It was a huge surprise to me when I discovered that the PS4 only has four titles that I can classify as ‘family oriented’ in their upcoming 2014 line up. They all also happen to be multi-console titles as Sony’s next-generation machine does not have a single exclusive family title announced at this time. Rayman Legends, LEGO: The Hobbit, The LEGO Movie Videogame and Minecraft are the four titles that I scrounged up when trying to compile some lists for family gaming, showing a glaring weakness in the PS4’s game lineup.
I know, I know … the PS4 is the machine for gamers! However, the average age of gamers these days is around the mid-thirties and many have families of their own. Often their children are attracted to video games as well, be it because gaming is cool or it’s something they can share with their parents or their siblings, it’s common for kids to play games at home.
So with the focus on the “hardcore gamer” the questions that come to mind are: has Sony lost out on opportunities to get more sales by ignoring the family market? Have they figured a company like Nintendo has that all cinched up and the Xbox One is the hybrid machine that facilitates the hardcore gamer with a family? Who really knows how big corporations make these decisions, but I really do think Sony dropped the ball on this opportunity and needs to get some games for the whole family in the works. There is some excellent franchises they could easily lean on like LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers or a sequel to PlayStation All-Stars. Perhaps some brand new ideas to capture this audience that will inspire their imaginations in different and new ways.
I know it’s early in the year, but to only have four games that are announced to come out that tailor to younger gamers is quite saddening and not one of them an exclusive (Knack was released at launch). To give you a quick comparison, we have Nintendo with a whopping 10 exclusives coming out for Wii U or 3DS, followed by Xbox with four exclusive titles. (Well, it’s really 3.5 because one of them is an interactive television show). Just as a side note, if you’re one of those parents who thinks Killzone is a great family title then you need to get your head out of your arse and involved in what your kids are doing. Regardless, I can’t help but think what the hell Sony is thinking that they could launch a console without titles that Mom and Dad can get the kids to play when they deserve a chance to do such. It honestly baffles me that they don’t have a game plan for this market unless that plan is to let the third party developers produce for this market which in my opinion is setting up themselves for failure in this department.
Discovering this has made me extremely happy that I went with the other consoles as I will be able to still get games for myself along with titles for my whole family no matter what age they are. Perhaps I am completely wrong and Sony doesn’t need to cater to this market. I guess one may also attribute this to the fact that it is more than likely Sony fans don’t want their hardcore console being mucked up with some stupid kid’s games. However, bottom line is with this revelation I am happy as hell that I didn’t waste 400 bucks on a PS4 if my kids can’t enjoy it with me. I’ll be honest, and I am not a fanboy here, even though some of you will think it, but I think that the extra 100 spent on the Xbox One well worth it for the quality time I can have gaming with my children. Regardless of my opinion though, family games as a whole are important and I sure hope that Sony realizes this and changes their current approach to this area. I’ll guess we will have to wait until E3 this year to see if any first party family games are indeed in the pipe.