Is Sony losing its touch?

[roxormyboxors]

Somewhere along the way Sony got lost. Since they entered the console world more than a decade ago Sony has absolutely dominated. They have developed powerful systems and lured developers to make exclusive content for them. By making their systems both cheap and easy to develop for, they have ensured total domination in the console world.

Sony has proven with the PlayStation One and Two that graphics ultimately don’t matter in the long run. Neither system was the most powerful of its class and yet both were the clear victors. And yet, Sony has apparently thrown away all they have learned with the upcoming release of the PS3. I have no idea if it will work.

There is no question about it — the PS3 will be the most powerful system ever created. They have been working with IBM for many years developing a chip that is supposed to change the way processors function. The Cell, as it is being dubbed, will fuel the video game industry and computers around the world if everything goes according to plan. However, I think that Sony is making a terrible mistake with this new system.
...

Source: The Edmond Sun

This is from a newspaper from Oklahoma. He makes a lot of good points. If these type of articles start hitting regular newspapers you can bet it will hurt Sony's user base.

[Crazy Phat]

Somewhere along the way Sony got lost. Since they entered the console world more than a decade ago Sony has absolutely dominated. They have developed powerful systems and lured developers to make exclusive content for them. By making their systems both cheap and easy to develop for, they have ensured total domination in the console world.

Sony has proven with the PlayStation One and Two that graphics ultimately don’t matter in the long run. Neither system was the most powerful of its class and yet both were the clear victors. And yet, Sony has apparently thrown away all they have learned with the upcoming release of the PS3. I have no idea if it will work.

There is no question about it — the PS3 will be the most powerful system ever created. They have been working with IBM for many years developing a chip that is supposed to change the way processors function. The Cell, as it is being dubbed, will fuel the video game industry and computers around the world if everything goes according to plan. However, I think that Sony is making a terrible mistake with this new system.
...

Source: The Edmond Sun

This is from a newspaper from Oklahoma. He makes a lot of good points. If these type of articles start hitting regular newspapers you can bet it will hurt Sony's user base.

Do you think a news article that contains pure specualtion is going to hurt the user base. Please seriously, don't make me laugh.

[roxormyboxors]

People that don't know any better will believe anything they read on the news Not every Playstation user is a tech guru.

[Cera]

People that don't know any better will believe anything they read on the news Not every Playstation user is a tech guru.

What makes you think the average casual gamer would be interested in reading articles like that though?

[roxormyboxors]

People that don't know any better will believe anything they read on the news Not every Playstation user is a tech guru.

What makes you think the average casual gamer would be interested in reading articles like that though?

What makes you think they won't? People of any age read the newpaper you know. It's not just grandpa

[Cera]

People that don't know any better will believe anything they read on the news Not every Playstation user is a tech guru.

What makes you think the average casual gamer would be interested in reading articles like that though?

What makes you think they won't? People of any age read the newpaper you know. It's not just grandpa

Erm, what does age have to do with it?

People who aren't very interested in something or don't take it very seriously usually aren't interested in reading about it. Do you think the average person is interested in reading stuff about the stock market? Or how pharmaceutical companies are doing? Usually it's the hardcore gamers or those very interested in gaming who care about each company's market share.

[Sufi]

...By making their systems both cheap and easy to develop for, they have ensured total domination in the console world...

Credibility dashed, down the drain.

[Crazy Phat]

Please lock this thread since it doesn't have much point.

[roxormyboxors]

If you want to buy a specific HDTV model and you notice an article on the newspaper that talks about that brand and model would you read it? I know I would.

Please lock this thread since it doesn't have much point.

Let me go find an article that idolizes the PS3. Would that make you happy? It's a valid news article that made it on a regular newspaper. I don't think it should be locked.

[Suikoden Fantasy]

Hey I enjoy Sony's work. I don't base my opinion of liking consoles off of articles. I base my opinion off of how the games look and what games are out. People are going to enjoy the console if the games look great.

So in other words I base my opinion off of stuff like that. Not what other people think and not what's on the news and I'm sure other people feel the same.

[findaway]

Technology changes you know, sure you can tell the console is focusing on its own hardware, but there's a fair leap each generation, and today's is being utilized. You couldn't think of a video game console like that 10 years ago, on top everything enhances the way games are played greatly.

Not too sure of how this is going to be a terrible disadvantage for them.

[udontneed2know]

Noone else is really responding to the article itself it looks like so I'll respond point by point. Thats always fun.

Somewhere along the way Sony got lost. Since they entered the console world more than a decade ago Sony has absolutely dominated. They have developed powerful systems and lured developers to make exclusive content for them. By making their systems both cheap and easy to develop for, they have ensured total domination in the console world.

That intro bothers me a little bit. How has Sony gotten lost? He never says. Sony is still going to deliver powerful hardware and they are still luring in developers to create exclusive content. So they are not lost in that regard. And then he says the systems are easy to develop for Yeah, the PS2 was a cakewalk lemme tell ya.

Sony has proven with the PlayStation One and Two that graphics ultimately don’t matter in the long run. Neither system was the most powerful of its class and yet both were the clear victors. And yet, Sony has apparently thrown away all they have learned with the upcoming release of the PS3. I have no idea if it will work.

Ok, so Sony won without having the most powerful system in the past. Doesn't it mean they have an even better chance now that they will have the most powerful system on the market for the next 5 years? ( 3 if Microsoft keeps up its current console release schedule of 4 years ). That whole point really makes no sense.

The PS3 is going to cost a fortune to manufacture. Early reports speculate it will cost around $800 in parts alone to create. This doesn’t even take in to account the money Sony will have to spend on making factories to develop these chips, all the money they have spent in research and development, or even the money they are pouring in to offer an online system that can compete with Microsoft. (That last part is just a guess by me, but I would be shocked if Sony didn’t offer their own version of Xbox Live.) In other words, they are going to take a massive hit on this new system.

Notice how its only early speculation that states the manufactoring costs. Those reports have never once been correct so it definately won't change now. The most expensive parts are the Blu-Ray Drive ( for the first year anyway ) and the RSX GPU ( since they have to pay Nvidia royalties ). Cell will be incredibly cheap within a year since its being so widely manufactored and put out at such a fast rate. My guess? 600$ manufactoring costs to start out, dropping to about 350$ by the end of 2007.

The easiest solution right now is for Sony to completely remove the ridiculous Blu Ray drive. Remember, Sony is not just a video game company. They are a major player in the home movie market as well and, with the increased popularity of high definition televisions, a new DVD format is fast approaching. One side is touting HD DVDs and the other Blu Ray. Sony is planning on using the PS3 as a way to sneak BR into peoples’ homes, much like they did with the built-in DVD player in the PS2.

Now he calls the Blu-Ray drive ridiculous. What a twerp. I guess he doesn't realize the system will play other DVD's and DVD-9's and CD's and everything else just fine. Then he says Sony is sneaking drives into peoples homes. Considering the PS3's Box will likely state " Blu-Ray Disc Player! " its hardly sneaking them in.

The problem is by including a BR player they are set to significantly up the price of the system. Stand alone movie players are coming out in a few months and they are going to retail for close to $1,000. Is Sony really willing to take a massive loss on every PS3 sold simply to get BR in people’s homes? I don’t think they should. People have just built up their DVD collection; will they really want to re-buy their movies again? Plus, digital distribution of movies is only a year or two away. There’s a good chance neither HD DVD nor BR will be a success.

People keep saying that about the stand-alone players. When the PS2 released you could hardly find a DVD player under 500$. Most were still 600$ or so at that time and people had the same worries about Sony's system due to the DVD player and how expensive it would be. Same thing here, yet they never EVER actually say something smart like " oh forgot to say, stand-alone players also have burner capabilities and can be used as Blu-Ray recorders and have many features not avaliable on the PS3 player which is going to be a basic Blu-Ray player ). Never ever state that.

By including Blu Ray in the PS3, the system will cost much more, be more likely to fail (this is brand new technology), may be slower than current DVD players (who likes load time?) and will make the games more expensive as well. Yes, they are larger than DVDs, but are all the problems worth it?

Noone likes load times but even with the 360's 12x DVD-9 player is going through its own load time troubles. Load times will never ever ... ever ever ... dissapear. So forget about it and move on. If the Blu-Ray player is 4x it'll be faster then any other player on the market. But it will still have load times, even with the HDD helping.

The PS3 will be difficult to develop for and expensive. This means you won’t see small developers like Sandlot create fantastic games like Radial Alchemic Drive or Earth Defense Force 2 because, if they don’t sell many copies, they could lose a lot of money. You also won’t see big-time publishers like Namco take a risk with Katamari Damacy. These are niche titles that are only supposed to sell a few thousand.

He doesn't even know what hes talking about anymore now. Publishers determine how independant developers survive, not the power of a system. If I wanted to, I could make a 2D title on the PS3 that rivals that of Zelda and it would get put on the system without many problems. Publishers though are the main reason why independant developers are getting hammered these days. Publishers, not console makers. Sony is actually the most open publisher in the world today, with tons of independant talent within their company. And then he says Radial Alchemic Drive, but he means Robot Alchemic Drive a game published by Enix. Yeah, small company indeed.

People stated before the PS2 released that the system was so hard to develop for and the cycle would be so long that noone would take risks on the PS2 either, but thats been completely killed.

Sony provides more middleware then ever right out of the SDK. So even independant developers will have the tools right in their hands that will become necessary to make a game of their imagination.

The PS2, with its massive installed base and cheap cost of development, ensured developers could make money on these games. There is no such guarantee with the PS3.

That was not a guarantee on the PS2 either. No unreleased system will ever have that kind of guarantee. But history shows that Sony has provided gamers with what they want, and they allow developers to make whatever is on their minds. So the users will return. And the developers and publishers can rest easy.

Most important of all, Sony may actual have competition this time around. I would love to mention Microsoft here, but they are so unsuccessful in Japan I don’t think they could ever threaten Sony. Nintendo, however, definitely can.

Thats everyones so called point about the last playstations. " They didnt have competition!" Bull crap. The playstations survived the greatest Sega system ever made. It survived 2 different Nintendo systems and Microsofts first attempt at mocking the Playstation brand but adding some PC flavor to the mix. If Sony hasn't had competition then noone in this industry has. Gamers just flock to Sony's product so much that it feels like they haven't been tested yet, and people will think Sony hasn't been tested until the marketshare is 50-50.

Unless Sony can continue to offer a huge variety of software at a cheap price like they have been doing with the PSOne and PSTwo, they could be in huge trouble this time next year. They are struggling to sell the PSP against the cheaper and more original NDS. If they aren’t careful, they could be left behind in the console world as well.

Considering theres already a huge variety of titles announced for the PS3 including RPG's of many varieties including MMO's, then you have action titles and FPS's and platformers and open-ended games and sports and boxing and blah blah. Tons of material already here, so that shouldnt be a worry.

And they are now struggling to sell the PSP? Hell I thought selling 100,000+ a month was pretty good.

[Hidden]

It really jsut prooves how uneducated peopel are about ps3. I know people that think the price is 900 us dollars, because it was annalised to be by Forbes.

And graphics really are not to much of an infulence for sony. The cell is designed to be able to handle so many different functions at one time if I am not mistaken. This makes the system more versitile and beeter for gameplay. People jsut dont realise the state of video games.

If you dont know about pc gaming you dont knwo the potential. Not many non-games have seen Fear, Doom 3 and Half Life 2.

I the n th rigth track. They are kinda reinventing the console by integrating ti with a PC. And hey with teh progression of gamigna nd the power they need. It was only so long. I think it will be hailed as revolutionary.

[badz_ps3]

i couldnt even finish reading the article because there are so many points that this author simply does not have enough background info on to make a valid argument. total digital distro of media one or two years away???? who are they kidding? re-buy movies in br that they have on dvd already? why bother when br enhances dvds to near hd quality?? yea br players are commin out at $1000, and the ps3 is going to offer a player + a minor addition of the most powerful gaming console, all for less $ then those palyers.... initial loss? obviously. but the amount of people that buy into it will rebound them far into profit in the long run.

obviously they'res a gamble in business but i believe a giant such as sony has a smidget of an idea how things work.

[ps3forlife82]

There is no question about it — the PS3 will be the most powerful system ever created. They have been working with IBM for many years developing a chip that is supposed to change the way processors function. The Cell, as it is being dubbed, will fuel the video game industry and computers around the world if everything goes according to plan.

Ok, he doesnt say anything bad about the ps3 and makes a very good point that the ps3 will be the most powerful system ever created.. But at the end he has to throw in this dumb comment..

However, I think that Sony is making a terrible mistake with this new system.

lol, where did this come from.. Who is this guy and what does he know? this is way laughable and whoever listens to a newspaper add and listens to this guy, has no clue about gaming and should go buy a sega CD..

Bottom line is that sony knows they need to step it up and come out with a powerful system.. Thats all people want these days is power and the best games.. And to my friend who wrote this article.. SONY HAS BOTH OF THESE WITH THE PS3..

[ZoMBiePiGGy]

The only real edge the xbox had against sony were that it was more powerful and it had Halo, now that the ps3 is the most powerfull, the xbox will be left in it's dust

[TGO]

I hate it when they say the PSone was the weakest console
it kill the Sega Saturn graphics wise
and the N64 games may have looked smooth
but I still knew the PSone was pushing more polys
as for the PS2 well just look at some of the games coming out for it now!
not bad for a 6 year old console

[Johnny]

i love the new people who joined the forums the last week or so

[TGO]

i love the new people who joined the forums the last week or so

why?
ps: nice pic I can imagine him kickin tha shit out of Bill Gates

[Basic Chair]

This is from a newspaper from Oklahoma. He makes a lot of good points. If these type of articles start hitting regular newspapers you can bet it will hurt Sony's user base.

Hahaha... You're funny. The only "point" he makes is that the PS3 will be the most powerful of the 3 systems. Now pardon my french, but tell me... how the hell is making the most powerful system "loosing your touch"!?!?

[JordanL]

This article is perplexing. His point appears to be: "The PS3 will be the best, which is of course bad."

[Nunalho]

Ridiculous article really.
It seems this guy is afraid of Sony launching the PS3...common "a terrible mistake"?!
Probably he has his own Xbox360 and is trying to disuade people from buying the PS3, i wonder why?

[ps3forlife82]

i didnt even read the whole article until i read ur post udontneed2know.. good post by the way..

They are struggling to sell the PSP against the cheaper and more original NDS. If they aren’t careful, they could be left behind in the console world as well.

ok i agree the ds is original.. BUT so is the psp.. I think the psp is more original than anything ever invented in the heldheld market.. Ok the ds has two screens "wow".. Psp has unbelievable games, movies, music, internet, wi-fi, and coming soon gps, eyetoy, downloadable ps1 content and the list goes on and this is all packed in one little handheld.. And the psp is selling like hotcakes.. For this guy to say sony is going to get left behind, hahaha where's this guy get this stuff from.. It should be the other way around.. Sony is leaving everyone else behind.. Sony is looking into the future with all its products and especially the ps3.. Technology we cannot even get our hands on yet..

[Crazy Phat]

i didnt even read the whole article until i read ur post udontneed2know.. good post by the way..

They are struggling to sell the PSP against the cheaper and more original NDS. If they aren’t careful, they could be left behind in the console world as well.

ok i agree the ds is original.. BUT so is the psp.. I think the psp is more original than anything ever invented in the heldheld market.. Ok the ds has two screens "wow".. Psp has unbelievable games, movies, music, internet, wi-fi, and coming soon gps, eyetoy, downloadable ps1 content and the list goes on and this is all packed in one little handheld.. And the psp is selling like hotcakes.. For this guy to say sony is going to get left behind, hahaha where's this guy get this stuff from.. It should be the other way around.. Sony is leaving everyone else behind.. Sony is looking into the future with all its products and especially the ps3.. Technology we cannot even get our hands on yet..

Good post(five word minimum).

[OKlondon]

Soon or later you need to change your formula otherwise you loose your number 1 spot. Sooner or later you need to take risks. It really doesnt matter what hardware sony creates it just matters about the games, they have the exclusives they will win. Its that simple.

I m pleased about what sony is doing, its going to be amazing, just hope they dont loose any exclusives.