Sony's Direction & The NGP

[Killing_Time]

I have a few questions for my fellow escapists concerning the NGP and Sony's marketing direction. First off...

1. Is Sony going to lose money on every NGP it sells if it's sold for less then $400?

2. Why did Sony decide to make such a high-tech device when the DS outsold the PSP last time in the same situation?

3. Is Sony making money on PS3 sales now?

4. Is the PSP a failure due to low sales and pirating?

5. Are the decisions by Sony to make such powerful consoles bad choices?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Defense]

Almost certainly yes. It's a legitimate business strategy though.

The PSP wasn't a failure by any stretch. Sony was the only company to actually compete against Nintendo with handhelds and survive. That's just what Sony does I suppose.

Yes.

It didn't fail, but surely a good chunk of it was due to pirating.

Not necessarily. Having powerful hardware very well leads to potential for better software. I have trouble believing a game as big as LittleBigPlanet would fit on a Wii Optical Disc.

 

[HassEsser]

1. At this time, only Sony knows

2. Have you seen the NGP? It's fucking amazing. The 3DS is essentially a DS with 3D. People will get bored.

3. Yes

4. The PSP is a failure due to lack of support and bad design [see: nub (and only one, at that)]

5. Absolutely not. Look at the PlayStation 2: sold horribly at release, and is now the best selling console of all time. PlayStation 3: sold even worse at release, and now is best console on the market. Consider the NGP is essentially a portable PS3 will loads of mind-blowing features, I have high hopes for the NGP, even if it does terribly at launch.

 

[-Seraph-]

I have a few questions for my fellow escapists concerning the NGP and Sony's marketing direction. First off...

1. Is Sony going to lose money on every NGP it sells if it's sold for less then $400?

They probably will take a loss upon release just as Microsoft and Sony did on their consoles when first released. It's the typical strategy as they make the money back over time and through software sales.

2. Why did Sony decide to make such a high-tech device when the DS outsold the PSP last time in the same situation?

Because that's how they roll. They wanted to bring the console experience into the palm of your hands, which to some people like myself, is the ideal goal of which hand helds should strive to become.

3. Is Sony making money on PS3 sales now?

Yes, seeing as how over time the materials become less expensive to produce and easier to produce. The cell processor is where the money was being sucked into. But they are making a profit on the system now and for a while.

4. Is the PSP a failure due to low sales and pirating?

No, 65 million units IS NOT A FAILURE. You don't have to be number one in order to be successful and people have got to get that stupid idea out of their god damn heads. It sold well enough and popular enough to warrant a successor, so of course the system isn't a "failure"

5. Are the decisions by Sony to make such powerful consoles bad choices?

That's highly subjective, and the only way to really know is to wait and see when the system launches. So far they have addressed all the complaints thrown at them from the original PSP and then some. If their software line up is good,third party support is good, marketing not asinine, and battery life sensible, then the system could end up doing even better than the first PSP. Will it beat the 3DS ins sales? probably not. Does that really matter? NO, what matters is that they do their best to support the system and offer quality products and titles that will get people interested in it.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Killing_Time]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm happy to hear that Sony is doing better then I thought, cause I'd hate to see Sony lose money because they wanted to give gamers good reliable hardware that's ahead of it's time.