When the Playstation 4 and Xbox One were being officially announced at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in 2013, Sony and Microsoft respectively had the job of convincing the owners of their then-current consoles that the time had come for a new generation of gaming hardware. The two companies took very different approaches to their sales pitches: Sony presented a newer, more powerful console that could be leveraged by game developers to create richer and more exciting worlds for players to explore. Microsoft leaned heavily on the multimedia features of the new console, including cable television integration and the ability to control videos, music and games with gestures using the Kinect hardware that came standard with the system.
One of the major differentiators between the two companies’ online services underwent a major shift as well. Previously, Sony had offered Playstation 3 users free access to their online multiplayer matchmaking and communication services, while Xbox 360 users had to pay to talk and play with each other.
With the Playstation 4, Sony changed that policy and has decided to make Playstation Plus a required, subscription service for players who want to team up with or fight against other players online. This reversal makes sense; online services are expensive to operate and video gamers demand high performance from these services because a few seconds delay can lose a match.
The problem Sony is faced with now, however, is that 80 million Playstation 3 owners, not all of whom have purchased the newer console, have no reason to pay for the service. Despite not subscribing, every time they use the service to connect with other players they are still putting strain on the system.
https://youtu.be/LIcHVGRVAqE
Powers appears to be one of the answers that Sony has come up with to solve that problem. The show is an adaptation of a comic book from 2000 which centers around a police division specializing in crimes which involve super powered human beings. The series is set in a world where superheroes and villains are a part of everyday life, and details some of the challenges and struggles the police force faces in dealing with that fact.
Sony is producing the series, and has made it available through their Playstation Store online media service, and available for free to folks who subscribe to the Playstation Plus online service. Offering exclusive content to people who sign up for the service in a way that can only be played on Sony’s platform seems like a smart way to sweeten the deal of subscribing to what is ostensibly an online gaming service, but unfortunately Powers as a show doesn’t really hold up.
The comic book is really well done, but it was a product of its time. It took the gritty superheroes of the late 80’s and early 90’s, then combined them with police procedurals like Law & Order. Even though the art style has an over-the-top feel, it manages to capture a grittiness and intensity while also supporting the unrealistic physiques and costuming of super heroes.
Because the live-action show is mired by the constraints of reality, it frequently falls short of the hard boiled vibe that the comic book conveys so aptly and ends up looking silly for taking itself so seriously. There are also some baffling casting decisions; Sharlto Copley has a great look for a detective, but it’s hard to imagine him as a formerly Superman-style superhero. Also, all due respect to the prolific, lovely, and talented Michelle Forbes, but having characters refer to a grown woman as “Retro Girl” with a straight face is jarring.
There are also quite a few plot changes that miss the mark. Many of the core premises of the book are thrown out and replaced with choices that steer the series more towards action than mystery. For example, the main character Christian Walker (Copley) was once the superhero known as Diamond. In the comic book, this identity and the reasons he no longer operates as a superhero are a mystery, and unknown to the public at large. In the show, the identity seems to be common knowledge, erasing a lot of intrigue. These choices may or may not make for better television, but it seems a shame that some of the more innovative elements of the source material are being left by the wayside.
In order to be a player in the online streaming video entertainment business today, offering some kind of exclusive original content is a must. Amazon and Netflix are creating critically acclaimed and award-winning shows like Transparent and House of Cards. Apple just announced a timed exclusivity deal with HBO to offer their HBO Now service over Apple TV.
By choosing a superhero property for their first exclusive media offer, Sony clearly has a stereotypical gamer in mind as its target audience. Unfortunately, the first three episodes of Powers that have been released so far fail to make a compelling case for people to choose Playstation Plus over the superior offerings elsewhere.
