Article: "The problem with Sony".....what do you make of it?

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JGarret said:

Do you agree/disagree?

 

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle+articleid_2420155&title=The_Prroblem_with.html

 

 

"Because of what I have written on here about Sony I have been accused many times of being a Nintendo or a Microsoft fanboy. Nothing could be further from the truth. I only report what I see. And what I see is a Sony that has lost its way.

The facts are very, very simple. In the Playstation one generation Sony had massive global domination, nobody came anywhere near them. In the Playstation two generation Sony were hugely dominant again. Nintendo and Microsoft were minnows in comparison. Then we come to the Playstation three (PS3) generation and suddenly the wheels fall off. Sony are running third and it very much looks like it is going to stay that way. Analysts and fanboys continually promise or hope that a revival in fortunes is just around the corner, but it never comes. So what went wrong:

• The cell processor, this was a huge mistake in many ways. Firstly it cost a fortune in development and putting into production, which is money that needs to be recovered. Secondly it delayed getting the PS3 to market, giving away huge competitive advantage. Thirdly, whilst very powerful, it is a very long way from being optimised for the job of running a console. Overall they would have been better buying an off the shelf generalised processor as they did for previous models and as their competitors did.

Sony is all about keeping their system alive for as long as possible. There whole plan is to safe guard the PS3's future by making the tech inside future proof. Instead of going the 360 , Wii route which will render their system obsolete in a few years

• The graphics processor is a lot less powerful than the one in it’s main competitor’s machine. This effectively limits what the PS3 can do, no matter what the CPU and memory are doing. Fanboys blame the developers for being lazy and not putting enough work into PS3 games when the reality is that it is the machine itself that is holding the games back.

Debatable. Ive heard many of these arguments yet nothing ever sticks right. All I know is that most game developers agree is that the PS3 is superior in most fields. Even those companies that make 360 exclusives admit that. I dont know what all those numbers really mean but Ill take their word on it.

• BluRay. The Playstation 3 was used as a Trojan horse to get this technology standard accepted by the world. And at this it has succeeded. But at a terrible cost. It forced the price of the PS3 up sufficiently to stifle consumer demand whilst forcing Sony to absorb massive losses. It is strange that Sony nearly bet the company on this at a time when physical delivery of content is in steep decline. A phyrric victory indeed. If this were not enough, difficulties in putting BluRay into production contributed to the delays in getting PS3 to market.

PS1 ushered in CDs as a standard videogame format, something never done before on the lvl sony accomplished. PS2 braught in dvd. DVD was in its begining stages just as blu ray is now. it was not yet deemed the nxt successor but i like to think it was sony's decision to go with the format that swayed a few heads to go that way.  blu ray is no different. some studies even depict blu ray at being adopted at a much faster pace, seeing as sales have gone up 300% since last yr.

• The complex architecture of the PS3 makes it very difficult to develop content for. A lot more difficult than for it’s main competitors. This wasn’t helped by Sony releasing development tools that were also greatly weaker than those from its competitors. A double whammy that caused huge problems for games developers worldwide. Many games were delayed because the problems were so great, costing the game developers a fortune and depriving the marketplace of product.

This is a valid point, i agree with u fully. Sony F'ed up there!

• Sony totally misread the way the market was going. They have clung to their hardcore gamer base and squandered the lead in casual gaming that they had with EyeToy and SingStar. Nintendo have come along with a simpler machine that has massively outsold the Sony PS3 with the simple tactic of providing entertainment that is accessible to a lot more people. With hindsight it looks so obvious, but Sony missed it completely. As a result Nintendo made a fortune and Sony lost a fortune.

I dont think they mis read it ass much as they underestimated it. They planned ahead with the blu ray and cell tech but they underestimated the pace that ppl would be willing to adopt their format and technology. Marketing on Sony's side for the PS3 was ALL WRONG! which left a blind spot for NIN and M$ to swoop in and take the leads.

• Sony have been stretched for cash. They have made losses. The technology in the PS3 has cost a fortune and they are almost certainly still making a loss on every machine sold. They have been forced to raise new capital and to sell off bits of the company. So they have little room to manoeuvre. They cannot throw money at the PS3 problem. This whilst their two main competitors are rolling in money which they are both using to reinforce their positions.

valid, again.

• Lack of exclusive content. Both competing machines have a lot more exclusive AAA content. This is a massive USP when the reason for buying these machines is to play content on them. Microsoft have invested heavily into a very impressive catalogue of exclusives and have managed to seduce some former major Sony exclusives into becoming cross platform. This alone has caused an immense shift in competitive advantage.

also fairly valid. The loss of exclusive thing pisses me off...

• Sony have messed up very badly with online. This is a real killer and comes from them being a hardware company whilst Microsoft is a software company. So Microsoft understood the importance of online and invested massively in Live. And that investment is paying them back enormously. So they continue to invest and Live is becoming one of the biggest phenomenons ever in gaming. Giving customers a massive USP whilst generating a lot of revenue for Microsoft. And it is growing with almost unbelievable impetus, both in content and in users. The Sony competitor, Home, is still not released after multiple delays and is now several years behind. It will be nearly impossible for Sony to pull back such a huge lead.

I agree partially. Live has changed the game around. Yet I think Sony is going the BETTER route in the end. While Live is nice. It is still not worth paying for, when the opponent's online service is FREE. Live has a few quirks that put it over PSN but not enough to warrent  payment. And now that Sony is hard at work on PSN and online interactivity, MS should be scared. Becuz what is going to happen when PS3's online is better and FREE, while 360's is inferior and COSTS?

• Sony have huge, world class, divisions in many areas. Telephones, Film making, Portable Music (they invented this) and Console Gaming. Yet these divisions appear not to talk to each other. So a potential huge strength has become a weakness. The film division isn’t used to place all their unique IP on the consoles for instance. And outsiders who are less constrained can enter Sony’s markets and win. Hence the iPhone which could and should have been a Sony product yet instead has come from a company, Apple, that just a few years earlier had no stake whatsoever in consumer electronics.

also very valid. I always wondered y these other parts never come to the PS3's rescue

With all that against them it is amazing that Sony have sold as many PS3s as they have. The reason they have done so is because of the impetus of the brand and the loyalty of a large section of their user base. The majority of console users have yet to upgrade to this generation, there is still a huge untapped market of non console households and we have yet to reach the $199 sweet spot when the bulk of sales occur. So there is still hope for Sony, which is what the analysts are grasping for. The problem for Sony now is that the sheer weight of USPs is against them. A gulf that further widened this E3 where Nintendo and Microsoft forged ahead whilst Sony were distinctly lacklustre."

 

I agree with most of it.

for the most part u are right. Sony needs to step their game up. As an employee of Gamestop i feel i have a little insight on how they are doing and how they could do better.

Sony needs too

• Cut price, average consumer CANNOT buy the system cuz it is too costly. This also tends to stem some bad press from people who try to tear it down as a "overpriced machine".
• PUT BC BACK! y they took this out alludes me. Backwards Compatibility was one of the main features that make the PS3 so much better than 360 which completely forsaken its younger bro when it arrived on the scene.
• Better Advertisements. The Ladies and Gentlemen ones were really good. Yet I still see MultiPlat games with commercials that only show 360 tag. Also more special deals when buying a PS3.
• MAKE SOME KIND OF DEAL TO KEEP EXCLUSIVES! I completely understand y Sony previously never baught into tho whol shell out money for exclusives thing. This invites ALL companies to want to be paid for their "good will". Sony is a big company that makes alot of money, but not nearly enough to pay all the big wig companies for their trust. And sony simply cannot win in a dollar roll cockfight with MS (Seriously). Yet they need to do SOMETHING. Maybe add a little insentive such as FREE DEV KITS, or help with developement. O and one more thing, JUST GO AHEAD AND BUY SQUARE-ENIX so we NEVER have to witness the atrocity that is FFXIII on 360!
• v

so far PS3 is at a semi good pace. Its better than the 360 was in the same time frame, Its library is going, and its hype is increasing.