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Industry must innovate and evolve to thrive, says Sony

PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryan says "no entertainment industry can just carry on the way it was," adding the walled garden model is breaking down.

286 Comments

The gaming industry must innovate and evolve if it wants to flourish, according to PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryan. Speaking to MCV, the executive sounded off on the varied trends in the industry today.

Innovation and evolution are keys to a healthy industry, Ryan says.
Innovation and evolution are keys to a healthy industry, Ryan says.

“It is great that the industry evolves and goes in different directions,” Ryan said. “No entertainment industry can just carry on the way it was. For our industry to thrive and prosper it has to evolve and it has to innovate."

Ryan also explained that he believes closed platforms are "breaking down a bit" as a result of the rise of connected devices. He noted that the PlayStation 2 and PSP were not proper connected devices, and the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita are.

“This is new ground for us," he said. "It didn’t seem it at the time but these walled gardens are actually nice, cosy places, and we are now going out into the big bad world where there are no rules. We are trying to set those rules."

The executive said Sony is being forced to "reset" much of its thinking, noting the company has been pushing the original PlayStation, PS2, and PS3 "basically the same way," and this was a mistake.

"And then all of a sudden we are like ‘You have to forget that and think differently,’” he said.

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KillzoneSnake

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If they make PS4 into a casual machine... i'm done with Sony.

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Mersinary_Myth

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Edited By Mersinary_Myth

@KillzoneSnake

I doubt sony will build a casual machine but causaul games will of course be around.love the hardcore scene but the casaul scene is a grwoing scene meant to being others into gaming i say the more gamers the better.

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Celsius765

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@KillzoneSnake i doubt they could. playstation brand appeals to developers of all sorts of genres

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DiamondDM13

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@zo70 I'm sorry but your first sentence is unreadable so I'll skip it until you correct it :s.

KillZone/Resistance are not games I've ever played so I will comment a bit later. Battle Royal was a request from fans. They are addressing fans request. I don't see what's wrong with that...

Ueda left, yes I know. But the Last Guardian is still in development so his work continues.

PS exclusives are original, I don't know where do you base yourself for that one... And I buy PS exclusives, I know lot's of other people who do it too. I don't know what you are talking about. I wonder if that is because we have so much to choose from that some people choose some games and other people choose the others...

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vaibhavp

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Sony please make your devices user friendly and make pen like steam. An indie games paradise and so easy to use. You make great game no doubt but there is scope for lot of improvement. Do not waste money in gimmicks. There is a lot of money to be made through us old school gamers am sure.

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c0kemusheen

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@zo70 @Draco416 @DiamondDM13 @lmaocarrots Nevermind, this guy is hilarious

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MMaestro

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Edited By MMaestro

"He noted that the PlayStation 2 and PSP were not proper connected devices, and the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita are."

The PS3 and PSP were proper connected devices too and we all saw how that turned out. (Did anyone besides me connect their PSP with their PS3 so they could link Resistance: Retribution and Resistance 2?)

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DiamondDM13

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@MMaestro Read again.

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c0kemusheen

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @Draco416 @mat989 Man all you idiots are getting trolled so hard. This fuckhead is obviously a PS3 player trolling as an xbox player. C'mon guys...

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glimpus

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Ok Sony, we're waiting..

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Cozm1kaos

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @Draco416 @mat989 Minecraft and witcher are better played on PC. I stopped buying gears at gears 2 because 3 looked like it was a copy and paste and not really looking foward to the new one. Halo is blah atm.

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hickabickabooya

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It is great that he was able to SAY that, not they have to be able to DO it.

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blackwingzero

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@hickabickabooya

Very true. How about less talk and more action from them.

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DiamondDM13

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@zo70 @lmaocarrots @Draco416 @mat989 There is something that makes Sony very different from others. Games like the Team ICO ones are not best sellers, but aside from being masterpieces, they just show how Sony tries to deliver something to everygamer. You know, not everyone loves the ten million FPS's on Xbox. In PlayStation, there is at least one game that any given person will love. We have no many great exclusives. Even though they don't sell as much as Halo, they sell and address the need of the differents interest of gamers.

I believe I would be a Xbox fan if all I wanted to do was play FPS's in my life. But thank god I get tired of that same game easily... I like Sony because it's not just about money, it's about giving excelent gaming experiences to all kinds of gamers, something you don't see with Microsoft. They only care for their best sellers, they don't care for people who like new stuff.

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Draco416

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @lmaocarrots Hear it. And someone did.

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Draco416

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @lmaocarrots Capitalization.

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Draco416

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @lmaocarrots Still no punctuation.

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Cozm1kaos

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @Draco416 @mat989 Add me =) than we talk my account name is just like this name.

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Draco416

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @lmaocarrots zo70 Spelling, punctuation and capitalization. Then we'll talk.

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Cozm1kaos

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @Draco416 @mat989 ZO70 really? you know about gaming? Halo? LOOOOL!!!! listen I love my xbox but really? halo? is that the only game you can conjure? I am itching to buy a PS3 for all these wonderful games I play all the time at my friends house. The last of us looks amazing!! who gives a shit if it runs off the same engine as uncharted, that does not make it the same game. The ideas brought into the game are completely different. Be realistic, Sony is far from dying my friend, matter of fact where I live 7 people just sold their xbox to buy a PS3. You don't hear that in the news? =) I'm next!!! I mean most of their games are on PC anyways **Sigh*

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nyran125

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innovate by having a projector INSIDE the console that you switch on and you can play games on any wall in your room at any resolution with clarity just as good as a high res TV or moniter...thats innovation.

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Nintyfan95

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@nyran125 Higher Resolution innovative lol

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Granpire

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Edited By Granpire

@nyran125 Sure! I'd love to drop 300 bucks every couple of years for my new HD projector!

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nyran125

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have it the size of a 50" to 100" TV.

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endorbr

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@zo70 @Draco416 How do you go around calling everyone else a fanboy on this article with comments like this? You're trolling a Sony article railing about how awesome the XBOX is... uh huh.

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Carpetfluff

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@emptycow @Psycold It's almost sad that there must be a fair number of rabid PC defenders who at the same time don't buy most of their games. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

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Psycold

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@Carpetfluff @emptycow Wow, check the 200 games on my Steam account before you talk...

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Cozm1kaos

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Edited By Cozm1kaos

@zo70 @Draco416

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DiamondDM13

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Edited By DiamondDM13

@zo70 @lmaocarrots @Draco416 @mat989 If you mean FPS, yeah I guess it's Halo's fault. Though I don't feel like seearching for the true reason. I know not what came first. If Call Of Duty or Halo. Never really liked either one... But Third Person Shooters are not Halo's fault.

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endorbr

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@zo70 @Ayfauri Well since RARE is owned by M$ and WestWood and Bioware belong to EA... Not sure why you'd say RIP to Sony at this comment.

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Draco416

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@zo70 You attacked me first, and now you're telling me not to insult? You insult my grammar skills.

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Psycold

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@zo70 Why is it true? I play Xbox with friends also, but it is just cold hard facts. PC gaming is escalating in popularity, this console gen has been out since what, 2005? I even use an Xbox controller with some PC games. The hardware is ancient, I mean they can't even go above 720p, it upscales 720p to 1080i, and the frame rates are terrible on many newer games because the graphics keep advancing but the technology is stagnant. I've seen countless developers have to remove amazing features because this gen. of consoles can't handle it.

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Psycold

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@emptycow @zo70 Xbox can't and very few games on PS3 actually take advantage of 1080p. And I don't believe you that graphics don't matter to you, if that was the truth, then you would be a PC gamer because there are far more indie games available that barely require any processing power at all. Even so, Microsoft and Sony are drastically holding back advancements in technology.

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lmaocarrots

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@zo70 @Draco416 @mat989 Don't be a moron/fail troll. Yeah Halo was good on Xbox original, and now it's even more recycled and milked than all these so called "failed Sony Exclusives". I could list almost 30 amazing PS3 Exclusives, but what's the point if you're just trolling.

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Carpetfluff

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@emptycow True. I've fallen into the trap of commenting on the headline too this time. Shame on me.

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DiamondDM13

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@zo70 @Draco416 @mat989 Not KillZone and Resistence. Have you even acknowledged the amount of PlayStation Exclusive that are not FPS?

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lmaocarrots

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@zo70 @DiamondDM13 @Draco416 @mat989 Yeah we'll buy Resistance and Killzone instead of Halo, but we'll also get Uncharted, God of War, LittleBigPlanet, Demon's Souls, Heavy Rain, MGS4, Journey, Flower, inFamous, Ratchet and Clank and many more games.

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lmaocarrots

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@zo70 @Draco416 @mat989 You're on a news article about innovation and you bring up Halo, smart.

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Carpetfluff

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It would probably be easier to innovate if the big publishers hadn't closed half the studios that weren't producing the obvious and generic gaming staples that seemed to be all they were interested in. The very fact that most won't invest in projects that are riskier bets for fear of losing money will probably lead to them losing it anyway when people drift away from gaming after being spoon fed the same games over and over again.

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Psycold

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People talk about the "gaming industry" dying, but they really just mean consoles. PC games are doing better than ever, for some reason when I bring that up I just get labelled as a console-hatin' PC fanboy....hmmm

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AlphaWolF_J

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@Psycold I will say you are correct ,i have not turned on my ps3 to play games anyway! for nearly a year.

yet i find myself fixed to my pc all the time.

not hating consoles just the truth

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endorbr

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Edited By endorbr

@Psycold The numbers don't support that. PC may be doing better than it has in years but that doesn't mean it's poised to take back the marketplace or anything. Console game sales are hurting because the publishers/developers are having trouble getting outside the CoD/Madden model of making games and they need a better pricing structure, both things that they will be forced to address at some point.

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Carpetfluff

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Edited By Carpetfluff

@Psycold While the PC might be getting some of the more innovative games for sure, a lot of publishers will also tell you that they're not actually selling a vast number of the copies people end up playing. For better or worse, console cash is where most of their revenue comes from.

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samusownsyou123

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I find it funny that Sony is saying this, but they are right. The games industry will disappear if we get to Call of Duty 13. The game industry needs a boost in originality. Some light shines through the shooters and the dance games however, games like Portal 2 for example, where it is not only a good puzzle game, original, and has great writing, its funny as well. Games like Limbo and Journey excel in art, and are extremely original. Things need to happen or the game industry will fall into a deep dark hole it can't get out of.

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DiamondDM13

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Edited By DiamondDM13

@zo70 @Draco416 @mat989 LoL why would people buy one console just to play one single game? Specially since that game is a FPS? I'ts not like there's not hundreds of FPS on the market...

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brok

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Or you could just... y'know... bring back multiplayer bots, so we don't have to deal with all the screaming 13 year olds if we don't want to...

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Draco416

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Edited By Draco416

@zo70 *Argument Invalidated*

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Dr_Corndog

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Edited By Dr_Corndog

Irony aside, Sony's actually right about this. At least, I hope they are; I'd like to think that someday I'll see something on shelves besides Yet Another Shooter 17 and a dozen rip-offs.

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Draco416

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@zo70 I Am Legend was just survival against infected people, not against regular people too. That's the center point of Last of Us; the infected is just on the side. Nice try, Xbox fanboy.

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BlueLightning21

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I know this may be off topic and has been talked about before, but....I was on the PSN Store yesterday and saw Infamous for 19.99 or 29.99( i forget) WTF!!! I bought it last year new for $5! For Sony and Microsoft to have better sales on digital full disc games...LEARN TO SLASH YOUR PRICES!!! Watch retail sale prices and match or go a few dollars less! Borderlands Ultimate Edition on psn is $29.99 yet the plain Borderlands is $19.99 and all its DLC is $9.99

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