobile in the future through streaming. If they knew PS5 was BC, XB being BC wouldn't have had any significant weight.
That is so true. A friend of mine was close into buying an XBOX One because of his 360 library. Not only that but he also thought that XBOne S was outputting 4k gaming because MS used it as a marketing tool, therefore it could output higher resolution than a basic PS4. Average joes don't know what Native and Upscaled is. There are many old timer PS consumers that wonder about the absence of basic BC and it makes a stronger impression when they see competitive platforms doing it. It is a major tool to make sure your current platform owners stay loyal enough to buy the next platform. Retro gaming is also becoming a thing, and MS made sure that your retro games also enjoy upgraded performance. Which means you have old content that is relevant to the current consumer. Thats a major point to go XBOX now.
All this time PS4 owners were wondering if their digital sales would be valid next gen, and many have already experienced some bitterness that their old digital games, including their PS classics are unplayable on PS4. Consumers that dont own a console wonder if they should go XBOX because it is guaranteed their currently purchased games will be playable forever but they dont know about Playstation Next.

The recent news are not reaching everyone's ears through Sony's own communication efforts. There was an interview which happened to mention it. No official announcement. So if it wasnt for Cerny we wouldnt have known it.

And why is it that those arguing in favour of Sony's current actions have to be so damned salty about how they present themselves?
I dont get that either. :p
 
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The recent news are not reaching everyone's ears through Sony's own communication efforts. There was an interview which happened to mention it. No official announcement. So if it wasnt for Cerny we wouldnt have known it.
That's very true actually. It's come up in passing; Sony aren't communicating this as part of their vision and preparing PS4 owners for next gen and building confidence. I suppose you can rely on info dripping down, but it's still an odd way to go about corporate messaging.

Anecdotally, I showed the PS5 article to a couple of friends. One replied that if PS5 is BC, he might consider it. I pointed out it was. This now seems a strong buying decision and Sony making big on it would be far better for them than otherwise.
 
More interest in XBox and consumer eyes wandering. People who wouldn't have even looked at an XBox have now learned that it's fully BC and mostly cross-platform so those beloved 3rd party games that make up the majority of their library will run on console and PC and potentially even mobile in the future through streaming. If they knew PS5 was BC, XB being BC wouldn't have had any significant weight.

But there's no evidence? I'm tired of arguing in circles on this, there is absolutely zero evidence that Sony are worse off doing things the way they have. If PS4 sales had slowed, or Xbox sales picked up, or Days Gone pre-orders were low through fear of lack of BC, or there been riots on the streets I'd let you have something, but really - all it seems to be is a very small minority of geeks complaining, and even some of those are 'back onside' so that 6 months meant nothing.
 
I cant say I am agreeable with any corporate strategy of "strong sales therefore room for omissions and minimum improvements" (if any)
 
I cant say I am agreeable with any corporate strategy of "strong sales therefore room for omissions and minimum improvements" (if any)

That is not what I said, nor what is happening.

In my working experience there are essentially 2 types of worker, one that talks about how busy they are and one who looks like they're doing very little.

Usually the talker is flapping and seems to be productive, but generally it's the quiet one who has planned everything and knows exactly what they are doing that ends up with the best results.
 
But there's no evidence? I'm tired of arguing in circles on this, there is absolutely zero evidence that Sony are worse off doing things the way they have. If PS4 sales had slowed, or Xbox sales picked up, or Days Gone pre-orders were low through fear of lack of BC, or there been riots on the streets I'd let you have something, but really - all it seems to be is a very small minority of geeks complaining, and even some of those are 'back onside' so that 6 months meant nothing.
As already mentioned, you won't get evidence for impact on next-gen until next-gen happens. And yes, it is silly arguing in circles. If everyone's made their point, why bother reiterating it? ;)

Again though, some bizzaro narky attitude. "Riots on the street"? We're talking maybe a 4% drop in sales next gen, or whatever. Maybe there won't be any material impact at all - doesn't mean it's what the PS fans want and doesn't mean the situation couldn't be improved. Nor is just discussing a company's PR strategy some attack on that company nor a claim they're doomed. I don't mind people not liking a topic, but to repeatedly dump on it to...what...try and get people to stop talking about it? Why?
 
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