How to sell next-gen consoles, Marketing, Positioning, and Pricing [2020]

[Johnny Awesome]

Interesting.

Sony have been lying for decades with their marketing. It's crazy to think they were pushing hard with journalists about how they were different than MS and making a break with the past generation, blah, blah, blah... only to find out last night that almost every major release coming to PS5 (FF, Spidey, HZD etc...) in the next year is going to be also on PS4. It's almost comical.

At this point it's Demon Souls and R&C against The Medium, The Falconeer and Scorn and I'm not sure which of these next-gen only lineups are better at this point...

 

[AzBat]

What else would I mean when I say Microsoft other than first or second party?
Is there a next gen only game published by Microsoft? I'm honestly asking.

Regarding launch window I wouldn't know I wasn't being scientific, let's say 6 months?

The first next-gen only games coming will most likely be The Medium & Scorn. But they are not 1st party. Not even sure you would call the 2nd Party. Yes, the next-gen 1st party titles are not going to make your 6 month requirement. All of them are TBA so far. So Holiday 2021 at the earliest.

Tommy McClain

 

[iroboto]

All these titles? All these 2 (two) titles?
Out of the 10 1st-party games announced for the PS5?

The sequels to some of the largest AAA games this generation is important, and the possibility of God of War also following this trend. Sure it's not all the titles. But it's certainly makes up the critical titles.

So what's your theory here?
Sony was trying to hide the PS4 of Horizon 2? From whom? You think they were afraid of not filling up the pre-orders? You think Sony was being dishonest about the existence of Horizon 2 on the PS4 because that would be motive for a significant number of people not wanting to buy a PS5?
Is this the theory?

Geoff Keighly is a very popular gaming journalist / presenter who breaks gaming-relate news about everything. He broke the news about PS4 Horizon 2 just as he broke the news about retailers getting ahead of themselves with pre-orders.
He's the first person to report on a lot of stuff.

I personally don't have a horse in the race, so my feelings on what Sony did are generally somewhat muted. The position I'm taking is not about whether Sony did or did not intentionally mislead their customers, but ultimately if their customer base were misled.

This event in review; critical platform information about the sequels to the largest IPs for Sonys 1p exclusives was completely with held from the public until the day of pre-orders, and even then Sony did not officially make those announcements through an official channel, but an unofficial one. We can't expect the whole world to get critical news about platform exclusivity on a per title basis through twitter, there was no indication during the show that this was happening, so even myself was surprised to see this. They have yet to update any of their promotional materials for SM:MM and H:TFW that it's coming to PS4.

I really don't know why things played out the way they did, I'll leave it at that. I don't own a PS4, so none of this bothers me as much as some others. But I would debate to death the topic whether people were misled. Platform information was withheld and dumped right on pre-order day through an unofficial channel; why?I do not care, intent? I do not care. I only know that games made for PS4 and PS5 have to be done in parallel, so it's clear that everyone including developers and Sony knew this was going to play out and happen in exactly this way.

I agree that PS5 was likely to sell out anyway. So I don't know why they did it. They just did.

 

[PSman1700]

Honestly, Horizon Forbidden West is the dead last game people should be complaining about. The game is gorgeous and doesn't look like anything we've ever seen this generation.

Have you seen any ingame gameplay on the game?

Interesting.

Sony have been lying for decades with their marketing. It's crazy to think they were pushing hard with journalists about how they were different than MS and making a break with the past generation, blah, blah, blah... only to find out last night that almost every major release coming to PS5 (FF, Spidey, HZD etc...) in the next year is going to be also on PS4. It's almost comical.

At this point it's Demon Souls and R&C against The Medium, The Falconeer and Scorn and I'm not sure which of these next-gen only lineups are better at this point...

And out of those R&C isn't there this year, it's a 2021 game. Demon souls is a remaster and probably lands on PC somewhere.
GT7 has RT but it isn't such a leap over GTS. Games like Astrobot aren't really in the same class as Spiderman or FW etc.

 

[Ike Turner]

Interesting to see that the PS5 DE being priced @ $399 seems to be a direct reaction to the $299 Xbox Series S. Sony is taking such a massive loss on it that they are artificially limiting its supply. It helps them advertise "PS5 starting at $399" though. They did the same with the PS3 20GB SKU which was $100 cheaper than the 60GB SKU but nowhere to be found..

 

[PSman1700]

Interesting to see that the PS5 DE being priced @ $399 seems to be a direct reaction to the $299 Xbox Series S. Sony is taking such a massive loss on it that they are artificially limiting its supply. It helps them advertise "PS5 starting at $399" though. They did the same with the PS3 20GB SKU.

I think the DE is actually going to profit sony more.... They did 399 but at the same time increased the price of digital games. This way, the DE is not really a good deal. Your better off with the 499 version in the end, unless you dont buy any games ofcourse, then the DE is the better deal.

 

[Ike Turner]

I think the DE is actually going to profit sony more.... They did 399 but at the same time increased the price of digital games. This way, the DE is not really a good deal. Your better off with the 499 version in the end, unless you dont buy any games ofcourse, then the DE is the better deal.

Once production cost goes down Sony will manufacture/supply more DEs but right now the hit they are taking is far too big. The SKU is identical to the OG version minus a UHD player which cost them at most $20-$25 and they are already selling it at a loss. The Xbox Series S isn't even a different SKU but a totally different product compared to the Series X built from the ground up to hit its $299 price point (on which they are also probably still taking a loss).

 

[AlphaWolf]

I think the DE is actually going to profit sony more.... They did 399 but at the same time increased the price of digital games. This way, the DE is not really a good deal. Your better off with the 499 version in the end, unless you dont buy any games ofcourse, then the DE is the better deal.

You can still buy games digitally even if you buy the fat console. And I expect many(most people) will.

 

[PSman1700]

You can still buy games digitally even if you buy the fat console. And I expect many(most people) will.

Even if they have to pay the increased price for those games? Im all for digital, but paying 10 to 20 dollars more per game is abit odd. Then theres no resale value either.

Edit: Or did they increase the price for disc based games too?

 

[RDGoodla]

This event in review; critical platform information about the sequels to the largest IPs for Sonys 1p exclusives was completely with held from the public until the day of pre-orders, and even then Sony did not officially make those announcements through an official channel, but an unofficial one.

Platform information was withheld and dumped right on pre-order day through an unofficial channel; why?I do not care, intent? I do not care.

Sony reveals PS4 version of their games through "official blog".

Why not see PS blog????



Official PS Blog JP:

https://blog.ja.playstation.com/2020/09/17/20200917-ps5/



Official PS Blog US:

https://blog.playstation.com/2020/0...499-for-ps5-with-ultra-hd-blu-ray-disc-drive/

 

[iroboto]

Sony reveals PS4 version of their games through "official blog".

Why not see PS blog????



Official PS Blog JP:

https://blog.ja.playstation.com/2020/09/17/20200917-ps5/



Official PS Blog US:

https://blog.playstation.com/2020/0...499-for-ps5-with-ultra-hd-blu-ray-disc-drive/

The blog is 1 sentence buried. It's there sure, but it's not up and front.
It should have been in the presentation. or they should have updated their youtube video:

 

[AbsoluteBeginner]

Interesting to see that the PS5 DE being priced @ $399 seems to be a direct reaction to the $299 Xbox Series S. Sony is taking such a massive loss on it that they are artificially limiting its supply. It helps them advertise "PS5 starting at $399" though. They did the same with the PS3 20GB SKU which was $100 cheaper than the 60GB SKU but nowhere to be found..

Yea smart decision, although wont matter once moms and pops start to buy it and notice none of it is in stock while 200$ cheaper XSS is (cheaper then disk based).

 

[AlphaWolf]

Even if they have to pay the increased price for those games? Im all for digital, but paying 10 to 20 dollars more per game is abit odd. Then theres no resale value either.

Edit: Or did they increase the price for disc based games too?

For many convenience trumps price. I don't know what the price of games is in a store because I haven't really looked in more than 5 years. But an hour of my time is worth more than $10.

 

[see colon]

Ratchet and Clank very obviously can't run on a PS4, therefore Jim Ryan did not lie.

We don't know this. I'm not saying that it can, and I'm not saying that concessions wouldn't have to be made, but we don't really know how IO intensive the game really is. And that's the assumed limit that the game would have overcome if you pear back the resolution and drop the ray tracing.

And seeing how Hellblade got shoehorned onto the Switch, I think a game with pretty identical gameplay and story could be achieved on PS4 if Sony really wanted it to be done.

 

[eastmen]

MS has been lying for years(remember E3 2016, E3 2017, E3 2018 etc. never mind the amount of times Spencer said the games would be great then weren't ala Halo) and it still has a base. I find it funny that you think people will arrange media gatherings to bring them down. Must be a new thing.

What have they been lying about ?

Aside from that this year MS released more games to the xbox platform that I want to play than sony has for the ps4. Gears tactics was amazing , wasteland 3 is great and i'm playing through it right now , flight simulator is amazing , i already have 50 hours in it and my wife has already yet at me for wanting to buy desk mounts for my joy sticks. I also really liked Minecraft dungons and still play it with my nephews . The preview of grounded is awsome , i have sunk many hours into that and later this year I am looking forward to the medium.

So is it really MS lying about games or its just that you prefer what Sony puts out ? Sony has released zero exclusives this year that interest me. They have one exclusive which is demon souls that interests me but its a remake. I don't go around saying sony lied about having the best exclusives or something. I just say sony doesn't have many titles if at all that interest me and then I go buy what I want. The great thing about all the games from MS that I mentioned ? I play them on my pc. I play them on surface or my phone on the go also. I'm not tied to just one device to play what I want to play

 

[eastmen]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1306623537688588288

So Cheapassgamer users at the time of his twitter post had preorders 99.8% disk drive and .2% DE ?

Of course it is a website devoted people finding the best deals but you would think with the speed the PlayStation sold out at it would be a higher ratio ?

I thought the split was going to be 20/80 with most the higher sku but it may be an even bigger split than that .

 

[chris1515]

What have they been lying about ?

Aside from that this year MS released more games to the xbox platform that I want to play than sony has for the ps4. Gears tactics was amazing , wasteland 3 is great and i'm playing through it right now , flight simulator is amazing , i already have 50 hours in it and my wife has already yet at me for wanting to buy desk mounts for my joy sticks. I also really liked Minecraft dungons and still play it with my nephews . The preview of grounded is awsome , i have sunk many hours into that and later this year I am looking forward to the medium.

So is it really MS lying about games or its just that you prefer what Sony puts out ? Sony has released zero exclusives this year that interest me. They have one exclusive which is demon souls that interests me but its a remake. I don't go around saying sony lied about having the best exclusives or something. I just say sony doesn't have many titles if at all that interest me and then I go buy what I want. The great thing about all the games from MS that I mentioned ? I play them on my pc. I play them on surface or my phone on the go also. I'm not tied to just one device to play what I want to play

This is your personal point of view, Sony has title with critical and commercial success. Basically they are more popular than Xbox exclusives and this is what people wait from Microsoft to compete with Sony add this type of games to the Xbox first party games. It does not mean stop to do the title they do now.

 

[HBRU]

What have they been lying about ?

Aside from that this year MS released more games to the xbox platform that I want to play than sony has for the ps4. Gears tactics was amazing , wasteland 3 is great and i'm playing through it right now , flight simulator is amazing , i already have 50 hours in it and my wife has already yet at me for wanting to buy desk mounts for my joy sticks. I also really liked Minecraft dungons and still play it with my nephews . The preview of grounded is awsome , i have sunk many hours into that and later this year I am looking forward to the medium.

So is it really MS lying about games or its just that you prefer what Sony puts out ? Sony has released zero exclusives this year that interest me. They have one exclusive which is demon souls that interests me but its a remake. I don't go around saying sony lied about having the best exclusives or something. I just say sony doesn't have many titles if at all that interest me and then I go buy what I want. The great thing about all the games from MS that I mentioned ? I play them on my pc. I play them on surface or my phone on the go also. I'm not tied to just one device to play what I want to play

Agree....
The less transparent is Sony... at leat now.
The upcoming gen will give MS satisfaction as people wake up. I see so many lemmings going to Gamestop and such preying for a PS5 before Christmas. Will it arrive ? Who knows ...

 

[eastmen]

This is your personal point of view, Sony has title with critical and commercial success. Basically they are more popular than Xbox exclusives and this is what people wait from Microsoft to compete with Sony add this type of games to the Xbox first party games. It does not mean stop to do the title they do now.

Gears Tactics 80% https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gears-tactics
Wasteland 3 86% https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/wasteland-3
Minecraft Dungeons 70% https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/minecraft-dungeons

i can't find flight simulator for some reason but these are all solid to great games.

What did sony release this year ? TLOU2 which i think has a 96% and Ghost of Tsuhima which is sitting at a 83% ? Iron man vr at 73%


I hate list wars which is why I always say Xbox has the games I like to play. I listed what 5 games i've played this year an 1 more i'm going to play. Thats 6 games . Guess what. played it all on game pass ultimate which is $120 for a year. I've also played about another 6 or 7 games this year through game pass


I will again say what I said after the other shows. What MS showed off in their conference has me infinitely more excited than Sony and MS didn't have to lie about it being exclusively for their new system. They said fuck it yo u want to play it here play it on pc , play it on xbox one , play it on the xbox series x , oh wait don't got any of that play it on xcloud via your phone or tablet ... oh wait here is a series s priced lower , get that nice ray tracing and go forth and have fun.

Do you think sony's first conference where they showed Spiderman would have been as impactful if it said coming to ps4 and ps5 this holiday and then follow it up with the mic drop at the end of horizon with it saying coming to ps4 and ps5 . No and sony knew that also and so they hid it as long as they could.

So yea its a bit weird that your saying Microsoft lied when they have been bringing great games out this whole time and will only do better at it as time goes on.

 

[chris1515]

Gears Tactics 80% https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gears-tactics
Wasteland 3 86% https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/wasteland-3
Minecraft Dungeons 70% https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/minecraft-dungeons

i can't find flight simulator for some reason but these are all solid to great games.

What did sony release this year ? TLOU2 which i think has a 96% and Ghost of Tsuhima which is sitting at a 83% ? Iron man vr at 73%


I hate list wars which is why I always say Xbox has the games I like to play. I listed what 5 games i've played this year an 1 more i'm going to play. Thats 6 games . Guess what. played it all on game pass ultimate which is $120 for a year. I've also played about another 6 or 7 games this year through game pass


I will again say what I said after the other shows. What MS showed off in their conference has me infinitely more excited than Sony and MS didn't have to lie about it being exclusively for their new system. They said fuck it yo u want to play it here play it on pc , play it on xbox one , play it on the xbox series x , oh wait don't got any of that play it on xcloud via your phone or tablet ... oh wait here is a series s priced lower , get that nice ray tracing and go forth and have fun.

Do you think sony's first conference where they showed Spiderman would have been as impactful if it said coming to ps4 and ps5 this holiday and then follow it up with the mic drop at the end of horizon with it saying coming to ps4 and ps5 . No and sony knew that also and so they hid it as long as they could.

So yea its a bit weird that your saying Microsoft lied when they have been bringing great games out this whole time and will only do better at it as time goes on.

I did not say MS lied, this is not me saying it. I say that MS have less critical and popular games. This is a true and generation began long before this year. I talk about the current generation. At the end they were trounced by Sony and they have less critically acclaim games from 2013 to 2020.

This is marketing each year Phil Spencer told this is the best games Xbox ever released and this is not true. Sony and Microsoft are company trying to sell us a product. They aren't our friend at all.

I find the way Sony hide some games are cross gen and the rise of game price not good at all. After I will buy a PS5 because I think this is the place where the game I want to play will be and I am fully digital and I have a backlog and PS plus collection means I can play three or four games I did not buy like Days Gone, Persona 5 and so on.

Each people have different taste. Gears Tactics and Flight Simulator don't interest me at all.