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[Shpeshal Nick]

"People will work 2 jobs to buy a PlayStation 3"

I mean, isn't the above the very definition of corporate arrogance?

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

I think it can be a fair way to describe a corporation. It's still people behind a corp that ultimately make the decisions and people can definitely be arrogant.

I think it was Pachter that said he had heard from many execs at various companies saying that MS would eat Sony's lunch before this gen started. With that kind of arrogant thinking you could see how a corp's actions would follow suit.

On the reverse side you see corps like Patagonia that make good decisions for people, the environment and their employees because the man at the top is a good person.

 

[Night Angel]

In reference to Sony it's a meme. Often forced.

Sometimes businesses do behave in a way that, if it was a person, would accurately be described as arrogant. The PS3 "get a second job" comment comes to mind.

Sony isn't the only company to act in such a manner, but, once again anthropomorphizing the company, hubris appeared to play an enormous factor in the PS2->PS3 transition/fiasco. Many different actions and comments in that time led to a distinct impression of arrogance, especially because they were coming off of the best home console of all time.

 

[Eumi]

At the end of it all grammar doesn't really affect the criticism itself. Arrogance is generally just the word used when a company starts taking its customers for granted. Like the recent Ps+ hike could be called arrogant if you saw it as just being Sony believing they can charge more for the same service purely because they want more profit.

 

[PedroLumpy]

What a strange question. Of course a business decision could be described as arrogant.

 

[KelpPlankton]

When people feel a business decision is made not based on reality, but based on a 'we can do whatever we want and succeed' attitude people are going to call it what it is. Arrogance.

Sony demonstrated this with their PS3 pricing after their PS2 success by just assuming people would migrate, Nintendo demonstrated this several times with their console strategies (most recently the Wii U but it's happened before too), and there's plenty of stuff like that from game publishers in relation to DLC pricing or decisions to hold off on content from a 'first' game in a series that ends up selling poorly due to those cuts and never getting a sequel.

A corporation is an entity run by people. These people can make decisions that show arrogance, that show an elevated sense of confidence or self-worth compared to what the public actually thinks. It happens a lot. Never forget that corporations are run by people and are not infallible faceless machines. People have agendas and people make mistakes and people are in control.

 

[Ivan A Nguyen]

We could call it, "Entitlement to Success" but entitlement is the favored buzz word of community critics.

 

[nacimento]

Obviously when you say, for example, "Sony is arrogant", you are referring to a number of executives, actual people, taking decisions due to a misplaced sense of importance and/or consumer goodwill towards their brand or company.

If a company set a high price on a product based on the notion: "our brand is so strong, people will choose us anyway", it is a case of the company (through its agents/managers) being arrogant.

Corporations may not be people, but they are made out of people and the decisions are taken by people. Therefore, things like arrogance or hybris come into play.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Are we correlating corporations ran by people with animals, plants, and forces of nature here?

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Gamers get too emotionally invested in what are at the end of the day, business decisions. I actually think a lot of them forget that publishers and developers are businesses, that have financial commitments that they need to meet, employees they need to pay who have families they have to feed.

Of course, I think plenty of companies make dick moves, but a lot of the outrage I see over some decisions that corporations make are completely unwarranted and OTT.

 

[The Artisan]

OP they are being arrogant in the sense that they feel important enough that the masses will indulge in what they do.

That was Sony being arrogant with the $600 price tag on Ps3. It wasn't until GAF that I learned a Sony rep actually did fuckin say "get another job"

 

[Crimsonsky]

In America at least, and as dumb as it is, businesses are people. So it is not technically an incorrect use of the word.

 

[BlackClouds]

I would describe Xbox One's launch as extremely arrogant as if Microsoft had the pull to force the public to do what they wanted like that. If they were smart they'd have eased folks into things like requiring a persistent internet connection, the used game fiasco and the rest. Cost them the entire generation for attempting to make customers bend to their will. Only a group of sociopaths would think that would work. Not to say Sony is any better, they just sat back and let MS trip but they'd do the same damn thing if given a chance. Just so happens they needed the PS4 to save the company so they were nicer than normal, but that won't last.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Not intending this as some sort of tu quoque or anything, but what would you think about someone saying the White House is arrogant?

 

[AmFreak]

OP they are being arrogant in the sense that they feel important enough that the masses will indulge in what they do.

That was Sony being arrogant with the $600 price tag on Ps3. It wasn't until GAF that I learned a Sony rep actually did fuckin say "get another job"

And then you look up what he really said and get this:

The head of Sony games Ken Kutaragi said to Japanese economics publication Toyo Keizai today that Sony's PS3 strategy is "for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."
While this quote has been mildly ridiculed in blogs like Engadget, T3 , and (surprise surprise) Kotaku, these remarks taken in context may make more sense.

http://www.1up.com/news/ps3-job

So they want the people to want their product (regardless of the "high" price), something that every company wants.
And all on the background that everyone knew back then that the ps3 would be very expensive.

 

[Amused]

because saying "they don't have the right to raise prices on their products and services!" doesn't make sense; they do. name calling is easy. calling them "mean" sounds childish. calling them "arrogant" sounds smart.

Pretty close to the truth in many cases.

"Stupid meanies"

Not buying a product because you dont like company-policies or diagree with the pricing is fair game of course.

 

[kromeo]

I thought "meh" and "tbh" were gaf's favorite words?

Thirst, hyperbole

 

[zoukka]

Because at one point in human history it was thought that business as a concept doesn't exist outside of morals.

 

[risq_aus]

I think people just get too caught up in the hype and over react.

Like any other business these businesses are only making the moves they think are the right way forward in terms of profits.

Do you think MS went into the XB1 reveal knowing it was going to be the mess that it was? No way they would have went through with that.

 

[Opa-Pa]

I think people just get too caught up in the hype and over react.

Like any other business these businesses are only making the moves they think are the right way forward in terms of profits.

Do you think MS went into the XB1 reveal knowing it was going to be the mess that it was? No way they would have went through with that.

... The fact that they didn't see it coming was probably due to their last system's success only, despite being a largely anti consumer move. The definition of corporate arrogance lol.

 

[Noctis3]

Although, in this case "arrogance" would be misplaced. If you took a step back all these things are due to opportune timing to grow their business. You know because.. that's what businesses do. I'm not defending the price hike or anything but Microsoft kind of left the lane wide open for these decisions. Microsoft is not releasing any hardware besides a slim system, it's the holidays soon, PlayStation expects thousands of more consoles from the Slim and possibly Neo. They know their product sells due to their console selling like crazy same with PS VR.

I mean if you were a business and someone left you a lane like this wouldn't you do something similar. All I'm trying to get across is as I said earlier. If you step back and look at the entire view of this situation "arrogance" probably wouldn't be the right word to use. I guess you could use greed but then again it is a business and their sole purpose is to make money. Just my opinion and open to criticism.

 

[Omnistalgic]

And then you look up what he really said and get this:

http://www.1up.com/news/ps3-job

So they want the people to want their product (regardless of the "high" price), something that every company wants.
And all on the background that everyone knew back then that the ps3 would be very expensive.

wow...never new picked that up before. Feels like it was taken out of context a bit.

"Still, next generation doesn't start until we say so" is equally as bad, even if you are in a dominant position. But yeah, media was being a bit mean with that first quote, that isn't "go get another job at all."

 

[Omnistalgic]

We could call it, "Entitlement to Success" but entitlement is the favored buzz word of community critics.

Yea arrogance rolls off the tongue a bit better than that lol...

 

[Spukc]

Well i would describe microsofts original online locked games plans with the xbox one quite "arrogant"

And i am not even talking about that fantastic

"We have an offline console its named the xbox 360"

 

[Bishop89]

something something arrogant
something something entitled

 

[AmFreak]

wow...never new picked that up before. Feels like it was taken out of context a bit.

"Still, next generation doesn't start until we say so" is equally as bad, even if you are in a dominant position. But yeah, media was being a bit mean with that first quote, that isn't "go get another job at all."

Oh there was ofc enough dumb stuff said by Sony employees back then, especially Crazy Ken. But he already said some really weird shit in the ps2 era like the famous Matrix comment.
The difference in the ps3 era is that they had never been in such a shitty situation and that, at least in us media and forums, Microsoft was seen as the cool guy back then.
So every fart of Sony was blown up.
And yeah, the quote you posted reeks of arrogance, but again what a company (it's people) says and thinks are 2 different things. There were more quotes in this vein about Ms or the 360 from Kutaragi.
Not because he felt nothing could happen to Sony.
It was the other way around - he was worried.
Ms was launching in a few months and there was still no launch date for the ps3.
The original launch date had been end of 2005, but they couldn't make it, so it was postponed to spring 06.
Again they couldn't make it so they launched at the end of 06 and 4 months later in europe.
The (main) reason for all this was that Blu-Ray wasn't ready - the yields for blue laser diodes were abysmal. You can see how frustrated Kutaragi was by the following quote that is unheard-of to say about the company you work for:

"If you asked me if Sony's strength in hardware was in decline, right now I guess I would have to say that might be true," game unit head Ken Kutaragi said after Sony pushed back the PS3's European launch by four months to March.