Sony Says Profits More Important than Beating Microsoft

[justnotcricket]

Sony really is so mercenary.

It's stuff like this which is why I think the people who run play station don't have souls. They're not passionate about the industry they're in. They just seem to want to turn profit.

Don't forget that the spokesperson in the article is the 'Brand Manager'. Brand Management is, so far as I understand it, in essence basically the generation of more money for the company.

So what you see as 'mercenary' and 'soulless' is this guy's job, and he's probably pretty passionate about it. If they'd spoken to a creative director or a designer the attitude might have been different, the passion in a different place, but it's there all the same. This dude tries to make Sony richer - every company has someone like this. Hell, heavyweights like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo etc probably have more than one.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

It's stuff like this which is why I think the people who run play station don't have souls. They're not passionate about the industry they're in. They just seem to want to turn profit.

What, are you saying that Microsoft or Nintendo is are any better?

Nintendo's consoles was started out of trying to get the games they made into everyone's home. Xbox was more a conversation that went a little like: "DUDE! We can totally make the best games console out there if we do this that and the other!" toward which the reply was "We totally CAN!" Playstation was born out of deal with nintendo whereupon sony would have had full licensing power over the games released on the nintendo console (it was called something like the nintendo cd and was never released) which nintendo pulled out of after sony refused to let them have the licensing back. The machine they released (not the play station) went on to turn profit and they went on to make the Play station original. I always had the feeling they did this out of this is working, let us keep doing this, not, ZOMG GAMES!!!

Don't get me wrong I do enjoy playing on the playstation. I just don't feel like the people behind it are that enthused by it.

Nintendo has been milking their flagship games with mass amounts of sports spin-off and mini game comps more than any other company. They also don't really advance some of their games (shown by the copy pasta formula of LoZ and the blatant lazyness with Super Mario Galaxy 2 ripping off bosses straight from SMG1) I don't call that "bieng enthused" about the video game business.

Microsoft charges people for online and access to the console's features when there is no need to because the competitors do it free. They also have very little variety in their exclusive and pay companies to keep certain games exclusive(Star Ocean 4, Infinite Undiscovery, Fallout 3 DLC, GTA4 DLC are all examples). That sounds like a , as you put it, souless company. A company that puts a small effort in to making great games and it instead buys the better games to keep them from competitors.

Sorry but Nintendo and MS are just as souless now as you say Sony is. It's business. And MS has said things like this all the time.

And the Nintendo machine you referred (The Phillips CDi) to did not turn a profit. Especially not at $700 in 1991 as a release price. It flopped hard. And Nintendo did actually pull out when they realized that Sony has the rights to their games. They actually didn't really talk to Sony about the rights issue. They just randomly announced the Phillips deal without Sony's knowledge. Hell, Sony didn't even sue for the breach of contract, and you call them souless.

Just wanted to clear up that.

 

[Something Amyss]

The problem is, the two are relatively inseparable. That's why things like being the leading console matter in the first place. Better negotiating power, better shot at exclusives, better time drawing resources....

Granted, the 360 is pretty worthless for exclusives right now, so they may be on to something.

 

[Atmos Duality]

This is something of a non-story.
Sony's strategy hasn't changed one iota: Sell Playstation 3's, make money on licensing royalties.
Really, the only difference between now and the PS3's launch is that Sony isn't trying to shove their corporate balls in our face anymore.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

but doesn't beating Microsoft also mean more profits?

 

[Atmos Duality]

but doesn't beating Microsoft also mean more profits?

Expanding the number of systems in households to Microsoft's market share will yield the same increases in profit regardless of whether they "beat" Microsoft of not.
This is why I call it a non-issue. Microsoft exists in this market, but unless Sony ends up ruining Microsoft to the point where Sony can gain a monopoly in that market (this will not happen. I guarantee it.) the point is moot. Microsoft and Sony will continue to compete; the aggregate number of customers for each side will continue to grow, and things will remain peachy until the next generation of consoles (assuming this isn't the last generation where it's feasible to market home consoles due to the cost per unit vs consumer pricing-expectations).

Hence, why I called the article a non-story.
Either Sony's market spread will either grow, or it won't. More gamers are acquiring BOTH systems now that prices have gone down. Albeit slowly, but that's a good way of describing the market saturation level for both the 360 and PS3; slow, but certain.

And they're not losing hundreds of dollars per unit sold anymore either. Honestly, it's a good thing, they had to foot a bill far larger than they ever expected for the first what, 4 or 5 years of the PS3's life? And at the same time, keep themselves looking inviting to 3rd parties who weren't really interested in learning a new way to develope games?

I don't think they've really been in much of a position to worry about how much profit they can make for quite some time. As a company, I think they kinda have to for the shareholders alone, if nothing else.

The only real hot topic with Sony right now is of course, Geohot's case. Apart from that, things look like business-as-usual, only without the 360's multiplatform support wrecking Sony's market share (well, apart from Black Ops of course, which puzzles me to this day how the biggest AAA game in the business can't even get a port-job right).

 

[Dele]

Battle for the second place rages on as both parties make empty statements...

Better luck next gen

 

[GonzoGamer]

The only real hot topic with Sony right now is of course, Geohot's case. Apart from that, things look like business-as-usual, only without the 360's multiplatform support wrecking Sony's market share (well, apart from Black Ops of course, which puzzles me to this day how the biggest AAA game in the business can't even get a port-job right).

The good side is, they can take or leave the third party support. Sony's biggest draw is their exclusive lineup, not the garbage that 3rd parties want to try and money whore off the PS3 fanbase. Microsoft simply never had that option. They had to purchase overwhelming 3rd party support or they never would've gotten to where they are now. They simply lack the internal dev staff.

I've never really been too impressed with the ps3 exclusives. The last one that I really liked was Warhawk and that's ancient. But I think most the exclusives for all the platforms are pretty lackluster. At least when you compare the best exclusives to the best multiplats.
What sony should?ve done is just open up the ps3 and really take advantage of it?s hardware capabilities. That would?ve helped them out a lot with both competing with MS but more importantly it would?ve lessened the threat of hacking. There?s always going to be people that hack for the free games (and nobody is going to stop them permanently) but there would be less people hacking to customize the console if sony gave it decent support.
Unfortunately it seems like all the updates are now going to be about combating hackers and the more the user interface deteriorates (like the ps3 web browser which is just not supported properly or the otherOS which was taken away) the more people will want to hack it.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Sony could never have gone toe to toe with Microsoft this gen, without having taken a completely different approach to the PS3's architecture. It wasn't that the system wasn't open. It was that it simply was vastly different from general purpose CPU and GPU structure than what developers have been using for the past couple decades (The Cell design is a throwback to the Cray Supercomputers of the 80's). It makes perfect sense what they did, make something that takes time to completely understand and it extends the lifecycle of the machine as newer and better ways of doings things will constantly be discovered. Whereas, the 360's so like a PC, it's limits were reached within the first year or two (this could've been put off for a time, if they'd simply designed a hybrid GPU from a card with DX10 capacity). However, that aside, Microsoft made an easier machine to design for, and pumped tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars into tying down 3rd party exclusives. Sony has way more going on in their company, as well as having sold the PS3 at a loss for a great deal of time, to be able to deal with that.

You note the removal of OtherOS as a reason people try to hack the PS3, which is a ridiculously lame excuse. Hackers were trying before it was removed, and they continued afterwards. So please, don't try and sell that story to me. Geohot announced his progress less than halfway through the job, and Sony removed the OtherOS feature. Cause and Effect. However, people conveniently leave out the fact that Sony has put great effort into not only increasing the functionality of PSN, but also that of the PS3 itself. No mention of all the extras that have been ADDED over the years. Just OtherOS, because a small, very very very small percentage of the user base happened to use it. I don't use it, never had planned to, so I don't honestly care. I bought it for movies and games, not to run a half-assed Linux boot. I have a PC for that.

I agree that Sony has the superior hardware this generation (and I thought the guys at valve were a bunch of morons for whining about it forever instead of learning how it works which we'll see if they were able to), my problem is that they sandbag it so it's got even less features than the competitors.
I didn't note the removal of otherOS (and any opinion of its usefulness is just as subjective as any opinion on the first party titles) as the reason people hack the ps3, I mentioned it to point out how the ps3 seems to be losing as many features as it's gaining. And many of the remaining features get such terrible support that they hardly work: THAT is a reason some people (the ones who aren't doing it for free games) hack their ps3s. The web browser for example freezes my ps3 every time I use it. And then there are some great features that only work with a handful of games. I can record video... with two of the games I have. I can play custom soundtracks... with five of the games that I have. I understand that these things have to be implemented by the devs but the only thing that sony has forced them to include in every title are the worthless trophies.
What sort of additional features have been added lately? Some lame Facebook app? Which they only need because they wont support the web browser properly. By the time they got netflix (without the disc) I had 3 other devises to stream netflix to my tv. Once again, supporting the web browser properly would've made this a non-issue. There's a bunch of other stuff you can't get to through the browser.
Seriously, what are all these great new functions you're talking about because I don't see them?
With the performance they get out of the ps3, they could've made it for a lot cheaper.
It just seems obvious that the user experience is now the lowest on their priorities for the ps3 and I'm starting to regret buying one.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I agree that Sony has the superior hardware this generation (and I thought the guys at valve were a bunch of morons for whining about it forever instead of learning how it works which we'll see if they were able to), my problem is that they sandbag it so it's got even less features than the competitors.

I'm not wading into the who has superior hardware discussion, I will say at least Sony's machine doesn't eat itself constantly. But, that's really not an issue here. What I'll hugely disagree with is that they sandbag it so it's got even less features than it's competitors. That statement is pretty much 100% untrue and I find it kind of strange you'd say that. The PS3 has always had vastly more features than the Wii, or 360. Unless there's a Blu Ray capable, Hard Drive swappable Wii and 360 I've never seen before. To say nothing of a web-browser on the 360.

I didn't note the removal of otherOS (and any opinion of its usefulness is just as subjective as any opinion on the first party titles) as the reason people hack the ps3, I mentioned it to point out how the ps3 seems to be losing as many features as it's gaining.

Name one other feature other than OtherOS that's been removed.

And many of the remaining features get such terrible support that they hardly work: THAT is a reason some people (the ones who aren't doing it for free games) hack their ps3s. The web browser for example freezes my ps3 every time I use it. And then there are some great features that only work with a handful of games. I can record video... with two of the games I have. I can play custom soundtracks... with five of the games that I have. I understand that these things have to be implemented by the devs but the only thing that sony has forced them to include in every title are the worthless trophies.

***** at Microsoft for the soundtracks, they patented in-game soundtracks being overwritten by OS functionality. And if you're willing to PAY for the dev time, fine, if not, too bad. Sony's been running at a loss for far too long, they have to pay attention to the more important things, while maintaining costs/profitability.

What sort of additional features have been added lately? Some lame Facebook app? Which they only need because they wont support the web browser properly. By the time they got netflix (without the disc) I had 3 other devises to stream netflix to my tv. Once again, supporting the web browser properly would've made this a non-issue. There's a bunch of other stuff you can't get to through the browser.

I don't use Facebook either, but I'm not going to complain about features that're added. Just like I'm not going to complain about Netflix, when I know fully well that a competitor bought timed exclusive rights to Netflix access. On the other hand, I have a PC, so I never use the browser on my PS3. Seems pretty stupid considering I have a machine made for mouse and keyboard sitting about 10 feet away with a 24" monitor. I feel sorry for people who have to use the PS3 as a broswer, I mean really. Hell, I'd rather use a cell phone (which is saying something, because I hate using phones for anything other than...phone call).

Seriously, what are all these great new functions you're talking about because I don't see them?
With the performance they get out of the ps3, they could've made it for a lot cheaper.
It just seems obvious that the user experience is now the lowest on their priorities for the ps3 and I'm starting to regret buying one.

I'm not going to list them all, however, here take a look if you are truly interested in seeing what they've worked on with their patches:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_system_software

I know it's Wiki, but I didn't want to take the time to find another source.

You know that wiki doesn't help your argument. It basically points out that the improvements have been pretty lame, especially as of late.

I'm also glad to see you also feel sorry for anyone who has to use the ps3 as their main web browser. I don't even use it to show things to friends when they're over, I prefer to use my netbook. If they did give it even the minimal support it would need to run on a basic level (all it does now is freeze the ps3) it would actually be handy; not for everyday browsing but definitely for when guests are over. So while they haven't removed it from the firmware, they may as well have when you consider how useless their neglect has rendered it.

And why should I ***** at MS about their patent on their way of doing custom soundtracks? They obviously haven't been able to stop devs from including custom soundtracks in their ps3 titles: occasionally you come across one that has the feature and I don't think they're stopping sony from forcing devs to include it like they have to for the worthless trophies. And besides that, sony should be able to hire someone clever enough to find a way around their patent either legally or technically. I worked to earn the money to buy the damn thing, I shouldn't have to work further on getting some of the cooler functions to be more consistent. That's their job.

The ps3 has also lost backwards compatibility and the ability to play sacd. I know a lot of people have said that they needed to take out the hardware that made it capable of doing those things in order to make it more cost effective but once again, they should have some clever people working on how to implement these functions on the hardware that it still has (which is quite robust) rather than abandoning it all together.

I know you say that they need to pay attention to more important things but what's more important than wowing the customer enough that we will be willing to lay down the hundreds of dollars for the next ps console.

 

[GonzoGamer]

You know that wiki doesn't help your argument. It basically points out that the improvements have been pretty lame, especially as of late.

Yeah, lol, nice I specifically state it's Wiki and you use it as an argument point against *rolls eyes* Get real. The improvements you see as lame, are still improvements, whether you like them or not is irrelevant.

I'm also glad to see you also feel sorry for anyone who has to use the ps3 as their main web browser. I don't even use it to show things to friends when they're over, I prefer to use my netbook. If they did give it even the minimal support it would need to run on a basic level (all it does now is freeze the ps3) it would actually be handy; not for everyday browsing but definitely for when guests are over. So while they haven't removed it from the firmware, they may as well have when you consider how useless their neglect has rendered it.

Yeah, I do feel sorry for these people, up to a point. Guests have no problem seeing my 24" monitor, and playing games on my PS3. A non-issue for me.

And why should I ***** at MS about their patent on their way of doing custom soundtracks? They obviously haven't been able to stop devs from including custom soundtracks in their ps3 titles: occasionally you come across one that has the feature and I don't think they're stopping sony from forcing devs to include it like they have to for the worthless trophies. And besides that, sony should be able to hire someone clever enough to find a way around their patent either legally or technically. I worked to earn the money to buy the damn thing, I shouldn't have to work further on getting some of the cooler functions to be more consistent. That's their job.

Because MS' patent forced Sony devs to find workarounds to that issue. They couldn't use the exact same functionality without paying royalties to MS. That's why. Don't have to ***** at MS for it, but not Sony's fault they don't want to pay more money to MS.

The ps3 has also lost backwards compatibility and the ability to play sacd. I know a lot of people have said that they needed to take out the hardware that made it capable of doing those things in order to make it more cost effective but once again, they should have some clever people working on how to implement these functions on the hardware that it still has (which is quite robust) rather than abandoning it all together.

My PS3 runs BC just fine, it's why I paid $600 for it. Your PS3 doesn't, that's why you paid less. If you wanted BC, you should've gotten the original. Sorry, but that's simply a fail argument.

I know you say that they need to pay attention to more important things but what's more important than wowing the customer enough that we will be willing to lay down the hundreds of dollars for the next ps console.

Plenty of customers are wow'd, the vocal minority are peeved however, fortunately, they are simply the minority and can be readily ignored, for the most part.

We will see. I know a lot of people who went from ps to xbox this gen and I know more who wont be sticking with the ps next gen. Their losing more and more of their base and who knows how long they can do that for.
I had a ps3 that did BC but it broke and in between my initial purchase and the replacement, the only one available under my warranty had the BC and a bunch of hardware features missing. So they still screwed me even if they had some help from Best Buy.
And they are even more pathetic than I can imagine if they can't find a workaround for MS's custom music patent because they already have some games that have it. It's not a consistent feature though. Not that impressive.
Did you look at the wiki. I know it's just a wiki but look at some of the "improvements" there. Like wow, people who bought crap on psn can rate said crap. That's amazing, how can people complain when we can rate dlc.
So why did they bother with the web browser if it's so useless and they didn't intend to support it? The resources they put into that epic fail could have been better used.
You bring a very good point to mind though, if from the beginning they decided that the ps3 would just play games and br movies (the only things the firmware can really handle at this point), they could've made it a lot cheaper.
My problem is that my ps3 reminds me of the govenment, plenty of resources power and influence yet the only things it does is the bare minimum and a very far off from what we were promised.