Naked truth about Sony's 1st party

I'd like to mention at first that this thread is totally subjective, it is my own opinion and you have as much right to disagree with it as I have to point out certain events. The bottom line however is that I am not biased nor waging a war against PlayStation

Secondly, a disclaimer: I used to LOVE PlayStation brand as much as the most zealous cows nowadays do. I've bought my first PS on July 28, 1998 - the date which I won't ever forget - along with Resident Evil 2, also a game which I won't ever forget. I used to subscribe to Official PlayStation Magazine back in the day as well.

But I also can't help but notice certain trends and the idea of this thread has been going in and around my head for quite some time now.

Do you know what made PS1 such an amazing console - when we talk about its 1st party - in the first place?

For me, the answer is obvious - its British 1st party studios which had an amazing aura surrounding them, those studios made Sony a distinctive entity of its own, oozing certain kind of class - unparalelled by anyone else at the time.

I'm talking mainly about Psygnosis, SCE London, SCE Cambridge Studio and Team Soho. All of them are now either defunct or restructured and made mere shadows of their former selves, forced to make shovelware or #LOLVITA ports.

Actually, the decline of Sony's 1st party first occured during PS2 era which heavily relied on 3rd party exclusives. That is not to say there weren't any interesting 1st party Sony exclusives back then, but Sony's 1st party power certainly began to somewhat diminish back then.

The best example of it is Sony Cambridge Studio which was considered one of the best during PS1 era having created such unanimously acclaimed masterpieces as MediEvil 1 and to lesser extent its sequel. During PS2 era they've fallen from AAA-quality reptuation to A-quality at best, then they were reduced to shovelware/PSP ports developers' status, and now they don't exist anymore, they're restructured into Guerrilla Cambridge which isn't a proper studio.

Don't even get me started on Psygnosis and how much did it inject into PS1. I could go on and on about it - to no end.

The bottom line is, current Sony's 1st party roster is a FAR CRY from its heyday from PS1 era! It lacks that British refinement and classiness, sophistication.

Apart from Naughty Dog, there isn't anything spectacular in there anymore, IMO(key word). And I'm talking about proper studios making tangible games, not some make-believe vaporware.

I'm sick and tired of listening how Sony's 1st party supposedly gives them edge and at the same time they're given perpetual benefit of the doubt based solely on the fact that it represents PlayStation brand and therefore it must be special, and at the same time you totally forget that PlayStation brand used to be several levels above what it currently does, it had soul, so to speak...Of course, on the other hand, I am more than willing to give Sony's 1st party credit when it's due, but I couldn't have shaken the inescapable feeling that something is missing in Sony for several years.

This British contingent was a welcome breath of fresh air, a brilliant alternative to what later become an oversatured market with bro-shooters of little to no variety. NOW IT'S ALL BUT NON-EXISTENT. I'D LIKE YOU TO PROVE ME WRONG! Only Media Molecule remained. I don't count Evolution Studios, they have very limited impact, work in a very limited capacity (only racing games) and don't feel distinctively British.

I just feel that in the 90s / early 00s, their British studios constituted a significant backbone of Sony, now not anymore, and its lack is really detrimental to Sony.

I'd be delighted if some of you took these pink glasses off and judged exclusived based on their own merits.

That's my two cents.

But anyway, yeah, I do strongly believe that Sony's UK studios constituted the backbone of PlayStation which also paved the way for its success in Europe. It is sad that the nostalgia remained, yet the studios aren't there anymore.

Flame me if you want, but let's remember who started playing when, or who started loving PlayStation first.

No Getaway 3 = shit first party line up.

lol at disclaimers on a fanboy forum. Show some spine and type your opinions with unapologetic pride.

You're saying that Sony's UK studios are where their good games come from and they are being neglected currently?

lol at TC's attempt to give himself credibility by saying he was a Sony fanboy

Kinda. Actually they don't exist anymore bar Media Molecule and Evolution Studios. But Psygnosis was to PS1 what Naughty Dog was/is to PS3/4. That is not to say that only the UK made all the difference for PS1, though.

sure TC blog it, have some clicks

britains are like americans they think they are the only 1 in this world

What games did they make?

The only game that mattered. F1 97.

Talking about only PlayStation ones they developed: WipeOut series, Colony Wars 1,2 and 3, G-Police 1 & 2, Formula 1 series, RollCage 1 & 2 (excellent racers), and Overboard! among other things. Let's not even mention Amiga where they were godlike legends.

media molecule wasnt even a studio back in the ps1 era. evolution studios actually had more games releases than media molecule so i dont know why you arent counting one but counting on the other.

i remember the best exclusives on the ps1-ps2 era's were third party games...so i dont know what you are talking about. and the only first party studio thats always come up with good games in those eras has always been naughty dog, team ico & polyphony digital. you can count wipeout developer but i think they fell off after ps1 gen

sonys first party studios now are really diverse and they have come out with a lot of good titles. sucker punch has emerged to be a good (not yet great) studio. sony santa monica has made god of war and also helped out with other titles that have done okay.

i think that the first party studio's have a long way to go but no way are they worse now than they were back then....unless you are only talking about uk studio's.

*comes into thread to see naked women*

*leaves disappointed*

TC your opinion is considered a Naked Truth?

What did you say, peasant?

Nice blog, opinion=not the truth

fiddle sticks

Nice blog OP, too bad your opinion s worthless around here and is in no way the truth for a majority of people here or the games industry as a whole.

If there was a Medievil 3 for the PS4, I'd buy the console instantly.

Nope, I'd play it PC where it belongs

i could swear medievil were ps exclusives, oh wait, they are!

lol at this thread, another butthurt fanboy that can't handle ps exclusives destroying xbones.

MS fanboys are corny

@Krelian-co

OK name confusion, when ever someone mention Medieval in respect to a game, I immediately think Total War and the last one set during the dark ages was Medieval 2.

I'm with you, Playstation 1st party is rather suckish. The Last of Us is the only game that really stood out last gen

And this statement proves you are just as much a fan boy.

Did you finally finish that game now? Returned it to your buddy ol' pal?

Sonys first party is a complete joke compared to what it used to be, but you'll never hear a cow admit that.

Games like Knack and Clownzone still get hyped. Sony closing talented studios gets ignored because hey guys, GuerilLOL have 2 teams now so its okay!

Gameplay doesn't matter anymore, its all about graphics! Variety doesn't matter anymore, its all about shooters!

Naughty Dog are literally the only talent Sony has that aren't complete garbage.

Infamous:SS and MLB:TS14 are GREAT games IMO. I think Sony's 1st party studios are off to a really good start. I'm only expecting the games to get better TBH. I think this years e3 are going to melt our faces off with all the great games that will be shown by all 3. Sony, MS, and Nintendo.

Don't agree at all.

"I'm talking mainly about Psygnosis, SCE London, SCE Cambridge Studio and Team Soho."

SCE London have only ever done party titles, their biggest title is Singstar so i'm not sure why they're listed. Sales must have dropped for Singstar or the game just doesn't need as many people so that doesn't raise too many eye brows. Team Soho nothing bar The Getaway which weren't exactly amazing games in the first place. Weren't Team Soho meant to release another Getaway for PS3? I don't really blame Sony for pulling the plug there as i think it's most likely that the project was going nowhere and the goodwill had dried up. So there's 50% gone. Psygnosis had Colony wars and Wipeout and Cambridge had MediEvil. These are the two to dispute.

With Cambridge they couldn't pull another IP to the same standards, after 5 years and a couple of mediocre titles in the PS2 era lost to it's massive library and i don't think you can have many complaints that they were shifted to their new handheld. This was as the PSP launched too, it wasn't the miniatured shovelware we know the PSV for as they looked to move on Nintendo's handheld reign but they didn't preform there. There were opportunities there but they weren't up to snuff. Could you blame Sony for not pulling in new talent? Maybe, but i'd imagine as a dev Sony picking who you hire would be a terrible dynamic so i assume that's all the devs end.

Psygnosis i just don't know enough about to comment really but it seems they had a good history both during and pre the PS1 era. For me personally they only put out Wipeout and Colony Wars. Both good titles but again it seemed to be a problem with generating new IP.

Overall most of these companies had been living on good will over the PS3 era so i don't blame the closures. Those that did put out good titles failed to replicate that in new IP and each company got multiple attempts at new core games that don't seem to have done well. You can't keep pumping money into devs for the sake of nostalgia and there's only so much you can put on Sony. This was also more than a decade ago. Is there a company in history that's managed to keep a first party studio churning out hits for this long? Maybe Nintendo but that's only because they've never deviated from their hit titles like Pokemon, Mario and Zelda. It's very impressive the way Naughty Dog are entering the fourth generation of consoles having had genre defining titles in everyone they've entered.

Sadly i'm not sure it's Sony that's sapped the creativity out of the British Studios but is rather just a general trend. Whilst we're plodding along happily with GTA, NFS, Burnout, Fable, Total War, Crysis 3 and Dirt i can't recall anything close to the aura you remember let alone new IP coming out recently bar LBP. If anything it seems the complete opposite to what you believe with Sony being one of the only ones to offer devs the opportunity to develop outside of established series with MM making weird Move demos and Evolution shifting to a new IP. Most seem to be hunkered down to what they know will pay the bills currently.

"Apart from Naughty Dog, there isn't anything spectacular in there anymore, IMO(key word). And I'm talking about proper studios making tangible games, not some make-believe vaporware."

A couple of big titles have faltered like GT and God of War but i think they'll be back strong soon enough, Sony also pushed the biggest variety of new IP over the last generation when MS seemed to put out Alan Wake and give up. Titles like Heavy Rain, LBP and Journey simply wouldn't get funded elsewhere. The nearest thing to those British studios of the PS1 era are still being picked up by Sony but sadly are a rarity in the UK now. Either way it's still more than it's competitors have done who'd rather fund the next Mario Kart or shooter.

What awful taste you have.. You list 4 studios and only managed to name ONE decent franchise in Medievil.. The rest of the developers were never any good and it's because of Sony that they even still exist

I'm sorry to say, but there are some inconvenient facts that derail the entire premise of this thread. A new generation has just gotten underway and Sony is not at liberty to spill the beans on all their first party studio projects right from the get-go. Then there's also the fact that Generation 8s first E3 is weeks away.

I'm just not buying this stuff. Right now, Sony is in a real good position to leverage their first party development resources since the PS4 itself is such a non-exotic architecture. I just don't buy this whole act of chopping its balls off or judging Sony's first party when we all know how secretive the games industry is at these transitional periods.

It's easy for you to feel this way considering you haven't owned a PS console for a very, very long time. Your impressions of their first party are incredibly vague and not based on first hand playing through experience the last few generations namely the PS2 and PS3. I don't care for racers, so some of your favorite moments on PS1 I didn't care for at all. To be more objective, you should look at all their games at a site like Metacritic since you cleary are skipping over what makes their first party a force to be reckoned with. Simply look at this year and last year and you will find a good amount of high scoring games that came directly from Sony. That's more games for gamers.

Sony's 1st party is actually much stronger now than it was in the PS1 era, and I bought my PS1 back in 1995, three years before you owned one. In fact, you bought a PS1 only two years before the PS2 came out, but you changed companies after that machine. I will agree their British Studios aren't as strong as they were back then, but thankfully Sony picked up the slack and then some during the PS2 era (which had fabulous 1st party support, better than PS1) and certainly proven with the PS3 SPECTACULAR 1st party. I look at British studios in general across the map, and from what I can see there have been declines all over. It's not Sony, it's the industries direction. This isn't a naked truth as titled by your thread, it's simply how you feel based on very little first hand experience over the last decade.

Now begins the PS4 era and they are just getting started whilst juggling PS3/Vita with 1st party games. Sony, like the other two, are not going to speak on their upcoming games yet as the system is only six months oldish...but when you look back at history OBJECTIVELY at their home consoles (PS1, PS2, PS3), you can see their 1st party edge is mighty. The 1st party game output has been fantastic. Whether you play these games every year or not won't change reality. I would say that while you mean well, the naked truth is that you are ignorant to Sony's 1st party efforts.

Sony 1st party is much more than just Sony Santa Monica, Media Molecule, Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, Bend, Polyphony, SCE Japan (which itself is comprised of multiple studios including Team ICO and Project Siren), SCE San Diego, SCE Foster, Evolution, SCE London, etc.

I refrained from compiling a long list of games I've played that came directly from Sony's 1st party since 2000 (PS2 launch year), but I can say it's a shame you missed out on them and you probably won't ever play some of these fantastic games. You like Medievil? So did I. We have that in common. I also enjoyed Jak & Daxter, Jak II, Jak III, Sly Cooper, Sly Cooper 2, Sly Cooper 3, Little Big Planet, LittleBigPlanet 2, Puppeteer, Mark of Kri, Shadow of the Colossus, Ratchet & Clank 1, Ratchet 2, Ratchet 3, Ratchet 4, Rise of the Kasai, God of War 1, God of War 2, God of War 3, God of War Ghost of Sparta, God of War Chains of Olympus, Ghost Hunter, Primal, LocoRoco 1, LocoRoco 2, Ratchet & Clank Tools of Destruction, Ratchet and Clank A Crack in Time, Tearaway, Ape Escape 1, Ape Escape 2, Ape Escape 3, Soul Sacrifice, Gravity Daze/Rush, Patapon, ICO, and many more. Those are all 1st party Sony high quality platforming/action games, most made internally but a few by second party, but still first party titles. That's only in the action/platforming categories since you said you liked MediEvil. My point is I don't think you completed or even played any of these fun and great games and that's just in that one tiny action/platforming category. I could relate with your opinion if I know you hadn't skipped over these titles (due to not owning multiple PS platforms). It's a bunk argument. It's like hearing an NES fanboy bashing modern Nintendo games knowing he hasn't owned a Nintendo console since the NES, but is drawing up conclusions from a point of ignorance on the software anyways.

I think you are trying to mentally reconcile your firm stance on not owning modern PS consoles and are having a hard time accepting some realities to the might of Sony's 1st Party. It would be easier to believe they are junk because that keeps you from having to feel like you might want to buy one. I own all the machines, I let the games I like come to me, but I wouldn't try to diminish another console's 1st party without at least completing the games. HYPOTHETICALLY: If I don't like Heavy Rain, it's because I played it. If I don't like a Halo, it's because I played it. If I don't like Gran Turismo, it's because I played it. If I don't like Mario Galaxy, it's because I played it. I know what's releasing, I am not ignorant of the release schedules and for a gamer like me, new IPs and titles I like to experience them regardless of platform. That means I'm not going to go decades skipping over multiple machines and it also means spending extra money. If I was forced to make a hasty choice based on limited income, I would do more research. That means I would research their 1st party output far more than what appears to me you have done for Sony's consoles these last 14 years.

I certainly wouldn't construct a thread in SW highlighting how much I didn't know and how limited my experience was with a specific brand of consoles. I don't hold your opinion against you, but I did want to give you something to seriously contemplate because I think you've been missing out. If you can find it in you to read this post and not get angry that would be wonderful because getting a rise out of you emotionally is definitely not my intent.

Why would you use the term "naked truth" and then start off with a disclaimer stating that everything you're about to say is subjective and only your opinion?

@freedomfreak: I bought the game and I'm playing the MP. Don't wanna finish the campaign since I'm saving most of it for the PS4 version later this year. The little I've played from the campaign is amazing though

I'd really like to type of a lengthy response but I just don't have time at the moment. I agree with what you had said, but if there is an answer it is much broader than Playstation.

blah blah blah

Nah it's Japan studio, easily.

PS2 had better 1st party than PS1 though. Jak series, Ratchet series, Sly series, God Of War series, Dark Cloud series, Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus, + stuff like Gran Turismo, Twisted Metal and Parappa were still around.

He's practicing for his Polygon debut.

@I_can_haz said:

Nice blog OP, too bad your opinion s worthless around here and is in no way the truth for a majority of people here or the games industry as a whole.

True, after all SONY is synonymous with world class gaming.

I don't think Sony is as strong as Ninty's first party they milk the crud out of their franchise to the point that I wonder why they aren't the cows instead.

By naked truth you mean butthurt faboy opinion TC?

Sony's 1st party was basically non-existent till the PS3 happened because 3rd party support was lacking compared to the x360. There has never been a generation where Sony has invested as much money on developing new ip's and 1st and 2nd party games than last gen.

Oh, so it's not the naked truth. It's more like the "filtered truth from a huge lem".

Thanks for not making me read the whole load of bullshit though, I find that admirable in a TC.

Agreed.... except i don't like Naughty Dog either lol