Citing Success of Pokemon Go, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai Wants to "Agressively" Enter Market - Polidicks

[quote] Following its formation of a wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to making mobile games in March, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai has now spoken up to talk more about the PlayStation company's plans for smartphone games. Hirai told the Financial Times (via Polygon) that Sony plans to "aggressively" get into mobile gaming. "It's quite a shift from being just a console-based business to being on mobile phones as well," he said. In talking about Sony's plans for mobile, the executive specifically cited Pokemon Go, which has been a breakout hit since its release in July. Pokemon Go is a real game-changer," Hirai added. "I'm very interested in the fact that it has the potential to really change the way people move, literally." Hirai went on to say that Pokemon Go's implementation of augmented reality to make it look like Pokemon creatures are in the real world is a "great innovative idea that's going to lift all boats for the video game industry." He added that Sony would like to see AR components added to its games. Sony announced its new mobile game division, ForwardWorks Corporation, in March and opened it on April 1. It was not an April Fools' joke. No specific games were announced, but in a statement, Sony said ForwardWorks will leverage PlayStation franchises and characters for this new effort. Right now, these games are planned for release in Japan and Asia only on iOS and Android devices; it's possible they'll be extended to the west in the future, but this was not announced. Hirai didn't share any new information in the Financial Times interview, only saying, "They'll be coming out with titles."[/quote] [url=http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-ceo-says-pokemon-go-is-a-game-changer-talks-c/1100-6443302/]Gamespot, the original article has a paywall.[/url] Also the article says the PS4 Neo supposedly launches this week.

Competition is good. Let's see what they'll cook up.

[QUOTE=Steel & Iron;51003463]Also the article says the PS4 Neo supposedly launches this week.[/QUOTE] that's like 5 times bigger news if it's true

ps4 neo? has it even been like announced properly? what? are you sure they dont mean the ps4 slim?

[QUOTE=343N;51003606]ps4 neo? has it even been like announced properly? what? are you sure they dont mean the ps4 slim?[/QUOTE] they're having an event this month explaining what the thing is

[QUOTE=mchapra;51003645]they're having an event this month explaining what the thing is[/QUOTE] And at most, that's all I see them doing regarding the Neo- the Slim is the one coming out right after the conference, the Neo is probably a month or two away at the least. Still, interesting news on all ends.

I really don't see Sony come close to matching Pokémon GO's success without a strong collectible IP.

They'll strike a deal with Konami and create their own game: Yu-Gi-Go!

itll be a ghostbusters ghost capturing game

[QUOTE=Sableye;51004026]itll be a ghostbusters ghost capturing game[/QUOTE] Probably is, I was kind of hoping for them to release a game that would turn you into a mobile hype propaganda tower. Well, heres a shot for hoping.

[QUOTE=Tamschi;51003752]I really don't see Sony come close to matching Pokémon GO's success without a strong collectible IP.[/QUOTE] Clearly they can with Lemmings GO.

[QUOTE=Tamschi;51003752]I really don't see Sony come close to matching Pokémon GO's success without a strong collectible IP.[/QUOTE] Maybe they cold do something with Uncharted? Finding treasures and stuff, could be cool

[QUOTE=hoodoo456;51004599]Maybe they cold do something with Uncharted? Finding treasures and stuff, could be cool[/QUOTE] Honestly, I think I'd play that over Pokemon Go, having to collect artifacts, maybe even being able to steal them from enemy players? Sounds like my kind of game.

Would be interesting. I'd totally be for it, though they can't even keep their handheld market afloat, so I'm kinda iffy on how they'll go about this.

Maybe Sony should try "Agressively" having an original idea.

Knack Go

Crash Bandicoot GO

Sony does have their own Pokemon knockoff that had an AR gimmick [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Invizimals.jpg[/IMG] It'd probably be that on mobile

[QUOTE=Durrsly;51005235]Sony does have their own Pokemon knockoff that had an AR gimmick [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Invizimals.jpg[/IMG] It'd probably be that on mobile[/QUOTE] They ported that to the Vita last I heard, but they require cards to use the AR feature.

[QUOTE=Durrsly;51005235]Sony does have their own Pokemon knockoff that had an AR gimmick [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Invizimals.jpg[/IMG] It'd probably be that on mobile[/QUOTE] [media]https://www.twitter.com/sonyxdeveurope/status/752482376941535232[/media]

[QUOTE=Swiket;51005368][media]https://www.twitter.com/sonyxdeveurope/status/752482376941535232[/media][/QUOTE] wow lol. ok sony. WE all know how well NMS turned out. Only reason why I'd want to try this app is to see if I can break this more than Sony interactive can. [editline]5th September 2016[/editline] any idiot can superimpose a 3D image. Sony just remains to be a special type of idiot.

Invizimals... who the hell thought that was a good name for anything ? Am I missing something here ?

It makes sense why they're doing this, every division besides Playstation has gone to shit and their movie productions are shitting the bed so hard they decided to work with Marvel on the Spider-Man license they own. But making a success in the mobile industry is tough, sometimes bordering on fluke levels of luck to gain even a small victory, and for many companies it can become a slippery slope. Look at Capcom and their binge of mobile games that were almost all universally shit.

[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;51005644]Ehh, GO is dying off. Its a fad. I dont think thats the best thing to aggresively chase.[/QUOTE] The thing about PokeGo is, it was never an app to keep people playing- it's something that gets a bunch of users at once, have it drop off after a month or two, before getting a big new feature to get those players back. I suspect Sony would love something like that formula to get some money on the side.

[QUOTE=Swiket;51005368][media]https://www.twitter.com/sonyxdeveurope/status/752482376941535232[/media][/QUOTE] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5pMizBe.png[/IMG] What kind of company rep responds this way.

[QUOTE=EnlightenDead;51005694][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5pMizBe.png[/IMG] What kind of company rep responds this way.[/QUOTE] The one that wants to get fired.

Ok but what about Uncharted GO where you use the AR to find hidden artifacts / items that give you points. The items have properties that you can challenge other people with like a card game, but with the artifacts instead.

If they want to compete, they have to come up with something entirely new and exciting. No PlayStation IP is interesting enough to translate smoothly into an AR game at the scale of PGo. (and I'm saying this as a person who owns all PlayStation consoles.)

As much as I'm not crazy about Pokemon GO, I could see a Jumping Flash GO where you find Muu Muus with different hats and accessories being a thing. Too bad Jumping Flash isn't relevant nowadays.

They have Hideo Kojima now, how about they get him to develop a GO game with a vague, overarching ARG? Of course most of the people who use mobile apps don't really have the attention span for something like that but it would be interesting to see.