PlayStation Studios and Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development - Which is the better first party group?

[themistermanguy]

Among the 3 main platform holders, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Nintendo Co., Ltd. are the two that put the most effort into their own first party game development. And both have been making moves to expand their development arms as industry consolidation forces platform holders to prioritize exclusive content.

PlayStation Studios is SIE's main development arm, led by Herman Hulst. Consisting of 17 global development teams such as Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, XDev, and Insomniac Games. Each one bringing their own franchises and flavor to PlayStation consoles with hits like Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Gran Turismo, Astro Bot, and Horizon. PS Studios has recently been making major expansions with new additions like Housemarque, Bluepoint, Firesprite, Nixxes, and Valkyrie Entertainment. They're also working with new start ups such as Deviation Games, Haven Studios, and Firewalk on brand new projects. PS Studios also gained a brand new ally recently with Sony's acquisition of Destiny developer Bungie. While operating as a separate entity from PS Studios, Bungie's technology and expertise in the live-service multiplayer genre will come in handy for the PS Studios teams.

In the other corner, there's the Entertainment Planning & Development Division (EPD) at Nintendo. Headed by Shinya Takahashi, consisting of 11 software production units working on a variety of titles from around the world. EPD's key component, is its internal game development group, which develops Nintendo's biggest franchises such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Splatoon, and Animal Crossing, in addition to promising new IP such as ARMS, Ring Fit Adventure, and Game Builder Garage. In addition to its in-house studio, Nintendo EPD also runs various subsidiary studios such as MonolithSoft in Tokyo, Retro Studios in Texas, and support houses such as Nintendo Software Technology (NST) and Nintendo European Research and Development (NERD), and works with various independent second parties such as Intelligent Systems, Game Freak, HAL Labrotory, Grezzo, Platinum Games, and indiesZero as well.

The division is recently going through some major expansions. Nintendo is investing almost $1 billion into game development, by renting office space in a Kyoto facility near its HQ, and building a second development center in place of its former HQ. This is an effort to get more internally developed projects going rather than relying on outside developers. Next Level Games, a long time Nintendo partner known for Luigi's Mansion has also recently joined the EPD family last year.

Both Sony and Nintendo have different strategies with First party games. EPD generally outpaces PS Studios in raw yearly output, while PS Studios generally focuses on fewer, but bigger releases. EPD is prioritizing internal expansion rather than pure acquisitions, while PS Studios is making more pro-active moves in seeking out studio start ups like Firewalk. Between recent releases and upcoming developments, which first party organization do you like better?

 

[Hawki]

I really can't speak about the development side of things. But if we're talking about whether I like Sony's or Nintendo's games more, I guess Nintendo, at the end of the day.

I mean, it's sort of apples and oranges, but by any objective (or as close to objective as possible) measure, be it "favourite games/series of all time," or how many Nintendo and Sony IPs I've dabbled in writing for, spent far more time with Nintendo properties than Sony ones. Frustrating as I find Nintendo's hardware, looking at the games themselves, they outpace Sony for me.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

It’s good that both kinda do their own thing, and have been doing it well. Nintendo knows their target audience and has kept their best IPs going strong. They’ve shown they don’t necessarily need the latest and greatest tech to do so.

Sony has been building a large, diverse stable of first party studios that cover pretty much every genre, and typically raise the bar in some way be it technically, artistically, or combination of the two.

Basically, depending on what someone is looking for one or the other has it covered. For everything else, there’s Mastercard the PC.

 

[BrawlMan]

About the same. I'll give the slight advantage to Nintendo, as they remember to make games first and don't have forced walking sections. Sony has diverse variety, but they can get up their ass at times with "IMMERZAN!".

 

[Brokencontroller]

About the same. I'll give the slight advantage to Nintendo, as they remember to make games first and don't have forced walking sections. Sony has diverse variety, but they can get up their ass at times with "IMMERZAN!".

To be fair forced walking sections usually hide loading which nintedo games dontnneed because they limit their graphical quality to fit the art style. They have the weakest console in terms of power and they never really push it so there is no need for that. Also nintendo doesnt really do story driven games. They have stories in the games but they make gameplay the first priority which no other company does.

 

[Brokencontroller]

Also nintendo gets bonus points for not having microtransactions in any game on the system except Fortnite i think.

 

[BrawlMan]

To be fair forced walking sections usually hide loading which nintedo games dontnneed because they limit their graphical quality to fit the art style. They have the weakest console in terms of power and they never really push it so there is no need for that. Also nintendo doesnt really do story driven games. They have stories in the games but they make gameplay the first priority which no other company does.

I know why the force walking sections are there. It's been a thing since Gears of War. It does not make them any less annoying. I rather just be a cut scene. They're literally no point of the forced walking otherwise. The only reason why it's there for "immersion" is to look "deep, cinematic, or cool". It gets annoying when you're doing multiple playthroughs or playing on a harder difficulty. Just make these damn things are cut-scene. Yes, you make shiny graphics, let me play the goddamn game.

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[XsjadoBlayde]

I got both precisely because I can't decide between them (but mainly cause I was lucky enough to land in some money). Nintendo's insistence on refusing to lowering prices on older games like everyone else gets on my tits though. The first Splatoon is the same price as the sequel still! It's the behaviour of a company safe in their own monopoly, as there isn't really any effective modern competition for the types of games they excel in.

 

[BrawlMan]

I got both precisely because I can't decide between them (but mainly cause I was lucky enough to land in some money). Nintendo's insistence on refusing to lowering prices on older games like everyone else gets on my tits though. The first Splatoon is the same price as the sequel still! It's the behaviour of a company safe in their own monopoly, as there isn't really any effective modern competition for the types of games they excel in.

It's why I go for the second-hand market or buy Nintendo game used on Amazon, if it's been out for more than a year.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

It's why I go for the second-hand market or buy Nintendo game used on Amazon, if it's been out for more than a year.

Azathoth bless the pre-owned market, the working class hero we need!

 

[Chimpzy]

On a personal level, the only one I actually care about, I like Nintendo more. They have more stuff I like, tho with the downside of basically never dropping their prices or going on deep sale, like the undulating energy worm said. Sony is alright, but I'm a cheap-ass gamer, so I tend to just wait until the price drops enough.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I know why the force walking sections are there. It's been a thing since Gears of War. It does not make them any less annoying. I rather just be a cut scene. They're literally no point of the forced walking otherwise. The only reason why it's there for "immersion" is to look "deep, cinematic, or cool". It gets annoying when you're doing multiple playthroughs or playing on a harder difficulty. Just make these damn things are cut-scene. Yes, you make shiny graphics, let me play the goddamn game.

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It’s mostly why as much as I’m looking forward to Horizon: Forbidden West with all its improvements I know it’ll still be dragged down gameplay-wise here and there due to being narratively driven. Therefore Elden Ring is still tops for me this year.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I know why the force walking sections are there. It's been a thing since Gears of War. It does not make them any less annoying. I rather just be a cut scene. They're literally no point of the forced walking otherwise. The only reason why it's there for "immersion" is to look "deep, cinematic, or cool". It gets annoying when you're doing multiple playthroughs or playing on a harder difficulty. Just make these damn things are cut-scene. Yes, you make shiny graphics, let me play the goddamn game.

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Agreed, and also with a forced walking section I have to do something and if they have story relevant information then I need to pay attention to them anyway. With a loadscreen I can at least sit back and think about something or take a drink or plan what I intend to do once I'm out of the loading section. Having to wait sucks but the thing I dislike more than having nothing to do is being forced to do busy work.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I got both precisely because I can't decide between them (but mainly cause I was lucky enough to land in some money). Nintendo's insistence on refusing to lowering prices on older games like everyone else gets on my tits though. The first Splatoon is the same price as the sequel still! It's the behaviour of a company safe in their own monopoly, as there isn't really any effective modern competition for the types of games they excel in.

I wouldn't call that a monopoly practice. The reason Nintendo can get away with it is because they're well aware of their brand, market, and reputation. They know people consider them a big deal in the game industry, they know a lot of people in their market have shown themselves to be willing to pay for these prices, and they know that there's a nebulous "prestige" dynamic to it.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Sony’s is better overall, when considering the diversity of studios, internal shared support, and creative freedom that they give their developers.

Nintendo probably has better software QC but that should be expected when they are more than a generation behind the tech curve and have stuck with a similar formula for generations.


*edit* oh hell I didn’t realize I’d already posted nearly a year ago.