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Phil Spencer acknowledges Amazon and Google as long term competitors, sidelines Sony.

lynux3

Member
Normally I’d agree with you price wise, but game pass has been relatively cheap with constant deals springing about, so consumers have had opportunities to buy up months to years worth of service for fairly cheap.

I’m not saying one service is better than the other, in just pointing out that PS Now has had more time to saturate the market, that with the bigger player base, it’s not surprising that they generate more revenue currently but it also doesn’t grant them immunity(same to game pass) against tougher competition in the streaming space/subscription service when other competiting platforms emerge that have very deep pockets and seem amped on making their mark.
I think we both can come to an understanding that each service will have their discounts throughout the year and I do agree that PS Now has had more time to saturate the market, but ignoring the availability piece is an overlook.

I'm not entirely sure what immunity you're talking about because PS Now was criticized heavily like many other services (OnLive, GeForce Now, Jump, GameFly Streaming before they got bought out by EA). The only difference here is that Google and Microsoft want a piece of the pie Sony envisioned in 2013. It's natural. Pretending Sony doesn't have deep pockets and their competitors having infinite pockets is ignorant, I'm sorry. Sony took it seriously first (in 2013) and they're well aware of the newest and upcoming technology regarding this "new" platform of delivering video games. Despite what a lot of people think Sony is a very forward thinking group in terms of how they should or need to deliver entertainment.
 
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NickFire

Member
First reply had me laughing and I agree with it as well. But I kind of believe MS can ignore Sony in good faith, because I think MS is less invested in the console market than the games market as a whole, and I expect the other big companies to have the same focus. All that said, I am not convinced streaming cutting edge games will be a thing anytime soon. For that to happen I would think we need dedicated high bandwidth lines connected straight to these data centers from the end user component.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Eh, is this really a sideline? I mean I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to partner with Sony in some way. I know that sounds about as appealing as a ham and razorblade sandwich to a lot of you but think about it. Sony may be in a compromising spot right now. They are basking in the glory of the current generation but there's not much evidence that they've prepared themselves to compete in the arena Phil is referring to with cloud services and streaming. If Sony was truly competitive in this respect I believe Phil would acknowledge this.

On the other hand, Amazon Games and Google are still an unproven force. Obviously they have the money to make this work, but sometimes it takes more than dollars to really hit gamers and make them loyal to your brand. Microsoft has demonstrated that with it's consumer friendliness. Sony has demonstrated this with their exclusive lineup. Google and Amazon are just diving in, but can you honestly imagine an Amazon fanboy or a Google fanboy? I just don't see it happening.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
Sony and Xbox may join forces in the future. Don't laugh who the hell would have thought in the early 90's we would have Sonic on a Nintendo machine and even in the same game.
 

Salvatron

Member
Microsoft, Google and Amazon are investing aggressively in this field and Sony hasn't anything.

If you want to know why PSNow has a very small availability, lack of global data centers is why.

Could you substantiate this a bit? Any sources? PS Now is in 12 countries, including the US, UK, CAN, and Japan.
Are you saying because they don't outright OWN data centers, but utilize from 3rd party providers they are weak in this area? Or is this just conjecture on your part?
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
It's so weird to see people putting Amazon and Google in this position where they will be running the video game scene within a few years. Like why do some of yall think those two companies (2 of my favorite companies in the world) will take over 35 years of Nintendo and 23 years of Sony being in the market? And MS' 15+ years and deep pockets isn't something to sneeze at either.

It'd be a miracle if either Amazon or Google actually are competitive within the next 5 years in the video game's market.
 

lynux3

Member
It's so weird to see people putting Amazon and Google in this position where they will be running the video game scene within a few years. Like why do some of yall think those two companies (2 of my favorite companies in the world) will take over 35 years of Nintendo and 23 years of Sony being in the market? And MS' 15+ years and deep pockets isn't something to sneeze at either.

It'd be a miracle if either Amazon or Google actually are competitive within the next 5 years in the video game's market.
I can see Google being a little disruptive just as a platform for delivering content just not creating content, but Amazon? No way. Amazon is way too behind to be competitive, IMO.
 

demigod

Member
When you're about to be 3rd place by the end of this generation, you've gotta pick on the newbies so you can be 1st place at something.
 

Iced Arcade

Member
GamePass will have to become at least in part a streaming solution if they want to expand onto multiple (non-x64) client devices.

That's the point of streaming as opposed to simply porting to every platform under the sun; expanding addressable market without having to worry about massively increasing the load on QA and support.
was referring to the chart listing game pass currently as 15% of streaming.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
When you're about to be 3rd place by the end of this generation, you've gotta pick on the newbies so you can be 1st place at something.
Or when your a fanboy you come out with comments like this. Microsoft could walk away from games tomorrow, Sony couldn't. And if Google and Amazon were serious about gaming it could be a serious concern for Sony in the future.
 

demigod

Member
Or when your a fanboy you come out with comments like this. Microsoft could walk away from games tomorrow, Sony couldn't. And if Google and Amazon were serious about gaming it could be a serious concern for Sony in the future.

And if microsoft didn't have the other divisions saving it, it would be dead long ago, faster than Sega. What's your point? If you ain't first, you're last.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
And if microsoft didn't have the other divisions saving it, it would be dead long ago, faster than Sega. What's your point? If you ain't first, you're last.
Your a fanboy, don't be so cocky, you could lose your love.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Makes sense Spencer focuses attention on other companies.

Pretty sure he knows trying to topple Sony as #1 console seller is a losing cause. MS just doesn't have the global appeal. Last gen it was close as 360 had a head start and Sony ushered out a half baked PS3 at $600. If PS3 was cheaper to start, came out the same time and didn't have all that Cell programming issues, I'm sure it would have cracked 100M like PS1 with a faster start.

It's like a car company. Chances of beating Toyota as best selling brand is going to be tough to beat. Instead of slogging it for decades hoping to overtake them, might as well compete more directly with other brands you have a chance of beating.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
And you're not? Too bad the truth hurts doesn't it? Currently Sony is #1, that's who MS should be worrying about. Not the new players who have 0 IPs.
No im not a fanboy. I just thinking about the future. We are the last of the media where physical sales of devices are major,that could change in the next few years easily. I don't want Sony to go down. I don't fear for Microsoft.
 

demigod

Member
No im not a fanboy. I just thinking about the future. We are the last of the media where physical sales of devices are major,that could change in the next few years easily. I don't want Sony to go down. I don't fear for Microsoft.

Calling someone else a fanboy but you're not, you a funny dude. Physical media has another 6 years at least IF it even dies. Sony isn't going down next gen unless it does something stupid like the PS3 with its high price tag.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
Calling someone else a fanboy but you're not, you a funny dude. Physical media has another 6 years at least IF it even dies. Sony isn't going down next gen unless it does something stupid like the PS3 with its high price tag.
Well lets hope Sony is thinking further than 6 years ahead. Because it will come, their will be die hard's who don't want digital and streaming but the masses won't know about a bit of lag, they won't give a fuck about us.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Well lets hope Sony is thinking further than 6 years ahead. Because it will come, their will be die hard's who don't want digital and streaming but the masses won't know about a bit of lag, they won't give a fuck about us.

Considering they were the first with a streaming service, I doubt they are abandoning it for future consideration.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Don't mind me, just keeping a tally
When you're about to be 3rd place by the end of this generation, you've gotta pick on the newbies so you can be 1st place at something.

Fairly decent burn, but also has nothing to do with Microsoft's strategy.

Or when your a fanboy you come out with comments like this. Microsoft could walk away from games tomorrow, Sony couldn't. And if Google and Amazon were serious about gaming it could be a serious concern for Sony in the future.

I don't know about walking away. That would hurt, Xbox has become an asset for Microsoft, however if the question is can they survive with out it? More than likely, yes. Sony, would be in much worse shape without playstation for sure, however I think they do well in...other...things? I can't name any at this time.

And if microsoft didn't have the other divisions saving it, it would be dead long ago, faster than Sega. What's your point? If you ain't first, you're last.

So...Microsoft is last, and Nintendo Switch is last? Well that just makes no sense at all. I've never heard about other divisions keeping xbox afloat. I mean you gotta remember, there's been 3 generations. Xbox was winning by the 2nd gen, this gen its definitely turning a profit so....are you referring to start up cash for the original Xbox? I mean...I suppose that is probably accurate. You get half a point for this.

Your a fanboy, don't be so cocky, you could lose your love.

Literally just lol'ed at "you could lose your love". What does this mean!? Hahaha!

Ok post is getting too long so I'll stop there. This is entertaining if nothing else.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
I seriously could see Xbox and Sony joining forces if Google become a massive force in 10 years, especially with all the talk of Gamepass going to all devices. Xbox has the infrastructure a few games and Sony's worldwide appeal with major Games and then they could both agree to go digital only.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
Don't mind me, just keeping a tally


Fairly decent burn, but also has nothing to do with Microsoft's strategy.



I don't know about walking away. That would hurt, Xbox has become an asset for Microsoft, however if the question is can they survive with out it? More than likely, yes. Sony, would be in much worse shape without playstation for sure, however I think they do well in...other...things? I can't name any at this time.



So...Microsoft is last, and Nintendo Switch is last? Well that just makes no sense at all. I've never heard about other divisions keeping xbox afloat. I mean you gotta remember, there's been 3 generations. Xbox was winning by the 2nd gen, this gen its definitely turning a profit so....are you referring to start up cash for the original Xbox? I mean...I suppose that is probably accurate. You get half a point for this.



Literally just lol'ed at "you could lose your love". What does this mean!? Hahaha!

Ok post is getting too long so I'll stop there. This is entertaining if nothing else.
Microsoft would definitely survive. Sony, i'm sure i read Playstation is keeping Sony alive. Not 100% sure on that tho.
I thought lose your love was self explanatory lol.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I seriously could see Xbox and Sony joining forces if Google become a massive force in 10 years, especially with all the talk of Gamepass going to all devices. Xbox has the infrastructure a few games and Sony's worldwide appeal with major Games and then they could both agree to go digital only.

Reminds me when I said this last night when all 3 were on stage:

This is hidden messaging that they all plan to be games as a service streaming/digital only soon as the market will bare.

Like the gaming of Bilderberg meetings. ;)
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
The reality is that none of the big 3 actually care about the hardware aspect anyway, its just a mechanism to sell licensed products and services after all. The only question is whether its a useful and efficient way of getting that job done.

So if streaming supplants it, they'll just move onto that while retaining their branding and back-catalogue of properties... business as usual.
 
This reminds me of the smartphone market circa 2006. Everyone thought Apple was nuts to get in, Blackberry was #1, yadda yadda yadda, and the rest is history.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
Reminds me when I said this last night when all 3 were on stage:
Iv'e just seen the clip of the 3 of them on stage. (i never knew this was event was on). It was nice to see but kinda scary as well. What the fuck are these fuckers getting up to. Whoa could be sooner than we think.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Iv'e just seen the clip of the 3 of them on stage. (i never knew this was event was on). It was nice to see but kinda scary as well. What the fuck are these fuckers getting up to. Whoa could be sooner than we think.

David Jaffe and a ton of people in his chat on the stream were saying the same thing. That it felt very, very creepy (forced).
 
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Zeusexy

Member
Lol @ every soyny blind fanboy that can't acknowledge how their favorite company is doing everything wrong from this year's march.
Moving to california and going full sjw/NPC, censoring games, not investing a dime in the asian market, not investing in new japanese quality exclusives (but hey, days gone), relying solely on naughty dog and santa monica, ps mini launch failure, etc. etc. etc.
You'll see next gen how laziness and stupidity will pay off. And I never owned a microsoft console so don't even bother with the console war stuff.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
The reality is that none of the big 3 actually care about the hardware aspect anyway, its just a mechanism to sell licensed products and services after all. The only question is whether its a useful and efficient way of getting that job done.

So if streaming supplants it, they'll just move onto that while retaining their branding and back-catalogue of properties... business as usual.

Nevertheless some streaming device and a controller will still be required in order to access and play on those streaming services. That being said, if played right, Sony could actually come out as the biggest winner - ultimately they can simply build-in some cheap 4-core ARM CPU with 4GB RAM that will do the job into all their TVs, sell controllers seperately for like 40-50$, and they could completely dominate both the TV and gaming market by doing so.
 

Calibos

Member
Ban/ The Thread

What a shit show started by a clickbait thread title.


People need to think. MS main threats ARE Google and Amazon...hands down, no argument can be made. Sony is not even on the same planet when it comes to what he is referring to in the interview...and they aren't trying to be. They have there share of the market they have dominated...You could flip the script and say that Sony could sideline MS in gaming as a competitor given the market share difference.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
giphy.gif
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
David Jaffe and a ton of people in his chat on the stream were saying the same thing. That it felt very, very creepy (forced).
I'm still amazed that my 9 year old son plays with his PS4 owning friends on Fortnite. I said you won't be able to talk to them use my PS4, he proved me wrong, i was like wow. The Wife looked at me like i was weird.
 

DrAspirino

Banned
First of all, why would they do that?

Your household electricity provider can cut off your power at any point have you considered running your own nuclear plant?

Secondly if this dumb eventuallity were to occur there are other providers. I'm sure Sony don't even use AWS for PSNow anyway but not 100% certain.
It could happen if it's written in the contract that the provider can terminate the service at any moment notice and that they're not held responsible if there are system failures. At least that's how internet and cellphone companies work.

MS is obviously looking far into the future where such platforms and services will be the standard as we get faster networks and better connectivity. Sony is their hardware competitor who has been outselling them, but their online services like PS Now is not that good, and PSN as a whole has been a lesser experience than XBL(poor download speeds, not as stable online play, etc...). Sony has been doing great with the PS4, but in the future, they may be left out if they don't step up their software performance and features.
Sony has a good brand, but that's it. They will have to "up their game" in the coming years in order to compete with giants like Microsoft, Amazon or Google in streaming services. Their infrastructure is simply poor.

Hahaha, you really don’t know anything about cloud services do you? Why should they cut off if they are getting money for? So Google can shutdown Netflix every moment if they announce a “real” Netflix competitor tomorrow?

All those services (even Azure) are mostly build for clients.
It all depends on how much money are they making. For example, if Google were to launch an online gaming streaming service worldwide, rest assured that they'll expect to generate more revenue directly from customers rather than other companies. If, the money is the same or more keeping their competitors use their infrastructure, they will keep things as they are right now.

Nope. Having your own hyperscale cloud is THE strategic asset to have from 2020 onwards. Even Apple is in danger here if they don't build out the same.
And that's what Apple has been doing for some years now: they've built their largest datacenter yet in California and they know their service is niche, so they'll keep improving their own datacenter in California, but nothing more.

Sony and Xbox may join forces in the future. Don't laugh who the hell would have thought in the early 90's we would have Sonic on a Nintendo machine and even in the same game.
IF (and this is a big if) Amazon and/or Google decide to enter the gaming bussiness seriously, I can assure you that Sony will look for a partnership to keep their online services going or even associate with another major cloud player (Microsoft in this case) to survive. Otherwise, they would get eaten alive.

Do not underestimate the muscle and strength of Amazon and Google: they could easily kill the other players in the streaming industry and release their own services without breaking a sweat.
 

Trogdor1123

Gold Member
I feel like next gen will cause a fair bit of fragmentation in the industry. Some going streaming and others not. I'm hoping both success myself.
 
It's so weird to see people putting Amazon and Google in this position where they will be running the video game scene within a few years. Like why do some of yall think those two companies (2 of my favorite companies in the world) will take over 35 years of Nintendo and 23 years of Sony being in the market? And MS' 15+ years and deep pockets isn't something to sneeze at either.

It'd be a miracle if either Amazon or Google actually are competitive within the next 5 years in the video game's market.

It has a lot to do with platform agnosticism imho, which is where the industry is moving. Brands like PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo are going to lose that leverage.
 

thelastword

Banned
MS is sidelining and putting the veil over their eyes just like they did in 2013. They said they had the balanced console, they projected their $500.00 (less powerful, kinect-laden with SNAP and their cable connectivity "tv tv tv"..console) was what consumers wanted, PS4 can't even compete with that....How could it........"Flailing your arms" was suppose to take over the industry for both games and media and of course "XBOX shut DOWN", "XBOX play Spongebob, Start Milo etc..."....I mean, how could Sony ever compete with that "Have you seen titanfall? Have you seen SNAP, do you know you can Skype? Even DF and the media wrote articles on this "balanced console" and the other media houses were hyping it through the roof.......One of the execs said...."Do you expect MS to give a 40% uptick to Sony? They spoke of the power of the cloud and how MS games would not be constrained, as they would have acess to unlimited power "from the cloud".....

They said that all games would have dedicated servers, people went on about Azure, and how Sony had no chance.....MS has the money, they have the infrastructure....Unlimited money, unlimited power from the cloud....Do people ever learn, that most of these MS execs just like to talk up a good game at this point......

MS's gaming division is not privy to all of MS's money, so speaking of MS's billions of revenue means nothing, they can't use all of that for gaming, especially since their gaming division is not close to being as sucessful as their software/os busines and server business.

Yet nothing has changed with the way MS does things, hype something for a bit, then no delivery. Recently, MS execs screamed through the rooftops about crossplay. How many games are pushing crossplay on MS systems after all that noise, where is CP in Fallout 76 or others multiplats at least on PC/XBOX where it would be easier for MS, since they own the OS and they have now considered Windows/XBOX to be hinged......

So no, nothing has changed, It's the same MS now. It's the same Phil Spencer who didn't acknowledge the PRO as a competitor to XBONEX....PRO is competing with ONE-S he said. Yet. PRO's are in higher demand and Sony can't seem to make enough....Phil said XBONEX was not about those CB, upscaling and those type of methods used by PRO and those lesser consoles, "XBONEX is a true 4K machine", but what do you know? XBONEX is doing dynamic resolution, reprojection techniques out the wazoo......


Unlimited power of the cloud, unlimited cash reserves means nothing.....These are just hype lines.....MS is the same who said, "we did direct x"......and some people go boasting about their software prowess, yes, because they have a monopoly, not because they have the best programmers anymore, because they don't.......The MS who did windows 3.1, NT and XP is a different talent pool from the current OS team......MS is so great on software and yet, their OS is decidedly the worse among the HD consoles? They were behind the 8 ball on features in 2013 (gaming related) and have been playing catchup ever since, to no avail....

I really don't understand why folk would be beating success drums for an MS streaming service, when it's not even live yet.....I'm still waiting on all games being on dedicated servers for XBOX-ONE and a game using the power of the cloud from those mighty servers......If you listen to MS/Execs, you would expect a game from them to have beaten a Titan X....."that unlimited power" right? And boy, do they have a contingent to hype stuff along with them, most often leading to a whimper......I still remember Leadbetter saying the XBONEX was like a GTX 1070 in power, yes, you really can't make this stuff up, just hype hype hype, leading to fail fail fail....
 

A.Romero

Member
They make a LOT more money renting out capacity and supporting third parties well (true for AWS and Azure) than from their own services so screwing over Nintendo, Disney, Netflix, or Sony is not only bad for business in the short term but would lead to the business opportunity for consolidation of smaller cloud suppliers into a bigger one / or growth of one of those suppliers to compete with Azure / AWS.

Of course. I mean, these companies don't miss an opportunity to make a buck. That's their reason to be.
 

Klondyke

Banned
He is right, Sony is In the peanuts department when it comes To streaming. And like it or not, that will be the future.
 
Content is king. For that reason alone, neither Microsoft, not Google or Apple, can afford to sideline Sony and Nintendo.
Nobody will care much about your great streaming service if the best games aren't available on it.

And unlike with a series, a great game is not something you can just buy. To make great games you need talented studios that are run competently and receive the time and budget to grow. Building studio infrastructures like that can take decades and even longer and even when you have that set up, each one of those studios only produces like one huge game every 4-5 years, so you'll need dozens of them just have 2-3 blockbusters a year.

Microsoft is attempting to do that now, but unlike what many people seem to think, this isn't a plan that will pay off by the start of next gen. If anything, mid to late next gen will be the time where we will be able to really evaluate how successful Microsofts plan to expand its 1st party was and how far they still have to go to be able to compete with Sony and Nintendo.
 
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