PS4: Give Me 5 Reasons, Sony
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 07/26/15 at 03:40 PM CT
Another week in July, another week of nothing interesting, game-wise. I’ve been putting in some good backlog-clearing hours, but whenever I go online to see what’s what in the community, most of what I see is rabid Sony fanboys flagellating themselves into a frothing frenzy over the market dominance of the PlayStation 4. A couple weeks ago, I asked MJ’s readers who are backing the PS4 for some of their reasons. I received well-written responses… with inadequate reasons.
Of course, every Sony console has been a tough sell for me, despite the fact that I loved the original PlayStation almost as much as I loved the SNES that came before it. But even that first outing by Sony took a while to get through my armor. My first PS1 experience was a demo of “King’s Field,” which made me question why ANYONE would spend money to play THAT when they could keep replaying their SNES games over, and over… and over. The PS1’s library ultimately fleshed out with a large number of …
Satoru Iwata: 1959-2015
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 07/19/15 at 02:38 PM CT
On July 11, Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, lost his battle with bile duct cancer at the young age of 55. The entirety of the gaming industry and gaming culture has lost a paragon in his death.
Iwata served as the President of Nintendo since 2002, guiding the company through both great successes with the unorthodox Wii and DS platforms and great struggles with the WiiU and 3DS. Throughout it all, he kept the faith that games should be fun, and kept Nintendo true to itself, instead of mimicking the unsustainable business practices that have been whirling around the industry since the dawn of the 7th Generation.
Iwata was also the type of corporate president I can actually respect. Iwata wasn’t a “Professional CEO,” as so many Western corporate executives are, head-hunted from company to company, bouncing from industry to industry, installed based solely on their perceived ability to exploit market conditions and turn profits, regardless of external factors. No, Iwata …
Atlus Acts as Smelling Salts for Sega
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 07/12/15 at 04:20 PM CT
Way back in 2013, Sammy, the parent company of Sega, purchased Index Digital Media, the parent company of Atlus, for $140 million. This merger of two generally half-assed Japanese game developers/publishers made me quite happy, as it gave the two the opportunity to merge their respective halves into a competent whole. Now, as if embodying the subtitle of the upcoming “South Park” RPG sequel, “The Fractured, But Whole,” Sega’s CEO, Naoki Satomi, has revealed that the company has indeed learned things from Atlus and will make another push into the console space after announcing their abandonment of consoles for smartphones not so long ago.
Apparently, Atlus taught Sega that creating quality games and releasing them when they are ready instead of when they are due is a great way to win new fans and keep existing fans happy. In my eyes, it looks like Atlus simply slapped Sega across the face with the not-so-secret revelation that smaller Japanese companies can’t get away …
Where4 PS4?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 07/05/15 at 02:22 PM CT
The post-E3 Summer doldrums are really dragging-down my article inspiration. With most of the interesting games shown at E3 being a year or more away, and with the Summer release schedule being as bland as always, the present seems like nothing more than the perfect time to do some Backlog shoveling.
However, the one gaming-related thing that is strongly on my mind at the moment is the sheer number of people I know who have recently jumped on the PlayStation 4 bandwagon. When these people reveal to me that they have purchased Sony’s newest doorstop/paperweight, I can only stand in stunned dismay wondering why.
Paraphrasing the immortal words of Shakespeare spoken by Juliette, “Wherefore art thou buying PS4?” It has been less than a year since even Sony’s executives threw their hands into the air in dismay at the number of people buying PS4s… I can’t see how the situation has changed.
MJ’s Community Manager, Chris, is the first of my acquaintances to drink the …
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