PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan: Players Will Only Remember the Best Games - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 15 July 2021 / 2,556 Views
PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan in an interview with TMTPost said that users will only remember the best games and they might forget a game is just okay.
"Players only remember best games rather than OK games," said Ryan. "If it is a best game, players may want a sequel, and they will also want to buy a sequel, but no one really cares about a game that is only OK.
"Of course, due to financial and product portfolio considerations, we will also give pressure to studios to deliver a certain product within the expected time. But in general, we don't want products that are OK, we want the best."
Ryan added, "I think if you have built a mature development team, you have to employ people without any doubt, you have to trust your team and support them.
"This is how we operate the PlayStation Studio. We give them freedom to express their creativity, and we believe that they will give us a corresponding return and deliver the best games."
Ryan defined the best game as a game that "can arouse certain emotions of the players, such as making the player feel excited, feel the adrenaline rush, or feel happy or sad. I think best gaming experience should allow players to enter an immersive experience in the game, allowing players to fully integrate into the game and experience different emotions."
He did say Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has been his favorite game to play in the last year.
"I personally think it is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which is my favorite and most enjoyable game in the last year. Although it is not a slow-paced game, the joy of the game and the performance of the console really surprised me.
"I feel that if our team can launch a best game like this within half a year after the launch of PS5, what about three or four years later? I feel very excited when I think of this."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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I get the sentiment. But from another perspective this might be counterproductive. Days Gone was an okay game and it will never get a sequel. Uncharted 1 was an okay game. Now it is a legendary series. In video games, wanting the best often means banking on iterative improvements and recognising creativity in mediocrity.
I agree. A not fully fleshed out concept can become a great one with time and development to expand on that concept. This is why so many comparisons between Jim Ryan and Shawn Layden come from where at 2014 E3 Sony conference, Layden praised a game called Vib Ribbon. It wasn't a best seller, but it had a really cool concept and it was one his personal favorites, and it was a Sony published title.
Jim Ryan would not have made a statement like that nor does he have the values of what gaming can be creatively. Just because a game your teams made didn't sell gangbusters, or the concept is too niche, or didn't reach a certain Metacritic score, doesn't mean it wasn't one of those "best games." Every gamer is different in terms of what kinds of games they enjoy. That's why there's cult classics. If Jim Ryan had his way for the whole industry, the variety of games would be very limited and there wouldn't be any of those "hidden gems"
Agreed. Oh and Uncharted 1 was better than "okay". It was a good game.
Yeah, thats true. Uncharted was, especially for its time, more than okay. I undersold it in my comment.
I beg to differ, uncharted 1 was one of my favourite games of ps3 and did things better than other games in the series, and is the reason for uncharted 2. Also daysgone was more than okay, it was superb, post patches ofcourse.
I thought Days Gone was a great game. I wouldn't be so fast to say it will never get a sequel. It simply wasn't approved to get one currently. There's nothing stopping Sony from approving a sequel in the future once their current projects wrap up and they need more stuff to release.
I hope you are right. I very much enjoyed days gone, or at least parts of it. A sequel would be just what it needs to flesh out its greatness. I even platinuned the thing. It felt unique in how the hordes played. Cool stuff.
Yea it took me a bit to get into the game. I would play like 1 missions at a time basically. Wasn't in the gaming mood much but did want something to jump in and out of whenever I had time. After a while though the game just hooked me. It just took some time to set everything up and really build up the characters and world. Would be a shame to see all that go to waste.
Jim .... who? Im sorry we only remember the best CEO's.
ICO or The Last Guardian were OK games for many, but for me they were unforgettable experiences. It's very subjective what an "OK game" or "best game" is. There are many so-called AAA games out there which I'd call OK games.
So true. And really a good example in the wake of Studio Japan shrinking to Team Asobi.
I was going to say exactly this. Some games which were “okay” have gone on to become classics.
How to put unhealthy pressure on your teams by unrealistic expectations.
Best is also subjective. Whats best for you isn't best for someone else. This is where gamers miss out on sequels of their favorite IPs because the game doesn't suit someone else's narrative.
Exactly. I know games like Enslaved, Alan Wake, Days Gone, aren't considered the best, but I sure as hell would love a sequel to all of those.
Wrong, gamers remember "their" best games.
Big difference, though can't expect much else from clueless Jim.
Talk about a subjective hot take. Yes Jim, because you know everything about gamers (as you've clearly shown in the past) all we only love to play is the kinds of games you deem best.
To be fair, he is talking about creative freedom and being hands off with individual studios decisions.
Hmm, I wouldn't say that. Some are considered as some of the best in their genre or on their platform but some aren't. Some of the games I remember the most are games like Forsaken on N64, Realms of Arkania games on MS-DOS, Pinball Fantasy, Dime City and so on... there are reason why I remember them so good and why I have such a good feeling thinking back to them but they were all not really crazy good games. But they are still some of the first which come to my mind when I think about my "gaming life"
"Players will remember what I tell them to remember!"
Jim Ryan is such a simple minded twat
Is that why I forget half of Sony IPs the last decade? So by that logic is Sonic 06, ET on Atari and Ride to Hell some of the best games ever made?
Remembering Shaq Fu says he's wrong
i will never forget Duke Nukem 64
Sony remembers which games sold best
People remember THEIR favorite games. I can guarantee with a 100% confidence that, 20 years from now, A LOT more people will be remembering Fortnite and SOT than Returnal and Dreams.
This means less risks. No more games like shadow of colossus, nier automata, twisted metal, death stranding.
Sony has nothing to do with Nier. It's an SE series and not exclusive to PS systems at all.
You are right jim.
Playstation games = Premium games.
We all can see this.
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