[SMT]

Another Sony doom and gloom article, 750,000th time is the charm, right?

Sony is a powerhouse, don't expect a company like them to go down under any time soon.

[J-Rock]

People need to relax. This is all part of their ten year plan. They'll be fine.

[SykoTech]

Don't care about this company outside of gaming, so I really hope they buckle down on that. It's probably one of the few areas they're doing okay in anyway.

Are we going to get enthusiasts in this thread saying that if Sony exits the gaming industry, they will never ever under any circumstances ever ever touch a video game ever again? Its a disturbing, absolute mentality that I've seen popping up in a few threads occasionally.

There'll be a few, but not many. Nintendo enthusiasts are the main ones that make dumb claims like that.

[impact]

A Capcom console? No thanks.

Power cord is day one DLC

[TunaLover]

I totally agree with the part about Sony being a bunch of tech heads that keep the company in a direction that clearly doesn´t work, they seems having replaced all its creativity by narrow minded tech boys.

[Alebrije]

US media is trying hard to remove from the market the Japanese stuff. This Nintendo is doomed because Apple is awesome and Sony is doomed, MS is doing great is becoming boring. I wonder if they really believe it or if they just look at US market and try to influence it more.

[laika09]

I won't say no to a Capcom+Samsung collaboration console.

The domestic (Korean) market for a Samsung console just doesn't exist. I doubt they'd develop one exclusively for overseas.

And I say this knowing full well that Koreans will buy anything with a Samsung sticker on it.

[yankeeforever2]

US media is trying hard to remove from the market the Japanese stuff. This Nintendo is doomed because Apple is awesome and Sony is doomed, MS is doing great is becoming boring. I wonder if they really believe it or if they just look at US market and try to influence it more.

Sony actually has a very serious problem with many divisions bleeding money and there stronger divisions become much weaker(gaming).

Microsoft as a whole there gaming division is very minor in comparison, find a company out there that doesn't use some Microsoft software.

Apple is breaking the bank with record profit, why would anyone say they are doomed?

Nintendo doomed articles are using done by gaming fanboys or people who have no idea how the gaming industry works so its good to just ignore them.

[entrement]

Another Sony doom and gloom article, 750,000th time is the charm, right? Sony is a powerhouse, don't expect a company like them to go down under any time soon.

You are dead wrong on this. Sony is serious trouble. You can't sustain loses like this year after year. They might limp along for a while, but you'd be crazy not take this seriously if you were an investor or CEO. They have way too much clutter.

[axisofweevils]

That image I posted is a genuine Sony patent... Seriously....

http://kotaku.com/5903267/time-to-pl...-just-patented

[Infamous Chris]

They just need a second job.

Ice cold.

[SMT]

You are dead wrong on this. Sony is serious trouble. You can't sustain loses like this year after year. They might limp along for a while, but you'd be crazy not take this seriously if you were an investor or CEO. They have way too much clutter.

Who said I wanted them to sustain losses like this 'year after year', Sony will recover. Good thing I'm not an investor, it puts less strain on the body.

Sony is cluttermania, they've been doing it forever, this article is based on truisms.

[RedSwirl]

Read the NYTimes article the other day and it's incredibly well-written. At the current trajectory, I just don't see the major Japanese electronics manufacturers surviving 20 years from now.

That sounds harsh when you put it like that, coming up from an era when people usually bought Japanese when they bought electronics.

The PS3 is not what I call a "successful, sound strategy". If anything, it exemplifies their problems today and their lack of ability to resolve them The Vita is a step in the right direction but it still lacks the ambition, innovation, and drive of Sony's past. For gaming, they need to take a serious look at the PSOne/PS2.

I think the problem is that they took the PS3 further in the same direction as the PS1 and PS2 when Microsoft and Nintendo came in with their different ways of doing things. The $600 price point definitely hurt the PS3, but I think a bigger part of it is how Microsoft built a bridge for the western game development scene to flood onto consoles.

[Darknessbear]

So, should I start the Sony kickstarter or does someone else want to?

[Respawn]

Hopefully they'll last long enough to sell us a $599 US dollar PS4.

One day this will be bannable and I will smile.

I agree with what's written in the OP. To much old fashion way of thinking. That's what happened to my last job. Working IT for old clueless men who want it their way lead their firm to the brink of disaster. Now I work for the second largest Insurance corp who actually listen to the damn IT team and work with their employees. Sony needs a fresh coat of paint quick.

[LQX]

US media is trying hard to remove from the market the Japanese stuff. This Nintendo is doomed because Apple is awesome and Sony is doomed, MS is doing great is becoming boring. I wonder if they really believe it or if they just look at US market and try to influence it more.

Some of you are really disillusion. Stop acting like Sony is your father.

[90sRobots]

Sony isn't doomed... they're still hip with the hardcore gaming crowd, they'll be just fine.

Yes because the vocal minority carries so much weight.

And a big fat LOL to all the nudniks who would stop playing games if Sony went kaput. Way to fall right in to Sony's branding strategy, loyal consumers!

[Medalion]

Don't worry! They've patented a new controller which will save the day!

3 way Dildo

[Infinite Justice]

People kept saying that Stringer got nowhere due to being a foreigner so we will see how Kaz will fare given he has the "home field advantage"


Has a lot of work cut out for him and i hope it works out.

[jman2050]

At some point Sony lost their "premium" branding status and nobody in the company paid enough attention to realize that, and they still really haven't recovered since.

The extreme economic situation in Japan in general isn't helping matters either. That's probably a much bigger factor than most people realize.

[OldJadedGamer]

I hope they don't die. I like Sony products. They are all good. If there is no Playstation then I don't know how I'll play games.

The same way you did before Sony joined the game industry?

[Satchel]

Sony needs a genuine outsider running the show.

I doubt Kaz will ultimately have the balls to do what needs to be done.

[GopherD]

You are dead wrong on this. Sony is serious trouble. You can't sustain loses like this year after year. They might limp along for a while, but you'd be crazy not take this seriously if you were an investor or CEO. They have way too much clutter.

Rubbish.

They have tried to trim around the edges of their operations but maintain their total operating profile. It seems that they have been treading water to see if the market corrects itself. They have yet to exit a single market segment they compete in. Exitting a sector (or selling its share) carries the biggest cost savings. If the losses continue, they will completely exit or selloff unprofitable sectors. Sony as a whole may get a lot smaller in scope, but will likely never go away.

[Averon]

Sony needs a genuine outsider running the show. I doubt Kaz will ultimately have the balls to do what needs to be done.

They tried that with Stringer. Look how "well" that turned out.

[entrement]

Sony makes too many models, then they praise Apple.

Discounting variations in memory, wireless providers and built to order options, Apple has one slimmest product catalogs of any CE company out there.

Do you remember Apple before Steve Jobs left the first time? One of his big moves was to drastically cut all the competing product lines.

[Ripclawe]

Sony remains dominated by proud, territorial engineers who often shun cooperation. For many of them, cost-cutting is the enemy of creativity — a legacy of Sony’s co-founders, Mr. Morita and Masaru Ibuka, who tried to foster a culture of independence. But the founders had more success than recent executives in exerting control over division managers. Executives complain privately of recalcitrant managers who refuse to share information or work with other divisions. One executive said he was startled to discover that a manager whose position had been eliminated had been rehired under a different title. (“Or maybe he never really left,” said this executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of angering his bosses.)

That right there is the problem. Its ridiculous these managers have not been cut down.

[TunaLover]

That image I posted is a genuine Sony patent... Seriously.... http://kotaku.com/5903267/time-to-pl...-just-patented

I hope they secure this monster, so no one can make something similar.

[Infinite Justice]

The same way you did before Sony joined the game industry?

Unless the poster joined when Sony entered? Those people actually exist

[Grayman]

Sony is not doing enough to fight yet in the fight for its life. The company is dying but not fighting hard.

AN area where Sony has found success — and perhaps one that most crystallizes the transition from stand-alone consumer electronics into a digital, Internet-centered world — is video games. Sony marketed its PlayStation 3 console, for example as an integrated entertainment system that serves as a hub in the living room, connecting the Internet and television.

While the PS3 does have some features in the living room it has not gone far enough. The internet connectivity is not deep enough in any field.

“Sony makes too many models, and for none of them can they say, ‘This contains our best, most cutting-edge technology,’ ” Mr. Sakito said. “Apple, on the other hand, makes one amazing phone in just two colors and says, ‘This is the best.’ ”

Sony stopping this with their consoles and handhelds has been a step back for sure. They even have 2 vita's when they could have just used bundled memory sticks to manipulate the perceived value.

[Captain Tuttle]

US media is trying hard to remove from the market the Japanese stuff. This Nintendo is doomed because Apple is awesome and Sony is doomed, MS is doing great is becoming boring. I wonder if they really believe it or if they just look at US market and try to influence it more.

Do you really believe this? There's a vast conspiracy against Sony and Nintendo? And the NY Times is in on it?

You should just stick to declaring that you'll quit gaming forever if Sony goes under.

[Tobor]

Op, you missed the best part:

Executives complain privately of recalcitrant managers who refuse to share information or work with other divisions. One executive said he was startled to discover that a manager whose position had been eliminated had been rehired under a different title. (“Or maybe he never really left,” said this executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of angering his bosses.)

That's gold! Gold! Lol.

[Derrick01]

Yes because the vocal minority carries so much weight. And a big fat LOL to all the nudniks who would stop playing games if Sony went kaput. Way to fall right in to Sony's branding strategy, loyal consumers!

I would stop console gaming for sure. I have no interest in the direction MS is going and I sure as hell dont' like Nintendo. God help us if Apple jumps in too, if that isn't a trio from gaming hell then I don't know what is.

[jman2050]

Unless the poster joined when Sony entered? Those people actually exist

I'm too old...

[Akainu]

The same way you did before Sony joined the game industry?

Why downgrade? The last non sony system I've ever owned was a gameboy advance not even a sp.

Since I can't see the nytimes article. Is this how it's going to be? Any mention of Sony is going to be put in the gaming section? The ign thing mentions playstation like once.

[entrement]

Rubbish. They have tried to trim around the edges of their operations but maintain their total operating profile. It seems that they have been treading water to see if the market corrects itself. They have yet to exit a single market segment they compete in. Exitting a sector (or selling its share) carries the biggest cost savings. If the losses continue, they will completely exit or selloff unprofitable sectors. Sony as a whole may get a lot smaller in scope, but will likely never go away.

Korea and China are chipping away. I just don't see it.

[jman2050]

Why downgrade? Since I can't see the nytimes article. Is this how it's going to be? Any mention of Sony is going to be put in the gaming section? The ign thing mentions playstation like once.

Sony's financial situation is kind of relevant to its future gaming endeavors.

[OldJadedGamer]

Discounting variations in memory, wireless providers and built to order options, Apple has one slimmest product catalogs of any CE company out there. Do you remember Apple before Steve Jobs left the first time? One of his big moves was to drastically cut all the competing product lines.

I believe there are 18 different SKUs of the iPad.

[Kenshin001]

Their gaming division seems just as dysfunctional as the company at large.

• Three regions with little to no communication, acting as separate identities.
  
• Little co-operation between studios internationally. I think only the NA studios really help each other out.
  
• A social networking project that failed to take off but still takes up resources and manpower (Home).
  
• Two handhelds competing against each other and cannibalising sales.
  
• Poor quality control and management of flagship games (GT5, KZ3). I can't believe Polyphony Digital still does not have a community manager.
  
• Titles taking forever to come to market. (GT, The Last Guardian).
  
• A lack of support for and from smaller developers. PSN is an afterthought for indie devs.

There are a lot of talented creative people working for Sony's gaming division but I really think they need to replace a few people or shift them around.

[Medalion]

So this is more about, let's promote American companies and say boo-urns to the Japanese ones

[Zoc]

Funny that everyone is waiting with bated breath for the Apple TV set while telling Sony to get out of the TV business altogether. Yet, if Sony tried to steal Apple's thunder, you just know it would be a flop.

[Tobor]

Funny that everyone is waiting with bated breath for the Apple TV set while telling Sony to get out of the TV business altogether. Yet, if Sony tried to steal Apple's thunder, you just know it would be a flop.

What's your point?

[udivision]

So this is more about, let's promote American companies and say boo-urns to the Japanese ones

I'm sure if Sony continues to post losses their shareholders will accept the "blame the American media" excuse.

[entrement]

I believe there are 18 different SKUs of the iPad.

Yes, when you look at the various memory and wireless provider options. I clarified that in my original post; but to consumers there's only one. And that's what a having a slim product line does, it lets each product have its own spotlight.

[OldJadedGamer]

Unless the poster joined when Sony entered? Those people actually exist

Well to those people I will say... there was a game industry before Sony and there will be one after Sony.

[Carl]

[*]Little co-operation between studios internationally. I think only the NA studios really help each other out. [*]A social networking project that failed to take off but still takes up resources and manpower (Home).

Lol at these two. All of Sony's developers help each other out. And i am not sure what you even mean about HOME. It makes a shit ton of money, and a lot of developers make a living off of HOME, so i'm sure Sony ia pretty happy with it

[i-Lo]

Sensational or not, there are facts in the article.

With Kaz as the CEO, I think it's high time for them to make a thorough analysis of every single product that they sell and all their different iterations. After that, it's a matter of streamlining products, removing redundancies pertaining to both people and products, doubling down on where success has been found for innovation and expansion.

Thing is it's culture and attitude that needs to change at Sony. Time and time again, in several different gaming podcasts, I have head the same story of the eastern PS division not being in sync with the western division causing untold and unnecessary delays among various other things.

Sony will survive but there needs to be a paradigm shift in the management style.

[jrDev]

Quick! Someone name all the 30 Sony tv brands in 30 secs!

I'll give you a cookie...

Like wtf Sony, Ive only heard of the bravia, theres more?

[Zefah]

All of Sony's phones are better than iPhones.

JWrong, showing that he simply hates Apple.

[surly]

And i am not sure what you even mean about HOME. It makes a shit ton of money, and a lot of developers make a living off of HOME, so i'm sure Sony ia pretty happy with it

How much money do Sony make every year from HOME?

[KingItachi]

Hope Sony gets it's shit together would hate to see them go, the NY Times article is a good read.