Sony's State of Play for September 2019 was not a great presentation. While there were some smaller titles that look impressive (we're looking at you, Arise), many of the games shown were either not very impressive or were games that we already knew about and little new information was given for them. This was the third State of Play presentation that Sony has held and it is still struggling to capture the magic Nintendo creates with its Direct videos. Even some of the graphics in this State of Play resembles the graphics in a Nintendo Direct, yet it still remains a cheap copy.
So, here are some tips Sony can -- and should -- take to fix its State of Play presentations.
STACK THE DECK
Sony clearly didn't have enough to show for this presentation. The most that were shown were indie games and VR titles. Even then, there were very few indie games, and part of the VR shown was a sizzle reel. Sony needs to make sure it holds some news for these presentations so they have a lot to show.
Another way it could have enough content is if the company were willing to divulge more information about the games. MediEvil and The Last of Us Part II had some quick gameplay and a trailer shown respectively but MediEvil is releasing next month and The Last of Us Part II is coming out in five months. Sony could've talked more about each of the games -- especially the MediEvil remake.
GIVE THEM A THEME
This doesn't need to happen for each State of Play presentation but it would help if these presentations were themed. That theme could be around a certain genre or around a certain game. Whatever it is, it'll help people remember what they saw and be able to identify what it is that was shown. That's better marketing for the games and will possibly make the titles shown more successful.
GET THE PACE RIGHT
Nintendo Direct is good at making announcements quickly and efficiently. State of Play, unfortunately, seem to linger on too much. This presentation was 20-minutes where most Nintendo Direct ones are 5-10 minutes shorter. There's nothing wrong with have a shorter presentation. People have short attention spans these days and they are also more likely to remember more if there's less nonsense to shuffle through. Unless you truly have a lot of information you need to give then use the KISS method: Keep It Simple, Stupid!