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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Sony expects to make most profit from the Games division since 1998! $1.22 Billion, nearly half the profits PS2 ever made in just 1 year !

Johnw1104 on 25 May 2016
naruball said:
Johnw1104 said:

Kaz deserves a lot of credit for the PS4's success, but so do Nintendo and Microsoft heh

Pretty much handed the PS4 this gen on a silver platter with how they handled their two entries... as long as they put forth a decent console that didn't include and stupid gimmicks or consumer-unfriendly features they basically had this gen won.

It's really not that simple. I see people making such claims all the time when they want to downplay the success of a company but it's incredibly naive to act as if Sony won this generation simply because it had a console with no gimmicks and the other two companies screwed up. Sony screwed up majorly last generation and still managed to do well in terms of sales and relevancy. The ps4 has been such a huge success for a number of reasons, including what you just said.

Perhaps I should refine my statement. Sony would have done well even against good competition, but with the dual faceplants Nintendo and Microsoft had right out of the gates they were given the opportunity to dominate the generation.

Truly, there's not an innovative thing about the PS4 (and I don't mean that as an insult); quite the opposite, it's the least "innovative" of the three, if innovative is said to mean bringing something new to the table. Instead, it focused on getting back to the basics, which is to say decent hardware, conventional controller, reasonable price, and a good list of games. While Nintendo and Microsoft were out there trying to redefine what gaming consoles should be, Sony just reverted to their older strategy of a simple, straightforward approach to gaming.

There's a reason the guys at Sony said they were jumping and cheering when Microsoft revealed their console would be $500... I was among the many that was leaning Xbox before that presentation, and Sony really needed a runaway success given the state of the conglomerate as a whole. They earned the victory with a quality product that whittled down those extra bits to what most gamers really wanted. Despite that, it can also be said that the console is doing immeasurably better as a result of the only two other options having some of the worst launches in recent memory. It just seems like companies can rarely avoid screwing themselves over in the console market by getting overly ambitious at times, be it a $600 console, a required gamepad, or a required constant-internet-connection + camera among other silly things. 

As a side note, that's why I'm so surprised that Sony is pursuing Sony VR, as it sounds out of character and more like something Nintendo would try instead (though the development costs and strength of their hardware were likely prohibitive). I hope it works out, as it'd be fun to see Sony's again hugely successful gaming division thinking outside of the box. 



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Ballas on 25 May 2016
Johnw1104 said:
naruball said:

It's really not that simple. I see people making such claims all the time when they want to downplay the success of a company but it's incredibly naive to act as if Sony won this generation simply because it had a console with no gimmicks and the other two companies screwed up. Sony screwed up majorly last generation and still managed to do well in terms of sales and relevancy. The ps4 has been such a huge success for a number of reasons, including what you just said.

Perhaps I should refine my statement. Sony would have done well even against good competition, but with the dual faceplants Nintendo and Microsoft had right out of the gates they were given the opportunity to dominate the generation.

Truly, there's not an innovative thing about the PS4 (and I don't mean that as an insult); quite the opposite, it's the least "innovative" of the three, if innovative is said to mean bringing something new to the table. Instead, it focused on getting back to the basics, which is to say decent hardware, conventional controller, reasonable price, and a good list of games. While Nintendo and Microsoft were out there trying to redefine what gaming consoles should be, Sony just reverted to their older strategy of a simple, straightforward approach to gaming.

There's a reason the guys at Sony said they were jumping and cheering when Microsoft revealed their console would be $500... I was among the many that was leaning Xbox before that presentation, and Sony really needed a runaway success given the state of the conglomerate as a whole. They earned the victory with a quality product that whittled down those extra bits to what most gamers really wanted. Despite that, it can also be said that the console is doing immeasurably better as a result of the only two other options having some of the worst launches in recent memory. It just seems like companies can rarely avoid screwing themselves over in the console market by getting overly ambitious at times, be it a $600 console, a required gamepad, or a required constant-internet-connection + camera among other silly things. 

As a side note, that's why I'm so surprised that Sony is pursuing Sony VR, as it sounds out of character and more like something Nintendo would try instead (though the development costs and strength of their hardware were likely prohibitive). I hope it works out, as it'd be fun to see Sony's again hugely successful gaming division thinking outside of the box. 

They didn't innovate for the sake of innovating where it is not needed, aka the gamepad which is not as good as a controller. Also the constant internet connection required originally by XB1 is not an innovation at all, it was just a choice that any company can take with their console or game.

The improved Kinect may have been innovative but not substantially.

Sony did improve on the controller amd PSN which is what is required rather than innovation for the sake of it. PS VR I think is much more innovative though not unique, but definitely looks like something that could improve gaming especially genres like survival horror.



Johnw1104 on 25 May 2016
Ballas said:
Johnw1104 said:

Perhaps I should refine my statement. Sony would have done well even against good competition, but with the dual faceplants Nintendo and Microsoft had right out of the gates they were given the opportunity to dominate the generation.

Truly, there's not an innovative thing about the PS4 (and I don't mean that as an insult); quite the opposite, it's the least "innovative" of the three, if innovative is said to mean bringing something new to the table. Instead, it focused on getting back to the basics, which is to say decent hardware, conventional controller, reasonable price, and a good list of games. While Nintendo and Microsoft were out there trying to redefine what gaming consoles should be, Sony just reverted to their older strategy of a simple, straightforward approach to gaming.

There's a reason the guys at Sony said they were jumping and cheering when Microsoft revealed their console would be $500... I was among the many that was leaning Xbox before that presentation, and Sony really needed a runaway success given the state of the conglomerate as a whole. They earned the victory with a quality product that whittled down those extra bits to what most gamers really wanted. Despite that, it can also be said that the console is doing immeasurably better as a result of the only two other options having some of the worst launches in recent memory. It just seems like companies can rarely avoid screwing themselves over in the console market by getting overly ambitious at times, be it a $600 console, a required gamepad, or a required constant-internet-connection + camera among other silly things. 

As a side note, that's why I'm so surprised that Sony is pursuing Sony VR, as it sounds out of character and more like something Nintendo would try instead (though the development costs and strength of their hardware were likely prohibitive). I hope it works out, as it'd be fun to see Sony's again hugely successful gaming division thinking outside of the box. 

They didn't innovate for the sake of innovating where it is not needed, aka the gamepad which is not as good as a controller. Also the constant internet connection required originally by XB1 is not an innovation at all, it was just a choice that any company can take with their console or game.

Sony did improve on the controller amd PSN which is what is required rather than innovation for the sake of it. PS VR I think is much more innovative though not unique, but definitely looks like something that could improve gaming especially genres like survival horror.

The first paragraph was precisely my point. Sometimes it's better to stick to the tried and true.

I actually credit Sony for changing both their controller and their online services to closer reflect what the Xbox brought to the table, which I think was a definite edge in favor of the 360 over the PS3 last gen. They improved what needed improving without creating problems where there didn't need to be any.

Microsoft tried to make their console more than just a gaming console, for instance (it's transitioning naturally in that direction anyway), and the gamepad, while cool, was not worth the additional costs it required. Both would likely have been better served by a more conventional console.

Btw, survival horror games are what initially opened my mind to VR. Watching people use VR headsets to play Alien isolation was just amazing lol



GribbleGrunger on 25 May 2016

But did it meet their expectations?



 

The PS5 Exists. 


KLAMarine on 25 May 2016
Turkish said:

Nintendo has eaten through their Wii war chest.

Source for this?



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Fei-Hung on 25 May 2016

I think Sony will do okay from their film division this year and next. The biggest issue is their TV and mobile division. I don't know why Sony don't bother in America with their phones and why they haven't bothered to compete with Samsung by releasing similar priced TVs.



Mike_L on 25 May 2016
kowenicki said:
Yeah, I doubted them so much I made a shit ton of cash from buying their stock at the right time.

I made so much money on their stock as well. I bought before you recommended though but it's pretty awesome if some people followed your advice and made a great investment.

My shares (Sony Corp ADR) are up nearly 200% since November 2012. Finally, my gaming knowledge turned out useful XD



Mike_L on 25 May 2016
mountaindewslave said:

too bad Sony's other divisions have done so poorly so many years, that often regardless of if the video game division is making money the company loses money overall : O would not be surprised if the same still applies

Nah. Not any longer my friend. Operating profit is up 329% (largest since 2007) :)

 

"Income before taxes for the year ending March 31 came in at 304.5 billion yen ($2.81 billion), a big rise from the 39.7 billion yen recorded during the same period last year. Operating profit rose 329.2 percent to 294.2 billion yen, its largest figure since fiscal 2007, according to Reuters."

- CNBC