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Sony isn't prepared for the fight this generation

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Methos#1975

Member
Personally I'm of the opinion that there is absolutely nothing MS can do to usurp Sony. They simply lack the cultural mindset needed to produce the type of games that Sony produces and they can buy all the studios they want but this will not change. Sony simply makes better games and gaming experience and the majority of gamers know this and Sony owns their mindshare. MS will be in third place yet again.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
they can buy all the studios they want but this will not change.
This. For everything they’ve bought, they’ve not shown that they can get a grip on a single studio when needed.
  • Avowed has had multiple reboots and a change in Narrative Lead
  • State of Decay 3 has big work place issues
  • Everwild has been rebooted without ever having a defined gameplay loop with Gregg Mayles having to take over the project as Director.
  • Perfect Dark, reboots, half the Coalition leaving, CD taking charge, conflicts in vision.
  • 343i, an ongoing train wreck.
Self motivated studios like Playground and probably Bethesda will continue to flourish, however any that descend in to a shambles, it remains to be seen.
 
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After thinking about it a bit more, it isn't this generation that Sony needs to worry about it's the next one. We are about halfway through this gen and Microsoft should be just starting to get going with all of its past acquisitions. Microsoft originally had to worry about this gen but covid happened and that destroyed Sony's plan to dominate at the start. Sony needs to dramatically expand right now since Microsoft gaming studio employee count side is around 5 times bigger than Sony's right now.

With that said I've been saying and thinking for a while that Sony needs to expand. Microsoft definitely needed to do it and they have pretty much done so.

The thing is with the "next year will be the Xbox year" is that they straight up just didn't have the studios for it but now they do. I mean they have nearly locked up 2 out of the 7 major video game companies who have had their own E3 conferences for several years last gen.
Halfway through this gen? Holy crap... this gen started a year and 10 month ago.
This gen has barely just started.

We have yet to leave the crossgen period for now.

About Sony needing to worry about next gen...by then their studios will also be a lot more developed and Sony isn't done with acquisitions.

Sony doesn't need to worry about MS in any way.
 

CeeJay

Member
Personally I'm of the opinion that there is absolutely nothing MS can do to usurp Sony. They simply lack the cultural mindset needed to produce the type of games that Sony produces and they can buy all the studios they want but this will not change. Sony simply makes better games and gaming experience and the majority of gamers know this and Sony owns their mindshare. MS will be in third place yet again.
If Sony were confident that the games they have historically made were the future then they wouldn't be moving more towards the ground where Xbox and all the big third parties have been for a long time, multiplayer online GAAS.
 

reinking

Gold Member
Come back when some of those supposedly amazing exclusives are out of the pipeline and actually available for us to play (or even see for an extended period of time - I'm looking at you, Fable, Perfect Dark, Gears etc.).
I believe that part of the problem is many of those games are "Xbox" games that will do little to attract new players. If MS is going to steal PS players it is going to take upcoming titles like Starfield.
 

Quezacolt

Member
People like you will be why Sony continues to do anti-consumer crap and it will be their demise.
GamePass- ignore it just buy the disc
Always online is on all home consoles now, you can't even play GT7 with an internet connection.
Emulation is a big perk for many people, a whole piracy network is dedicated to game emulation.
Smart Delivery is a problem, yet does Sony offer better solutions? Oh charging twice for the same game or for upgrades is the alternative option, not so sure that is better...

Also just adding that if you think Sony doesn't recognize Xbox moves as a threat, then WTF is Jim complaining about COD right now or trying to do their best in acquisitions?
"Buy the disk" - Because of the BS smart delivery does, there's no point buying the disks for xbox.

"Always online is on all home consoles" - Sure, some games might be always online, but the vast majority aren't, and yes, i didn't buy GT7 because they kept that crap. But the consoles themselves aren't always online. I could set up my other consoles without an internet connection, you can't do that with xbox.

"Emulation is a big perk" - Sure, i don't deny that having emulation isn't nice, but i dont think it is the biggest reason for most people.

"Smart Delivery is a problem, yet does Sony offer better solutions?" With Sony, it depends on the publisher, most games you actually have a free upgrade option, and then i also have the option to actually just buy the disk with the ps5 version, with xbox you dont. get an imcomplete game on disk, or the game only comes with the xbox one version, wich when you put the disk in, smart delivery forces you to download the series version to play at all. Again, i agree that the sony system isn't perfect, and some publishers can be scummy with it, but it actually gives a choice
 
I always find it strange how people can't see the potential Xbox boom.

Sony is incredibly strong right now, but Xbox is building and adapting, while Sony is staying the same.
Staying the same? 9 studio acquisitions since 2021, PC game releases, mobile game releases, doubling down on VR.

How is Sony not adapting? 6 years ago they were anti-crossplay with any other platform let alone release games outside of consoles...and now they are doing better PC ports than companies that have been releasing games on PC for a lot longer, lol.

5 years ago not a single Sony studio was working on multiple projects...now, in a time where games take longer to develop, most of their studios are working in multiple projects (some even releasing AAA titles 6 months from each other like Insomniac) and some of their recent acquisitions are getting a lot of senior talent that created IPs such as Call of Duty or Ubisoft games like Assassin's Creed.

If anything, these MS acquisitions happen because they CAN'T grow and have failed multiple time before. Why grow when you can just buy the biggest ones already? (Bethesda, Activision)
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
And Sony went from PS2 150M and 70% market share vs Xbox OG and GC and plummeted to to around 85M units, ending neck and neck with 360 with around 30% market share. And it even had the benefit of BR which was the next bump in media, while 360 and Wii were DVD or less.

The drop by Sony is one of the biggest ever in gaming history, and the biggest among the Big 3 players the past 20 years.

The times it was that bad with major players is when Sega tailed off with their final systems or Wii U.
Launching at $600, being 1 year late to the party with no games for the 1st few years will do that

But even then, PlayStation's worst selling console outsold Xbox's best selling console
 

Bragr

Banned
Staying the same? 9 studio acquisitions since 2021, PC game releases, mobile game releases, doubling down on VR.

How is Sony not adapting? 6 years ago they were anti-crossplay with any other platform let alone release games outside of consoles...and now they are doing better PC ports than companies that have been releasing games on PC for a lot longer, lol.

5 years ago not a single Sony studio was working on multiple projects...now, in a time where games take longer to develop, most of their studios are working in multiple projects (some even releasing AAA titles 6 months from each other like Insomniac) and some of their recent acquisitions are getting a lot of senior talent that created IPs such as Call of Duty or Ubisoft games like Assassin's Creed.

If anything, these MS acquisitions happen because they CAN'T grow and have failed multiple time before. Why grow when you can just buy the biggest ones already? (Bethesda, Activision)
There are several emergent markets that Xbox has been building towards that Playstation is behind on:
- Gaming on smartphones and tablets through the cloud.
- Gaming through TV apps through the cloud.
- An ecosystem across PC, mobile, tablet, and consoles, that all share saves.

Game Pass is built to take advantage of those markets and will allow you to access all of them through one subscription. You might think that most people will still want to play locally, but the market that would be willing to play by just streaming through an app is likely to become very big as those apps start to pop up on TVs.

Secondly, the manner in which Game Pass attracts players will increase and become harder to miss as more big franchises arrive on the service. While Sony is incredibly strong right now, the value of day one games and the allure of must-play franchises will very likely increase Game Pass subscriptions to the point where word of mouth alone will start to attract users.

If Sony doesn't allow day one games on their service and build a robust PC service where you can choose to play on PC or console when you are subscribed, they will eventually be left in the dust. There is too much value disparity.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
Game Pass has completely redefined the way that my friends and I consume video games. Well over 1000 hours of play time just on titles through Game Pass and a large reason I decided to main a Series X over a PS5 this gen.

You need to separate your own self, you wants and needs, likes and dislikes, away from others. Game Pass isn’t a gimmick, it is a system seller. What in the world are you on?

I never said that everyone uses Game Pass the same way. I understand, and implied, that some people will use it as a system seller. What I said is that Game Pass overall isn't a system seller. The majority of posts I see regarding Game Pass (on any website) are people using it to play games they would have otherwise not purchased, not for people using it in place of owning a game they love. Because that's the kicker: you own nothing with Game Pass. Not to mention that it doesn't have long-term viability at its current price and offerings.
 

SNG32

Member
Yeah, it will be more fierce competition this gen. Thats it. Its a bummer I won't have any COD three years from now on my current platform but its not the end of the world.

Yes, a fair point people keep forgetting that Sony bought og Modern Warfare team- they can obviously make something out of it. Killzone and Socom could come back at that point. There's also the Bungie thing.

I would consider buying Xbox Series X along side PS5 or just buying a PC if bigger titles start to showup, mainly Dishonored 3 (my favorite game series) and Wolfenstein. For now just a future TES VI and STALKER 2 aint exciting me enough to buy a second console or drop money on PC.

Right now I all in on GoW Ragnarok, Modern Warfare 2 and my thoughts are with The Callisto Protocol. Since I really liked Dead Space 1. But after Cyberpunk I learned the valuable lesson of not preordering a thing. Will check the reviews and vids obviously.

Its not like I won't have any games to play. I decided to pass on The Last of Us Remake since I already played the og PS3 version and Remastered on PS4Pro - for me its better to focus on new titles.

I'm curious how this gen will unfold but all we can do is wait and see, I guess.
If you don't mind PC you won't be missing anything on it some games on the Sony side might not release with the console version but it will be released at some point. I'm sure Call of Duty will be on game pass PC as well which will definitely hurt the userbase of the game for Sony. I might be in the small minority but Sony needs to be humbled by this. They perform better when the stakes are high and there's competition.
 
I believe that they will be more vulnerable next generation, seeing how much money MS is prepared to pour into its business to "dominate" the subscription scene. They -Sony- will definitely lose the US market (Plus Canada, Brazil, the UK...), but they will remain competitive in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world: The transition to a loss-leader market favours the wealthiest players, no doubt.
It will be an interesting decade, that's for sure
 

Topher

Gold Member
There are several emergent markets that Xbox has been building towards that Playstation is behind on:
- Gaming on smartphones and tablets through the cloud.
- Gaming through TV apps through the cloud.
- An ecosystem across PC, mobile, tablet, and consoles, that all share saves.

Game Pass is built to take advantage of those markets and will allow you to access all of them through one subscription. You might think that most people will still want to play locally, but the market that would be willing to play by just streaming through an app is likely to become very big as those apps start to pop up on TVs.

Secondly, the manner in which Game Pass attracts players will increase and become harder to miss as more big franchises arrive on the service. While Sony is incredibly strong right now, the value of day one games and the allure of must-play franchises will very likely increase Game Pass subscriptions to the point where word of mouth alone will start to attract users.

If Sony doesn't allow day one games on their service and build a robust PC service where you can choose to play on PC or console when you are subscribed, they will eventually be left in the dust. There is too much value disparity.

We can talk about phones and services and whatever else we want but at the end of the day the whole point is delivering games and Sony continues to excel in that area. Either way, let's not pretend that Game Pass has taken over the PC space. Not even close. Steam is still king of PC gaming which is why both Microsoft and Sony are happy to fork over 30% to Valve to sell games. So I disagree with this idea that Sony needs to somehow mimic Microsoft's PC gaming strategy. Sony doesn't have a platform to build on there and we have seen time and time again that alternate platforms to Steam do next to nothing unless they give out tons of free games like EGS. In the mobile area, Apple is Microsoft's competitor. Not Sony. I think console gamers have this perception that Sony and Microsoft must compete in every business segment but that is far from the case. Sony and Microsoft only really compete directly in the console space. Microsoft making money off Game Pass with mobile phones has no bearing on Sony at all so how can Sony be "left in the dust" in areas where they are not even competing?
 
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drganon

Member
I believe that they will be more vulnerable next generation, seeing how much money MS is prepared to pour into its business to "dominate" the subscription scene. They -Sony- will definitely lose the US market (Plus Canada, Brazil, the UK...), but they will remain competitive in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world: The transition to a loss-leader market favours the wealthiest players, no doubt.
It will be an interesting decade, that's for sure
Meh, I have my doubts the whole subscription/streaming/cloud whatever you want to call it, is going to take off like people think it is. Guess we'll find out eventually.
 

Bragr

Banned
We can talk about phones and services and whatever else we want but at the end of the day the whole point is delivering games and Sony continues to excel in that area. Either way, let's not pretend that Game Pass has taken over the PC space. Not even close. Steam is still king of PC gaming which is why both Microsoft and Sony are happy to fork over 30% to Valve to sell games. So I disagree with this idea that Sony needs to somehow mimic Microsoft's PC gaming strategy. Sony doesn't have a platform to build on there and we have seen time and time again that alternate platforms to Steam do next to nothing unless they give out tons of free games like EGS. In the mobile area, Apple is Microsoft's competitor. Not Sony. I think console gamers have this perception that Sony and Microsoft must compete in every business segment but that is far from the case. Sony and Microsoft only really compete directly in the console space. Microsoft making money off Game Pass with mobile phones has no bearing on Sony at all so how can Sony be "left in the dust" in areas where they are not even competing?
Because I am not talking about mobile games made for mobile devices, I am talking about being able to play console and PC games through the cloud on mobile devices. Like playing Call of Duty on your tablet with a controller. This is a growing space that Xbox has put down a lot of infrastructures to cover.

I did not say that Game Pass has taken over the PC space, I am saying they have significant portals and ecosystems, stuff that comes with Windows at this point. Being able to choose if I wanna play specific games on console or PC is amazing.

Xbox is not here for consoles, they are here to build Xbox across all devices. Xbox through Game Pass. Sony is competing against that with old ideas of big expensive consoles, while Xbox is trying to rid themsevles of that and become a software-first entity, with hardware as just a tool to push Game Pass.

The fear for Sony, is that in a few years, people will be content with having Gamepass because it offers so much, and not buy a PS5.
 

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
Apparently you come to every Sony thread like a church to say your mantras over and over again about why the Xbox will definitely succeed.
Phil Spencer won't thank you, relax buddy

Why dont you actually read what I say instead of acting like you're about to cry.
 
Meh, I have my doubts the whole subscription/streaming/cloud whatever you want to call it, is going to take off like people think it is. Guess we'll find out eventually.

I have also my doubts...but the majority seems to prefer quantity and convenience above all. Granted, consuming videogames is different to listening to music, or watching a movie...
Who knows?
 

Topher

Gold Member
Because I am not talking about mobile games made for mobile devices, I am talking about being able to play console and PC games through the cloud on mobile devices. Like playing Call of Duty on your tablet with a controller. This is a growing space that Xbox has put down a lot of infrastructures to cover.

I did not say that Game Pass has taken over the PC space, I am saying they have significant portals and ecosystems, stuff that comes with Windows at this point. Being able to choose if I wanna play specific games on console or PC is amazing.

Xbox is not here for consoles, they are here to build Xbox across all devices. Xbox through Game Pass. Sony is competing against that with old ideas of big expensive consoles, while Xbox is trying to rid themsevles of that and become a software-first entity, with hardware as just a tool to push Game Pass.

The fear for Sony, is that in a few years, people will be content with having Gamepass because it offers so much, and not buy a PS5.

In a few years? Sure.....anything could happen. I'm not convinced PC and mobile gamers are going to be enticed into paying monthly fees for content though. In either case, I disagree with the notion that Sony's gaming strategy as a whole is competing with Microsoft's gaming strategy as a whole. The two intersect with consoles and for the most part that's where it ends.
 

Bragr

Banned
In a few years? Sure.....anything could happen. I'm not convinced PC and mobile gamers are going to be enticed into paying monthly fees for content though. In either case, I disagree with the notion that Sony's gaming strategy as a whole is competing with Microsoft's gaming strategy as a whole. The two intersect with consoles and for the most part that's where it ends.
What do you mean, they share a pretty similar cross-section of the market, Nintendo and mobile games have different sections, but the random casual usually buys a Playstation or Xbox. Playstation has thrived as the giant with the most third-party offerings and stellar first-party content, and there is a chance Xbox might take over that title. Who knows what will happen then.
 

Topher

Gold Member
What do you mean, they share a pretty similar cross-section of the market, Nintendo and mobile games have different sections, but the random casual usually buys a Playstation or Xbox. Playstation has thrived as the giant with the most third-party offerings and stellar first-party content, and there is a chance Xbox might take over that title. Who knows what will happen then.

Right. That cross-section of the market they share is consoles. I don't really care who owns what title as long as they both deliver kick ass games.
 

Bragr

Banned
Right. That cross-section of the market they share is consoles. I don't really care who owns what title as long as they both deliver kick ass games.
I don't see your view here, are you saying they aren't sharing the same market? Call of Duty, FIFA, Madden, Fortnite, Minecraft etc... that's the sort of games that sells on those systems.

Sony and Nintendo need to sell their own consoles to sell games. Xbox needs people to game on PC, consoles, phones or tablets to sell games. If someone subscribes through a console or a PC or an iPad, it means little to them.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I don't see your view here, are you saying they aren't sharing the same market? Call of Duty, FIFA, Madden, Fortnite, Minecraft etc... that's the sort of games that sells on those systems.

Sony and Nintendo need to sell their own consoles to sell games. Xbox needs people to game on PC, consoles, phones or tablets to sell games. If someone subscribes through a console or a PC or an iPad, it means little to them.

I think it is safe to say the vast majority of Game Pass subscribers game on Xbox consoles. Again, consoles are the market MS and Sony share. I'm stopping there dude. This isn't going anywhere.
 

John Wick

Member
I think the gen will end up neck and neck. Possibly even in MS's favor. If MS made CoD exclusive, rolled a WoW sub into a Game Pass sub, released both Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls this generation MS would definitely sell more consoles or at least have such an advantage with Game Pass subs going into next gen, that Sony would have to react with a more competitive PS+.
Lmfao! They can't make COD exclusive. Already they are coming up with concessions to make sure AB acquisition goes through. With what Phil has offered is another 5 years of COD minimum(including current contract). By that time gen will be over.
 

Bragr

Banned
I think it is safe to say the vast majority of Game Pass subscribers game on Xbox consoles. Again, consoles are the market MS and Sony share. I'm stopping there dude. This isn't going anywhere.
Xbox doesn't rely on consoles in the same way. But the point here is, if Game Pass becomes bigger, it will affect Playstation, because of the market share. That's why Sony needs to match the value proposition soon before people leave.
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Whilst I agree with some off stuff you're saying, I think Sony is fine, their fans seem to be very loyal to the brand.
My older brother who only really plays cod/Warframe/division 2 (multiplatform titles and has little to no interest in the exclusives) is mega loyal to playstation for some reason.

Same with my brother in law who is still playing FIFA 21 (purchased FIFA 22 hated it and went back to 21) 🤷‍♂️
Is your brother by any chance Ezekiel_ Ezekiel_ , Captain Toad Captain Toad , Bo_Hazem Bo_Hazem or DForce DForce ?
 

anthony2690

Banned
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anthony2690

Banned
My condolences on the queen.🙌
Thanks, I'm not personally upset over it, as I wasn't too fond off the royal family/don't have much interest in them.

But I do feel sorry for her family members as they will probably read a lot of unpleasant stuff online sadly, due to the nature of people on the internet.

But I do think she lived a good life to 96 and was lucky enough to share it with her husband Philip for most of it. :)
 
Captain Toad Captain Toad is clearly a toad fan, I use toad on Mario kart too 💪
FtpOPRC.gif


A Toad fan!? As if we're all the same? Racist asshole. I'm the fucking Captain.

You best ready your ass for some fucking adventure.
 
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NEbeast

Member
Not that it's all about winning the sales numbers war, but if it were, Sony is trouble. They went against the weakest effort ever from Microsoft last generation and Xbox still had some success.

This generation is easily the most hungry version of Xbox I've seen and it's not close.

Gamepass, BC, and emulation might not be huge by themselves, but together they make a strong argument against ps5, and $300 console option to boot. How much longer until that console is $199? Late 2024? That will be an incredibly difficult problem for Sony to solve.

And when the heavy hitter xbox exclusives start rolling in next year, it's over imo. Starting with Starfield. I don't think Xbox has ever had this level of exclusives in the pipeline that people want to play again. Halo even last gen wasn't what it was, Gears and Forza aren't really console sellers.
So, Sony boxed against a featherweight last gen as a middleweight. Now it's a heavyweight match. Worse, it feels like there's no urgency and we're seeing a passive version of Sony. VR and the lack of fresh content are much of my reasoning here(I'm talking about console seller fresh content)

And as much as I love VR, it feels like an experiment rooted in the leisure of success. It shows a certain level of comfort to toss their hat back into VR.

Success is not guaranteed this time. Xbox made it super easy last gen and the opposite is true this gen. Not to say ps5 won't have incredible games and good sales numbers, but that's not my point.
By 2024 no one will want a ss because it will be looked at as the ugly step child who is holding the generation back. 4k tvs are cheap as fuck now, in 2 years they will be peanuts. I don't get all the xbox fanboys who worship this thing, it's a weak ass machine that struggles to do 1080p now.
 

NEbeast

Member
All sony had to do was release next gen games that looked like the Matrix with next gen physics, AI and other simulations. Thats all. Their brand name and first party wouldve helped them survive Activision and Bethesda acquisitions but they didnt. They got complacent, released a bunch of underwhelming cross gen games, and have found themselves fighting over CoD. A game they never owned or had anything to do with.

They didnt need cod when Uncharted, Horizon, GOW, TLOU and Spiderman all sold 20 million. Thats cod numbers. All they had to do was continue to deliver state of the art next gen visuals and continue to sell 20 million.
Flip Flop Politics GIF by Liberal Party of Australia
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
PlayStation is a well oiled machine and they have the most expertise on how to create great games. They will be the best for a long time to come

Shocked Pop Tv GIF by Schitt's Creek
Dj Khaled Mtv Emas GIF by 2020 MTV EMA
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Xbox doesn't rely on consoles in the same way. But the point here is, if Game Pass becomes bigger, it will affect Playstation, because of the market share. That's why Sony needs to match the value proposition soon before people leave.
Isn't that what the new PS+ tiers provide though?

I download games on my PS5 (downstairs) and download PS4 games for my wife (upstairs). Same account, sometimes the same game for each console. I'm honestly clueless as to why Gamepass is better than what PS+ offers. They seem identical for the most part, just different consoles.
 

Bragr

Banned
Isn't that what the new PS+ tiers provide though?

I download games on my PS5 (downstairs) and download PS4 games for my wife (upstairs). Same account, sometimes the same game for each console. I'm honestly clueless as to why Gamepass is better than what PS+ offers. They seem identical for the most part, just different consoles.
No, Game Pass has newer games, it's curated a lot better. You notice it a lot if you use both services. Xbox is paying millions to net games.

Even if you don't care about that, it's the day one offerings that are so special. Sony has started flirting with it, Stray and such, but in one year of Game Pass, it's quite staggering the amount of day one games we got. And, on Game Pass, you can play on a PC or phone/tablet. For example, you can play Microsoft Flight Simulator on Series X, then sit down on the PC and play from the cloud within a minute on the same save.

On Game Pass, I play stuff like Age of Empires 4 or Total War: Warhammer III on my PC, and then I play stuff that plays better on a console like Psychonauts 2, on my Series X.
 

Romulus

Member
By 2024 no one will want a ss because it will be looked at as the ugly step child who is holding the generation back. 4k tvs are cheap as fuck now, in 2 years they will be peanuts. I don't get all the xbox fanboys who worship this thing, it's a weak ass machine that struggles to do 1080p now.


Get out, the overwhelming bulk of people buying consoles have no clue. Can they play the newest version of Starfield, Brosports 2023, COD, etc?"

Yes you can.

Even the ones buying the XSX just know it's better and have no idea why. lol. Neogaf "informed" buyers that argue over shit like 900p vs 1080p is silly low percentage compared to the uninformed majority of buyers that win the console war.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
While I won't go as far to say that Sony has been reesting on their laurels, they have maybe taken somethings for granted giving the success they had particularly last gen.
 
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