An in depth interview by Gamesindrustry.biz with Sony’s Eric Lempel, SVP and head of global marketing (Sony Interactive Entertainment), shed light into some interesting topics regarding the PlayStation 5’s launch and how the company feels about its new machine.
After weeks of only getting Phil Spencer news on Xbox and a variety of different topics, we finally get something to talk about from an executive of Microsoft’s main rival on the home console front. One of the topics discussed, or at least promoted by the Lempel was the fact that the company believes that they have the greatest launch-lineup that the electronics giant has ever seen on one if its home consoles.
“The content that will be in the launch window and beyond is incredibly exciting. I would say that this is the best line-up that we’ve ever seen in the history of PlayStation, between our Worldwide Studios groups and our partners from all the different publishers around the world. We’ve revealed some of that content, and naturally there will be more to come, but the way that the developers can engage with this platform, and create these new experiences with known IP as well as unknown IP, is incredibly exciting.”- Eric Lempel
Now, before we get too excited, Sony has been known for they largely pedestrian launch outputs for their consoles for the past 25 years. So, it is not hard for the company to “out do itself” this time around, as their “launch lineup” standards were low to being with.
The PlayStation 2, had one of the most awful launch lineups ever seen up to that point. In fact, in the year 2000, it was difficult for an open minded person (not a PS fanboy) to see how the PS2 was a better purchase at that stage over the Sega Dreamcast, as far as games were concerned. Terrible launch lineups have never stopped Sony from finding success for its consoles, but it is nice to see that the PlayStation 5 has at least one must buy game at launch (Demon Souls), and that there are other titles that have yet to be announced according to Lempel.
The Pandemic has caused challenges for Sony, mostly in its ability to demonstrate how its presumably expensive next-gen controllers offers experiences that differ from anything we have ever experienced before. Because game shows are out of the question, the company hasn’t been able to set up booths to get people (at least the press) to test out the controller before launch.
It is difficult for the company to convey the message of how impressive their PS5 controller is when no one can “feel” the haptic vibrations.
“The genesis of this is that we’re moving into a new generation, and to us generations matter. It’s a chance to raise the expectations from players and gamers, and really introduce something new. So for this spot in particular, we focused on three distinct areas: the haptic feedback, the adaptive dynamic triggers, and 3D audio. And we wanted to show what it would be like to be in the middle of all that.”- Eric Lempel
Clearly, the message here differs from the one that Microsoft has been advertising for the Xbox Series X. Sony does not only seem intent on pushing forwards next gen visuals, as opposed to Microsoft’s claims that their games can run on the original Xbox One, but also, the company seems intent on pushing forwards the way that games are felt, and heard.
Their new ad (see below), demonstrates what the company is trying to accomplish by putting an actress on different worlds where she experiences different types of sensorial feedback. How the new controller affects gameplay on games (even on launch games) is unclear. We don’t know whether Demon Souls, for example, will utilize all or at least some, of the features on the controller that have been advertised by Sony.
The new ad, while exciting, shows no gameplay, which again is something that we have criticized before on Xbox Series X demos, and again, must be stressed here. Still Sony for the moment seems to be on a better track towards their own launch that Microsoft is now that Halo Infinite has been delayed. The only concern that we have about the PlayStation 5 is how the controller will affect the price of the system which is rumored to be at least $100 dollars higher than whatever price Microsoft will eventually announce for its Xbox Series X.
https://youtu.be/Cj6AUuRs1A4