Home Gaming FFD: Was it wise for Sony to skip Gamescom?

FFD: Was it wise for Sony to skip Gamescom?

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FFDPS

Gamescom! It is, in my opinion, the best Game expo on the planet – with more fun stuff and less bombast than that other show. Only this year, because of its proximity to E3, it seems that it’s been less exciting than it rightly should have been. Most of everything that we’ve seen is stuff we saw a month and a half ago from Los Angeles’ convention.

That’s one of the reasons Sony decided to give it a skip. As a result, very little of the conversation this week has centred around the Japanese company, its console or its games. All eyes have instead been on Microsoft, who’ve managed to use the expo to drum up a world of good press and publicity. They’ve even got people talking about that blasted, improbably cloud – thanks to how well it’s being used in Crackdown – which by current buzz is easily the most impressive thing at the whole show.

Just about nobody is talking about Sony or the games coming to its platform. With that in mind – do you think it was a wise decision to skip out Gamescom for Paris Games Week (A show I’ve only heard about in passing)?

Of course, Sony having attended may have meant another awkward, unbearably long and frankly embarrassing press conference… so maybe it’s best for everyone that Sony passed.

What do you think? Clever move, or silly mistake? Should Sony have put in a little effort to wow the Gamescom crowds?

Last Updated: August 7, 2015

49 Comments

  1. Umar

    August 7, 2015 at 10:37

    Looking at the sales numbers of PS4…Should they even care? They showed all their big guns. I personally think it’s fine they skipped it. MS still, to me is the same ol company relying on the same ol games. Barring a few of course but they still put more emphasis on all their usual suspects.

    Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    August 7, 2015 at 10:43

    Why bother? Everyone saw everything at E3. Also avoids any “MS beat Sony at Gamescom” rubbish, comparisons between them. In a week everyone will have forgotten about Gamescom. Plus we’ll get all the usual breathless articles about a new screenshot that’s released for upcoming games from anyone anyway. Instant, insatiable news cycle FTW.

    Reply

    • Dutch Matrix

      August 7, 2015 at 10:44

      Someone needs a HappyTime hug. But I agree…

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        August 7, 2015 at 10:47

        Happy Time hug. Innuendo! AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

        Reply

        • HvR

          August 7, 2015 at 10:57

          • Dutch Matrix

            August 7, 2015 at 11:01

            Why, when I am being sincere does it always end up being turned into something vile? Do you people not want me to be nice???

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            August 7, 2015 at 11:06

            What do you mean “you people”? That’s racist! :/

          • Dutch Matrix

            August 7, 2015 at 11:11

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            August 7, 2015 at 11:07

            Well he’s clearly having a ball of a time!

          • Hammersteyn

            August 7, 2015 at 11:08

            More like happy feet

    • Umar

      August 7, 2015 at 10:46

      Agreed, it’s quite inconsequential imo. Sony made their presence known at E3. I don’t see a reason for them to be at Gamescom which was a month after their last showing.

      Reply

  3. oVg Planned Obsolescence

    August 7, 2015 at 10:47

    Whats Gamescom? I thought we just had E3.

    Reply

  4. Hammersteyn

    August 7, 2015 at 10:47

    Did only Matty and Sandy attend?

    Reply

    • Her Highness the Hipster

      August 7, 2015 at 10:49

      them and 400k fans and visitors. But yes, they were our Gamescom Porra Rangers.

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        August 7, 2015 at 10:50

        So there’s your answer to if it was wise for Sony to skip. I mean all the senior staff stayed behind 😛
        *RUNS

        Reply

  5. David

    August 7, 2015 at 10:48

    “who’ve managed to use the expo to drum up a world of good press and publicity.”
    – Says who? Nothing I’ve heard wasn’t already discussed at E3.

    “Just about nobody is talking about Sony or the games coming to its platform.”
    – Bit ironic, since this article has Sony in the title. But again, Sony’s getting amazing cred for things like Rocket League being a PS+ title and other ‘wins’ not centred around this specific expo.

    “…so maybe it’s best for everyone that Sony passed.”
    – Especially Sony; pick your battles – this expo was meh.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      August 7, 2015 at 10:50

      Wednesday – Loadshedding
      Thursday – I worked till 22:00
      Today – Loadshedding
      The universe doesn’t want me to Rocket League

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        August 7, 2015 at 10:56

        Tuesday I had loadshedding from 6pm. I raced through gym to get home in time for supper. There was an accident on my way home. I got home 6:02pm. The power came back on just after 8pm… for 5 minutes, then was off again until 10pm because of a fault in the area. That’s when I ate. My Kindle’s battery died just before 9pm, and because I was using my phone as a reading light & then reading on that, it died shortly afterwards too. Fuck Tuesday right in its eye socket.

        Reply

        • Umar

          August 7, 2015 at 10:58

          You still gym? Damn, you’ve become a proper boet.

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            August 7, 2015 at 11:04

            I don’t maintain my reasonably-near-from-a-certain-point-of-view-Adonis-like physique without it.

          • Hammersteyn

            August 7, 2015 at 11:08

            Meh, I’m more in line with Dionysus

          • Dutch Matrix

            August 7, 2015 at 11:11

            Fat Albert?

        • Hammersteyn

          August 7, 2015 at 11:03

          I don’t even know why I bother complaining XD

          Reply

    • Umar

      August 7, 2015 at 10:51

      In all honesty, Sony played this year out extremely well and I agree with your point on Rocket League too. They’re keeping their buzz alive in all the right places throughout the year.

      Reply

  6. Alien Emperor Trevor

    August 7, 2015 at 10:50

    Also, I love the new disclaimer. Some people been trapped in a salt mine?

    Reply

    • Dutch Matrix

      August 7, 2015 at 11:01

      Eetz oll aboud da effics!

      Reply

  7. Ir0nseraph

    August 7, 2015 at 10:54

    Sony is still leading the competition with a healthy margin, no harm in skipping gamescom.
    MS need to play catch up and even with all the new Backward compatibility and new exclusives , sony should finish the year with another win.

    Reply

  8. WitWolfy

    August 7, 2015 at 11:05

    Is it just me or is Sony getting kind arrogant?

    Reply

    • Guild

      August 7, 2015 at 11:13

      You see the price for the XBox Elite Controller? R2281 on Pre-Order. You still getting one?

      Reply

      • WitWolfy

        August 7, 2015 at 11:15

        Nah, I’ll get it in a pawnshop when I see one. 😉

        Reply

    • FoxOneZA

      August 7, 2015 at 11:28

      MS were the ones that started this generation as arrogant. Sony put out good hardware in a good form factor that caught MS napping and this chain reaction caused a major shake-up at MS.

      Right now it’s a good time to be an Xbox One owner with 4 free games monthly and Games with Gold deals that are unmatched by PSN.

      Beyond 2016, it remains to be seen what else MS can bring to the the table.

      Reply

      • WitWolfy

        August 7, 2015 at 12:22

        Plus XBL Gold is R599 compared to PSN’s R750…

        My only gripe with my Xbone is the SLOW downloads.. FFS my 4MB takes 2 days to download 7GB. Where on the PS4 its like 8 hours +/-

        Reply

        • Ir0nseraph

          August 7, 2015 at 12:40

          Wow that’s slow , my gears ultimate preorder downloaded in a reasonable time 45gb in 8 hours on a 20mb line.

          Reply

          • WitWolfy

            August 7, 2015 at 12:52

            What DNS to you use? I tried using Google’s but still sluggish as hell though…

          • Ir0nseraph

            August 7, 2015 at 12:59

            I am using google’s.

    • latinalover

      August 11, 2015 at 06:50

      i think sony wants PGW to take over gamescom spot as one of the top gaming conference

      Reply

  9. FoxOneZA

    August 7, 2015 at 11:08

    Sony’s latest financial results this week showed that the company doesn’t have the extra cash lying around to market the same games shown at E3. It will be a sad day when Sony starts doing “Directs” like Ninty.

    Reply

    • Jim Peterson

      August 7, 2015 at 12:35

      Huh? Sony’s latest quarterly financial results show $780 million profit, their best quarter in about 8 years, and they’re predicted to make over $2 billion profit in 2015.

      Reply

  10. Guild

    August 7, 2015 at 11:16

    Gamescon felt ‘meh’ this year because of the recent E3. I don’t think Sony missed out on anything. And Sony have to give MS a bit of chance to catch up.

    Reply

  11. Jac7

    August 7, 2015 at 11:30

    Sony blew me away with their E3 conference. They’ve got enough momentum to not do another expo this soon after E3.

    Reply

  12. Gardos

    August 7, 2015 at 11:47

    Sony didn’t need to do a conference as much as MS needed to. Simple as that. But it’s good to see MS upping their game while they play catch up. It makes for a better games industry as a whole. GO SONY, MS & PC!!! Not Nintendo, I’m sick of you.

    Reply

  13. Greylingad[CNFRMD]

    August 7, 2015 at 12:03

    Sony put out a massive E3, focusing their efforts on one conference rather than having to do two at half the capacity, with what they revealed being as magnificent as it is, they really didn’t need to show more at Gamescom, simply because they are way ahead in sales everywhere… A mistake, nope, not at all, in fact, it’s better they did what they did, otherwise they’d have probably shown the same stuff anyways….

    Reply

  14. Brady miaau

    August 7, 2015 at 12:26

    Perhaps they have some clever plan for the future, bigger impact, less talky

    Reply

  15. Jim Peterson

    August 7, 2015 at 12:44

    There’s a lot of Sony games we know are on the way that weren’t shown at E3 (ie, WiLD, Shadow of the Beast, Rime, Gran Turismo 7, the Uncharted Collection) so they could have had a big show without showing the same stuff as E3.

    Reply

  16. coip

    August 8, 2015 at 03:06

    Sony skipped it because they have nothing to show. In contrast, Xbox One has 16 upcoming AAA exclusives and counting, 7 of them hitting before the end of the year. The gap is growing.

    Reply

    • latinalover

      August 11, 2015 at 06:52

      i heard that they want to go to PGW because it is getting more popular and it is close to the black friday

      Reply

      • coip

        August 11, 2015 at 07:43

        Black Friday is an American thing. I don’t see how that’s relevant to Paris, and, as much growth as PGW has had over the years, it still pales in comparison to E3 and Gamescom, in terms of major announcements. Perhaps Sony will change that this year with some major announcements, but that seems unlikely. We’ll see.

        Reply

        • latinalover

          August 11, 2015 at 14:37

          nothing can beat E3. maybe sony trying to give the PGW a little push by being there?

          Reply

  17. Japin

    August 8, 2015 at 17:04

    It was a good decision for sony to skip gamescom considering TGS is around the corner which sony has to consider. After that it’s paris games week then maybe another Playstation Experience ?

    Reply

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