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Tom Caswell (Gamespot Producer) - Playstation was pressured by Sony to make PSVR2, their heart wasn't into it

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
"To satisfy Sony's 'other' hardware things"

Part of today's Jeff Grubb podcast/show when talking about the PSVR2 development cuts news segment (time-stamped), Tom says the above.

 
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CamHostage

Member
Pressured by Sony? Curious concept, considering Sony proper has no larger investment in the VR market. (I take that back actually, there's the odd existence of Sony Pictures Virtual Reality which has done a few VR installations of licensed properties for The Void, and also makes a few Quest games, at least two of which have shown up on PSVR/PSVR2. Still, not red red meat for Sony to force a huge hardware investment in the PlayStation line.)
 

DaGwaphics

Member
Pressured by Sony? Curious concept, considering Sony proper has no larger investment in the VR market. (I take that back actually, there's the odd existence of Sony Pictures Virtual Reality which has done a few VR installations of licensed properties for The Void, and also makes a few Quest games, at least two of which have shown up on PSVR/PSVR2. Still, not red red meat for Sony to force a huge hardware investment in the PlayStation line.)

It does seem like a small play for them. Maybe there are other parts of the hardware that figure in, camera sensors, etc.
 

nial

Gold Member
"To satisfy Sony's 'other' hardware things"

Part of today's Jeff Grubb podcast/show when talking about the PSVR2 development cuts news segment (time-stamped), Tom says the above.


I think they're just quoting me here.
That just sounds like a personal guess, the Sony (Sony Group Corporation) that owns SIE is not the same Sony (Sony Corporation, yep, it's a different company under the same corporate umbrella as SIE) that runs their Electronic Products & Solutions business.
Why would Sony Group Corporation pressure SIE into developing a full-on piece of hardware that they don't want anything to do with? I have no idea, and I don't really believe that, either.
 
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Haint

Member
That just sounds like a personal guess, the Sony (Sony Group Corporation) that owns SIE is not the same Sony (Sony Corporation, yep, it's a different company under the same corporate umbrella as SIE) that runs their Electronic Products & Solutions business.
Why would Sony Group Corporation pressure SIE into developing a full-on piece of hardware that they don't want anything to do with? I have no idea, and I don't really believe that, either.

Educated and informed based on the fact they very clearly sent this thing out to die from day 0 with nary a care or comment since launch. Such behavior is wildly at odds with SIE having any kind of faith in or desire for the product to be anything but a resounding failure. Ergo, one of the most logical conclusions is it was pushed on them by hardware Japan.
 
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nial

Gold Member
Educated and informed based on the fact they very clearly sent this thing out to die from day 0 with nary are care or comment since launch. Such behavior is wildly at odds with SIE having any kind of faith in or desire for the product to be anything but a resounding failure.
Which can be due to several factors, and I'm more inclined to believe the idea of it simply being a product pushed by the previous leadership at SIE.
 

CamHostage

Member
It does seem like a small play for them. Maybe there are other parts of the hardware that figure in, camera sensors, etc.

Maybe... but does Sony even manufacture all the parts of PSVR2? They often subcontract pieces; PSP screens were made mostly by Sharp instead of by Sony, and I'm not seeing any notes in teardowns but I read that PSVR2's OLED screen is by Samsung.

 

nial

Gold Member
Ergo, one of the most logical conclusions is it was pushed on them by hardware Japan.
What exactly is 'hardware Japan', though? The one sister company of SIE that doesn't really have a say on their decisions, or the Japanese-based Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. known for developing everything PlayStation hardware, which you know, has the exact same leadership as Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (more known as the global San Mateo hedquarters of the group)?
 
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feynoob

Member
That just sounds like a personal guess, the Sony (Sony Group Corporation) that owns SIE is not the same Sony (Sony Corporation, yep, it's a different company under the same corporate umbrella as SIE) that runs their Electronic Products & Solutions business.
Why would Sony Group Corporation pressure SIE into developing a full-on piece of hardware that they don't want anything to do with? I have no idea, and I don't really believe that, either.
If i have to guess, its power struggle. The big seat is open.
 

ManaByte

Rage Bait Youtuber
Pressured by Sony? Curious concept, considering Sony proper has no larger investment in the VR market. (I take that back actually, there's the odd existence of Sony Pictures Virtual Reality which has done a few VR installations of licensed properties for The Void, and also makes a few Quest games, at least two of which have shown up on PSVR/PSVR2. Still, not red red meat for Sony to force a huge hardware investment in the PlayStation line.)
Sony Corp has been telling PlayStation what to do for about a decade now after a reorg that happened around the time of the PS4 release. PlayStation wanted to put UHD Blu-Ray support in the PS4 Pro (because the One S and One X had it), but Sony at the time forbade it because they wanted to try to sell stand-alone players instead.
 

willothedog

Member
Pressured by Sony? Curious concept, considering Sony proper has no larger investment in the VR market. (I take that back actually, there's the odd existence of Sony Pictures Virtual Reality which has done a few VR installations of licensed properties for The Void, and also makes a few Quest games, at least two of which have shown up on PSVR/PSVR2. Still, not red red meat for Sony to force a huge hardware investment in the PlayStation line.)

Sony demoed a new enterprise VR/XR headset at this year's CES.
 

Angry_Megalodon

Gold Member
From the moment they didn't port the main games from PSVR 1 so people could keep their VR libraries it was clear the whole thing was half-assed and they would drop the ball at the first chance.

PS Studios can't keep up steady first-party releases for the main console, it was naive to think they would feed PSVR 2. Astrobot being non-VR plus not porting the original game for PSVR 2 tells me everything I need about where their heart is.
 
But this isn't a huge surprise. Sony is a product company first and services second. That's literally one of the main things that differentiates them from Microsoft. That's also why Playstation consoles will always be their main videogame platform for their games. The hole "we're releasing games on PC to make people want to buy our platforms to play the sequels" thing isn't just something they started thinking right now.

Look at how many hardware things we're getting for PS5: Dual Sense, VR2, the official headset, the Dock Station, Dual Sense Edge, PS Portal, the future PS5 Pro...isn't there a rumored PS4 portable on the way?

This has happened in every generation so far.
 

nial

Gold Member
SIE has done a poor job overall with their first-party support for PSVR2 (except for that amazing GT7 update), but I don't think using Astro Bot is a really good example of that.
 
So it begins. The infighting for power and the meddling from the suits.

This explains why the ps5 hasnt dropped the price or why they arent focusing on japan.
Is this post...serious? No one is dropping prices. Not even MS.

And not focusing on Japan? Japan doesn't WANT home consoles. Switch would flop if it was simply a home console as well. It's just where they are right now. And for a company not focused in Japan, they bought exclusive rights for Final Fantasy, Rise of the Ronin couldn't be more Japanese, Stellar Blade was right up their alley. All this just for 2024 alone. Oh...and Astrobot? By Team Asobi (one of their 2 japanese companies) is also about to be released. Silent Hill 2 is about to get a remake. It's a really popular from Japan as well and Sony has marketing rights for it and it's a console exclusive.

Death Stranding 2, a Hideo Kojima game, one of Japan's biggest gaming legends is coming next year.

What else can they do? Buy Capcom, Square-Enix and make sure Nintendo doesn't get their games? That probably wouldn't help much anyway.
 
I don’t believe any of the doom and gloom about psvr2, but I also think maybe they never intended to do a bunch of first party support. They’ve money-hatted some good 3rd party games. Plus maybe they’re making more of their games hybrid.
 

nial

Gold Member
Rise of the Ronin has been quite a hit in Japan, I hope we get to see more SIE × KTG collabs in the future.
 

The Fartist

Gold Member
Well There It Is Jurassic Park GIF
 

feynoob

Member
Is this post...serious? No one is dropping prices. Not even MS.
They can, they dont want to. Both MS and Sony know people will buy them nonstop.
And not focusing on Japan? Japan doesn't WANT home consoles. Switch would flop if it was simply a home console as well. It's just where they are right now. And for a company not focused in Japan, they bought exclusive rights for Final Fantasy, Rise of the Ronin couldn't be more Japanese, Stellar Blade was right up their alley. All this just for 2024 alone. Oh...and Astrobot? By Team Asobi (one of their 2 japanese companies) is also about to be released. Silent Hill 2 is about to get a remake. It's a really popular from Japan as well and Sony has marketing rights for it and it's a console exclusive.

Death Stranding 2, a Hideo Kojima game, one of Japan's biggest gaming legends is coming next year.

What else can they do? Buy Capcom, Square-Enix and make sure Nintendo doesn't get their games? That probably wouldn't help much anyway.
Sony had psp. What stops them from making that? The writing is in the wall. They are chasing euro. dollar and pound. They are giving up on japan, simply because they cant compete with nintendo hardware.
 
They can, they dont want to. Both MS and Sony know people will buy them nonstop.

Sony had psp. What stops them from making that? The writing is in the wall. They are chasing euro. dollar and pound. They are giving up on japan, simply because they cant compete with nintendo hardware.

"buy them nonstop"? Specially Xbox consoles? lmao. Have you been checking Xbox hardware sales? In countries like France, Xbox Series is the worst selling Xbox console launch aligned right now. And PS5 literally sold 4M less last year than Sony initially expected. You didn't see them decreasing the price did you? They actually increased it.

About releasing a portable device out of nowkere...it makes no business sense, specially if it's to try and get sales from a single country. They also probably don't want their studios spread between two completely different pieces of hardware dude.
Do you really think Sony's suits (or anyone with a decent vision) is going on a meeting thinking like "hey we should make a portable so that we sell a few more units on Japan" when they have the entire world to sell PS5?

I'd rather them do what they want to do, if Japan doesn't care...that's on them. They are more focused on finding a market in places like Korea, they are starting to invest in india, etc

What even is "giving up" on Japan anyway? Cause clearly they release games that cater to that market. Also, Japan is as far as i know the 3rd biggest market for PS consoles after USA and UK. It's not like Sony would give up on such a huge market for them.
 

onQ123

Member
Richard Marks is no longer at PlayStation I don't have much faith in them pushing this kinda stuff beyond just fitting in with whatever is popular going forward.
 

th4tguy

Member
Sonys big gamble this gen was GaaS. VR plays into that very little. Yes it was sent out to die because all resources were directed to funding GaaS projects, which are now being cancelled or finally releasing. It’s going to be slim picking from Sony first party compared to the previous two gens.
 

yurinka

Member
Fake news.

SIE said that they were happy with the PSVR1 performance, so they made PSVR2. It's nonsensical to think they were forced to do it by someone else. They did it because they wanted to do so and nobody can force them to do it, specially when it isn't a super profitable business.

They’ve money-hatted some good 3rd party games.
Educated and informed based on the fact they very clearly sent this thing out to die from day 0 with nary are care or comment since launch.
As reference, only around a year after launch PSVR2 has (released or announced) over 290 games, when PSVR1 had around 530 on its whole lifetime.

Sonys big gamble this gen was GaaS. VR plays into that very little. Yes it was sent out to die because all resources were directed to funding GaaS projects, which are now being cancelled or finally releasing. It’s going to be slim picking from Sony first party compared to the previous two gens.
Sony is working in more first party games at the same time than they ever had. Regarding GaaS, MLB, GT7, Destiny 2 and Helldivers 2 are big successes, as pretty likely will be the case of many more.

Sony Corp has been telling PlayStation what to do for about a decade now after a reorg that happened around the time of the PS4 release. PlayStation wanted to put UHD Blu-Ray support in the PS4 Pro (because the One S and One X had it), but Sony at the time forbade it because they wanted to try to sell stand-alone players instead.
Source? Sounds like totally made up bullshit.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
if there is any form of truth to this. I think its a disservice to loyal customers, when businesses take this approach. Either do something properly and have a real good shot at supporting the product or just don't bother.

Especially a business the size of Sony, with such a successful arm as Playstation.
 
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ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
Ah, more tales from the ass. PSVR was always PlayStation, PSVR1 prototypes were based on Move hardware even.

Moreover, ever since the personal movie theater headsets VR was always a focal point for Sony in general and nobody forced anyone. PSVR 2 is as natural product for the company as it gets. Maybe PSVR2 was not a very hot customer product, but a lot of its tech was licensed to Apple, including eye tracking.

The only pressure I see is from media to generate clicks on PSVR2 with some nonsensical arguments.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Ah, more tales from the ass. PSVR was always PlayStation, PSVR1 prototypes were based on Move hardware even.

Moreover, ever since the personal movie theater headsets VR was always a focal point for Sony in general and nobody forced anyone. PSVR 2 is as natural product for the company as it gets. Maybe PSVR2 was not a very hot customer product, but a lot of its tech was licensed to Apple, including eye tracking.

The only pressure I see is from media to generate clicks on PSVR2 with some nonsensical arguments.

Yup, you are totally right. There is no chance Sony could ever do anything wrong. I mean the evidence goes completely against these comments from this chap. Sony have supported the PSVR2 with an incredible line up of original content to push the device. It has no tell tale signs of being sent out to die at all.

I mean, they it's not like they are looking at alternatives such as late in the day PC support due to the solid support and success it has seen on Playstation.
 

ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
Yup, you are totally right. There is no chance Sony could ever do anything wrong. I mean the evidence goes completely against these comments from this chap. Sony have supported the PSVR2 with an incredible line up of original content to push the device. It has no tell tale signs of being sent out to die at all.

I mean, they it's not like they are looking at alternatives such as late in the day PC support due to the solid support and success it has seen on Playstation.
You're arguing with the take that I didn't even wrote, lol.
 

ManaByte

Rage Bait Youtuber
Source? Sounds like totally made up bullshit.
 

SHA

Member
They aren't true gamers, Sony's headquarters must play video games to overcome these issues, they can't even read books about gamers, it's not going to work this way either.
 

willothedog

Member
Ah, more tales from the ass. PSVR was always PlayStation, PSVR1 prototypes were based on Move hardware even.

Moreover, ever since the personal movie theater headsets VR was always a focal point for Sony in general and nobody forced anyone. PSVR 2 is as natural product for the company as it gets. Maybe PSVR2 was not a very hot customer product, but a lot of its tech was licensed to Apple, including eye tracking.

The only pressure I see is from media to generate clicks on PSVR2 with some nonsensical arguments.

How can they licence eye-tracking to Apple since Sony licenced the tech from another company, Tobii?
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Moreover, ever since the personal movie theater headsets VR was always a focal point for Sony in general and nobody forced anyone. PSVR 2 is as natural product for the company as it gets. Maybe PSVR2 was not a very hot customer product, but a lot of its tech was licensed to Apple, including eye tracking.


Sounds like the kind of line an executive at Sony would tell the Playstation R&D leadership to convince them to make PSVR2.
 

yurinka

Member
So the editor of a random unknown website suspects it, but there's no source from Sony backing the claim. Ok, thanks for sharing.
 

willothedog

Member
Riiiiight!

So all the R&D investment they put into developing Foveated rendering was just for shits and giggles?

These so-called insiders are so blatantly lying, it's like they're not even trying to be believable any more.
Developing foveated rendering? That tech has been around for at least a decade.
 
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