I beg to differ
Plenty would buy a specced up PS3(4) especially if the price was right, the OS/online was smartened up, and full BC.
I think so anyway.
Well then, they're their own worst enemy much like Sega and will have no one to blame but themselves if the seemingly inevitable happens.
So they just have to do monumentally better than the previous generation under conditions which are far worse. Got it.
The new console is probably already locked-in as far as specs are concerned. It will be a technical monster, which will be a disaster, but Sony cannot do it any other way - they are high-tech company, driven by engineers. You cannot re-orient a company just like that, and tell them "make something cheap and not so powerful", it is a mindset problem.
Nintendo was able to do that, because they never saw themselves as a high-tech company. They preach "fun, not specs" all the time. I think Sony's R&D would rebel if asked to make a Wii.
You can't say that because vita has not had a holiday yet.
Yes, I don't live in japan I didn't know it had a holiday already there.Not in the west, you mean.
It's not the power & graphics what sells consoles; it's good advertising, excellent software, & a friendly mass-market price point. It's been proven over & over again every generation.
Plenty would buy a specced up PS3(4) especially if the price was right, the OS/online was smartened up, and full BC.
I think so anyway.
I agree. It's how Sega went bankrupt (or went nearly bankrupt) after Dreamcast before. Because of chasing higher specs & trying to be better than the other companies in power & graphics.
It's not the power & graphics what sells consoles; it's good advertising, excellent software, & a friendly mass-market price point. It's been proven over & over again every generation.
This is incorrect. R&D is done a couple of years prior to the year a console launches. So costs can occur a couple years prior. Gaming revenue being down doesn't account to these losses by itself.They're not losing money right now because of the PS4. Companies take losses in the year that the system launches - not this far out. Gaming revenue is down 15% this quarter vs. a year ago. That's why they're losing money.
Alright, alright.
Alright, alright.
This is incorrect. R&D is done a couple of years prior to the year a console launches. So costs can occur a couple years prior. Gaming revenue being down doesn't account to these losses by itself.
It's pretty well accepted that Next Gen HW is in developers hands for a while now so yes PS4 costs are a legit factor at this point...
It's well known that PS3 more than wiped out all the profits Sony ever made from the first two Playstations combined.
If its a vita style machine that isn't too expensive to build
This is incorrect. R&D is done a couple of years prior to the year a console launches. So costs can occur a couple years prior. Gaming revenue being down doesn't account to these losses by itself.
It's pretty well accepted that Next Gen HW is in developers hands for a while now so yes PS4 costs are a legit factor at this point...
What were the reasons for Nintendo to make a loss last year?
3DS not taking off as expected
Wii U (3DSXL?) R&D
Sharp decline of Wii sales
Strong Yen
Social gaming?
What were the reasons for Nintendo to make a loss last year?
3DS not taking off as expected
Wii U (3DSXL?) R&D
Sharp decline of Wii sales
Strong Yen
Social gaming?
Can we get a NET annual income graph? Line graph would be preferable (sorry!).
You might be right, except that isn't how profit/loss works. PS2 made profits in those years. Those years are gone and were successful. PS3 made losses and those years were bad (and still continuing a bit). The two aren't connected.
And PS4 will happen because they've already sunk a ton of money into it. If its a vita style machine that isn't too expensive to build, they should at least avoid the problems they had with PS3
Sony's new cloud gaming devision had a profit for being sold. lolSo if Sony didn't buy Gaikai would they have made profit?
Forgive my ignorance.
I was under the impression the acquisition still needed to be approved?So if Sony didn't buy Gaikai would they have made profit?
Forgive my ignorance.
I don't think that's enough. They're lacking a vision to sell to consumers.
Gaikai buyout was small bucks compared to the $2,2 billion EMI Music acquisition.So if Sony didn't buy Gaikai would they have made profit?
Forgive my ignorance.
Tough decisions ahead for Sony.
Should they kill PS3 support next year for the PS4, even if PS3 is now profitable?
Should they dedicate big 1st party ressources to save Vita, reducing PS3 and PS4 support?
I don't know how they will balance their investments, they need to make the right bets. One platform will have to lose something.
IMO, the Gaikai money should have been spent actually advertising the Vita.
Gaikai buyout was small bucks compared to the $2,2 billion EMI Music acquisition.
wouldn't have done much good without the games to back it up. it had a strong launch, but sony's been kinda acting like the thing doesn't exist. they were even quiet about it during e3 aside from the assassin's creed iii thing.
maybe I'm not remembering the graph correctly, but 2009 and 2010 were both profitable years. With 2006, 2007, and 2008 totaling around a 550-600 million loss in the gaming division over those three years. This 375million, combind with the profits in 2009 and 2010 should get them close to canceling that figure out, maybe turning a profit overall this year(if they make a profit in gaming this year).
Remember not talking about Sony as a whole, JUST the gaming division. It would be nice to find that graph someone posted again to get exact figures.
Next gen. You know what that is ?
Vita. You know what that is ?
About $1,5 billion, iirc.How much did they spend on buying out Eriksons stake?
They're a factor, but a very minimal one at this point. There is always a significant R&D spend every year - with or without a new system being prepared.
But the 15% drop in revenue is by far the biggest factor in the loss for the quarter. Sony said as much in their comments attached to their earnings report. They took in 20B Yen less in sales, with a whole bunch of fixed costs (studio salaries, advertising, etc.) that don't fluctuate a whole lot (and usually go up due to inflation) from year to year. That would easily account for most of the downward swing of about 7B yen in operating income for the quarter.
The PS4 will either be break even or profitable as well.
2) If they have to pick between the Vita and the PS3/PS4 they will drop the Vita in a heartbeat. No questions asked. The former is a sideshow and the latter is the main attraction.
And Sony almost never reports R&D costs so you shouldn't expect them to explain them in the quaterly reports.
All that being said, you may be right that the story of this quarter is just stagnant sales and a tough yen.
About $1,5 billion, iirc.
Taxes are applied to the whole company, not single divisions.I'm not sure where to find net income numbers for Sony's gaming business specifically. All their earnings releases are here, but in the gaming sections, they seem to only release certain numbers, like sales and operating income :S
I can't imagine anywhere near that many PS2's were shipped in Q1, considering Q42011 only 0.6M were shipped and the holiday quarter only 0.9M units were shipped.last year / same Q1
was 3.2 Mil divided into
Ps3 = 1.8
Ps2 = 1.4
this year if both psp and ps3 got lower sales (from above statement) would be something similar 1.7/1.6 ps3 and 1.1/1.2 ps2 in order to match the 2.8 million total of this Quarter
$500 million could have gotten them advertising and a few games. They could've farmed out the development work so they wouldn't be left with excess studios after launch.
Next gen. You know what that is ?
Vita. You know what that is ?
Next gen. You know what that is ?
Vita. You know what that is ?
Taxes are applied to the whole company, not single divisions.
I'm sure he's been corrected, but I remember 5 billion in losses, not 500 million.
It's kind of comical in a way - seeing the N64 and GC eras make more money for Nintendo than the PS1 and PS2 eras for Sony. Even with Nintendo's handhelds included in the mix, the PS1 and PS2 sold far, far, far more software than Nintendo did in those eras.