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"Sony is in trouble." - Gaming system group under siege

[Nintex] said:
Funny that you bring in Japan, pretty much the entire Japanese videogame market is collapsing and bomba'ing right in front of your nose. Why do you think Square Enix spends all their money on Eidos games and why do you think Nintendo is going back to the core market, mainly in the US? One of the reasons why Sony is 'hurting' right now is that their former partners like Square Enix, Namco and Capcom are doing other things not to go bankrupt and that mostly involves making games in the US for the US market.

The European market is a mess right now too. Nintendo gave it a jolt with the DS and Wii but that is mostly gone. It has been on a steady decline for a while now and there's nothing on the horizon that could make the videogame industry hit the levels of market growth they had prior to 2009. Most European developers, especially in the UK have taken a beating. From Bizarre, Free Radical Design and Realtime Worlds to Rare it has all gone to shit. Nintendo has nice charts on that, you can see how pretty much every console tanked outside the occasional pricedrop.


The western videogame industry got a boost from PC devs moving to the console sides, a lot of college graduates and new fields of education and 'new blood' and new IP's. Franchises like Assassins Creed, Bioshock, Gears of War, Uncharted et all, that were formed 'this' generation. In Japan on the other hand they're still stuck on a couple of profitable ventures like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Love Plus and Monster Hunter. While series like Tales, Ridge Racer, Tekken and perhaps even Metal Gear and some Nintendo IP's are slip sliding away into irrelevance. Which in turns makes the Japanese even more afraid of taking risks so they build the games for a specific niche group like they did with Final Fantasy XIII.
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You are talking about a down trend in the Video game industry. Which is proportional to almost every thing that is luxury in the world economy. But , within that limitation, sony is doing the best out of Nintendo and MS. And if you assume that those market will go down to zero , then it is not just sony but everyone in the gaming industry. Plus, it is unlikely . Chances are it will go up and down like any industry that is tied to world economy.

As per U.S.

It is not like PlayStation brand is not selling. It has Year to Year growth. And even has a price drop in its pocket. The PS3 is selling with profit. And software rate higher than Nintendo.

If your point is Gaming market by itself. Than sony is one of the safer brand. Because unlike Nintendo. Sony has other places to fall back on.
 
Looking at how some of Sony Pictures' films faired at the box office last year and looking at the projected line-up, they seem very healthy long-term. Every company makes a loss once in a while, and on the whole even if Sony is receiving declined turn-over results, it will be a long time before they're truly 'in trouble'. This article is somewhat bullocks.
 
gofreak said:
I'm not sure. Unfortunately Sony hasn't published software data for PS1, as far as I can see. In absolute terms the reach of the brand overall was smaller at the end of PS1's life though (pre-PS2), that is for sure, in terms of how many people were buying systems. They shipped 16-17m PS1s in 1999 - they sold almost that many PS3s last year along with 14m other systems (in total nearly 30m systems). Compared to PS2's heyday this may be a fall, but PS1? Not sure I'd say that.

(In terms of relevance in relative terms, relative to the market, sure, we could argue Playstation was a lot more dominant back then of what market was there. But the market now is huge.)
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In the PS1 and PS2 days Sony basically was gaming. To go from where they were(utter domination of the gaming market) to where they are now(good position) is a massive drop even though they're technically not in a bad position like MS and Nintendo were in the PS2 days.
 
Green Biker Dude said:
and before this generation the gap was like 100 million and a whole lot of third party support...

kinect was also a success while move was a failure

to me, it seems like ms is going up while sony is going down


huahuahua you're crazy. whatever
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#1 Move is not a failure.
#2 The gap between the 2 consoles is closer than ever...and that's including 360's year headstart. It's less than 5 million now or something--isn't it?

Edit: According to the site never to be named, it's less than 4.


DaSorcerer7 said:
Sony Going More Casual With The PlayStation 4?


http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/9316.html
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Please get this shit out of here--we already had this thread and it was stupid.
 
Mr_Brit said:
Lol. The platform still delivers phenomenal gaming and entertainment potential. It just seems odd to me to ridicule the brand and ignore the future potential of interesting and intriguing gaming experiences as well as those in the present times because of the merciless assault of people with personal vendettas set out to tarnish the Sony brand and rampant over zealous media forces twisting and exaggerating every issue to the max. The Playstation habitat still provided me last night as well as in the past few days with excellent and fun online entertainment and community interaction in games only and exclusively available on the playstation platform and in games that are just better and more enhanced on playstation console and handheld and the game industry would be dead were it not for that.
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wow
 
beast786 said:
You are talking about a down trend in the Video game industry. Which is proportional to almost every thing that is luxury in the world economy. But , within that limitation, sony is doing the best out of Nintendo and MS.
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Wait... what?

As per U.S. And software rate higher than Nintendo.
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The attach rates of the PS3 and Wii are something like 7.6 and 7.1, to the Xbox 360's 8.6 (paraphrased, but it's not far off).

Edit: According to the site never to be named, it's less than 4.
Click to expand...

There's a reason why that site is not to be named.
 
fiscal-year-operating-income-03-31-2010-fix.jpg


accumulative-operating-income-03-31-2010-fix.jpg
 
Mr_Brit said:
Lol. The platform still delivers phenomenal gaming and entertainment potential. It just seems odd to me to ridicule the brand and ignore the future potential of interesting and intriguing gaming experiences as well as those in the present times because of the merciless assault of people with personal vendettas set out to tarnish the Sony brand and rampant over zealous media forces twisting and exaggerating every issue to the max. The Playstation habitat still provided me last night as well as in the past few days with excellent and fun online entertainment and community interaction in games only and exclusively available on the playstation platform and in games that are just better and more enhanced on playstation console and handheld and the game industry would be dead were it not for that.
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That's uh...

I was amazed by this post.
 
Amir0x said:
PS2 was my favorite system, probably of all time. I liked PSP more than DS. I'll probably like Vita more than 3DS.

but the reality is Sony needs to really upset the market somehow, because everyone is basically expecting every move they make to be a failure. They've completely disconnected from what the market wants in virtually every field they have.
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So on the one hand, they're delivering products that you prefer over their competitors' offerings. On the other, you're saying they're disconnected from what the market wants. That suggests you're not lumping yourself in with the mass-market majority in terms of what you're looking for.

If that's the case, then we're on the same page here.

The question I have - the one that's the most relevant to me personally - is, 'Can Sony do something about that and still keep producing the kind of products I want?'

Now, the specifics of what we're looking for may be different. I'm a bit of an outlier in terms of my tastes these days, I know. Online multiplayer's not something I demand in my games, because aside from a handful of dedicated multiplayer titles, I tend to be partial to single-player stuff for my fun. I don't give a damn about things like cross-game chat, or even in-game chat. "Alternative input schemes" like motion sensing and playing games with a stylus do absolutely nothing for me. I'm partial to meat-and-potatoes gaming, strong single-player experiences with traditional control methods, and online support that's functional but unobtrusive and is a sidelight to the experience rather than the focus. So for me, Sony has consistently delivered.

The problem is that a lot of people nowadays expect different things from gaming than I do. There's still some overlap between their tastes and mine, but I expect things to continue to diverge. In order for Sony to stay relevant, will people looking for the same things that I am end up being completely marginalized? Is that 'traditionalist gamer' group large enough to merit any sort of continued support? Is there a middle ground? I want to see Sony stay in the gaming biz, but if they have to stop developing the kind of gaming products I like in order to do it, it's the same to me as if they had left.
 
FlightOfHeaven said:
Hmm. All I can say is, I've been avoiding their products because of their proprietary bullshit.
Click to expand...

Yes.

*Looks at PS3 with USB 2.0, HDMI 1.3, replaceable 2.5" laptop hardrives, and blu-ray standard optical drive.*
 
Man said:
Sony Pictures have Bond 23 next year and a new Spiderman. Will probably be among the top five most popular films worldwide in 2012.
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And SONY PICTURES made almost one half of a billion dollars last year in profit. What world do we live in where that's bad?
 
Mr_Brit said:
In the PS1 and PS2 days Sony basically was gaming. To go from where they were(utter domination of the gaming market) to where they are now(good position) is a massive drop even though they're technically not in a bad position like MS and Nintendo were in the PS2 days.
Click to expand...

I agree, as noted in my posts. Just the world they controlled in the PS1 days was a lot smaller than the world they don't so utterly dominate now.

And to correct myself, Sony does have PS1 software data. In the 5/6 years up to the end of 1999, they had shipped 591m pieces of software, vs 438m units for PS3 since 2006. So software is a bit lower there (and this would make sense, since the userbase is smaller too - all I said was it may not end up a million miles off the pace PS1 set in the long run). But for the business overall, PS1 was their only business then, vs now, where in those 5 years since 2006 they've in total sold over 1bn pieces of software. I grant the point on relative control of the market, but just in terms of absolute size of their market I think it's hard to argue the business has 'fallen' since the PS1 days anyway.
 
I feel like we had this same exact thread for Microsoft earlier this year...where Investors were pissed off after Kinect and want reassurances on the gaming division.
 
Isn't that big drop in revenue due to the loan or something that they took way in advance? It was reported a couple weeks back IIRC.
 
StevieP said:
Wait... what?



The attach rates of the PS3 and Wii are something like 7.6 and 7.1, to the Xbox 360's 8.6 (paraphrased, but it's not far off).
Click to expand...

Respond was regarding Japan and Pal.

Hence, Wait and read to what I responded.
 
Amir0x said:
PS2 was my favorite system, probably of all time. I liked PSP more than DS. I'll probably like Vita more than 3DS.

but the reality is Sony needs to really upset the market somehow, because everyone is basically expecting every move they make to be a failure. They've completely disconnected from what the market wants in virtually every field they have.
Click to expand...


What the shit? ROFL

People didn't want to pay for every piece of music - they invented the successful Qrocity
People didn't wanna pay for online gaming - PSN
People didn't want Kinect - Move
People wanted exclusive games - they delivered
People want big franchise movies - Spiderman, Bond
 
offshore said:
Too big, too bloated and too many employees is Sony's problem.

Sony Pictures have got Bond next year though, plus Spiderman, so it's not all doom and gloom.
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Wouldn't that be a perfect time to sell? Have a good year to jack up the value of the assets, while racking in the cash. Only to cash out of it when its done.

2nd, I don't think they own Bond, only in business as the distributor. I think it's still under Danjag's grasps.
 
Sony have some good stuff and some bad stuff but I think most of it have been covered already.

Basically if they dropped the music label and think long and hard about movie stuff they would be in a slightly better face.

when it comes to there electronic stuff they are still in the mid to high range in pretty much everything from TV's to Mp3 player to computers.

they gotta try and be profitable and cheap and try take on samsung and LG and the sub $500 HDTV's.


as for playstation I think they did a great job turning around the ps3 but I think there first party goals are in the wrong place.

I think they should follow Microsofts path of cutting back on a few first party projects but instead make strategic partnerships with important 3rd party developers.

I mean 99% why Unreal engine is so good on 360 and shit on ps3 is because of how close epic and MS, They are probably gonna try and have the same relationship with Crytek and that kinect game.

Those are the relationships Sony should be trying to get. Get on the phone with Mark Rain and get a exclusive game from epic that pushes the ps3 and the Unreal engine.

It would sell loads of copys. it would help the quality of non exclusive games that use the Unreal engine and it would be a better use of money then some of the stinkers SCE have funded over the years from random small indy devs.

For everything else PS related they are finally seeing the importance of the internet and hopefully we see that in there next systems I hope to god the Vita launches with non gaming applications like a facebook and twitter app.
 
How has MS's losses increased since last gen? 360 has is a profitable project. Shouldn't their losses have decreased since last gen?
 
SneakyStephan said:
If SCE dissapears that would be pretty sad...
Sony are the only ones who seem to still have the intent to deliver value for your money and still value their brand name and reputation (in be4 hurhur PSN network downtime).
Click to expand...

Really? You don't think Nintendo or Microsoft value their brand names that have become synonymous with video games? Microsoft doesn't value their reputation as the premier online gaming console, and Nintendo doesn't value their "for everybody" reputation?
 
Beer Monkey said:
I'm way, way skeptical re: Vita. I think it's a fantastic piece of hardware, I'm just not sure consumers want it as a gaming platform. PS4 is so far out it's hard for me to even think about it.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens. The Playstation brand is certainly weaker than last gen (where they captured about 70% of the global console market), so the next generation is going to be key.

Never liked the 'Sony Pictures' brand, it never sounded as classy as Columbia Pictures.
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I'm a consumer and I want it as a gaming platform.
 
funkystudent said:
Sony have some good stuff and some bad stuff but I think most of it have been covered already.

Basically if they dropped the music label and think long and hard about movie stuff they would be in a slightly better face.

when it comes to there electronic stuff they are still in the mid to high range in pretty much everything from TV's to Mp3 player to computers.

they gotta try and be profitable and cheap and try take on samsung and LG and the sub $500 HDTV's.


as for playstation I think they did a great job turning around the ps3 but I think there first party goals are in the wrong place.

I think they should follow Microsofts path of cutting back on a few first party projects but instead make strategic partnerships with important 3rd party developers.

I mean 99% why Unreal engine is so good on 360 and shit on ps3 is because of how close epic and MS, They are probably gonna try and have the same relationship with Crytek and that kinect game.

Those are the relationships Sony should be trying to get. Get on the phone with Mark Rain and get a exclusive game from epic that pushes the ps3 and the Unreal engine.

It would sell loads of copys. it would help the quality of non exclusive games that use the Unreal engine and it would be a better use of money then some of the stinkers SCE have funded over the years from random small indy devs.

For everything else PS related they are finally seeing the importance of the internet and hopefully we see that in there next systems I hope to god the Vita launches with non gaming applications like a facebook and twitter app.
Click to expand...

They already tried that. It was called Unreal Tournament III, as a timed exclusive... and it supposedly helped get UE3 up to speed.
 
Off topic question: You know how you can give your PSN info to a friend and they can access your PSN purchases (I think you can do this 4 or 5 times)?

Would you be able to play one of those purchased (online) games together or no?
 
How ANY of you people have the stones to say "This is Sony's problem" or "If they did this they'd be better off" seriously boggles my fucking mind. What business school did you guys graduate from?
 
uncledonnie said:
RROD
Click to expand...
Even with RROD, they should still be profitable as a whole on the 360 project especially post Kinect. So how exactly has MS increased the losses on gaming since last gen?
 
funkystudent said:
Sony have some good stuff and some bad stuff but I think most of it have been covered already.

Basically if they dropped the music label and think long and hard about movie stuff they would be in a slightly better face.

when it comes to there electronic stuff they are still in the mid to high range in pretty much everything from TV's to Mp3 player to computers.

they gotta try and be profitable and cheap and try take on samsung and LG and the sub $500 HDTV's.


as for playstation I think they did a great job turning around the ps3 but I think there first party goals are in the wrong place.

I think they should follow Microsofts path of cutting back on a few first party projects but instead make strategic partnerships with important 3rd party developers.

I mean 99% why Unreal engine is so good on 360 and shit on ps3 is because of how close epic and MS, They are probably gonna try and have the same relationship with Crytek and that kinect game.

Those are the relationships Sony should be trying to get. Get on the phone with Mark Rain and get a exclusive game from epic that pushes the ps3 and the Unreal engine.

It would sell loads of copys. it would help the quality of non exclusive games that use the Unreal engine and it would be a better use of money then some of the stinkers SCE have funded over the years from random small indy devs.

For everything else PS related they are finally seeing the importance of the internet and hopefully we see that in there next systems I hope to god the Vita launches with non gaming applications like a facebook and twitter app.
Click to expand...

That's the worst idea ever wrt what Sony should do game development-wise.

The last thing they should do is follow "Microsoft's" plan of cutting back on first party projects and relying mostly on 3rd party deals, because that's what Sony did last generation, MS has more cash to throw around and 3rd party deals given a divided market will be much harder to come by. Microsoft is actually setting themselves up if they don't have as much of a headstart or no headstart at all, 3rd party publishers will abandon them just like they abandoned Sony this generation.
 
ToyBroker said:
What the shit? ROFL

People didn't want to pay for every piece of music - they invented the successful Qrocity
People didn't wanna pay for online gaming - PSN
People didn't want Kinect - Move
People wanted exclusive games - they delivered
People want big franchise movies - Spiderman, Bond
Click to expand...

Has Qrocity been a success?
More people seem to want Kinect than Move.
 
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