'PCs are difficult to set up', argues PlayStation co-CEO as he sticks up for his precious console's honour

I have been having my fingers crossed for some time now that Sony’s current success with Helldivers 2 (regardless of their greatest efforts) and different ports is an indication that we’ll all get to cease having to sit down round and kick dust for a yr at any time when there is a new, nice unique on the PlayStation we won’t play.

Apparently, my want magic is not very potent, since PlayStation joint-CEO Hideaki Nishino has emphasised in an interview with Nikkei (through VGC) that—stunning no person—consoles are nonetheless going to be a central a part of a console firm’s technique for fulfillment.

“I believe that with cellular units, there are a lot of video games that present ads, and PCs are tough to arrange, however with PlayStation, when you flip it on, you may expertise the content material to procure right away.”

It’s with nice frustration that I, as somebody with nary a console in sight, should grit my tooth and admit: yeah, that’s considerably true. PCs are tough to arrange from scratch—both you shell out a nonsense quantity for a prefab, otherwise you have interaction on this planet’s most tense model of a LEGO set, the place you are not fairly certain in case you’ve aligned the CPU’s pins proper, or whether or not that loud click on/clang was supposed to occur or in case you’ve simply wasted a number of hundred quid.

After which there’s the updates, the bizarre OS options, fretting over kernel-level anti cheat and Denuvo, updating your drivers, and abruptly that $700 worth level for the PS5 professional is trying fairly cheap, if pricier than console avid gamers are used to. I imply, even right here at PC Gamer, we describe a $800 construct as penny-saving—penny-saving!

Granted, you are additionally getting a pc, and that may do different stuff, too—however nonetheless. If you wish to play videogames with a videogames field, any console (or a Steam Deck) is simply less complicated. Experiencing the content material to procure “right away” looks as if a stretch, although, since final I checked, most video games include downloads however hey. He is having to massive up the console market after a tough yr.

This following paragraph additionally does scan as an enormous ‘however’, to me: “We are attempting to extend our share of the general recreation market by creating content material for PCs as effectively. There isn’t a doubt that consoles might be on the core of our enterprise, however by providing titles for platforms apart from consoles, we’ll attain a wider vary of shoppers.”

Additionally right. Sony’s technique of double-dipping console exclusives into the PC market is figuring out swimmingly for it—not solely does it assist generate one other spherical of gross sales for its big-name blockbusters, it additionally seems to be a part of a scheme to lure your brethren to the darkish aspect with these tasty, tasty sequels.

That is not me being a cynic, that is actually what co-CEO Hermen Hulst mentioned: “We’re discovering new audiences which can be probably going to be very fascinated with taking part in, for instance, sequels on the PlayStation platform … We’ve got excessive hopes that we’re truly capable of convey new gamers into PlayStation at massive.”

But additionally, to push again—perhaps we just like the issues, yeah? If we need to upscale a turd’s textures (no, actually), or spend over $1,400 on a 4090, or put Yoshi in Resident Evil, then we are able to try this. The slipshod nonsense is type of the attraction, even when Microsoft remains to be making an attempt to get me to make use of Copilot for some ungodly purpose.