Sony in dire times, implications for the gaming hardware?

This was on the TV this morning. I wasn't really watching since I needed to get ready for work but yeah, basically they were saying Sony is in the shitter. They were comparing Panasonic goods to Sony good for some reason though. It was funny when they popped up the PlayStation and then the 3DO for Panasonic

They also talked about how Sony is really suffering in the west as their image isn't popular anymore (so the TV said) and that Panasonic and Samsung were really high in the western opinion polls. Personally I think Toshiba TVs kick both Panasonic and Sony TVs but that's besides the point.

There's bound to be more on the news tonight so I may watch it if I have time.

Yakumo

 

I'm seriously fearing Sony is going to implement fees with PSN, which would ruin it for me.

Not that I game on my PS3 that much, but for those times when friends are around, it just wouldn't be worth it.
I can see the removal of PS3 BC for the PS4, and maybe then cutting corners with the hardware. They can't afford to pull another E3 2006 again, or another "breaking even at $599".

 

Don't forget the demise of the PSP GO and the Slowly but surely Dying PSP ............... Sony is in major trouble i expect they will be in trouble till next gen unless they bring out a Killer App for PS Vita

 

What do you mean by this? The PS3 hardware hasn't been sold at a loss for awhile. (assuming thats what you mean)

 

I think he might mean, that even though the PS3 is selling well, the company as a whole is still suffering losses. As in, PS3 sales aren't enough to balance out the other companies losses. I'd assume that's what he means, since I'm sure he knows that PS3's aren't being sold at a loss per console anymore.

Did anyone else catch that article about the old Xbox boss? He said something to the effect that the only reason the Xbox 360 has been successful is because of Sony's mistakes this gen. I mean, that doesn't have anything to do with their tv division... I don't know what's going on with that. lol

 

Yeah, that was my backup line of thought.

 

lol, yeah, the post is sorta worded weird. xD

 

I remember reading about this some weeks ago and posting it in a thread about Nintendo losing money; not sure if anything new happened.
Whatever happens with Sony, I just hope they don't screw their customers...

 

Well thats what happens when you keep shoving shitty hardware revisions of PSP's onto the market, and then to top it off, releasing the Vita that does the same crap that the PSP does, only in 3D or whatever.

If Sony starts to charge money for PSN, and all I want to do race with Aussies / Japanese on Gran Turismo, then I am offline for good.

Poor Poor Sony...

 

I'd say the PSP fucked them over twice, or 4 times over with the amount of revisions they made just to remove a homebrew hack.
If Nintendo did the same with the Wii they'd be way further down the shitter.

Paying for PSN is an option, and already it's bad enough we have to pay for an emulated copy of a game we paid full price for in the previous gen is a joke. I don't play on the PSN very often and when I do I just play Blur for 4 hours and then exercise.

I really think the Playstation 3 was over priced right at the beginning and I only knew one person who was able to afford it at launch, and well the Vita looks the same... I noticed quite a lot of stores have reduced prices of PSVita already not a big amount, but they have.

SONY, just seems desperate to stomp on Nintendo and Microsoft at once and I'm not fanboy or anything but they've always been the "We're more powerful" cavemen. It's really screwing them up. They need to understand quite a few gamers are not rich and gaming is a hobby not a fashion show on what looks better, they need to wake up and understand all of this.

What is happening to the gaming market? -_-

 

I wouldn't say that the PSP screwed Sony over. Every single one of Sony's handhelds and consoles have had hardware revisions. Some of those revisions are due to piracy hacks but most of the time it is to reduce costs of making the hardware.

Sony as a company looks very much like a really badly executed version of Apple. In the gaming world they don't have the right combination of business and technical knowledge to create great products that sell. Instead they make overpowered hardware with a lot of sticks (expensive hardware, games and proprietary storage media.). Marketing wise they don't quite get it either which is probably due to the fact that they don't have anything unique to sell or the fact that most of their products don't integrate well. Sony sells more products that integrate with ipod/iphone than their own Walkman products.

As far as the PS4 goes I would not be the least surprised if it did not have PS3 backwards compatibility at all, or some form of linux support. Both of these costs money to manufacture and does nothing to the bottom line. I will be interested though if they at least attempt to put in PS2 support. Backwards compatibility was one of those really great features that I think was a selling point when the PS2 came out because both MS and Nintendo included that feature in there next consoles.

And yes expect more DRM control over everything you buy from them because giving customers rights also doesn't help the bottom line but taking them away does.

 

The PSP did fine in Japan. Did it sell like they would like? Doubt it, but it didn't lose them money. What is losing them money is the other divisions.

 

Yeah I can see the division that made the Rolly not doing well.

 

Sony had big market share during the days of their supremacy on the mobile audio and TV market. They lost those markets for Apple and Samsung. Sony Ericsson was never a big competitor, plus no matter how amazing the PSP was / PSVITA is, Nintendo still own that market (well, now Apple has a bit too). The PS3 only became real for the videogame market after the PS3 Slim appeared with a decent price. Ever since it got released, it sells a lot (read somewhere that it's only 3.3 million away to catch up with Xbox360 sales globally).

What "saves" Sony on the game market are their first party studios that are very good and profitable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment People will buy a Sony console mostly because of games from those studios. Also, game companies have to stop thinking products as services and services as products. The whole DRM, online passes, and so on makes people think twice before getting a game / console. You buy a game, you own it. That's it. Also game companies should think on having profit by sales, not "special DLC", acessories and so on. The PSPVita having a proprietary and overpriced memory card doesn't help sales!

Still, i really doubt Sony will show a "PS4" anytime soon. They need the PS3 to be profitable for more time. That's why there's still great stuff to be released like Last Guardian, The Last of Us, "possible" Killzone 4, Sly 4, God of War Ascension and so on.

 

I be they also take a less stern view on people hacking the next PlayStation, I don't condone piracy, but it can help sell systems.

 

I doubt it, the way they went after hotz, and removed OtherOS it didnt put them in a good light with people, not many people used other OS, but when they learn they are losing something weather they use it or not, it never goes down well.

Piracy has never been a really huge issue on the ps3, most people these days are stuck on an old firmware with no psn access, but people with hacked 360's can enjoy piracy and live access, and if you look at it from purely a consumer point of view, someone with limited funds, the console choice is an easy one. Especially in countries where games are expensive.

 

PSN having fees is a sure thing in my mind. I don't like the idea of what DRM they'll be putting in.