Sony Admires Microsoft's Decision to Change Xbox One

[roseofbattle]

Sony Admires Microsoft's Decision to Change Xbox One

Microsoft is full of smart people, Sony says, and the company is happy to have healthy competition in North America.

Amidst all the talk of whether the PS4 or Xbox One is better, which console will have better games, and which one will sell more, Shuhei Yoshida, president of Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment, praised Microsoft's policy changes. Yoshida said the company is smart for realizing their mistakes and changing its console for fans.

"We know they're very smart people," Yoshida said. "It's great that they were able to quickly realize that some of the things they were doing were not popular, and were able to make really quick decisions to change some of those things...It shows their dedication to making Xbox One successful."

Yoshida also said the market for the consoles is very different in the United States compared to Europe, where Sony has a larger market share, and Japan, where people have had a longer association with Sony's brand. "We never took [Microsoft] lightly," he added.

While Yoshida is happy to have healthy competition between Sony and Microsoft as it challenges both companies to do better, he is also confident about the launch of the PS4 against Microsoft's Xbox One. The PS4 is designed for consumers while also being hardware that game developers will enjoy making games for, he said. The PS4 will be fun to use "not just for playing games but for finding out about games and sharing the experience with others." Furthermore, Yoshida is excited about the future of many indie titles for the PS4 and PS Vita.

"We believe this is the most powerful console ever made," he said. "The content, the games available, the usage of PS4 surrounding games... That's the message we've been communicating, and we'll continue to do that."

Source: GamesIndustry International [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-10-03-shuhei-yoshida-playstation-4-indies-and-the-xbox-one]

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[ZZoMBiE13]

Classy move Yoshida. Nicely done.

 

[Psychobabble]

"Yoshida then went on to give a fakey cough that sounded suspiciously like 'losers'"

It's pretty easy to be the "big man" when your opponent is busy hopping around in pain after shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Put it like this folks, if Microsoft does lose and stop making consoles, and Nintendo decides the US market is no longer profitable, you realize that there will be no more competition to drive down prices and Sony will have free reign to charge whatever they want? Unless for some reason the SteamBox thing is embraced by the non-core gaming society, which I doubt heavily.
Less competition though will mean more you'll pay and no incentive for Sony to care what you say.

 

[Vivi22]

Put it like this folks, if Microsoft does lose and stop making consoles, and Nintendo decides the US market is no longer profitable, you realize that there will be no more competition to drive down prices and Sony will have free reign to charge whatever they want? Unless for some reason the SteamBox thing is embraced by the non-core gaming society, which I doubt heavily.
Less competition though will mean more you'll pay and no incentive for Sony to care what you say.

Anyone who honestly believes that Microsoft failing in the console business and/or Nintendo pulling out would lead to less competition doesn't know much about the history of the console industry.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Put it like this folks, if Microsoft does lose and stop making consoles, and Nintendo decides the US market is no longer profitable, you realize that there will be no more competition to drive down prices and Sony will have free reign to charge whatever they want? Unless for some reason the SteamBox thing is embraced by the non-core gaming society, which I doubt heavily.
Less competition though will mean more you'll pay and no incentive for Sony to care what you say.

Anyone who honestly believes that Microsoft failing in the console business and/or Nintendo pulling out would lead to less competition doesn't know much about the history of the console industry.

I'm not saying they will, I'm saying that people who root for Xbox and Nintendo to fail are short-sighted.

 

[Angelous Wang]

Sony will have free reign to charge whatever they want?

Did you miss the the entire PS1&PS2 15-16 years of undisputed console dominance?

Even when they have the monopoly console game prices are kept in check by PC game prices and other things.

 

[geizr]

This is an epitome of "being a good sport" and "a gracious winner", something I wish some of the people in LoL would learn (yes, I do play that on occasion, when my stomach is willing to stand it; I actually like the game but can't stand the personalities of some of the players. I have a lot of people on ignore.).

 

[CriticalMiss]

Put it like this folks, if Microsoft does lose and stop making consoles, and Nintendo decides the US market is no longer profitable, you realize that there will be no more competition to drive down prices and Sony will have free reign to charge whatever they want?.

If they started charging an extortionate amount people would just stop buying Playstation games and either jump ship to PCs or pirate games. And it would give people more incentive to support the rise of new consoles to challenge the Sony dominance.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Sony will have free reign to charge whatever they want?

Did you miss the the entire PS1&PS2 15-16 years of undisputed console dominance?

Even when they have the monopoly console game prices are kept in check by PC game prices and other things.

Nope, and actually the PSX almost failed in its first few years. Sega was still around back then and Nintendo also had consoles. So there was no undisputed dominance. PS2 era marked the failure of the Dreamcast and the rise of the Xbox, also Gamecube existed. So there was no monopoly for 15-16 years. Take off the nostalgia glasses.

 

[james.sponge]

I still think MS will be making money in the North America whereas sony will get European and Asian markets. Despite all that negative feedback xbone is getting we can't forget about that silent majority whose allegiance no one is able to determine not to mention the fact they can be easily swayed by marketing campaigns. And there is no reason to think MS or Sony will refrain from aggressive marketing strategies.

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

While I don't want Microsoft to fail, I want the Xbone to completely bomb, and while Sony will be an unchallenged victor for a generation, much like with the last console generation, I then want to see Microsoft come roaring back with their next console (God know what they'll call it), and have a knock-down, drag-out battle between the Big S and the Big M. Not really considering Nintendo, because unless something major happens, they'll just keep being a little first-party console with the occasional infuriating third-party exclusive.

 

[Rad Party God]

This is an epitome of "being a good sport" and "a gracious winner", something I wish some of the people in LoL would learn (yes, I do play that on occasion, when my stomach is willing to stand it; I actually like the game but can't stand the personalities of some of the players. I have a lot of people on ignore.).

Interesting, it has happened the exact opposite to me, yes, I've met some nasty people on LoL, but I've met a lot of nice (or at lest decent) people that far surpasses the bad ones.

OT: Well, that's a gentleman right there, I hope Miscrosoft takes notes about interacting with their competitors and their own community.

 

[Arawn]

Xbox One will fail. Now, don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's a crappy system or it's going to crash and burn. What I'm saying is that in the eyes of Microsoft the Xbox One will be a failure. Much like the AAA game makers, MS is putting alot of expectations upon this system. And that was even before the revamp. They hoped to revolutionize the whole home console into a central unit of your living room. The new generation of Xbox would be there for all your entertainment needs; movies, music, games, & TV all rolled into one. Not a bad idea when think about it. The problem came with the system they wished to implement, not to mention the PR that followed. That being said MS still has high hopes. Profits are good, but I think they probably wish to make 7 to 10 times the cost up in overall sales or something even more extreme. Didn't they say they were breaking even on the console? So game sales, Gold, etc are going to be all profit.

 

[balladbird]

Nope, and actually the PSX almost failed in its first few years. Sega was still around back then and Nintendo also had consoles. So there was no undisputed dominance. PS2 era marked the failure of the Dreamcast and the rise of the Xbox, also Gamecube existed. So there was no monopoly for 15-16 years. Take off the nostalgia glasses.

He didn't say monopoly, he said dominance, and that's a hard fact, no need for nostalgia glasses.

he got the dates wrong, of course, the PSX era had a strong finish for sony, but that was just enough to balance out the weak start.

No one can deny that the PS2 utterly dominated all comers. It sold more units than the gamecube, xbox, and dreamcast combined, and continued to be the best selling console for two years into the PS3/X360 wars. The PS2 was lightning in a bottle.

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

This is an epitome of "being a good sport" and "a gracious winner"

While I know it's the thing on the Escapist to be knee-jerk and make a lot of assumptions don't count Microsoft out yet. The PS3 shot itself in the foot with the 600 dollar price point and barely survived the first years as a Blu-ray player with promises of MGS4 on the horizon. It still recovered. Like Yoshida said, they aren't idiots. That being said, I do want Bill Gates to burst into the Zynga offices and vigorously slam Don Mattrick's head into the nearest desk at least 50 times.

 

[geizr]

This is an epitome of "being a good sport" and "a gracious winner"

While I know it's the thing on the Escapist to be knee-jerk and make a lot of assumptions don't count Microsoft out yet. The PS3 shot itself in the foot with the 600 dollar price point and barely survived the first years as a Blu-ray player with promises of MGS4 on the horizon. It still recovered. Like Yoshida said, they aren't idiots. That being said, I do want Bill Gates to burst into the Zynga offices and vigorously slam Don Mattrick's head into the nearest desk at least 50 times.

I think it's safe to say that in the eyes of the public court, at least for the short-term, that Sony has won. They've certainly garnered a lot of goodwill from the market, in my opinion, as a result of the contrast in policies with Microsoft. So, I don't agree that I'm knee-jerk reacting, here. However, I will agree that you are correct about the more long-term outcome; that is unknown and virtually impossible to predict, even at this moment. It is always possible for Microsoft to make a late-game comeback to win the season.

Of course, at the end of the day, the only thing that truly matters is whether you enjoy the system and games that you've purchased, and to hell with the fanboys and their techno-religious crusades or what even reviewers and critics say. If you enjoy it and have fun with it, there's no need to worry about anyone else's opinion on the matter.

 

[Lightknight]

"Yoshida then went on to give a fakey cough that sounded suspiciously like 'losers'"

It's pretty easy to be the "big man" when your opponent is busy hopping around in pain after shooting themselves in the foot.

No, that's exactly when it's the hardest to be the big man. Considering that all of the ps4's preordered versions including the standard version are currently sold out, now would be an easy time to rub it in.

Consider this, the only XBO version to sell out is the XBO Day one edition and that version sold less than the PS4 launch day version. The XBO has only two versions, standard and day one. The PS4 had six versions. Launch, Standard, and four bundles (Knack, Killzone, Watchdogs, Battlefield 4). All six versions are currently sold out and four of their versions are in 2013's 100 top seller's in video games list for amazon. The standard XBO isn't even on that list and isn't sold out.

So Sony is truly handing it to Microsoft right now. Even if the XBO eventually reaches that list, it'd still have a long way to catch up to just one of the other versions. Not to mention that I now the Killzone bundle isn't far from that list. I'm not sure about the knack version. I think that one had the least bundles for sale.

What Sony is doing here isn't showing class. I mean, it is. But what we're seeing is a company that has a marketing/pr department that deserves a raise. Whoever bungled their launch for ps3 must have been let go and these new guys learned from the predecessor's mistake. I even saw a PS4 add that I liked. Even chuckled at it. The one with the robots where the other gamers showed up late to the carnage after the early birds had already cleaned up. I remember ps3 ads that were practically designed for no other purpose to give people nightmares. I distinctly remember a weird crying baby doll with a broken eye that reminded me of Toy Story's creepiest scene.

 

[Avaholic03]

Why do I get the impression that this is a backhanded compliment? Like saying "better late than never" to the slow kid crossing the finish line.