PS3 was on "life support," says Stringer
- Posted May 29th, 2008 at 05:56 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 5,740 views
- 19 Comments
Sony Corporation Chairman Howard Stringer has conceded that the PlayStation 3 was on “life support” as a result of the machine’s shaky start, with high development costs proving nearly "catastrophic” for the Japanese electronics giant.
Speaking during The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital Conference yesterday, Stringer noted that things have started to pick up for the company with prices coming down and software turning over profit for the platform holder.
He observed that upcoming titles would use the "full capacity" of the PS3, assuring they would look "spectacular."
Stringer also remarked that a direct reference to "Betamax 2” would have been engraved on his tombstone, had the company lost the high definition format war against Toshiba’s HD-DVD disc.
However, he denied that Sony ultimately won the battle as a result of paying movie studios the most money, adding, "We were not in the check-writing competition.”
Comments
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Odium_Generis_Humani
- 6:45am BST - May 29th, 2008
- 2
People liked to say back then that Sony bought-off studios, but everyone also knew they were hemorraging money from the early days of the PS3. Both weren't happening. I knew they weren't paying people off. They couldn't. They probably would have if they could, but they couldn't. Anyway, as people make this massive shift to HDTV in the U.S. before the law flips in February 2009, I think that's when the PS3 will "explode" instead of just "exist".
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Ryoma
- 6:59am BST - May 29th, 2008
- 3
lol i have to disagree with you Odium as it was PS3 fanboys saying microsoft was paying off the little support they was getting in the HD DVD war. saying that i dont believe it was a case of pay off as apose to companies trying to get the best deal for themselves. in the end sony won the blu ray vs hd dvd fight and deserved it so ohwell.
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Paranoimia |
Paranoimia- 7:30am BST - May 29th, 2008
- 5
It may or may not have been Microsoft paying off companies to support HD-DVD, but the simple fact is that Paramount did receive a large payment from the HD-DVD camp to go exclusive.
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Staticneuron |
Staticneuron- 7:43am BST - May 29th, 2008
- 6
@Ryoma
The paramount shift was a payout contract. The new york times even reported on it being an 18 month deal.
No other companies announced any such timed contract and that just smells of a deal. Even worse when asked directly they sidestepped the question.
Any other company for either side is either pure speculation or even to the point directly challenged. When asked directly warner brothers said no.
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TekkenLord |
HitMan00- 9:04am BST - May 29th, 2008
- 7
pay off company is not sony thing, they leave that for M$
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Blazincloud16
- 10:50am BST - May 29th, 2008
- 10
I think that some of you people have a point but lets go to what really matters ps3 beating the 360
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evilmonkey501 |
evilmonkey501- 12:06pm BST - May 29th, 2008
- 11
@ Odium_Generis_Humani The february 2009 law is a shift from analog to digital tv.....totally different from sdtv to hdtv.....all programing must be digital, but not required to be hdtv....the only thing this does is 86 your old rabbit ears......it does not make everything hdtv....
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lurkingshadow89 |
DEATH555666- 2:43pm BST - May 29th, 2008
- 12
stringer if a ps3 fan ever got a hold of u with a baseball bat in their hands u would be the one on life support.
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zbamf
- 8:02pm BST - May 29th, 2008
- 15
Sony have always said they never pay to get exclusive games, they use communication with publishers and good support, with excellent relationships.
Lets face it Paramount would have been mad to wiling to go exclusive to HD-dvd without payment. Warner made a choice, whether there was a payment or not, it was always a better move to go blu.
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InfernoReaper |
GrimDarkling- 3:37am BST - May 30th, 2008
- 18
Sony never had to pay studios. The support Sony had from their company and other parties keep them on top, despite what anyone else says. Sony has the all-in-one machine. When everything you make is quality, then you have nothing to worry about.
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BlueDragoon0 |
Lionheart0- 6:36am BST - June 1st, 2008
- 19
I never doubted Sony would start kicking back and they have indeed.
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