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The Rise and Fall of PlayStation & The Return of Sony’s Arrogance

For nearly thirty years, PlayStation has been one of the defining forces in global gaming culture.
Are gamers watching PlayStation repeat the same mistakes that nearly cost them an entire generation?
In this in‑depth documentary‑style breakdown, they explore the entire PlayStation journey — from the revolutionary PS1, to the unstoppable PS2, through the fall of the PS3 era, the redemption of the PS4, and the controversial direction of the PS5 generation.

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epg-everyplatformgamer.com
italiangamer81d ago

What a bunch of clowns 🤡🤡🤡

80d ago Replies(2)
EveryPlatformGamer80d ago

Why so Serious??? OMG are you Italiangamer off youtube? im so star struck!! cant believe it... love your contribution
LOL

italiangamer80d ago

Ehm I have no idea who you're talking about, I have been using this nickname for over 16 years at least, even before N4G.

DarXyde78d ago

We did used to have a YouTuber (though he'd argue he's not one) named KingThrash. He's still does regular content, but I don't think he's here anymore. Not terribly surprising to run into content creators.

On topic, I'm pretty critical of the PS5. But even so, I think it's a bit unfair to call the direction "controversial". I completely agree that Sony did so many strange things with PS3. It turned out to be an outstanding console, but not without serious hardware and software missteps, along with questionable policies and execution that led to serious mistrust with the PSN.

But that said, this generation is far from normal. We had a global pandemic that completely shifted consumer dynamics and led to the labour force re-evaluating their lives - namely better work/life balance, which the gaming industry isn't very kind to in modern game development. Supply chain issues have also persisted with increased cost of living and wages staying the same ("stag-flation"); doesn't help that many companies increased their prices citing inflation when in reality they weren't even affected and were just gouging consumers because no one could verify their suppliers. We came out from the worst of the pandemic's global impact and were on a trajectory for recovery...Then, the combination of commercial AI and the return of America's darkest timeline (and, by extension, the *world's* darkest timeline) resulted in an overuse of AI and its uninhibited expansion led to extreme RAM shortages in the commercial market, layoffs, and studio closures, as well as divestment from game studios because some lousy AI demo from Google scared investors.

With all of that happening in less than a decade, I have a hard time judging PlayStation too critically as a brand. The Japan Studio and BluePoint closures were unforgivable for me. And while I have big issues with them...I actually think they may have been adapting the best. All of this is unprecedented, and ultimately PlayStation is looking to protect their brand value. Nintendo is too, but they're really going in on capitalizing on their brand in egregious ways: the cost of everything for Switch 2, the software paucity (and personally, disappointment with Metroid Prime 4). Xbox is devaluing their brand and I still don't understand the point of even releasing a next generation Xbox if it's a PC hybrid - Xbox already does day and date with PC, so...why not just get a PC? Or, if power isn't your biggest concern, why not just get a PS6? I just don't know who this thing is for, and it's why I would say Sony is handling it the best.

Their handling isn't great...but it's comparably better, at least my view.

EveryPlatformGamer77d ago

@DarXyde
Yeah, that’s a pretty fair take, and we mostly agree with the broader context you’re laying out. This generation has been weird in ways we probably won’t fully wrap our heads around for a while. Between the pandemic, supply chain mess, shifting work expectations, and investor panic, every platform holder has been dealing with a pretty rough hand.
Where we land a bit differently isn’t about ignoring those pressures, but about how much slack we give when the end results still feel out of step with what those brands were historically good at. we agree that calling Sony’s direction “controversial” can oversimplify things... especially compared to the PS3 era, but we also think it’s fair to criticize decisions that clearly changed what people associate with PlayStation, especially around studio identity and first‑party output.
We are definitely with you on Japan Studio and Bluepoint. Those were tough to swallow, and for a lot of people they did real damage to trust. At the same time, we do think Sony has been the most consistent of the three when it comes to protecting long‑term brand value, even if that consistency hasn’t always felt great from the consumer side.
Nintendo and Xbox feel like they’ve gone to opposite extremes... Nintendo leaning hard into monetizing its brand no matter how it’s perceived, and Xbox spreading so wide that it’s hard to see who the hardware is really for anymore. In that context, Sony’s approach does come off as more restrained, even if it hasn’t always been especially satisfying.
So for us, it’s less about blaming anyone in a pretty unprecedented decade, and more about recognizing that “handled best” doesn’t always mean “handled well.” we think your framing gets close to that, even if we end up weighing some of those choices differently.
Appreciate the thoughtful write‑up! it’s a good discussion to have.

GotGame81878d ago

N4G was around before Wii U days. I started using N4G in 2005. Just to let you know. Here is an Opinion piece from 2008, about Wii U, from N4G.

https://n4g.com/user/blogpo...

Deathdeliverer79d ago

New Xbox announced and now we get the “Sony hates its customers” articles and videos. Coincidence, I think not.

Aloymetal79d ago

Every gen is the same thing lol, media and surrogates are in deep pain, they can't believe their beloved irrelevant green brand is in the toilet now more than ever so of course they need to come up with mundane articles.

Michiel198978d ago

nah sony closed bluepoint so now some people finally woke the fuck up to the shit sony's been doing for a long time now

Aloymetal78d ago

Yeah it's the end for PS.....Every gen I hear the same shit, Sony has shut many people the f*** up so many times... that's the thing. And still they question...
Why do we get these delusions every gen? I guess we have to ''wait for next gen'' yet again...

Michiel198978d ago

where did i say it's the end? sony is not going anywhere and i wouldn't want them to go bankrupt or out of the gaming industry, but this is a good wakeup call for the fans to maybe stop gloating sony and actually be realistic instead of pointing fingers at ms, phill spencer and probably soon that will swap to the new ceo they have. Just because ms makes the same mistakes but on steroids doesnt mean sony should get a pass just because ms does worse.

ziggyzinfirion79d ago

Nice try on the new narrative. 😄

ApocalypseShadow79d ago

Maybe it's just me. The whole video just seems like some thrown together AI slop. A long, run on sentence with no pause. The editing just irritates me.

Sony is just being what they are: a business. They are not your friend. They have to make money to continue to sell products and services. I don't have to fully like everything they do. But I understand it. They've done more good for the industry than bad. No one can dispute it. That's why they still get huge support worldwide. What gamers are having a problem with, is that Sony has changed from giving things away, to making you pay for what they are offering. It used to be that companies took huge losses, to then, try and make it up through software. Sony is not doing that anymore. They gave away games, gave away free online and gave away a powerful system at a loss that had everything built in. $499 to $599? It still did more than what current consoles do today at that price.

PS3 was a turning point. They took huge losses to set a medium standard that made sense as games got bigger to produce and you needed a medium to hold it. Same as CD and DVD. The benefits were obvious over a cartridge. Some take this for granted. Games look, sound and play better than yesterday. Just imagine the cartridges you would need to hold today's games. Crazy to think. The Cell was innovative. Today's consoles are nothing different than what Ken was trying to accomplish and Microsoft borrowed from at IBM. No longer one chip or processor doing all the work. It's now multiple cores or chips to handle the load together. Cerny just made it smoother for developers. But they still had to learn how to do things in parallel.

The new Sony wants to make money. You either buy into it or don't based on what they have on offer. What I miss is the plethora of first party games as any other gamer. It just sucks the length of time it takes for them to make their award winning games. And, today's gamers are nitpicky on everything from resolution, animation, textures, etc. that led to Digital Foundry nonsense of magnifying lenses. But, no one can complain about how many games Playstation has. 2D, 3D. VR, online games. There's thousands of games to choose from. Including Sony's competitor's games like Forza, Halo and Gears. Including their support, with money, in third parties and indies like China Hero, India and Korea. Count yourselves lucky you have so much to choose from. You just have to pay for it. Maybe work a little longer as Ken said years ago. As he never said get two jobs as that was a lie spread by competitor minions across the internet. You're not getting things for *free* like in Game Pass. We saw how that worked out.

EveryPlatformGamer79d ago (Edited 79d ago )

We’re all entitled to our opinions. You have yours, and we have ours.
The core issue isn’t the hardware; it’s Sony’s direction. The heavy push toward live‑service games, the closure of studios like Bluepoint, the lack of consistent first‑party releases, and the absence of the third‑person, narrative‑driven single‑player games PlayStation built its reputation on are all valid concerns. Where is Naughty Dog’s next project? What happened to Concord?
Meanwhile, the Switch 2 currently has more true exclusives than the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles combined. Not all of them are AAA, but exclusives are exclusives and that’s remarkable considering PlayStation is still market leader.
For context, even with its rough launch, the PS3 era delivered an incredible lineup:

Uncharted 1, 2, and 3
The Last of Us
Metal Gear Solid 4
God of War III
LittleBigPlanet and its sequels
Resistance 1, 2, and 3
Killzone 2 and 3
inFAMOUS 1 and 2
Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls
Journey
Ni No Kuni

That was a true golden era of PlayStation and the PS4 largely carried that momentum forward.
Regarding the AI accusation: no AI was used. AI can be a useful tool, but you can’t build an entire video like this with it. If you know how, feel free to apply, we’d genuinely love to hire you. As for the lack of pauses or breaths, that’s simply audio mastering. Any sound engineer or technician would recognize this; artists do it all the time.
On a more personal note, I have COPD/Asthma and Bronchitis (multiple forms of lung disease), which makes voiceovers challenging. Mastering helps immensely, without it, you’d hear me gasping for air every few words.

We are already in the process of bringing on another voiceover artist for future videos.
As for the PS5 and PS5 Pro: they’re excellent consoles. No one is disputing that. But that’s not what the video is about. It’s about Sony’s strategic choices this generation. If you game across multiple platforms, as we do, the contrast becomes very clear.
On NeoGAF, a recent poll showed 69% of respondents, around 1,300 voters felt the PS5 has been the worst PlayStation generation. Not the console, the generation. It’s not definitive, but as a fellow gaffer, I can confirm the sentiment is very real.
For clarity: I own and actively game on every platform and have done so for over 30 years. I love PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo. At EPG, we love gaming. Full stop. What we want is the old, hungry Sony back. Xbox’s lack of serious competition since the Xbox One era hasn’t helped, and Sony is beginning to show signs of the same arrogance that hurt them in the past. You’re free to disagree, and that’s perfectly fine.
We genuinely appreciate all feedback on our videos and articles. We enjoy discussing games with fellow gamers as long as it stays respectful. Engagement, even critical engagement, means a lot to a small site and channel like ours.

79d ago
Levii_9279d ago

Hey ApexLanding23 are you writing from 2013? Are you stuck in some sort of time warp? When the f was the last time ND made anything good let alone genre defining? Man how embarrassing can you get to think ND can deliver anything anymore. They and Neil Druckman are one of the biggest punching bags in the gaming today.

derek79d ago (Edited 79d ago )

@everyplatformgamer, oh god stop living in the past. All this phony reminiscing about the ps3 generation. Some of you guys like talking/complaining about the business of gaming more than actually just playing games, lol. Toxic fandom/gaming media, have created a culture of whining and complaining about what's supposed to be a fun hobby.

ravens5278d ago (Edited 78d ago )

Returnal
GOW Ragnorok, GOW Sons of Sparta
Horizon Forbidden West
Ratchet and Clank
Astro Bot
FF16, FF Rebirth
Ghost of Yotei
Spider-Man MM, Spider-Man 2
Nioh 3
Silent Hill 2/ Silent Hill Townfall
Rise of the Ronin
Stellar Blade
Phantom Blade 0
Wolverine
Etc.
What are we doing here? Still in the PS5 era... more to go.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 78d ago
TriniOutsider79d ago

It is AI, even the thumbnail is AI.

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50°

Report: Injustice 3 in Development at NetherRealm Studios

Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.

80°

Playstation Plus Monthly Games for May: EA Sports FC 26, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Nine Sols

All available May 5.

Read Full Story >>
blog.playstation.com
FPSRUSSIA26d ago

What's Point in commenting your basicly closing down the site.

LiViNgLeGaCY26d ago

I'm surprised it's still the old site. I thought he said starting today?

Eonjay26d ago

Its like the final episode of the Sapranos. You gonna go to make a comment and when you click add th-

Profchaos26d ago

Timezone thing maybe.... RIP

darthv7226d ago

Insert the Ferris Bueller end scene... "You're still here? It's over.."

LiViNgLeGaCY26d ago

I think the only game here for me is Nine Sols. Was always interested in that game.

TheColbertinator26d ago

Glad I don't buy FIFA games anymore

Rebel_Scum26d ago

Hey now! Thats a great month.

Nacho_Z26d ago

Good month for me, I wanted that particular footy game and thought it might be due. Anyway who cares, shame about the site I'll miss the comment sections. All the best everyone.

Show all comments (16)
50°

Spiders Studio, Developers of GreedFall: The Dying World, Announce Liquidation of the Company

Spiders: "We're going to cut straight to the chase so you're not left wondering: After a long period without clear answers, we have received confirmation that Spiders is being liquidated.

What does it mean? This means the company as a whole no longer exists. We'll cease our functions immediately. The planned DLC will release via Nacon, and then-- well, that's it.

We're sorry that it's come to this and would like to thank each and every one of you for your support over the years.

If you have any questions or run into issues with your games, please contact Nacon directly as we'll no longer be able to reply."