Sony losses expected at $1.5 billion

[Pristine20]

disolitude said:

Pristine20 said:

 

I saw the videos and one of the first things I noticed was that all the people commenting were Sega employees/former sega employees who are apt to be biased. Even then, no one ever seemed to blame sony for sega's console downfall.

Why on earth was sega of America's CEO fired to begin with when he seemed to be the one who really knew what he was doing?

It looked to me from the videos that sony only tried to withhold it's ps1 fanbase not really to "destroy sega" like you put it. If anything, they were quick to pay for virtua fighter when sega announced that it would support all platforms. As the video said, Sega lost JP because of DVD not really sony. Sony was just smart to add DVD since they didn't have the launch titles (perhps they rushed so their ps1 customers didn't give up waiting in favor of DC).

At the end of the day, if you have to blame anyone for sega's downfall, you'd have to blame gamers their because they seemed more intent on watching dvds on ps2 than playing the great games on dreamcast and please don't tell me it was hype because after the ps2' launch it was obvious that the games weren't there yet but gamers waited for the games to come instead of buying DC. Or you could blame sega's management for poor planning and a bad model. It's obvious that they knew they already lost consumer confidence because the ex-CEO of sega of America said it himself.

Perhaps sega just rushed waay to early and most still loved their ps1s. I for one still loved mine and couldn't be bothered getting a new console till FFX considering the fact that FFix even came out on ps1 in 2000 which was after the DC launch.

By the time they were ready to move on, ps2 was established and DC was nowhere to be found. Rushing to market is never a good thing and a haemorrhage model is even worse. Many people held off on 360 as well till sony decided to launch ps3 for $600. As for the wii, it just breezed past both with it's new model. Would you say M$ killed ps3's potential or sony did it themselves?

Bernie Stolar was fired becuase he put the DC for sale at 199 bucks. Sega of Japan wanted it for sale at 249 as the system cost around 220 to build/ship etc... He actually came form Sony in 1995 and made some really stupid decisions with the saturn (such as blocking all japanese rpgs for the saturn to the us) and is one of the reasons sega was in the mess they were. So yeah...good riddence.

Otherwise I dont thik Sony wanted sega out as well. They just wanted most marketshare they could gobble up. I am not blaming sony...although as a gamer I am kinda pissed that a DVD player with promise of amazing grpahics wowed the audience more than a machine which was delivering kick ass software.

All I was saying with my initial post is that its kind of funny how times change. The PS3 specs hype + bluray is exactly the same model as PS2s specs hype + dvd. Both had somewhat dry software for the first year and both were pricier than competition. However one worked and captured the market and one didn't... Its much harder to dominate the market like sony did with ps1 and ps2 (crowding the 3rd party market, losing money on consoles, hype hype hype) when you have someone with deeper pockets going toe to toe with you.

As for the DC, it was jsut a bad time for that tye of a console. PS2 gen was the last gen where console bits/bytes and polygons mattered. If DC could have only come out today, as it was just adjusted for current time with specs. Someone would be able to give nintendo a run for their money as its obvious neither MS or Sony know how to do hype free/lose money for marketshare gaming.

 

Well in this business it all about what the consumer wants not what "seem good'' to us. Looks like it was DVD back then like it is Motion controls now. Many would make your argument for the 360/ps3 in terms of software but wii sports is enough for many in the mainstream.

The problem with the ps3 model was price and unfortunately the price was partly a result of the blu-ray this time. Add the fact that you need a new TV to enjoy the blu-ray and an economic recession and you have a mega-bummer on your hands. Blu-ray failed because the price of entry was just too steep in a recession. It has since improved but it would take a WHILE to get to DVD status if it ever gets there.

BTW, hype has nothing to do with ps2 sales. Whatever sony could've possibly said wasn't played on TV...only gaming outlets which most gamers didn't even read back then. PS1 is credited for introducing a new kind of market to gaming. Sony's branding overall was also very strong back then. It simply natural that most ps1 gamers like myself waited on ps2 instead of buying something else. People stick with brands they've come to trust...that was sony. Sega on the other hand still had the mistrust looming and consumers seem to be an unforgiving bunch.

Well looks like you agree with me that the timing was really off.