Why the ‘PSX wasn’t that great’ chatter lacks substance
Putting PlayStation Experience in context
After a fun and of course exhausting three days at PSX, Allegra and I attended a Christmas party on our way home after we said our goodbyes to our friends at PlayStation Experience. The party as expected was fun, warm, and full of delicious snacks but what wasn’t expected was the first comment I heard from a guest who’d overheard where we were previously:
I heard PSX wasn’t all that great.
Now I’ve heard this talk pop up here and there on my Twitter feed and presumably most of it is coming from people who never attended PSX 2017, like the guest at the party. After all, from everything I could tell during my three days there, everybody was having a hell of a good time playing games, attending panels, and talking with developers. And yet, this sentiment was very much out there (and I should note that the few different PlayStation execs I talked with were fully aware of it).
This of course begs the quesiton — how and why did this sentiment come to be, and why did it differ so dramatically from the feelings at PSX? To answer that, it’s best to look at just the past six months for PlayStation:
E3 — June 13th
Tokyo Game Show — September 19th
Paris Games Week — October 30th
The Game Awards — December 7th
In just the past six months, Sony’s had four different occasions where they’ve needed to put PlayStation front and center and to deliver something that would wow gamers. And at each event, Sony delivered, either revealing a new game or setting in place a firm release date.
Putting The Game Awards aside (which also had a major reveal with a brand new Death Stranding trailer), each of the shows above plays pretty similarly — a keynote address that’s streamed online is given, new games and ship dates are announced, initiatives are revealed, and those lucky enough to attend can visit developer booths for hands-on time with said games.
Seeing how a majority of people can’t attend most of these events, for them, the keynote is everything. With an iPad at hand or their PC at home, they’re able to join in on the same excitement as everybody else and experience the latest game reveal knowing that that’s the closest they’ll get to a game before it ships.
You know what gamers are tired of? Vague release dates and titles that are shown far too early. If you want to frustrate a fellow gamer, just show them a buttery smooth new game but either attach no timeframe to it or give a broad 2018 release date.
Yet at the same time, and perhaps without realizing it, that’s exactly what gamers are asking for. You see, the big complaint coming out of PSX is from people who could only tune in to Friday night’s stream (that Sony would like to point out was not a keynote and perhaps a fireside chat). Those who attended PSX 2017 in person were treated to in depth talk about PlayStation which included developers and Sony executives showcasing where the company is today with hints at where it’s headed.
From there, gamers could chat with execs/developers in person, take pics, and attend the show floor the following two days which was filled with tons of booths with playable games, immersive experiences, photo ops, merch, and other goodies.
But for those who could only tune in for the livestream, there was no big reveals — and how could there be? With so many shows already in the past six months, Sony had to either announce games far in advance and offer more vague release dates (which gamers clearly dislike), or have the capacity for a near infinite amount of games in development with new titles ready to be unveiled at any given event, which is obviously impossible.
None of this should be seen as me carrying water for Sony (and it’s also worth mentioning that even the Friday night event included plenty of game reveals), but that what’s often lost in all the noise around gaming is good context, and if we take a step back, the truth often reveals itself. With PSX, Sony had only a few options — either replay a mixture of everything they’ve announced since E3 2017, reveal new games that could easily be 2+ years off, or turn the event into something more than a sizzle reel.
Those who attended PSX experienced just that — an event that’s far more than a sizzle reel with rows of booths, packed to the brim with people. Now it’s time for everybody else to realize that as well — that PSX is more than E3 or Paris Games Week, and that it’s an immersive experience that prioritizes gamers during a packed weekend that allows for attendees to get closer to the developers and execs that are shaping the industry they so passionately love, and learn a thing or two from the various high-profile panels.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds far better than a repeat of past events or learning about games that I can look forward to in Fall 2019. Ultimately, is there room for PSX to grow and improve? Of course there is and I’d argue that each year it has, but as the show evolves, it’s important for us to understand what it is and what it’s not — and another ‘gaming con’ PSX is not.
Let me know what you thought about PSX 2017.
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