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Discussion How do you feel about the term Sad Dad?

How do you feel about the term Sad Dad when referring to Sony's games

  • It makes me laugh

    Votes: 37 25.7%

  • It makes me chuckle slightly

    Votes: 70 48.6%

  • I'm indifferent

    Votes: 24 16.7%

  • It annoys me

    Votes: 3 2.1%

  • It makes me a sad dad

    Votes: 10 6.9%
  • Total voters
    144
If there is apocalypse or dystopic society within my lifetime, which I admit didn't seem possible when I was growing up and now is at least somewhat remotely plausible possibility, I will definitely be a Sony sad dad character. If any of you know how to hunt with traps or do simple mechanical and electronical repair work you are welcome to our camp. We can always use craftsmen.
 
Obviously not indicative of the varied library, but I guess it's because TLOU and GOW is so popular and prominent that causes people use a blanket statement like this.....similar to how people like to generalise Nintendo's output as mainly for kids.
 
I don't really play those games for reasons unrelated to them being "sad dad" games (the only one with a gameplay loop that might interest me is God of War, and the originals seem a bit more up my alley anyways and I haven't gotten around to playing them yet, otherwise I don't really like open world games or slow paced third-person shooters), so I don't care.
 
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I like the term, I think it's funny.

HOWEVER I also think that the meme speaks to how critics (or mainstream outlets and by extension a certain type of gamer/customer) think about videogames and what they need to have in order to be considered mature, or adult. It's almost as if the AAA space identifies seriousness with games that are hyper violent or depressing (or both), and whose protagonists are complex (and this complexity is manifested in outbursts of violence with a couple of cinematic moments of acting as a caring parent). I wonder if this is all that we want from an AAA game in terms of storytelling, or if we really think The Last of Us 2 and RDR2 and God of War are the way forward for storytelling in games (I like them but I'm not really sure).

Then here's what other commenters are saying, that the Sad Dad is often devs and writers who are now not 20-year-old kids but who are introducing the themes of growing up in their games, and fatherhood is a very "easy" way to do so (especially considering videogames are still a very male-centric space).

I can't remember where I was going with this so I'll just leave it here and tell you to go play paper Mario because it's fun.
 
I don't use the term myself but I have no strong feelings towards it (I don't think it's outrageously funny or anything but I do find some people's aversion a little funny). I do think there's issues in gaming around an overabundance of masculinity, paternalism and heterocentrism, and I think it sucks that people would dismiss a lighthearted way of describing some of those trends as stupid or console warring. Feels like deflecting and downplaying valid critique and analysis.

For avoidance of doubt, I don't think these stories shouldn't be told, and I can enjoy and appreciate them. I will play God of War and Death Stranding eventually!
 
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Kano said:
It's a funny term but it highlights the similarity in tone of most Sony games and that should be a wake up call for them to actually make more diverse games.
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Nothing against you specifically, just speaking broadly toward the mindset, but the fact that this post, as disingenuous as it was, still got 13 Yeahs (as of me making this response) is Wack City. It would be like if Sony fans went and said Nintendo needed a "wake up call" for overusing the Mario and Zelda IPs for nearly four decades now. Sounds nice as a punchy throwaway line, but doesn't paint a truly accurate picture, much like the assertion that "Sony needs to make more diverse games".

In the year the PS5 has been out, there's been Returnal, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and more, none of which fit the supposedly typical cinematic game mold. Then, if you go slightly further back and include PS4, you start to see stuff like Concrete Genie, Dreams, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, etc. They diversify, but it's up to the consumer base to be receptive to it. It's not Sony's fault "sad dad" games continue to perform faaaaar better than any Dreams, or Sackboy. They are, quite literally...

DJ_Khaled_Suffering_from_Success.jpg


I just can't help but groan now, when, for instance, I see one of my friends lament the state of gaming, all because it has a very specific type of game that appeals to the mainstream, and that game typically performs well enough that more like it continue to be made. This is something inevitable for any medium, once it grows to a certain point. If you want to push back against it, in an attempt to balance things out, then buy more indies, and sing their praises from the rooftops... but we've got enough indies, enough sad dad games, and everything in-between, to where I think there's enough diversity there to keep us all happy.
 
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I think itā€™s funny and kind of hits on a trend of trying to make video game stories more serious and mature by injecting a lazy emotional anchor in them. You see, this video game murderbot avatar is actually much more complex than you thought. He also struggles with fatherhood. It doesnā€™t really hit for me and just seems more to reflect the desires of the people making and playing video games to cast them as being more serious and mature than they are typically seen as.

It also comes across as very self-pitying when itā€™s about a guy whoā€™s just trying to do the right thing but canā€™t because of some enormous burden heā€™s carrying. I can see why these stories have emotional resonance with young men but I would hardly call it a mature or sophisticated narrative.
 
Aurc said:
Nothing against you specifically, just speaking broadly toward the mindset, but the fact that this post, as disingenuous as it was, still got 13 Yeahs (as of me making this response) is Wack City. It would be like if Sony fans went and said Nintendo needed a "wake up call" for overusing the Mario and Zelda IPs for nearly four decades now. Sounds nice as a punchy throwaway line, but doesn't paint a truly accurate picture, much like the assertion that "Sony needs to make more diverse games".

In the year the PS5 has been out, there's been Returnal, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and more, none of which fit the supposedly typical cinematic game mold. Then, if you go slightly further back and include PS4, you start to see stuff like Concrete Genie, Dreams, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, etc. They diversify, but it's up to the consumer base to be receptive to it. It's not Sony's fault "sad dad" games continue to perform faaaaar better than any Dreams, or Sackboy. They are, quite literally...

DJ_Khaled_Suffering_from_Success.jpg


I just can't help but groan now, when, for instance, I see one of my friends lament the state of gaming, all because it has a very specific type of game that appeals to the mainstream, and that game typically performs well enough that more like it continue to be made. This is something inevitable for any medium, once it grows to a certain point. If you want to push back against it, in an attempt to balance things out, then buy more indies, and sing their praises from the rooftops... but we've got enough indies, enough sad dad games, and everything in-between, to where I think there's enough diversity there to keep us all happy.
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Ill be honest with you: nobody cares about Sackboy or Concrete Genie. Not even Sony. The fact is that most of Sonys big titles are all very similar in tones. See Uncharted 4, TLOU, God of War 1 and 2, Days Gone. Swap the role (sad daughter rather than sad dad) and you could add TLOU2, Horizon 1 and probably 2 as well. It's a shame, because it's a clear lack of variety. Greenlighting a couple of very low budget AA titles doesn't erase that.
 
Aurc said:
Nothing against you specifically, just speaking broadly toward the mindset, but the fact that this post, as disingenuous as it was, still got 13 Yeahs (as of me making this response) is Wack City. It would be like if Sony fans went and said Nintendo needed a "wake up call" for overusing the Mario and Zelda IPs for nearly four decades now. Sounds nice as a punchy throwaway line, but doesn't paint a truly accurate picture, much like the assertion that "Sony needs to make more diverse games".

In the year the PS5 has been out, there's been Returnal, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and more, none of which fit the supposedly typical cinematic game mold. Then, if you go slightly further back and include PS4, you start to see stuff like Concrete Genie, Dreams, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, etc. They diversify, but it's up to the consumer base to be receptive to it. It's not Sony's fault "sad dad" games continue to perform faaaaar better than any Dreams, or Sackboy. They are, quite literally...

DJ_Khaled_Suffering_from_Success.jpg


I just can't help but groan now, when, for instance, I see one of my friends lament the state of gaming, all because it has a very specific type of game that appeals to the mainstream, and that game typically performs well enough that more like it continue to be made. This is something inevitable for any medium, once it grows to a certain point. If you want to push back against it, in an attempt to balance things out, then buy more indies, and sing their praises from the rooftops... but we've got enough indies, enough sad dad games, and everything in-between, to where I think there's enough diversity there to keep us all happy.
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In an ideal world that wouldn't happen, but a lot of the games you mentioned aren't PS5 or PS defining and you can delete them and a lot of people wouldn't notice.

The 'sad dad' = 'nintendo kiddie' analogy is apt. It's a gross generalization based on some truth. Nintendo's games are all ages and are colorful and unoffensive. . And I'll be honest, that generalization is often coming from PlayStation owners/fans who think Nintendo is something you grow out of. So if they get offended by 'sad dad' terminology or the broad generalization their first party output are just movie games, then it may cause some introspection about not generalizing.
 
Concrete Genie is one of three platinums I've ever gotten lol. Ironically I think its story kind of sucks, but it's otherwise perfectly enjoyable and nicely presented for the most part.

It also did not get anywhere near enough promotion - I didn't know it existed until release week, and I imagine more casual audiences have never heard of it except if they got it free with PS+. Sony can't force people to care about their smaller titles as much as their AAAs, but I don't agree they're blameless here - they absolutely favour certain parts of their catalogue and don't give other genres and titles the support they might benefit from.
 
Kano said:
Ill be honest with you: nobody cares about Sackboy or Concrete Genie. Not even Sony. The fact is that most of Sonys big titles are all very similar in tones. See Uncharted 4, TLOU, God of War 1 and 2, Days Gone. Swap the role (sad daughter rather than sad dad) and you could add TLOU2, Horizon 1 and probably 2 as well. It's a shame, because it's a clear lack of variety. Greenlighting a couple of very low budget AA titles doesn't erase that.
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See, this is the kind of console warrior take which makes me dislike the term. @Aurc's main point was that none of Sony's first party PS5 really fit the mold of what people usually consider a "sad dad" game, and then pointed out that this remains true if you go back beyond the PS5 release. Your response was... to dismiss some of the games which aren't as successful, ignore others which don't fit your narrative, and suggest the rest sort of are sad dad games if you squint a little.

As others have pointed out in this thread, the term came about due to a criticism that the so-called "maturing" videogames were largely focused on white men discovering fatherhood (or a version of it), reflecting the creators' similar lived experience. It just doesn't work to say, for example, that Horizon is a "sad dad" game but with a sad daughter instead, because that's quite a different thing. Not to say there aren't still criticisms to be had for the representation in these games - the protagonists are still white, and in Horizon's case there's some not-great appropriation of native American imagery - but it's separate from the origin of the "sad dad" term.
 
hologram said:
See, this is the kind of console warrior take which makes me dislike the term. @Aurc's main point was that none of Sony's first party PS5 really fit the mold of what people usually consider a "sad dad" game, and then pointed out that this remains true if you go back beyond the PS5 release. Your response was... to dismiss some of the games which aren't as successful, ignore others which don't fit your narrative, and suggest the rest sort of are sad dad games if you squint a little.

As others have pointed out in this thread, the term came about due to a criticism that the so-called "maturing" videogames were largely focused on white men discovering fatherhood (or a version of it), reflecting the creators' similar lived experience. It just doesn't work to say, for example, that Horizon is a "sad dad" game but with a sad daughter instead, because that's quite a different thing. Not to say there aren't still criticisms to be had for the representation in these games - the protagonists are still white, and in Horizon's case there's some not-great appropriation of native American imagery - but it's separate from the origin of the "sad dad" term.
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How is that console warring? How is complaining about the uniformity of tones in a publisher's products console warring or remotely wrong? What narrative am I creating besides saying i don't like how samey the pipeline of a publisher whose I own the console is? Regardless of the light differences between the titles I quoted, they all share a very, very similar character development and plotline. I've played almost all of them. It's always about avenging your father/children, trying to find the origins of your mysterious parent in a desolate world. It's always pandering to 30 years old male because they're the prime target to relate to these stories. And yes, those are the games that make the identity of the console. Not the biannual AA title Sony greenlights then send to die as an attempt to bolster the creativity of its library.

You're the only one making anything close to a console warring post, frankly.
 
I feel like any discussion that attempts to group games into "sad dad" and "not sad dad" is missing the point by a mile. As @Dekuman says, it's an extremely broad generalization that nonetheless can affect people's perception, just like "kiddie", "waggle", "dudebro" and others have done. How accurate it is is completely irrelevant if you can't shake it.
 
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It's funny because there's a bit of truth in it.

Sony's current first party lineup isn't exactly what I would call diverse... It certainly used to be though!
 
Nintendo Kids' games
Microsoft Dude Bro games
Sony Sad Dad games

I like this trifecta (if not taken too seriously).
 
Aurc said:
Nothing against you specifically, just speaking broadly toward the mindset, but the fact that this post, as disingenuous as it was, still got 13 Yeahs (as of me making this response) is Wack City. It would be like if Sony fans went and said Nintendo needed a "wake up call" for overusing the Mario and Zelda IPs for nearly four decades now. Sounds nice as a punchy throwaway line, but doesn't paint a truly accurate picture, much like the assertion that "Sony needs to make more diverse games".

In the year the PS5 has been out, there's been Returnal, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and more, none of which fit the supposedly typical cinematic game mold. Then, if you go slightly further back and include PS4, you start to see stuff like Concrete Genie, Dreams, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, etc. They diversify, but it's up to the consumer base to be receptive to it. It's not Sony's fault "sad dad" games continue to perform faaaaar better than any Dreams, or Sackboy. They are, quite literally...

DJ_Khaled_Suffering_from_Success.jpg


I just can't help but groan now, when, for instance, I see one of my friends lament the state of gaming, all because it has a very specific type of game that appeals to the mainstream, and that game typically performs well enough that more like it continue to be made. This is something inevitable for any medium, once it grows to a certain point. If you want to push back against it, in an attempt to balance things out, then buy more indies, and sing their praises from the rooftops... but we've got enough indies, enough sad dad games, and everything in-between, to where I think there's enough diversity there to keep us all happy.
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I agree the PS5 lineup for its first year was really diverse and solid.

I'm quite curious how the next few years will pan out. As of now, PlayStation's current announced lineup consists of:

Horizon: Forbidden West
Gran Turismo 7
God of War Ragnarok
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Marvel's Wolverine

We know Team Asobi is working on at least one project and there's almost certainly a large number of VR titles in development. But as of now, the upcoming lineup is pretty homogenized. Outside of GT7, these games are all targeting the same consumer group. I think, at least from what we know publicly, both Nintendo and Microsoft are doing a better job at offering diverse experiences. Hopefully PlayStation has lots of unique, unannounced stuff in the pipeline.
 
It's a very stupid but funny term.

It's true that Sony develops and publishes somewhat diverse games, but it's undeniable that the ones they push the most tend to follow a somewhat similar formula or style.
 
Forkball said:
Yoshiā€™s Island was the first sad dad game.
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No my friend, Yoshi is just upbeat and happy the whole time heā€™s travelling with Baby Mario.

This is actually the much less well known glad dad game. I imagine a 3D version of this would have the protagonist being super goofy and cracking dad jokes the entire game, but publishers are too cowardly to green light this sort of experience.
 
Kano said:
Ill be honest with you: nobody cares about Sackboy or Concrete Genie. Not even Sony. The fact is that most of Sonys big titles are all very similar in tones. See Uncharted 4, TLOU, God of War 1 and 2, Days Gone. Swap the role (sad daughter rather than sad dad) and you could add TLOU2, Horizon 1 and probably 2 as well. It's a shame, because it's a clear lack of variety. Greenlighting a couple of very low budget AA titles doesn't erase that.
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"Nobody cares about Sackboy or Concrete Genie"

I'm aware, and acknowledged that. Why do you think I said this?
They diversify, but it's up to the consumer base to be receptive to it. It's not Sony's fault "sad dad" games continue to perform faaaaar better than any Dreams, or Sackboy.
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If consumers aren't willing to turn up and show their enthusiasm for these ventures by spending their money on them, then naturally, less experiences like them get produced, plain and simple. Blaming Sony because a God of War performs substantially better than a Concrete Genie makes little sense, especially considering how Sony has (and still does) shined the spotlight on the indie sphere. Currently, State of Plays have a problem where, if it's mostly an indie showcase, the majority of people will call it awful, or a waste of time. The ball is no longer in Sony's court, at that point. People like what they like.

"But Sony still releases mostly sad dad games in their AAA output."

Which makes them no different from any other company, where their biggest tentpole projects are ones that (surprise, surprise) appeal more to a mainstream audience. Buddy, Metroid is my #1 favorite video game franchise of all time, and has been, since I was a child. You think I've been happy to see Mario and Zelda get 50 different games, spinoffs, and remasters per console cycle, and if we're lucky, maybe, just maybe, there's one Metroid game that gets put out there? Of course not. I understand, however, that Metroid just doesn't sell anywhere near the way the other two do, so Nintendo doesn't care to make them as often. Instead, we're guaranteed to see Mario Party 27 and Mario Sports: Beer Pong, but yes, the "lack of catalog diversity" problem is something we gotta roast only Sony about. /s

I barely even wanna touch on your whole "let me force every big Sony AAA into the sad dad mold" argumentation strat, because I simply disagree with the whole premise. Being reductionist enough to take Aloy and say "eh, sad dad if you tweak it" is somethin', I'll tell ya.

Again, since I can't resist, what if we did that for Nintendo?

Mario / Link / Samus must vanquish the evil and slay the monster, Bowser / Ganon / Ridley, in order to rescue Peach / Zelda / Baby Metroid.

Hehe, all they make is the same thing over and over again. Spoiler: it's because the knight slaying the dragon to rescue the princess is a story as old as time itself, and the basis for many works of fiction, from Mario, to Star Wars, to Shrek. Doesn't mean much, other than that they all start with the same basic template, before diverging wildly. It's the same with "sad dad", which really just means "family connection". It's the basic driving force, or emotional center, of a story.
 
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Since the thread took a turn, I agree itā€™s bizarre to think Sony only makes Sad Dad games just because two of their games are the most prominent examples. Their two biggest games on PS5 so far are Spider Man Miles Morales (all about the importance of family) and Ratchet and Clank (basically a Pixar family film). None of the other games fit the mold either including Sack Boy, Demon Souls, or Returnal nor do the next in line games Horizon 2, Gran Turismo 7, and the Square games. We really wonā€™t have a single brand new Sad Dad game on PS5 until The 2nd God of War 2 and that is also kind of it. Unless they make a new Sad Dad franchise, the only Dad they have left out there to make sad is Nathan Drake and if they make Uncharted 5 a Sad Dad game they absolutely blew it.
 
It got a laugh out of me. :lol

It's an oversimplication of course, yet it's a funny one.
 
It's a funny term.

But I think "sad dad" when it's used, is more of indictment of Sony's third person games that are grim, serious story driven in general. Rather than just "sad dad" games literally.

I think it holds true to an extent. Their games are less diverse from each other compared to the past. Although I am still gonna enjoy the upcoming horizon and God of war, I'd like them to branch out a bit too. Games like Wipeout, Ape Escape, and Gravity Rush deserve comebacks.
 
I'm a pretty happy dad so I don't relate although the term is funny, as others have pointed out, if you treat it as a meme and a funny generalisation rather than an actual grouping of any artistic importance and try to use it in some console warring argument, just like how most of us on this forum poke fun at Nintendo tropes in a good-natured manner.
 
Psycho Lurantis said:
It's a funny term.

But I think "sad dad" when it's used, is more of indictment of Sony's third person games that are grim, serious story driven in general. Rather than just "sad dad" games literally.

I think it holds true to an extent. Their games are less diverse from each other compared to the past. Although I am still gonna enjoy the upcoming horizon and God of war, I'd like them to branch out a bit too. Games like Wipeout, Ape Escape, and Gravity Rush deserve comebacks.
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This.
I beat all their "sad dad" games and I find them amazing games. But I miss Sony during the PSX and PS2 era and even during the first years of PS4 with Gravity Rush for example.

But looking at sales numbers, I can't argue with their choice. They followed the money and the money is in those sad dad games.
 
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Glad weā€™ve established men and their families are simply the basis of all stories and wanting anything else could only be a tool of console warriors because who cares about other experiences?

[estranged gay silence]
 
Aurc said:
On forums, sadly! šŸ¤£ That's where the unironic sad dad complaints happen. There's a whole two of those games in Sony first party, so I think people will be okay.
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You think that Sony is the only one who gets snippy one liners about their lineup?
 
I feel like itā€™s just a general entertainment/storytelling thing at the moment. Many of the games discussed here take nearly all of their storytelling cues from film and TV, and many of the most popular, non-superhero hits of the last decade areā€¦sad. Like REALLY sad, or just full of people doing horrific things. The Leftovers, Game of Thrones, etc.

People love the catharsis from being sad I guess lol
 
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Dardan Sandiego said:
You think that Sony is the only one who gets snippy one liners about their lineup?
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Ah, that's what you meant. No, definitely not. I just meant in terms of this board, or this thread, more specifically. I think it's just as dumb when people talk down on Nintendo games for being "kiddie". Yes, their games are generally geared towards a younger demographic, but it ain't a big deal. The people who care about that stuff should just let loose, and have a little fun. I'm a grown-ass man with way too many hours in Animal Crossing.
 
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Term itself is funny to me, but the actual discourse around it is whatever.

You ever have a ton of criticisms for a piece of media and a lot of other people do as well, but they keep focusing on things that you don't actually care about and don't really see as an issue? That's what sad dad is for me. I have some pretty major issues with Sony's output for their AAA cinematic games that has nothing to do with the existence of a downcast parental figure.
 
FrostyLemon said:
Joel: Sad dad
Kratos: Sad dad
Nathan Drake: Becomes a dad will probably be sad soon
Horizon: Aloy has sad dad
Bloodborne: Father Gascoigne is a sad dad
Shadow of the Colossus: Wander is actually the girls dad. He is always sad especially the Bluepoint remaster
Spiderman: Uncle Ben sad surrogate dad
Heavy Rain: JASON
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Death Stranding is the ultimate sad dad game.
 
The term is pretty meaningless to me but I get what it means. I do wish Sony could apply their AAA template to something more cartoony and joyous.
 
Whilst it's not fair to mock such a typically vulnerable and picked on social group, I think the term is fine and on the surface at least doesn't seem to be mean-spirited (unless there is more to it - I've never heard of it before and did scoff).
 
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