Sony's Q1 Financials Show Sales Increase, No Thanks To Games

[Karloff]

Sony's Q1 Financials Show Sales Increase, No Thanks To Games

PS4 research and development costs pushed Sony's Game segment significantly in the red.

Smartphones and a favorable exchange rate helped Sony achieve a 13% increase, year-on-year, in sales, bumping up operating income by ¥30.1 billion ($367 million). Had it not been for those two factors, things might have turned out very differently, since sales of video and compact digital cameras are down, and the game segment's research and development costs for the PS4 pushed that segment deeply in the red. The game segment made an operating loss of 14.8%, or $149 million.

But that exchange rate doesn't always help, and Sony's anticipating higher game sales but lower results, due to the depreciation of the yen against the dollar. High U.S. dollar hardware costs will offset any sales gains the game segment might make. "Sales are expected to increase significantly and operating results are expected to deteriorate significantly year-on-year," according to Sony. Sony is revising consolidated sales for the fiscal year upward in spite of this, primarily due to the positive impact of the depreciation of the yen on sales of its other products.

This won't last forever. Research and development are costs that must be eaten, in the short term, but come Christmas the new console will launch, delivering "the ultimate gaming experience" according to Sony. Then things will start looking a lot better. The rapturous reception the PS4 enjoyed at E3 - helped in no small part by Microsoft's blunders [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124817-PlayStation-4-Game-Sharing-This-Is-How-Its-Done] - gives Sony every reason to think Christmas will be very good for its new console.

Source: Sony [http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/library/er.html]


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[Roxas1359]

Eh Sony is taking a risk that will hopefully pay off for them. Seems all 3 of the companies are taking big hits in the games sector, but usually that's the case whenever a new console is developed it would seem. Hopefully this pays off for them in the end and they don't suffer from issues like how the RRoD was.

 

[Dragonbums]

Most of the money they had was practically demolished by the PS3. Even worse so when it's highly expensive cell processing console wasn't doing that well. Making it the worst loss per units than the other two companies. Hopefully they will learn their lesson on that front.
However the more I hear about the PS4, the less I'm inclined to get it along with a Wii U. They lost me the moment they uttered pay for online. Sorry, I pay too much for videogames new to not have online multiplayer to come with it.

Keep in mind though that they are still in competition with Nintendo. With the host of games that came out this summer on the 3DS and Wii U, along with a couple other games Iwata claimed to not announced yet, Sony has to keep on their toes.

Another thing is price point.
Everyone is hurting financially and some people will rather opt for the cheapest console, which is the Wii U.
Also parents who are decently aware of anything videogames will probably associate anything Nintendo as a kids platform, therefore making it a system safe for their kids. So you have that factor.

Overall I think they will do well this season. However they better drop the online pay requirement or they aren't going to see a cent from me.

 

[Roxas1359]

snip

Seems they have learned their lesson from the PS3 I think, especially since they've come out and listed everything that was wrong with the PS3, something you usually won't see a company doing much of. Mainly they got a big head because the PS2 was the best seller, still is number one console with DS behind it by a couple million, and the PS1 sold 3 times more than the N64 did back in the day, so yeah they got pretty big-headed. .
As for the online play really it's not that bad because when you join PS+ you get a lot of benefits from it. But then again it doesn't bother me if I have it or not because I don't play multiplayer games on my PS3 at all, there are more single player games on there that I like. Plus at least they are keeping the benefits of PS+ and the fact that you can still buy things from the store and access Hulu and Netflix without needing PS+, unlike how Xbox Live does it for some reason.

Honestly just wait for the PS4 to be out for like a year or two and then get it because by then any big problems are usually identified by then and then fixed. I say usually because some problems seemed to stay for a while. *cough*Red Ring*cough*
Ever since that I don't trust consoles the first year of their launch, not since those issues.

 

[Church185]

Plus at least they are keeping the benefits of PS+ and the fact that you can still buy things from the store and access Hulu and Netflix without needing PS+, unlike how Xbox Live does it for some reason.

Most Xbox bashing is fully deserved in my mind, but I need to correct you on one point. You can access and buy anything you want from the XBL marketplace without having a Gold subscription. Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, and other services like that are gated behind the service though. It would be very silly for them to not allow people to spend money if they didn't have a gold account.

I was a Sony fanboy back during the PS1 and PS2 eras, but I definitely jumped ship to the Xbox 360 when the PS3 was first announced due to the higher price point and lack of decent exclusives for the first year or so (though I eventually bought it). I'm jumping ship again this gen because the PS4 seems like it will be better for gaming than the Xbox One and I'm already kind of used to paying for online multiplayer, though now I'm getting those sweet PS+ bonuses.

 

[Roxas1359]

Plus at least they are keeping the benefits of PS+ and the fact that you can still buy things from the store and access Hulu and Netflix without needing PS+, unlike how Xbox Live does it for some reason.

Most Xbox bashing is fully deserved in my mind, but I need to correct you on one point. You can access and buy anything you want from the XBL marketplace without having a Gold subscription. Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, and other services like that are gated behind the service though. It would be very silly for them to not allow people to spend money if they didn't have a gold account.

For me it wouldn't let me purchase DLC or even download free games like Doritos Crash Course or Doritos Crash Course 2 when I had a Silver account as the download option wasn't there, but once I got a Gold membership it allowed me. I originally started out with the Xbox 360 as I jumped ship to the 360 when it launched, but 2 years after the PS3 launched A Crack in Time caught my eye and I jumped ship back to it. I then spent time going back and forth, but nowadays I just stick with my PS3 and my Xbox 360 is in a box until I need it for recording.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Plus at least they are keeping the benefits of PS+ and the fact that you can still buy things from the store and access Hulu and Netflix without needing PS+, unlike how Xbox Live does it for some reason.

I was a Sony fanboy back during the PS1 and PS2 eras, but I definitely jumped ship to the Xbox 360 when the PS3 was first announced due to the higher price point and lack of decent exclusives for the first year or so (though I eventually bought it). I'm jumping ship again this gen because the PS4 seems like it will be better for gaming than the Xbox One and I'm already kind of used to paying for online multiplayer, though now I'm getting those sweet PS+ bonuses.

I am in that same boat. I absolutely LOVED my PS2 and when I heard the price for the PS3, coupled with the fact that they were abandoning most of the PS2 library, I switched to XBox. Now with all of Microsplat's initial bonehead decisions, I too am switching back to Playstation. Not only do I have a PS+ subscription, but I also have a PS Vita with Persona 4 Golden and other downloaded games (most of the them free with the PS+, mind) and I have Diablo 3 and Final Fantasy 14 coming for the PS3 (PS4 for when that becomes available). Not to mention I got Persona 4 Arena for the PS3 a little while ago.

My uncle finally convinced me a while back to get a PS3 because of games like Breath of Fire 4, Grandia, Wild ARMs, Chrono Trigger, Legend of Dragoon and Legend of Mana. Have been quite content with it ever since.

 

[Church185]

For me it wouldn't let me purchase DLC or even download free games like Doritos Crash Course or Doritos Crash Course 2 when I had a Silver account as the download option wasn't there, but once I got a Gold membership it allowed me. I originally started out with the Xbox 360 as I jumped ship to the 360 when it launched, but 2 years after the PS3 launched A Crack in Time caught my eye and I jumped ship back to it. I then spent time going back and forth, but nowadays I just stick with my PS3 and my Xbox 360 is in a box until I need it for recording.

I think Doritos Crash Course 1/2 might have been Gold exclusive but don't quote me on that. I never ran in to any issues with buying anything other than Gold exclusive stuff when I would let my account lapse so I have no idea why you would have that problem.

Speaking of A Crack in Time, were any of the Ratchet and Clank for the PS3 any good? I played all 4 (yes even Deadlocked) that came out during the PS2 era, but I never got around to picking up the new ones when I heard that All4One was terrible.

 

[Church185]

I am in that same boat. I absolutely LOVED my PS2 and when I heard the price for the PS3, coupled with the fact that they were abandoning most of the PS2 library, I switched to XBox. Now with all of Microsplat's initial bonehead decisions, I too am switching back to Playstation. Not only do I have a PS+ subscription, but I also have a PS Vita with Persona 4 Golden and other downloaded games (most of the them free with the PS+, mind) and I have Diablo 3 and Final Fantasy 14 coming for the PS3 (PS4 for when that becomes available). Not to mention I got Persona 4 Arena for the PS3 a little while ago.

My uncle finally convinced me a while back to get a PS3 because of games like Breath of Fire 4, Grandia, Wild ARMs, Chrono Trigger, Legend of Dragoon and Legend of Mana. Have been quite content with it ever since.

Yeah, I finally got a PS3 back in November. I didn't really play it much outside of exclusives until Microsoft went and made of mess of things. I've switched all of my preordered cross platform titles over to PS3 (including FFXIV:ARR *brofist*) and cancelled all of my 360 exclusives (though I kind of still want Fable HD). My Gold account lapsed last month and when it did I went out and bought a year of PS+ because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I had to dig myself out from under the pile of games I got in the first month alone to come type this reply. I can't wait to see what next month brings me.

 

[Roxas1359]

Speaking of A Crack in Time, were any of the Ratchet and Clank for the PS3 any good? I played all 4 (yes even Deadlocked) that came out during the PS2 era, but I never got around to picking up the new ones when I heard that All4One was terrible.

The Future series was excellent actually. Tools of Destruction was both fun to replay and humorous. Quest for Booty was decent, but was not a full Ratchet and Clank game and was only meant to connect Tools of Destruction to A Crack in Time. A Crack in Time for me is tied as being one of my favorite Ratchet and Clank games ever. All 4 One is okay, but not the best and Full Frontal Assault was mediocre at best. With Into the Nexus though they seem to be returning to the way the old R&C games used to be which is good.
A Crack in Time is what sold me on a PS3 and I still love it.

Spoiler: Here's one of the trailers for it, familiar enemy no?

 

[Church185]

Speaking of A Crack in Time, were any of the Ratchet and Clank for the PS3 any good? I played all 4 (yes even Deadlocked) that came out during the PS2 era, but I never got around to picking up the new ones when I heard that All4One was terrible.

The Future series was excellent actually. Tools of Destruction was both fun to replay and humorous. Quest for Booty was decent, but was not a full Ratchet and Clank game and was only meant to connect Tools of Destruction to A Crack in Time. A Crack in Time for me is tied as being one of my favorite Ratchet and Clank games ever. All 4 One is okay, but not the best and Full Frontal Assault was mediocre at best. With Into the Nexus though they seem to be returning to the way the old R&C games used to be which is good.
A Crack in Time is what sold me on a PS3 and I still love it.

Spoiler: Here's one of the trailers for it, familiar enemy no?

BAM sold! Looks like I'll be looking for used copies of A Crack in Time and Tools of Destruction. That was my favorite game series back then, and I'll jump on any excuse to get back into it.

 

[Dragonbums]

snip

Seems they have learned their lesson from the PS3 I think, especially since they've come out and listed everything that was wrong with the PS3, something you usually won't see a company doing much of. Mainly they got a big head because the PS2 was the best seller, still is number one console with DS behind it by a couple million, and the PS1 sold 3 times more than the N64 did back in the day, so yeah they got pretty big-headed. .
As for the online play really it's not that bad because when you join PS+ you get a lot of benefits from it. But then again it doesn't bother me if I have it or not because I don't play multiplayer games on my PS3 at all, there are more single player games on there that I like. Plus at least they are keeping the benefits of PS+ and the fact that you can still buy things from the store and access Hulu and Netflix without needing PS+, unlike how Xbox Live does it for some reason.

Honestly just wait for the PS4 to be out for like a year or two and then get it because by then any big problems are usually identified by then and then fixed. I say usually because some problems seemed to stay for a while. *cough*Red Ring*cough*
Ever since that I don't trust consoles the first year of their launch, not since those issues.

That's probably what I'm gonna do.
I was never a first day console buyer.
Only company I would trust on that front is Nintendo, however due to lack of money excluding holidays and the such I tend to simply drool over everyone else having the console I can't get until late into the life cycle game. (With the exception of handhelds. For whatever reason I'm always on ball with that.)

Know this about me though, I am a very cheap person.
No, really I am. The benefits might be good yes, but still I'd rather know I can access online whenever I want to for free then knowing I have to pay for it.
They should just stick to the old model of free online play, but with no benefits, and PS+ with all the benefits that come with it. That way those who WANT to pay for more can, but it doesn't leave everyone else that are too frugal/poor to pony up more than $60 in the dust.

I do agree though, I rarely use multiplayer. Only time I really use it is for Pokemon and TF2. Other then that-no interest, but still...at least I have the choice to do it when I so wish.