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'Ghost of Tsushima' likely last exclusive to hit PS4

Sony is rolling out some major exclusives for its current console, with its new game ‘Ghost of Tsushima’. Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous, Brian Sozzi, and Dan Howley discuss the details.

Video Transcript

BRIAN SOZZI: Welcome back to "The First Trade." Gamers are waiting for more details on the PlayStation 5. But Sony is still rolling out some major exclusive for its current console. Our gaming guru and tech editor Dan Howley is back with us. Dan, what's the latest game out here?

DAN HOWLEY: Yes, this is Sony's "Ghost of Tsushima." It's developer is Sucker Punch games. And basically, this is the last exclusive for Sony's PlayStation 4 until we get the PlayStation 5 later this year. This is a game that the company has been building to for quite some time. It was delayed for a bit, as most games are. And essentially what you do is you take on the role of a samurai in the titular island of Tsushima and try to fight back a Mongol invasion.

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Now, the big thing about this game is just how beautiful it is. It really is a gorgeous setting. And the company Sucker Punch has done an incredible job of realizing it for the PlayStation 4. It genuinely looks like something you would expect out of a next generation game. And I think that's really something that's going to grab a lot of people.

Obviously, it's a samurai game so you're going to have some one-on-one sword fights showdowns. Very fun, very cool. The combat is very in-depth though, it can be a little overwhelming at times. And it can be somewhat janky as well since you can't really lock onto your enemies. But this is a game I think that Sony is going to bank on to get through towards the end of the year when they finally release the PlayStation 5. And I do think that this is going to sell very well for them.

BRIAN SOZZI: Dan, do you think Sony and Microsoft, are they going to have production problems this holiday season? Clearly, we're also working from home. You could see a potential massive surge in console demand this holiday season.

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, and you absolutely are going to see that. I think once, you know, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X pricings are announced, that's when we'll really get the idea of how many people are actually going to go out and buy them when they become available. I think that's the big issue that we're still waiting on is, you know, obviously availability date, holiday 2020 is what everyone's saying, Sony and Microsoft. But the pricing is going to be the biggest feature that people are going to be looking at.

And I think once we get those, we'll get a really good idea of which console will end up selling the most or perhaps selling better at launch until they start to even out their prices, as they do along the way. But this is really something that's going to be incredibly important to both companies. And there will be huge demand.

Look, gaming has done incredibly well during the pandemic. People have little to do. There's no entertainment outside. We're seeing some states re-locking down. You can't go out to bars. So what are you going to do? You're going to watch Netflix. And when you get bored of that, you're going to pick up a controller and start playing some games.

And you can actually socially interact with people while playing games. So I think that's something that's going to continue to push gaming forward. And I don't see that subsiding very much after the pandemic finally is over, whenever that is.

BRIAN SOZZI: Dan, is there a read-through here to the toy industry? If this is the great golden age of gaming part five, could the toy industry see a lift?

DAN HOWLEY: They could. You know, we do see things like accessories for games, you know, little action figures kind of play off of when these are released. I don't necessarily know if "Ghost of Tsushima" is that kind of title. But I think in general for the gaming industry, they're pushing out into more areas along those lines.

You need look no further than "Fortnite," which has a huge line of accessories that people like to snatch up and show off. You know, there's different shirts that people purchase, various forms of apparel. So it does really kind of spread its tentacles out from the TV screen or computer screen into the real world. And I think we'll continue to see that going forward.

I mean, look, gaming is the largest form of entertainment now in the US, outstrips movies, outstrips TV, outstrips books. I think this is really something that more and more companies are going to continue to lean into. Now they're just starting to realize how much money they can actually make when you see companies pulling in billions of dollars on one title alone thanks to this free to play model.

Now, this game, "Ghost of Tsushima," doesn't follow that model. It's more of a classic standalone title. And I think a lot of gamers continue to look for that. You can find evidence on that from Sony's "Spider-Man" that debuted on the PlayStation 4 and sold absolutely astonishingly well. So I think that that's going to be something we'll continue to see moving forward.

BRIAN SOZZI: All right, Dan Howley, our resident gamer. Good to see you.

DAN HOWLEY: Thanks.