Don’t worry, I get it Nintendo fans: from what I understand, the House of Mario hasn’t hosted a proper, full-length livestream since September 2019. That’s a long time, and I can certainly appreciate why you may feel starved for news – I hope, for the sake of anyone with a Waluigi avatar on Twitter, that the showcase delivers. All that aside, I’m feeling a little green today, I must admit.
The world has been in a strange place for the past 12 months, but I can’t help but feel that PlayStation has made it stranger. Obviously, I understand that the company is navigating its way through the same complications that we’re all facing, and it can’t be easy – but everything’s felt off for a while. Obviously the organisation did the best it could with the PlayStation 5 launch under the circumstances, but you’ll all remember how we endured long periods of nothing throughout large chunks of 2020.
This year, worryingly, is so far shaping up the same way. While we’ve received release dates for major first-party titles like MLB The Show 21 and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart in recent weeks, I can’t shake this feeling of emptiness that’s permeating PlayStation at the moment; the larger audience is still fighting among each other for PS5 stock, and I understand that increasing supply is the platform holder’s priority, but the industry feels so flat at the moment.
I mean let’s look at that release date announcement for Insomniac Games’ anticipated platformer: there was a new trailer, but it was made up of old gameplay footage; there’s no Collector’s Edition and no word on when we’ll see more gameplay. Returnal is about six weeks away, and our best look at it has come through Housemarque’s own podcast series which the Japanese giant doesn’t even promote; heck, the developer of Destruction AllStars had to animate a bunch of GIFs to give the game any kind of presence on social media prior to release.
Perhaps I’m analysing events through rose-tinted glasses: maybe PlayStation wasn’t all that different in the pre-pandemic days either. And, to Sony’s credit, it can’t make enough next-gen consoles, so it’s clearly not doing anything wrong. It just feels like this year could use a spark; some momentum to wake it from its slumber. I love my PS5 and I’m enjoying my games at the minute, but today’s Nintendo Direct has tickled every jealous bone in my body: at what point do we begin to worry that this new, closeted PlayStation is not a consequence of coronavirus – but the company’s actual direction?
Has PlayStation been a little too quiet for comfort in these early stages of 2021, or are you just used to this being the normal order of things? Are you satisfied with the news cycle, or do you agree with Sammy that it’s all been a bit flat of late? Dig up some news in the comments section below.
Comments 68
I hope it's a case of Sony building up to a truly memorable break of silence when they say something next.
I certainly agree that Sony does seem to feel rather distant as of late, but on the other hand if they have nothing of importance to say what can they do.
Still a strange 12 months ahead for all console companies, so I'm giving Sony the benefit of doubt for the time being.
We have this discussion again in 2022 then something clearly is amiss.
I honestly think Sony is waiting to hear more about Kena and other games before they do a new State of Play. I bet we will get a State of Play on Returnal(Returnal already got a mini State of Play), Kena, Ratchet and other games before June. Since Returnal comes out in April, Ratchet in June and Kena supposedly before July, Sony has to be setting up for a big State of Play and maybe some surprises.
Bluepoint Acquisition, Housemarque and maybe one more wouldn't surprise me in the near Future.
I would like to have more news, but I think that saving everything for a big stream around the E3 season (June/July) is a good strategy.
I just hope that Sony actually delivers when whatever they decide to do an event. Their silence builds up hype.
Sony are doing great we have firm release dates for new games for the first half of the year, so they doing better than the others.
Depending on what Nintendo show tonight, I shall be watching of course.
Nintendo must have some new in house big AAA hitters they have been doing nothing in house studio wise for ages, god knows how the Switch keeps selling so well being honest.
I think if Sony and Microsoft had no supply issues of next generation consoles the story might be a bit different.
Anyway under an hour to go, to see what the big N come up with.
I’m sure there will be a State of Play eventually. In the meantime I’ll be looking forward to see what Nintendo has in store.
I read on Nintendolife it’s been 500 days since the last major Direct, which is pretty nuts. (I also just realised you pretty much said this in the first paragraph of the article, so, er.. kudos!) Hopefully the gaps between SOP events won’t be so severe!
Between Resi 8 and Nier Replicant I’m happy enough with what’s up and coming. Can’t see much beyond that right now though on the Sony front.
Next state of play has to be substantial, and I agree that Returnal needs more marketing behind it or they are just sending out to die. Hopefully the mkt campaign kicks in on April, it has to.
Just simply a case of not much to show. The pandemic must be causing all kinds of issues with game schedules and announcements. In fairness Nintendo have also been quiet for what seems like an eternity. Sure in the Autumn all devs and publishers will have loads to show us.
The difference is Nintendo has not been saying anything for over a year or so while Playstation has revealed their first year of games for PS5 already.
Even though I want a SoP for Returnal too. But there's still time to do that.
The SoP for Destruction AllStars happened with no announcement either and fulfilled its purpose as far as it was possible for a B-tier title.
I personally want Sony to have SoP for individual titles with the upcoming months as this years lineup has been announced already.
I was just thinking about it today.why is there a no state of play.especially for upcoming ps5 and 4 games.word up son
Knowing Sony they'll be watching the Direct and the fan reaction. If it's well received they may hang back a bit but if it bombs they could swoop in with a State of Play to look good in comparison.
Not sure what Sony needs to show w/ R& C, GoW and HFW in the making, just waiting on a couple of dates. Nintendo has been deathly quietly on just about everything, today is long overdue.
I think it's the 'Rona.' Almost every game from the last state of play has been delayed. Chip shortage means less new consoles available, and that might have something to do with all the game delays, too. Seems like uncertain times. I hope we can all get vaccinated in the next six months and put this pandemic behind us.
Let us Switch owners have our fun Sammy 😂
I love PlayStation but Sony are a bit clueless sometimes.
They could do so much better, especially where communication is concerned.
@Dezzy70 A couple of realise dates is not a good job we actually need more gameplay and promotions for these games. You are correct in terms that there doing better than other companies but why should we settle for the best of the worst. Coming from a long term Sony fan people are giving Sony to much credit for very little news (e.g realise dates) which can end up changing anyway.
To be honest, I'm pretty happy with PS5, and I think Sony largely killed it with their marketing and releases over the last few years. I've had some great launch games, followed up by Hitman 3 and the God of War update. I'm waiting on Disco Elysium next month, then Deathloop, then further ahead Ratchet, GT7, Ragnarok, Horizon... Even if some of those games get delayed, that's a cracking year for Sony.
Nintendo however, from my perspective, is in dire need of new announcements. The Switch is the first ninty console I've ever owned, and while Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart are all some of the best games I have ever played, it feels like I'm just waiting for Breath of the Wild 2 at this point. I picked up Animal Crossing last year and while it was fun for a while I didn't get it's long lasting appeal, and I've barely picked up the Switch since (though I know I'm probably missing out on Hades, but I'm kinda holding out for a PS5 release cos I think I'm more likely to play it on that machine).
All that said, I wouldn't turn down another big State of Play. They've been great recently!
I'm anxious for news but I think the current situation is mostly due to Covid. I'm fully vaccinated and the world really does start to return to normal. Hopefully everyone and everything follows suit in the next few months.
The Direct is hot garbage, watching it right now. At least Cybattler comes out tomorrow!
NINJA APPROVED (of Cybattler, the direct can burn in heck)
As much as I would love to hear some big news soon as it’s been a while since the showcase in September I think Sony (aside from maybe Ubisoft) has been the most active publisher. We’ve just had PlayStation Studios release Destruction Allstars and the next few months we will have from them Returnal, MLB 21 and Rift Apart, and on top of that Sony published Nioh Remastered, their output is better than most others. I think 2021 will definitely see the industry impacted by COVID more than last year and it will be a light year for AAA
It's fine. It wasn't worth looking forward to.
This is like starving someone for a year, teasing them with a feast, and then giving them week-old fast food.
Well that a was waste of 50 minutes.
That had to be the most boring game presentation I have ever watched and I’ve seen them all from all the companies. Nintendo I’m gonna call out a search party, to find your in house studios.
Sony you are leading the way easy, but also because your competition at the moment are so so poor.
@Ralizah agreed, apart from the tactical RPG from the octopath team it was pretty disappointing. Where is Bayonetta 3? There has to be some kind of big issues with that game, they can't hide it forever.
@Old-Red Man, like, there are a lot of cool things dated for 2021 that we didn't hear a peep about.
How does so much F2P garbage get in a Direct, but something like Crash 4 is revealed via twitter post?
The people making these things are wack.
@get2sammyb In hindsight, it's better to wait until you have games to show
It's a catch 22 cos is it worth Sony bigging up upcoming games for a console that's hard to get hold of?
Returnal will get a SoP before launch but that'll be it I reckon.
WoW after that snooze inducing presentation from Nintendo today Sony will probably become even more silent ...so they ARE saving Bayonetta 3 and the sequel to Breath of the wild for the switch pro/switch 2!
That was 50 minutes of mostly mediocrity. If Sony put together a State of Play similar to that much of the fanbase, myself included, wouldn't be pleased. I'd rather Sony just keep dropping little tidbits here and there than combine a bunch of small 'headliners' together and call it a State of Play.
Oof that was disappointing!
NMH3 having a date is very, very good, the rest is whack.
Octopath "sequel" hyped me but is a TRPG instead, Skyward Sword is the worst 3D Zelda, Pyra in Smash after 3 years doesn't make sense.
No Bayo, no Zelda, no Metroid: it's ok, they're probably far away from now; but no SMT V?! That alone would've made the 50 minutes worth it, and in theory should be out soonish.
That really disappointed me to no end.
TL;DR: Be careful what you wish for Sammy 😂
Edit: I forgot Splatoon 3.
That has me super hyped, but it's coming next year.
What's the point of stockpiling announcement after announcements for games that are nowhere to be seen?
I mean we have Bayonetta 3, BOTW 2, Metroid Prime 4, SMT V and Splatoon 3 now who knows how far off.
At least NMH3 has a date now, but that and the others were announced between 2017 and 2019, for Pete's sake.
@clvr agreed was really hoping for bayonetta at least.
LOL Nintendo Direct was trash.
I’m glad a Super Mario Golf game was announced, that’s about it really.
Most Nintendo presentation I’ve ever seen. They’re completely out of touch with their fan base.
I dont really mind on the format, but ive spent a week pining for the next event similar to what Sony delivered with the PS5 reveals. They were SO well done, and i cant wait for the next one
@Feena
Bayonetta 3 doesn't exist, I'm convinced of that at this point. Nintendo announced it to keep the early hype train and momentum going for Switch, have something to say 'we got third party games' then when the ports underperformed on Switch told Platinum to shelve it. That's the only explanation for why there has idiotically and unacceptably been no news on that game since December 2017.
Missed the Nintendo Direct (or maybe I didn't really miss anything looking at the comments), but this is the one thing I enjoyed about E3...multiple Developers/Publishers/Platform Holders all coming together during the same window to show us the ISH that was coming. It wasn't some scattershot, 7 day notice, ramblefest without much meat. It was the day the future (sometimes far, far future) games were revealed.
That’s was piss poor Nintendo.
I’m gonna send out a search party for your in house game studios, I hope they are all ok.
That was the worst game presentational I have every seen and I’ve seen them all.
I have no other words apart from pathetic and thank you for wasting 50 minutes of my life.
A skyward sword looked so old and dated.
Oh well just me and the PS5 now.
@Dezzy70 Nintendo doesn't have a lot of in house studio in the first place... Most have just finished releasing games in the last 2-3 years.
Sony's achillies heal has always been their lack of communication with their fanbase/consumers. Yes we get fed bits here and there. But meaningful regular communication is very thin on the ground. I find that quite dissapointing considering how loyal the majority of their customers are. Although its hard to argue with them when they produce hit after hit although better interaction would be perfect
Between Nintendo and Sony going radio silent, Following gaming news has almost become a chore. There's no fun following either company anymore. Ms's team stays fun to watch, but it's not the same if only one of them is active. The pressure to compete at e3 and one up each other really was necessary to prevent them all from becoming commodities manufacturers.
@get2sammyb ": at what point do we begin to worry that this new, closeted PlayStation is not a consequence of coronavirus – but the company’s actual direction?"
Early 2019? Or around the time Ryan and Kodera started strongarming Layden and changing directions.
They pulled out of e3, then proceeded to pull out off everything else, take their ball and go home.
It's been seen for years that's their actual direction way before any pandemic.
@fR_eeBritney agree! I think Sony PlayStation has the best community of the three consoles because it really feels like you’re part of a group of friends owning a playstation. But Sony doesn’t do enough to encourage it
@Medic_Alert With soon to be released games yes, that's what individual SoPs are for but I was more talking about games coming after the summer really.
It's the people I think, different people at the start of ps4 gen have different ways of doing thing. I like sony communication on ps4 era compared to now 😕
@Gamer83 From 3 weeks ago:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ign.com/articles/bayonetta-3-hideki-kamiya-says-its-safe-to-expect-news-this-year%3famp=1
@Dezzy70 Lol, I guess you missed Sony's original State of Play. 😋🤮
This direct was too RPG heavy for me. Happy to see a release date for NMH3, and Skyward Sword HD is cool; hopefully gets the design improvements it badly needs, like the terrible swimming controls. I would've greatly prefered news on Bayonetta and MP4. 😔
I'm so used to the summer and Christmas news cycle of years past that this doesn't feel any different to me. Apart from a few release dates for games (Likely coming in 2022), they probably don't have much to show before the summer.
I'm fine with what we have, to be honest.
I mean, we know the games PlayStation Studios are working on, with a few coming this year. We just had the launch of PS5. Given the prices of new games, I didn't yet have the opportunity to purchase and play all the must have launch games. Resident Evil Village is right around the corner. And we all have a huge backlog of games to work with, not to mention the ones we want to replay (I'm looking at you, God of War).
Sony can take their time until the next State of Play IMO.
I wouldn’t worry about it. There was virtually nothing to get excited about.
Another reboot of an old Zelda game that they’ll charge full price for even though it’s 10 years old.
Yet another instalment of splatoon which no one seems to want and a load of games no one cares about.
Oh and Mario golf....
So disappointing.
Glad I’ve got my PS5 and series X to keep me busy tbh.
That was quite possibly the worst thing i've wasted time for in terms of video game events.
If that represents the rest of 2021 for Nintendo i can see my Switch gathering dust.
Out of all of it i think Everybodys Mario Golf and the physical version of Hades were about the only positives. Would it have hurt them to at least shown some preview pictures of BOTW2 considering that the early look at Splatoon 3 looked like it was rendering on a MegaDrive 32x and won't be out until sometime in 2022?
Don't worry, the direct had nothing special. This is why you don't let Nintendo get comfortable. They sit on their laurels and just push out low effort ports.
I’m 100% cool with them being quiet. New trailers are nice and all but it’ll get me excited for a day or so and then it’s back to waiting for the game to come out. I’d rather keep focusing on my back log: FF7, Spider-Man Remastered, and Control. And then all the free PlayStation collection games like Persona 5, FF15, The last Guardian, and Monster Hunter World. I’m good for months.
I was HYPED for this Nintendo Direct, but I totally understand your feelings on Sony at the moment. I play 900ish hours a year of both consoles according to the end of the year wrap ups, so I was stoked to get a PS5. As the silence leading up to launch grew I became less interested in getting PS5 day 1. I got to unbox and play a friends, and I've been remote playing his console from my PS4 for all the new PS5 exclusives. I say that to say this, I am SO HAPPY I waited to get a PS5. I've played Astro Bot & Miles, tried some PS5 version last gen games and after 2 weeks I am bored of what PS5 has currently, and Sony has done zero to get me interested again. Seems like such a far cry (pun intended) from the PS4 launch when it felt they could do no wrong and truly cared about the players and what we wanted. I really hope Sony comes out swinging soon but as of now they've made it really easy to wait to buy into next gen. Still love my PS4 and play it daily but man, Sony needs to start communicating what the plan is, and soon.
Most of the PS4's first year I was playing on my PS3 more. I am not worried at all. Sony built a great PS5 console the games will come.
Nintendo should have waited, they basically have nothing and they've done an amazing job of disguising how few new games they have released for Switch in 4 years now
@Playstation they also have digital foundry trying hard to justify an xbox purchase with backwards compatible games.
Well, here's hoping the eventual State of Play is more exciting than Nintendo's own showcase, because good grief that one was dreary, down to the mean-spirited BotW2 bait-and-switch.
@Playstation Yeah, and on that Playstation list, the only ones that I really feel like I'm missing out on for not having a 5 are Demon Souls and Returnal, which isn't even out yet. In a way, I'm surprised the launch has been as successful as it has for Sony, all things considered. They have to want more launch games, but at the same time, they have to weigh that against the depth of the PS5 pool, and if they release a great game early, it might fail simply because there isn't a big enough user base. It's got to be a tricky nightmare for them presently.
@lacerz agree 100%. I miss E3.
Even PS comment sections now devolve into fanbrained Direct complaints? 😏 Not finding anything to one's liking sucks but hardly means much beyond personal tough luck when other viewers watched the same 50 minutes and were left up to their necks in new wishlist items. Legend of Mana, Skyward Sword, World's End Club, Famicom Detective Club, Ninja Gaiden Sigma trilogy, a crazy TRPG from Octopath Traveller creators, Outer Wilds, a new Mario Golf with a story campaign and a fun multiplayer mode... and even a fighter reveal that has finally given me a serious itch for getting Smash Fighter Pass, adding one of the best Xenoblade characters this side of Melia. Most of this scheduled no later than summer, too. Guys, if all you got instead was NMH3 release date, it's your luck that has a logical purpose to burn in hell, not the Direct.
As for SOP, it'll happen when it happens. Granted, I have little stake in the matter since by now Sony is not too likely to announce anything I'll be physically able to access.
Yeah that direct was pretty uninspiring. At least mario golf and project triangle strategy (or whatever it was called) looked good..
@EVIL-C
Until proven otherwise, I'm sticking with Bayonetta 3 doesn't exist. Expect something this year? It was announced in December 2017 and it's been radio silence since. I don't expect 2021 to be any different than 2018, 19 or 20.
Kamiya also said:
"I understand it’s driving the fans crazy! In light of that, my suggestion would be that maybe we should all reset and forget about Bayonetta 3. Then when something finally does happen, it will be a nice surprise, won’t it?"
The key part is 'reset and forget about Bayonetta 3.' That way it won't be as disappointing when it ends up like Scalebound.
I've completely given up on trying to find a PS5 for the time being. I'm going to wait until there's enough supply that I can just drive to the store and pick one up, which means I probably won't get one until late next year. I'm plugging through my backlog on PS4 and that's good enough for me.
watch the direct and honestly wasn't that impressed at all , there was maybe two or three games that interested me
And quite rightly so. Very good news week for Switch, another slow one for PS5.
I predominantly play in PS5 at the moment, but the release schedule seems sloooooow and so do new announcements. I think this will remain the case until the headlines of scalpers and PS5 stock updates stop overriding any possibly good news about the format.
They will show new games (announce new things) when it is time....
The worst thing they can do is rushed their studios to show something for the sake of some fans (or show games that are 2-3 years away from being release). I'm pretty sure everyone working on those studios are glad they aren't doing that (less stress, the better).
If a studio is ready to show something, then show it, if not... wait until they are ready.
Like always, some fans will cry about the lack of constant news/updates, but at the end of the day, it does not matter.... some might think it does, but in reality it doesn't....
2021 on the whole is looking to be pretty slow for all platforms, including the switch. outside of a few exceptions in the fall, i am not anticipating many games. in addition to this, sony's cross platform strategy has killed the ps5 hype for me. i feel no sense of urgency to get a ps5 anytime soon since the majority of noteworthy ps exclusives will likely find their way to ps4, including horizon 2, god of war (probably) and maybe even gran turismo 7. the trend will be similar with 3rd party games as well for the next 12-24 months due to lower than expected market share of ps5 (as a result of supply limitations).
@Playstation
I think a year from now, it's going to be unbelievable. Hope we all look back at 2020-early 2021 safely from our rear view mirrors. There's lots of exciting stuff on the horizon!
A Direct or State of Play is an advert. You can only have one if you have something to sell in the near future. Nintendo had very little to sell last year, so they didn’t have a Direct.
Don’t worry about Playstation not having a state of play, worry about them not having many games.
Sony/PlayStation is missing a face, it's a corporation, sure just like any game company, but it lacks personality and true excitement. Do the games speak for themselves, sure, but a bit of hype and a friendly face that is as exciting about their company and their games and their users would be nice, especially during these times.
not sure i see the point in having an SoP for the sake of having an SoP, to be honest. and creating either CGI trailers or gameplay content for games that are still quite a way off is a waste of developer resources at the minute, imo. just let them get on with finishing the game, and show something nearer the time. after ratchet & clank, i would not be hugely surprised if the rest of 2021 for sony is at best unknown.. what's next after R&C — horizon?. it may or may not get a release this year.. why show it now, only for it to be the only thing they've got to show 2 months from now, and maybe 2 months from that.. then the rhetoric changes from "show us anything" to "yeah, we've seen enough of that, how about something new"...
games have simply been announced too early or when they're not ready, which has fuelled an info-cycle that cannot be sustained in my opinion. we've already seen PS5 titles with "coming 2022/2023".. why?!? what possibly could change in the next 6 months to make it look more like a finished product that just needs another 18-24 months? maybe we can hope that after the utter fiasco of cyberpunk is a watershed moment, and publishers/studios will spend more time polishing their games and showing them when they're ready, and can deliver what is shown rather than showing some target 2 years early.. i think many anticipated games will be delayed, some targetted for this year, until 2022.. so what's the point in showing them now?. as a consequence, there will be an extended news lull.
GT7, Horizon, GoW delayed out to 2022 wouldn't surprise me - perhaps by then, PS5 supply constraints will have eased and there'll be an install base justifying releasing games with up to $100m in development costs.. it also leaves them less exposed to first party studio titles drying up for a while.. as several of their studios such as sucker punch, naughty dog, bend, etc.. are only just in the early stages of PS5 game development.
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