Cliff Bleszinski Reckons That Sony's Playing You for Publicity

Did you know this guy might be the Tony Stark of video games? How can he be wrong?

I wouldn't have bought him something to eat - unless it was poo.

Sorry.. saw that pic of him and instantly hated him. Book, cover.. I know.

@ShogunRok Tony Stark (if real, mind) has appeal, charm, charisma and is cool. Cliff Bleszinski is a chancer and a tit who has never created a game worthy of attention for more than it's graphics.

So much butthurt.

He is just stupid. I mean, rental games always boost first day sales. people buy games freely, knowing that they can sell them. But if you cut that possibility, people just will wait for some sales or somethin similar. You will win in one place, but lose in another. But if he is right and sony will mix some BS with accounts, like on PSV, then I'll be really unhappy.

Also, I think that developing games on PS4 will not cost more than on PS3, thanks to new architecture.

@ShogunRok That guy was in the ass of Microsoft Did he said one thing positive about Playstation? Is he still developing? He is the young peter molyneux ^^ Jazz jackrabbit was awesome, gears was awesome but now his reign is over.

I like the Gears series but this guy is an arrogant a-hole and a Microsoft puppet. That said, he's far more in the know than any of us are and with the ever changing gaming landscape you can never put it past these companies to do something stupid. I'm going to give Sony the benefit of the doubt but you can't just write off these comments, and Sony did do a stealth announcement concerning pay to play online at its E3 conference, Tretton basically ignored that little slide, didn't even glance over it.

I think gaming is going all digital by the end of this gen anyway, developers want it which makes it inevitable, hell even Nintendo is getting in on the act and frankly not doing a bad job of it. Ultimately with this, there will be restrictions. The one thing I don't ever want Sony to do is make me do that stupid check-in crap. With 360 and PS3 you can download games but you don't have to connect to the internet once every 24 hours to play them. I wouldn't mind eventually having to d/l games from PSN but I better be able to play them whenever I want.

@rastamadeus Thank god! I think this guy is the young peter molyneux. This guy talks rubbish after making 2 decent games . Gears was awesome and jazz jackrabbit but now his streak is over. Now he want to give his budbuddy MS some slack

If Sony are playing people, they'll cut their own throats when they 'announce' it. But that seems highly unlikely to me.

There's no way they'd make such absolute public statements like they did at E3, then U-turn on it after release. It would be utterly suicidal.

@get2sammyb This games are supposed to be shorter to develop with a more pc like infrastructure.

Mmhh. Yeah, I don't think so. This guy is crazy. Plus, if you ban used games, I'm not going to be buying anything. From me personally, those triple A games won't be getting a dime without used games. Sony isn't going to backtrack, the lot know the backlash would be worse than any PR they could get by doing this.. The pleasure it was said with was too great to be false anyway. Sony plans to gain console sales by keeping the consumer's trust and goodwill. Even if he's right about the used game industry and triple-A games, the PS4 will not block used games.

@Jaz007

It's not like Sony would do this right away, I don't think Bleszinski would even suggest that, it would be an absolute PR nightmare. Instead, it will be over time, a 'policy change' here, another one there. It could easily happen, and if the company has good enough PR people things can be worded just well enough to fool the general public but it won't fool those of us who follow the game industry closely.

I'm not suggesting any of this will or won't happen, I just don't think it's something that should be tossed aside so quickly as 'he's crazy.' There's no point in somebody as close to gaming as he is to just try and make himself look like a nutjob. He has to know something behind the scenes that we don't.

He's just mad because Sony threw a huge blow on Microsoft.

It wouldn't bug him if he weren't fanboy. But since it did, we're just gonna assume he is.

@Gamer83 But those who follow things closey will explode. Sony can word things as well as they want. We would make sure it's known and common knowledge and more heard than Sony's statements.

@Jaz007

No doubt, but that doesn't mean Sony wouldn't try to change things, especially if it felt that was the only way to keep publishers/developers on board with the console. And we could also get pissed and make it common knowledge all we want, in the end I'm not sure how much the casual buyer will care. I'm still not sold that this 'outrage' towards MS is as bad lots of people think.

@Gamer83 http://www.dailygame.net/features/ps4-pre-orders-at-amazon-gamestop-outselling-xbox-one-two-to-one

this says otherwise ^^ Sony could have a huge backlash. I think they have paid multiplayer to cover some costs

I'm not worried at all. Sony would be be committing suicide if the got hopes up, only to toss them into the mud. So yeah, I'm going to have to disagree with what he's saying.

Microsoft has a great thing going on with cloud saves, but the 1 hour restriction severely hampers that feature. If game distribution does go all digital, then Sony and Nintendo need to avoid that one major pitfall.

@LordBagardo That video snip sez it all! Fuunny...and so true.

@Sanquine

Considering the loss Sony took on PS3 and the crazy price point for PS4 given its hardware, I'm sure the multiplayer fee is help make up for some potential losses. All I'm saying is Mr. Tretton wasn't exactly upfront about it, which leads into my main point, you can't just take anything people at a giant corporation are saying and believe it 100%. All of the 'big 3', even everyone's precious Nintendo, is in this for the money and if certain changes need to be made to help that happen, well those changes will be made. I'm giving Sony the benefit of the doubt that with PS4 it won't rape the consumer but if 3 or 4 years down the line things are totally different than right now, I wouldn't be shocked at all. The one thing that better not change is that check-in crap. More than anything, even the spy device attachment that is required with the purchase of the Xbox One, it's the check-in bs that pisses me off. If all consoles are going to be like that in the future, we might as well all become PC gamers.

@Gamer83 I see your point there. Ya i know. There was a time i was a PC gamer. I also had a gaming laptop. But then for some stupid reason DRM was introduced.... Sometimes when i was in college but the lesson was over... I played on my gaming laptop ( If i wasnt smoking xD yeah was... i quit smoking)

@Sanquine

There's a lot of things about PC gaming I don't care for. But it seems like pricing is better these days, thanks to Steam, and if consoles are just going to become mini-PCs, which seems to be happening, at some point you might as well just get the real deal. That's why I'm hoping the Xbox One is a complete failure unless MS backs off some of its policies. I don't know as I see that happening though. The stupid North American market is still too easy for that company to manipulate.

Even steam has an offline mode cliff...... Get real.

The sucess of any industry is supply and demand. If you cant supply a good quality product at a price range the consumer is willing to play then get out of the game. If it means indie developers picking up the slack this gen because triple A companies have got to big for their boots then so be it. I happily open the doors to innovation and new ideas whole heartedly. Im glad to take a risk with a few quid in my back pocket on a new idea that maybe fun instead of a tried and tested, copy and paste repeat performance in new clothes. Im fed up with companies like Microsoft, EA, etc trying to demand our money. Earn it instead of putting out shoddy products which need several patches and updates and unnecessary dlc which should have been included in the original product but were removed to make and extra few quid. Gears Of War, Call Of Duty and Fifa can dissappear if it means we can no longer play second hand games and cheaper content. The industry was here before these companies and will survive long after. Retro content still sells and those games didnt need artistic big budgets to provide an entertaining and fun gaming experience. This is why Sony are winning the next gen battle already. Consumers before everything else. Ive earnt my money to spend how I see fit and I wont be dictated to by an arrogant corporate company.

@Gamer83 Hardware in PS4 isn't so expensive. I'm not sure if Sony loses money on PS4.

@get2sammyb Developers report that to make games for PS4 isn't harder than for PS3. Guerilla games for example. I wonder how much The Last of US costs. Maybe other studious worked on the game because it was cheaper, than to make everything alone. And The Last of Us ended to be cheaper than Uncharted 3, for example.

If Assassin's Creed games cost more to produce than they make in sales, it's most likely due to the formula becoming stale. New games every year for five or six straight years will inevitably lead to gamer fatigue (a la COD and shooters in general). Perhaps following the Bioshock model--one game every 3 or 4 years--will lead to more buzz and bigger sales numbers.

I respect his experience, but there are some holes in what he's claiming.

• Sony's using the used game/non-manditory connection as part competitive advantage, and part common sense. A global company does not build a internet all-the-time only machine.
• From interviews I've seen, used games help the gaming industry, by helping people put that money towards new games.
• He doesn't know what Sonys doing behind closed doors, what deals they may be negotiating, or how they are shifting their budgets around and cutting back to compensate certain losses.
• Not every game will be a zillion dollars to make, and take thousands of workers. My guess is that less than half PS4 "big budget games" will be first party.

There are ways to make it work. He makes it sound impossible and devious.

@Gamer83
Thats just it, I have a feeling digital distribution is the reason Sony is playing it cool with their stance on DRM. I have a feeling they're going to really push digital distribution, game streaming, and everything else. After all why make a fuss about used games when you can just lead people into going digital?

@JayArr He's not butthurting or fanboying at all. He just gave his two-cents on what he thinks Sony will do. You should try to comprehend if a person is actually butthurting and fanboying, before butthurting and fanboying.

@ShogunRok

Sony and many other companies have the strictest restriction there is. Digital Distribution. The PSN is Sony's restriction, as will be Gaikai.

On the other hand so is Steam, Origin, XBox Live, and any form of digital distribution.

Here's the thing......he may be right about Sony having a 'similar trick up its sleeve' but it doesn't have to be "up their sleeve'. Yoshida-san said that the PS4 will allow digital games. If this is true, isn't it obvious that they MUST have some DRM model in place? I mean if my cousin owns BF4 and I don't. He comes to my place and lets me install it on my PS4 HDD, well surely Sony won't allow that. There has to be something in place and they probably didn't mention it for marketing PR reasons at E3 (would you if you were them?). I am totally investing in a PS4 (have been with Sony since 95-96) but if he means this as a surprise then most PS4 "soon to be owners" should know this at this point. If the PS4 allows digital gaming installs to the HDD then a DRM model will have to be in place for such digital content. This is my theory.

Is Cliff the Phil Fish of the console world...?

@B_Boss There is always a DRM with digital content. We have it right now with games bought on the store for Ps3/Vita/Psp. They are always tied to your account, although they can be played offline and wont stop working after 24 hours (go tretton go! lol) DRM was made for digital content. As long as theres digital content there will always be DRM.

Im a little suprised Microsoft are getting some goodwill on the internet lately over that 'Family game share' policy. Didnt Sony do a similar thing earlier this generation whereby you could have 5 Ps3's linked to your account and any games bought could be downloaded on each console and played by different users? Microsoft have it at 10 at the moment but I cant see it staying at that. Sony dropped it to 2 when people started to seriously abuse it so I wonder how long it will take for M$ to drop the bomb n lower it to only a few.

@MadchesterManc yes, If I bought an Xbox One I would abuse the living hell out of it just like we abused the xbox live gold......aka I only payed $25 a year for xbox gold through the a family center loop hole. But I would add my 10 closest buddies to that family list and just everyone would have to buy only one game......seriously its going to get reduced MAJORLY because that was the whole deal with Sony's. It's far easier to abuse digital content when given a chance then physical. Remember you only have to buy digital once than 5 people could have used it on the PS3 (which is now reduced down to 2). For Xbox having DRM and thinking 10 buddies are not going to abuse DLC and Possibly games.....get real. I have a feeling Microsofts going to be announcing increase in digital sales but overall sales are just going to be LOW as hell because of the family share crap. Than they are going to drop the amount of systems to 2 or 3...........OR it can only be used on that specific console.

Perhaps the issue is developing more sustainable ways of creating games, rather than restricting people from owning their personal property, that they have worked and earned money to buy.
If Xbox restrictions were across the board, I wouldn’t be buying any of these new consoles, so that would be one less person spending money on games anyway.
As a gamer since the Atari 2600, I find the Xbox one's restrictions an awful proposition, and I don’t accept this 'big budget' excuse to justify what they are trying to do.

@ViciousDS Angry Joe interviewed Major Nelson at Microsoft during E3 and found out that only 2 people of those 10 can be playing the same game at the same time, so theres the first restriction on it straight away.

This guy is an idiot. I wouldn't even bother listening to him. He only added his 2 cents as a publicity stunt. The dude is a loser.

@Jaz007 LOL, that's Cliffy B.'s theory of him being Tony Stark over. Evidence right there.

@MadchesterManc

Ah thanks for the additional information bud .

i think Cliff Bleszinski is a prat who spends most of his time kissing microsofts a**

that's my opinion just like what he thinks sony is doing is his opinion but you don't see me trying to force my opinion on other people