Feature: The Twelve Stories That Shook PlayStation in 2012 - Part Two

Kaz Hirai Takes the Reins

The hair on former PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai turned a more prominent shade of silver in 2012 as he was promoted to CEO of Sony Corp. The news was widely rumoured at the start of the year, but wasn’t officially announced until 1st February, with the change set to go into effect on 1st April. Hirai wasted no time marking his presence – by the 5th April he was teasing a rescue strategy for the company, which he announced seven days later.

In a speech to shareholders and upper executives, the likeable honcho revealed plans to focus on Sony’s three main pillars: digital imaging, gaming, and mobile. He also reiterated his intention to turn the organisation’s ailing television business around, which had been taking a beating from strong South Korean competitors such as LG and Samsung.

As part of the president’s plans to restructure, Hirai revealed 10,000 jobs would be slashed before March 2013, a move that was designed to cut costs. During its second quarterly report, the company revealed that things were moving in the right direction, as it almost halved its losses from ¥27 billion to ¥15.5 billion year-over-year. Promisingly, sales also increased by 1.9 per cent.

Hirai’s new responsibilities forced him to drop his role as chairman on the board at Sony Computer Entertainment, providing SCEJ president Hiroshi Kawano with the opportunity to fill his boss’ seat. The jury’s still out on Hirai, however – shareholders have criticised the necessity of high-profile acquisitions such as Gaikai, which were made under the executive’s watch – but if he can continue to drive the company to profitability in 2013, we suspect that the negative perception will change fairly quickly.

PlayStation Vita: Game Heaven or Hell?

2012 proved to be a tough year for the PlayStation Vita in Japan. The initial cracks started to show at the platform holder’s widely publicised Game Heaven event, which was marketed as a response to Nintendo Direct. Despite promises of a live stream and huge announcements, the show amounted to little more than pre-recorded YouTube videos and fresh footage of titles that had already been announced. Granted, the addition of Phantasy Star Online 2 to the Vita’s catalogue was a big one, but there was very little else to get excited about.

The lacklustre showing prompted concerns that Sony was struggling to secure third-party content for its latest system, a sentiment that was later acknowledged by Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida. But despite the criticisms lofted at Game Heaven, SCEJ president Hiroshi Kawano insisted that a second event would take place later in the year. We’re still waiting for a date.

While the Vita wrestled with its arguably shoddy software library, a slew of heavy hitters for the Nintendo 3DS catapulted the console into uncatchable territory in Sony's homeland. After just over 18 months on the market, the handheld leapfrogged the PS3’s lifetime tally at the tail end of the year, fuelled by releases such as Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

A strong set of software announcements ensured that the Vita ended 2012 on a high, even though it’s unlikely to ever catch its chief competitor in Japan at this point. Keep your fingers crossed for Soul Sacrifice, because Sony’s clearly betting the bank on the title taking off.

God of War: Ascension Charges Online

In one of the more unexpected announcements of 2012, Sony announced that God of War: Ascension would be taking the fight for Spartan supremacy online. The platform holder had already teased the PlayStation 3 prequel earlier in the year, but few expected the title to make its début in deathmatch form. Still, that’s exactly what developer Santa Monica showed during the title’s late April blowout, prompting some irritated responses from the series’ most seasoned fans.

Indeed, followers had to wait until E3 to get their first glimpse at the title’s single-player component. Sony used its press conference as the perfect venue to exhibit ten-minutes of sunbaked action from the upcoming prequel, focusing on the franchise’s familiar mix of bombastic action and cringeworthy brutality. Sadly, seeing Kratos pull out the brains of a rather unfriendly elephant proved a little too much for some people to stomach, as both God of War: Ascension and The Last of Us came under fire from some critics for their needlessly gritty demonstrations.

Nevertheless, the demo eventually made its way onto Blu-ray copies of Total Recall, and it remained the only nugget of single-player footage that Sony showed during 2012. The year rounded out in much the same way as it started, with a heavy focus on God of War: Ascension’s controversial multiplayer mode. On the 12th December, players of the title’s Rise of the Warriors social game were granted access to the game’s multiplayer beta, with European fans invited to the action a couple of days later. We managed to get our bloodthirsty paws on the component in advance, and described the addition as “pleasantly surprising” in our preview.

That’s the end of our rundown of the top stories from 2012, but we still want to know what tickled your fancy over the past twelve months. Did we miss anything major? Let us know in the comments section below.