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[RibMan]

Sony is very well positioned right now in console gaming but what kind of future is there in that market 5-10 years from now? I don't really hear much about Playstation Now and it seems like a wasted opportunity.

You don't hear much about PS Now because internet speeds are still -- on a global basis -- very poor. We witnessed a similar situation when Netflix streaming started out, i.e. The majority of movie and TV Show consumers saw little value in the streaming service compared to their DVD rental service. Internet gets better = Service gets better. Obviously gaming has a lot of unique challenges (e.g. Input lag), however, technological advancements -- in this case, faster and more reliable internet -- can eliminate the unique challenges that the service faces.

It's going to take time, no doubt about it.

 

[Glorified G]

While I agree that their shareholders will likely continue to push for Nintendo to move to other platforms as they already have done with mobile, it will take a loss of epic proportions for them to even consider dropping hardware. Hell, even if they did, they could drop gaming altogether and move to becoming a Disney-like film and theme park company, considering they have properties powerful enough to do such a thing.

This is not how smart companies operate. Unless you think Nintendo shareholders are stupid enough to continue a failing strategy that costs them millions of dollars just because they have a lot of assets and money in the bank. Nintendo's shareholders are not just a bunch of Nintendo fans that grew up on their hardware and want to see it continue based on nostalgia.

 

[rokkerkory]

Who's more doomed: Sony, Nintendo or Xbox?

Why do we need to make this a doom and gloom thread?

 

[1st Course]

Buried in reams of financial data is the revelation that Nintendo have 812.8 billion Yen (£6.7/$10.5 billion) in the bank – enough for it to take a 20 billion Yen loss (£163/$257 million) every year until 2052. Then there’s almost 469 billion Yen (£3.8/$6.0 billion) held in premises, equipment and investments. When that runs out – we’re in the year 2075 by this point – they’ve got some of the most valuable intellectual property in gaming to sell off before the company goes out of business.

http://www.gamesradar.com/nintendo-doomed-not-likely-just-take-look-how-much-money-its-got-bank/

Obviously not invincible but if NX has the same faith as WiiU , they will try a couple of times ...

These figures are quite outdated. They lost a couple bils since then (mostly went towards share buy backs and acquisitions from what I remember).

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=110924647&postcount=263

 

[Wollan]

I'm not sure if PS Now will ever profitably scale.
Netflix streaming is one thing but that's purely delivery of data and a server can handle thousands of clients. PS Now requires a full console's worth of chipset per consumer.
There's a few niche uses of this but there's a fight against latency as well. Maybe 5G technologies (with ultra-low latency mobile connections) will make it take off slightly but still you are facing the scalability challenge.

 

[SMG]

As a videogame business: xbox

Play Anywhere is probably more for the future than it is the now. Xbox doesn't have to be a physical thing anymore.

 

[Makikou]

Their smartphones are good just way to expensive.

I don't know in which kind of alternate reality you live in, but atleast here (Finland) I feel Sony's flagship smartphone pricing is exactly the same as any other manufacturer's. Apple and Samsung still ask for a bit more for their premium actually.

I own a Xperia Z3 and I really like it. My next phone will be a Sony aswell unless they stop making these.

 

[GoodCoffeeJoey]

Wasn't it the Insurance arm of Sony actually making the money?

It's not just about turning a profit. The PlayStation business is where the real growth potential for Sony is.

 

[CosmicQueso]

In regards to the bolded part - do you mean PSNow being the core?

Potentially. Not certainly, and dependent on a lot of things in the market making this possible outside of Sony's control.

It seems like this is the big bet being made outside of the dedicated console space though, doesn't it?

PS Now is now available across Sony devices, Bravia TVs and Samsung TVs. A few more extensions in the future and things could get interesting. Very early days, so lots could go wrong, but the tech seems to be improving.

Real question is if publishers would push content onto PS Now sooner. There's some worry that this model will mirror the impact Netflix had on the home video market.

What do you think happens next?

 

[DarkConfidant]

I'm guessing you either haven't been paying attention to Sony or just don't have much of a clue. Kaz has been trimming the fat on Sony for years. They've sold off expensive properties in places like NY, they've dropped entire divisions like their lap top lines and are seriously scaling back on others that aren't performing well like their phone business. They have already gone through that stage and kept things that do work and sell well for them. Relying on one soul product or platform for your company works for some but a company as diverse as Sony its a waste and a very dangerous move.

I have been paying attention, and I'm saying that they should try to trim more.
I'm not saying rely on one, but instead I'm saying focus on 3 or 4. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Hmm?
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=202111187&postcount=12

I wasn't saying they don't make money. I'm saying that they'd be better off as a products company, rather than a more diverse company with sometimes competing parts. Also, I don't think those parts will be as stable in years to come, especially phones and tablets, as the Android handset market becomes more polarized between 1 or 2 companies.

 

[Aters]

I can't help but feel that using PlayStation as the cornerstone for recovery is too risky a move in the long term. At the end of the day it's just a console that provides access to services which rely on a fickle user base.

I agree. We don't know if there will be console anymore in the future.

 

[HStallion]

I have been paying attention, and I'm saying that they should try to trim more.
I'm not saying rely on one, but instead I'm saying focus on 3 or 4. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Yeah and again that's what they've been doing. The services and products they have now are the ones that survived the purge. They haven't turned around so much by focusing on dying or poorly selling product lines. Even their phone line is changing now that they realize they aren't going to compete with the likes of Apple or Samsung on the high end smart phone line.

It sounds like you want them to gut the company and leave it a shell around the PS line which is a dumb move. The fact that they most likely leveraged their Spiderman movie license to get him into the MCU and also most likely got the game deal out of it, shows how important the other branches of Sony are to the PS line.

 

[Bold One]

That's very worrying...

 

[Playsage]

I was expecting a comment from our favorite CEO when entering this thread

By the way, It's good to know that PlayStation is doing that good.

 

[TsuWave]

They should ensure Neo is on par with Scorpio power wise then.

I would suspect they will have more or less the same GPUs.

i don't think that would be wise, sure for game enthusiasts it would be exciting, but it would likely jack up its price.

 

[Acquiescence]

The money that Sony are making from PS+ alone is probably going a long way to keeping them afloat. From a business perspective, it sure did pay off for them to start charging for online play.

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

But... Imo this is such a bad tactic. Like I get from a financial stand point how riding on this as the gateway to many services due to its wide appeal is pretty much a given.... But if this is the case, then Sony needs to start treating it as if it is the end all be all... And when I say that, I'm talking about how they have maintained PSN this long and all these features that are missing.

The PS4 while simple is still behind the curve when it comes to companies like Microsoft and Google and Apple.. That really take that software initiative to the limit. Improvements are needed badly and I feel like it is THAT which will kill the PlayStation brand... Not necessarily a new system.

 

[Empyrean Heaven]

These "Nintendo could lose X dollars for X years and be fine" posts really fail to think about how business exactly works.

This is not how smart companies operate. Unless you think Nintendo shareholders are stupid enough to continue a failing strategy that costs them millions of dollars just because they have a lot of assets and money in the bank. Nintendo's shareholders are not just a bunch of Nintendo fans that grew up on their hardware and want to see it continue based on nostalgia.

The problem is Nintendo doesn't give their shareholders any sort of power over their company, I think Kimishima gets the final say on everything. So if Nintendo wants to keep plugging away with hardware, they will. Obviously they're going to make changes if things continue to go downhill, but the NX at the very least seems to seem like they're going in a different direction from Wii/Wii U.

 

[Louis Cyphre]

You don't hear much about PS Now because internet speeds are still -- on a global basis -- very poor. We witnessed a similar situation when Netflix streaming started out, i.e. The majority of movie and TV Show consumers saw little value in the streaming service compared to their DVD rental service. Internet gets better = Service gets better. Obviously gaming has a lot of unique challenges (e.g. Input lag), however, technological advancements -- in this case, faster and more reliable internet -- can eliminate the unique challenges that the service faces.

It's going to take time, no doubt about it.

It will get better yes but I still think they are squandering away its potential. Can you even get the service on the PC for example? I think it would be wise to get the Playstation brand beyond their own walls. I am not talking about PS4 games because at the end of the day it makes most sense to keep them exclusive, this is more about their old library (PS1,PS2 and PS3 games). They don't really need to be tethered to the console and I think they did offer it on some TV's.

 

[Ape]

Damn, to think that Microsoft could easily destroy their entire corporation with one fell blow.

 

[Crimson_Gold]

Damn, to think that Microsoft could easily destroy their entire corporation with one fell blow.

What in the world is this?

OT: the brand has cache. They are maximizing its utility. You'll see more initiatives in the future. I'm looking forward to the true PSPhone

 

[LurkFish17]

Damn, to think that Microsoft could easily destroy their entire corporation with one fell blow.

Lol, nope, not even close.

 

[Uhyve]

Sorry, but No. Design-wise I'd agree. Everything else... not so much: https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/2015-bravia-android-tv-issues/td-p/1949079 This thread is for the 2015 Android-TV ones. 187k views, 6k replies. I own one and at times I want to fucking smash that thing into pieces. The 2016 models are the exact same shit. The Bravia models went pretty much completely downhill since Sony decided to use Android as the TVs' OS and employed some one-armed blind people to implement it.

While their Android implementation is hella janky (I mean their TV guide for Satellite is beyond a joke for how broken it is), I played through Snatcher with an easily paired DS4 on Retroarch (with a cool CRT shader) using a Android TV app. It's so close to being really cool if they'd just spend some time making basic TV features not suck.

As an OS choice, I think Sony made a good move, but for some reason, they just clearly haven't put the manpower behind their decision.

 

[cakely]

What in the world is this?

OT: the brand has cache. They are maximizing its utility. You'll see more initiatives in the future. I'm looking forward to the true PSPhone

It's Ape. He's trolling a thead with "Sony" in the title. It's what he does.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

You do realize that Sony is the #1 provider of camera sensors right?

And that market is slowing down.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/so...om-slowdown-in-apples-iphone-sales-2016-06-29

Plus there's always that rumor that Apple wants to start making more parts of the iPhone, including the sensor, by themselves.

 

[KratosEnergyDrink]

I thought their TVs were relatively popular

Sony TVs are good, for example way better than the cheap trash from Samsung, but far far to expensive for what they are.

The PlayStation 4 is probably Sony's only device with a good price-performance ratio.

 

[mnemonicj]

At the end of the day, this is all just speculation. Speculation based on data nonetheless, but unless you're a shareholder/investor we can all just sit back and enjoy the ride. Consumers'll still be here to consume.

 

[KratosEnergyDrink]

This is not how smart companies operate. Unless you think Nintendo shareholders are stupid enough to continue a failing strategy that costs them millions of dollars just because they have a lot of assets and money in the bank. Nintendo's shareholders are not just a bunch of Nintendo fans that grew up on their hardware and want to see it continue based on nostalgia.

If Nintendo investors/shareholders had any power they had transformed Nintendo in a mobile only company, got the profits from the first few years and would leave the company after that. Would be great for them, but bad for gamers.

 

[STEaMkb]

That's the good thing about rumors. You can say any unfounded rubbish and nobody expects you to produce evidence.

Aside from demand, the main reason why Sony recently lowered their expectation for next year, is because one their two camera sensor manufacturing plants suffered serious structural damage during the Kumamoto earthquake.

 

[xJavonta]

Their TVs are good just way too expensive. Their cameras are good just way to expensive. Their smartphones are good just way to expensive. The Playstation is good and not expensive.


See a trend?

Sony is a stupid company

The Sony alpha line of cameras are worth every penny. Not too expensive at all

And their TVs? You've expecting that quality at Emerson brand prices? That's insane.

Their smartphones suck though.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

The Sony alpha line of cameras are worth every penny. Not too expensive at all

And their TVs? You've expecting that quality at Emerson brand prices? That's insane.

Their smartphones suck though.

've heard nothing but good things about their phones (outside of pricing)

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

If Nintendo investors/shareholders had any power they had transformed Nintendo in a mobile only company, got the profits from the first few years and would leave the company after that. Would be great for them, but bad for gamers.

What? No. That's not how it works at all. Of course investors have power, and that power is pressuring management to make tough calls. You think Nintendo would at all be invested in mobile, if it wasn't for YEARS of pressure from investors over poor performance?

To imply that Nintendo can "do whatever they want" and ignore investors is ridiculous. They're called investors for a reason, they have already "invested" in the company, and the company doesn't wanna piss them off so current (and future) investors take their money elsewhere.

 

[HStallion]

The Sony alpha line of cameras are worth every penny. Not too expensive at all

And their TVs? You've expecting that quality at Emerson brand prices? That's insane.

Their smartphones suck though.

I've got a Z3 and its probably the best Android phone I have ever used, in fact I don't think I'll be getting a new phone till its totally dead in a few years.

 

[CyberChulo]

I've got a Z3 and its probably the best Android phone I have ever used, in fact I don't think I'll be getting a new phone till its totally dead in a few years.

Same here bro! OS updates keep coming and the phone is still awesome!

 

[Thebeardofknowledge]

its pretty much whats holding them together

Their TVs are good just way too expensive. Their cameras are good just way to expensive. Their smartphones are good just way to expensive. The Playstation is good and not expensive.


See a trend?

Sony is a stupid company

Honestly with all the stupid decisions on pricing and missed opportunities with Walkman and the like I'm not entirely convinced Sony deserves to be saved . A lot of the bullshit that put them in this position still hasn't changed. Aside from PlayStation they seem to have no idea what they are doing anymore, not with films, tech or anything aside from that financial stuff they are good at.

The rest of Sony has been so toxic to PlayStation, I honestly wish they would shut more parts down, and focus on PlayStation, TV/Home Theater, and Cameras.

Sell off the services, and media divisions, which year after year product bad products, like their old "unlimited" services and photo managing software. Stop making phones and tablets, as they do better making parts for other phones and tablets.

They've come so far in getting rid of other mediocre parts, but really PlayStation is their best division, and needs to always be #1.

This is embarrassing

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Aside from demand, the main reason why Sony recently lowered their expectation for next year, is because one their two camera sensor manufacturing plants suffered serious structural damage during the Kumamoto earthquake.

How about you actually read the link before posting, okay? Sony themselves said the slowdown was primarily caused by waning smartphone sales.

But please, give me that link where it says differently.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

But... Imo this is such a bad tactic. Like I get from a financial stand point how riding on this as the gateway to many services due to its wide appeal is pretty much a given.... But if this is the case, then Sony needs to start treating it as if it is the end all be all... And when I say that, I'm talking about how they have maintained PSN this long and all these features that are missing.

The PS4 while simple is still behind the curve when it comes to companies like Microsoft and Google and Apple.. That really take that software initiative to the limit. Improvements are needed badly and I feel like it is THAT which will kill the PlayStation brand... Not necessarily a new system.

You sure you're not being dramatic?

Damn, to think that Microsoft could easily destroy their entire corporation with one fell blow.

Of course. I wonder why they have yet to do it.

 

[fudgey_lumpkins]

Their TVs are good just way too expensive. Their cameras are good just way to expensive. Their smartphones are good just way to expensive. The Playstation is good and not expensive.


See a trend?

Sony is a stupid company

Their TV's really aren't that expensive. I just bought an XBR-65X850D and it was only $200 more than the 65" Vizio P-Series 2016.

Their phones have "me too" pricing and yeah their cameras are expensive. (I want a RX 100 IV badly but not ~$1000 badly.)

 

[Trup1aya]

It's amazing that a video game console and service has kept this company afloat. Talking about delivering a hit when it was needed the most.

 

[kennyamr]

Like I said in another thread,

Sony used to be like Microsoft, a tech company with a video games division.

Now Sony is like Nintendo, a video games company with the extra of having other divisions.

 

[What A Time To Be Alive]

Don't know how to feel about Sony at it's core being only PlayStation right now. Seems to risky as one small fuck up can really destroy them.

Hopefully they branch out from there and slowly build up other divisions again.

 

[RalchAC]

Maybe Sony will branch out into cars and we can get the Playstation Vroom

I just wanted to say I love you. You made me laugh A LOT.

The Sony alpha line of cameras are worth every penny. Not too expensive at all

And their TVs? You've expecting that quality at Emerson brand prices? That's insane.

Their smartphones suck though.

My Xperia M2, which costed my 180€ 2 years ago has been working like a charm for me since I updated it to the last version of Android.

It still runs most games I've been throwing at him without problems like Kingdom Hearts Unchained X and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, the battery still a day and my screen looks perfectly fine. The only problem I have with it is that internal battery is just 8GB, but I've just got used to it.

My father's phone is a Sony and has lasted him more than 3 years. It still works.

Sony makes awesome phones.

 

[Neff]

Thanks for making my Sony phone incompatible with my Sony PlayStation 4 with last month's firmware, Sony.

 

[MysteryM]

PlayStation success aside, I need Sony to keep pumping out top electronics kit. I'm a super happy customer over the last 10 years or so, after three Sony W series LCD TV's and my Sony HW40 projector purchase.

I like Sony as a company and want them to do well, and that comes from someone who prefers Xbox consoles for my gaming needs.

 

[Sorcerer]

Its kinda shocking to see Sony, (a giant in electronics when I was a kid in the 70's) put all their hopes on a games box. I'm not saying that as a necessarily bad thing, but it is kinda frightening when you think actually think about it.

 

[Gurnlei]

I wish people knew more about Sony electronics.

The Z5 Compact was the perfect phone IMO - smaller without cutting back power and amazing battery life.

That and Sony is one of the few companies that has Android built in to newer TVs instead of some slow OS.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Its kinda shocking to see Sony, (a giant in electronics when I was a kid in the 70's) put all their hopes on a games box. I'm not saying that as a necessarily bad thing, but it is kinda frightning when you think actually think about it.

There's more to Playstation than just their console now. Their music and movie services are now "Playstation", then there's PSnow. Of course the consoles are the centerpiece of that, but they're attempting to build a lot of things around it.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

I think as a gaming company PlayStation (it basically is it's own entity now) has a brighter future than what Microsoft is doing with Xbox, but Microsoft in the long run will probably be a better deal for the hardcore gamer.

Nintendo is going to find great success as an entertainment company, but is going to become increasingly irrelevant in the gaming landscape, even if the NX is moderately successful.

 

[HStallion]

PlayStation success aside, I need Sony to keep pumping out top electronics kit. I'm a super happy customer over the last 10 years or so, after three Sony W series LCD TV's and my Sony HW40 projector purchase.

I like Sony as a company and want them to do well, and that comes from someone who prefers Xbox consoles for my gaming needs.

I was kind of hoping Sony would start trying to make a average consumer friendly, pricewise at least, version of their short throw laser projectors. Those things cost over $20K last time I checked but god damn if that isn't something I'd drop a couple grand on for a cheaper version.

 

[Wollan]

When do we expect to hear the official announcement for discontinuation of PS3 and PSVita? This year? After Neo?