Sony Playstation Marketing: a quiet place in days gone?

I just skimmed through State of Play. No idea what the hell is wrong with it to be honest. There's plenty of non-VR stuff in it as well, including big hitters like Days Gone, Crash Team Racing and MK11. Lots of traditional indies as well.
It was just a harmless little 20 minute video dedicated to games.
 
I just skimmed through State of Play. No idea what the hell is wrong with it to be honest. There's plenty of non-VR stuff in it as well, including big hitters like Days Gone, Crash Team Racing and MK11. Lots of traditional indies as well.
It was just a harmless little 20 minute video dedicated to games.
In general it was a nice compilation that under different circumstances would have been accepted more positively. With no PS Experience, no E3 showing and by giving the impression that State of Play was going to be a substitute (when it is not), it was only expected. People had different expectations.
 
But why would they think of it as a substitute? Do people really believe that this 20 minute snippet is everything they're going to get in 2019? If the answer is yes, then yeah, Sony has indeed misread their audience by expecting a teeny, tiny amount of common sense.
 
But why would they think of it as a substitute? Do people really believe that this 20 minute snippet is everything they're going to get in 2019? If the answer is yes, then yeah, Sony has indeed misread their audience by expecting a teeny, tiny amount of common sense.
I believe it is the difference between expectations of what they thought State of Play was going to be vs what it truly was.
This could also be a testament of the positive image Sony managed to establish the first years of the Playstation 4 (a continuous flow of surprises and megaton announcements) which made fans form an impression they want Sony to maintain.
 
It is not whether PS VR is dead or not. It is still a tiny fanbase of which most, most likely, play their console the regular way and thus have expectations that extend beyond PS VR.
Personally I find it positive to have a healthy PS VR support. The issue with State of Play, is that it barely made impactful announcements and the majority who don't own VR had expectations too. As Shifty said more than 95% of PS owners dont own VR. In addition only 2 titles are potentially AAA new announcements. Iron Man and Blood & Truth. Iron Man did not convince. Its gameplay (was it gameplay?) looked more like concept and uninspiring. It looked like those cheap VR games they release for mobile phones. B&T looks nice. Beyond that the majority are casual, games that were already announced and old games that got VR support. The execution of the State of Play was also bland. It was a collage of videos/trailers left for the viewer to do guesswork.
If Sony did not announce State of Play like something special similar to Nintendo Direct but presented it kinda differently to prepare people accordingly, fans would have been more accepting.
But they raised expectations that it was going to be a special event and then under delivered.
You can scratch all that. What they shown didn't convince, but the game (a full game in development since 2 years and a half) is actually suprisingly good.

The PS4 Exclusive Iron Man VR Makes A Surprisingly Good First Impression
https://kotaku.com/the-ps4-exclusive-iron-man-vr-makes-a-surprisingly-good-1833732919

While flying this means you rest your arms at your side, hands near your waist, and twist your wrists to steer while flying. It looks ridiculous, but feels amazing.
https://uploadvr.com/hands-on-iron-man-vr-really-nails-the-sensation-of-flight/

Yep, it's another promising game (not a service nor a feature) to be released on PS4 this year.
 
You can scratch all that. What they shown didn't convince, but the game (a full game in development since 2 years and a half) is actually suprisingly good.


https://kotaku.com/the-ps4-exclusive-iron-man-vr-makes-a-surprisingly-good-1833732919


https://uploadvr.com/hands-on-iron-man-vr-really-nails-the-sensation-of-flight/

Yep, it's another promising game (not a service nor a feature) to be released on PS4 this year.

Just to add:

"Combat got a lot more fun later on when I was flying through the sky in one direction, tracking enemy movement with my head in another direction, and then shooting pulses in two other directions while still flying at the same time. Eventually you’ll get other weapons and upgrades, but I just had standard beams in my demo."

And this my friends, is something you could never do in flat gaming and why Sony is pushing VR heavily.
 
How does releasing lots of good games not effect brand awareness? I think the people in this thread understand where the others are coming from but don't feel it's a major problem and are struggling to understand how some can equate a period of non news as a major negative but totally ignore the massive positive of releasing new IP.system

Very good exclusive games have the biggest and most important impact to the brand and the ability to lock people in to there eco system.

In fact Sony has upped there marketing of there exclusives this gen and even more so recently than ever before.
 
hmmm just looked at a list of 2019+ titles to come cause maybe reality is different than how I thought, platform exclusives https://www.gamesradar.com/new-games-2019/

PS4 (bold AAA games)

Days Gone
Dreams
Shenmue 3

Spelunky 2
Ghost of Tsushima
Knights and Bikes
The Last of Us Part 2
Death Stranding
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
(timed exclusive)

xbox one

Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Phoenix Point
Ooblets
Gears 5
Halo Infinite


Yes the xbox has been on a role recently with their exclusives eg crackdown 3, sea of thieves etc but seriously which console in better shape to have a better 2019?
A low blow here. SoT is a very different game than traditional titles and continues to see good life and success online a year after release.

MS has no place in this thread, they aren’t responsible for Sony’s marketing decisions.

I respect that there is some looking over the fence to see what’s cooking, but that’s not the same as what’s being discussed here.

I’ve stopped posting because this thread is getting extremely PS focused on which my commentary has less value compared to many of you.

But I will say that despite the lack of great 1P exclusives, Xbox fans are not feeling out of the loop.

They know a great deal of what to expect without any announcement of any sort. And despite the lack of GOTY titles, MS has made significant generation changes like Game Pass, Like cross play, and releasing all their exclusives onto competing platforms which are a major milestone changes in a somewhat very traditional model.

I know nothing about the next console except that any controller I own today will work on it. That it will support backwards compatibility for 3 generations prior. Executives are commonly tweeting back to its users and having interviews. They are pushing technologies like DXR and DML which I expect to see in their next console. I know about XCloud, and that’s being announced bey early.

So. Even if none of that matters to a person in terms of values, these are things that have been communicated. I have a very good idea of where MS is headed and I just need to see the execution occur.

Communication isn’t an entitlement from its consumers. I need to be clear. Prior to all of this communication a great deal of rumours would swirl of MS dropping Xbox entirely.

Now, you don’t see a single article about that anymore.

Consider the situation where the only articles are about exiting the market and having a competitor moving full steam ahead. You’re going to cut your losses eventually and switch to what you want.
 
Last edited:
What's wrong with it is that very vocal people (not necessarily Nesh) decided to hate on VR (we live after all in an age where hate and rate are cheap), so any attention Sony gives it is bad, a waste of time, etc.

Because that same time could have been used to cater to what they want to see. If you ask them what they wanted to see you'll be met with silence because they don't really know. What matters is to feel empowered by hating something as a group.

A variation of this argument could have been made after the Xbox One reveal. And we all know how that turned out.

It's very dangerous to subvert the expectations of your core audience. As a company you don't offer customers what you want them to have, you give them what they want.
 
MS has no place in this thread, they aren’t responsible for Sony’s marketing decisions.
Son'y marketing/positioning can't be considered in isolation. They are up against MS at E3, Nintendo Direct, etc. For those arguing it's only about the games, having games that sell the platform is the argument.

How does releasing lots of good games not effect brand awareness?
It's not a polar does/doesn't affect brand value. Games adds value, but on its own, it's not enough. That's why Sony invests heavily in marketing, such as currently running an ad campaign for PSVR on EuroGamer. Doesn't matter how many games PSVR has, or how awesome they are, if people aren't aware.

Branding has to go beyond just offering a great product. The original PlayStation did so well because Sony managed to market it into new, trendy audiences, by positioning and communication. No-one is denying the value of PS4's library. It's everything else - has Sony gone a bit soft on the marketing, or is it just being overlooked because people are so used to it? Could/should Sony be doing more in non-gaming activities such as brand positioning, social outreach/engagement, yada yada?
 
Last edited:
A variation of this argument could have been made after the Xbox One reveal. And we all know how that turned out.

It's very dangerous to subvert the expectations of your core audience. As a company you don't offer customers what you want them to have, you give them what they want.

Except that PSVR by now is a known variable, it has been out for more than 2 years, unlike Microsoft with the original Xbox One. Sony has plenty of feedback from the 4.2 Million Units sold to be able to make decisions.
 
Is Sony doing enough? Yes!
Sony is doing the same as ever... talking as much as ever, and releasing exclusives as ever!
The others may be talking more... but hot air is just hot air. There is no relevant information leaked anywhere about any system.
Sony will, like all others, talk about what it matters when it's time for it.

If someone is talking about Sony missing PSX 2018 and E3 2019... well... I guess that at the end of 2019 we will have concrete data to talk about that, and then we may judge Sony's decisions. Untill then, and not knowing Sony plans, all I can say is that Sony is acting different. If worse or better... it´s too soon to judge! Must wait and see.
 
Son'y marketing/positioning can't be considered in isolation. They are up against MS at E3, Nintendo Direct, etc. For those arguing it's only about the games, having games that sell the platform is the argument.

It's not a polar does/doesn't. On it's own, it's not enough. That's why Sony invests heavily in marketing, suck as running an ad campaign for PSVR. Doesn't matter how many games PSVR has, or how awesome they are, if people aren't aware.

Branding has to go beyond just offering a great product. The original PlayStation did so well because Sony managed to market into new, trendy audiences, by positioning and communication. No-one is denying the value of PS4's library. It's everything else - has Sony gone a bit soft on the marketing, or is it just being overlooked because people are so used to it? Could/should Sony be doing more in non-gaming activities such as brand positioning, social outreach/engagement, yada yada?

Sony is most likely preparing itself to launch the PS5. I can see no point in using further resources to promote a product that has already sold nearly 100 million units and that will be replaced in most likely under 2 years from now.
 
I don't know what more they can say for PS4 other than trying to keep VR folks entertained. We already know they have 1st party on the way.

They already talked about enhancing PSNow a little while back with downloadable options.
 
It's only sensible to remind people of a piece of HW like the PSVR that actually needs the help and has some pretty damn big growth potential at the price it's currently being sold at.

The PS4 can and will take care of itself at this point.
 
To which the answer to Nesh's point now is, "yes, PS4 does feel neglected because it is neglected as Sony are moving on." ;)

To which my answer is still: the change that Nesh speculates about that invalidates the way of doing marketing they have used until now is... PSVR ;)
I fully believe that PSVR is going to be heavily supported on PS5 and you cannot market VR the same way you do non VR games.
 
I don't know what more they can say for PS4 other than trying to keep VR folks entertained.


That might well be the case. I think for other machines, they were able to reinvent themselves. PS2 had SingStar and EyeToy etc. so attention could move. PS3 was only doing everything all its life, during which that encompassed lots of other functionality that emerged like Netflix and Prime Video. This stuff is all old hat now, present on PS4 in the early days, and there's not much else where it could go perhaps. Some of the ideas are perhaps dismissed as gimmicky, so where XB1 gets Amazon Echo integration, PS4 doesn't because Sony conclude (perhaps rightly) that it's plain not wanted.

In terms of genuine value-bringing announcements and ideas, maybe there isn't much that can be done? The end result is a sense of lacking that's more a lamentation of the good old days when consoles and tech was exciting. Now it's humdrum, and besides giving you games to play perhaps there is no halo culture to enjoy? Maybe the days of exciting E3's and megaton games and interesting new (eventually useless) ideas like PSTV are behind us and PS has matured into a very sensible games-delivering box? A family sedan rather than the quirky two-seater open-top coupé of its predecessors.
 
To which my answer is still: the change that Nesh speculates about that invalidates the way of doing marketing they have used until now is... PSVR ;)
I can't see PSVR ever becoming more than a niche in its current form. As I mentioned in my feedback in the VR forum, it's very blurry and awkward. 10 million unit sales over the lifetime of PS4 will be fantastic for it, which'll also mean it's all of 10% of the market. So at the same time, PS4 is 'abandoned' but also, focus is moved onto the one aspect of it that's still going somewhere. If you like PSVR, PS4 is still full of excitement. If you don't, there's nowt ahead but the wait for PS5 (beyond playing games, of course).
 
Back
Top