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[ElRenoRaven]

Not worried one bit about a Sony less future. If they die off, it's because the competition has done a better job of providing products and services to the consumer. At that point all we are losing is a brand. Outside of corporate worshippers no one will care.

The talent dismissed will still be in the industry.

This applies to any company.

I tend to agree except one thing kills me when a company dies. Sony has some great IPs. Now those IPs either end up bought by someone who will use them or by someone that sits on them. Nothing worse then seeing an IP you love disappear. Some examples are Re-Volt. That game was amazing and at one time they were working on a sequel. Sadly when Acclaim died the IP went to a company that said they'd be using the IPs they bought. Nope. They never did and instead sold it off to some Korean company if I remember correctly who's done nothing with the IP.

Another example is Microsoft. They bought Rare and what have they done with Rare's IPs since they bought them? We had a more censored version of Conkers, a shitty game trying to pass itself off as a Banjo game, a perfect Dark Prequel that needed more time in the oven and that's it. Since then Rare's IPs are sitting in limbo at MS unused and it appears that this will be the case for a long time to come.

So as you can see if Sony is to die then there could be some great IPs never seen again as a result and that would suck a lot.

 

[Divvy]

Would probably quit gaming or go PC only. Nintendo cheaps out on hardware and lacks third party support for home consoles And Microsoft is basically satan

Yup, M$ is teh devilz

 

[Misterhbk]

So to round things up this could include;

PS4 R&D
Vita Release
Natural Disasters
Dumbass Hackers
Several failed games (MotorStorm, Socom)

What else?

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

So to round things up this could include;

PS4 R&D
Vita Release
Natural Disasters
Dumbass Hackers
Several failed games (MotorStorm, Socom)

What else?

You forget wonderbook.

 

[TunaLover]

$12 billion.

Ouch! >_<

 

[patsu]

Hypothetically speaking, if Sony was dissolved, I'd hope to god Nintendo acquired studios like Naughty Dog. I'd hate to see what MS would force them to make.

Jak and Daxter Kinect....

That being said, I really don't see Sony, or as I said early, PlayStation going anywhere. If Sony falls, I could see them cutting their losses and keeping the PlayStation brand. PS4 will undoubtedly be much cheaper than the PS3 was and Sony will most likely go into next gen in the position MS is in this gen, right in the middle of the Wii U and the 720.

^_^ IMHO, looking from the outside, weakest link seems to be product marketing and some management. Overall, pockets of the software folks are strong but lack guidance and perhaps scale, especially w.r.t. integration and user experience. They may also need to streamline/narrow their scope so that it's easier to deliver.

I hope they thrive too. Personally, I prefer to work in a harsh environment where everyone does their best work. You learn more that way. I also get bored and panicky when people get too comfy.

 

[KillerTravis]

Would probably quit gaming or go PC only. Nintendo cheaps out on hardware and lacks third party support for home consoles And Microsoft is basically satan

What? lol. Sony isn't any better than Microsoft when it comes to their customers.

 

[specialguy]

I really dont see anything Sony does that Samsung doesnt do better, at this point. The key problem.

What about Toshiba and so on? How do they survive? Maybe Sony can live as a component supplier or something?

 

[RukusProvider]

Compare Segas games during Dreamcast to post-Dreamcast. Secondly, I don't want to have to pay for Kinect, nor do I want to pay to play online, nor do I want underpowered hardware with a gimmick.

So yes, they would be missed.

Who is to say that there wont be a new competitor in the field? If there is enough of a demand out there for gimmick less super hardware, then someone will be along to fill the space.

You are narrowing the scope to exaggerate your point.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Dreamcast barely counts, it's some weird abnormality that belongs to no generation.

I lol'd

 

[Log4Girlz]

Man Sony is such a mess.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Yup, M$ is teh devilz

While he's being hyperbolic I do agree that Microsoft's direction is not where i want to see the industry go. Neither is Nintendo's

Sony is a nice middle ground between the two. They like powerful consoles that don't charge you for things that should be free. They also have some great first party games but also plenty of 3rd party support too. If they go away you're left without that middle ground.

 

[thuway]

Yup, M$ is teh devilz

Not trying to troll, but after what happened to Rare, Lionhead, and Ensemble. I wouldn't want MS to be running shit.

 

[AAK]

Not worried one bit about a Sony less future. If they die off, it's because the competition has done a better job of providing products and services to the consumer. At that point all we are losing is a brand. Outside of corporate worshippers no one will care.

The talent dismissed will still be in the industry.

This applies to any company.

I suppose the main thing of loss is the creative freedom and openness of the platform people depend on. It was because of Sony thatgamecompany, Media Molecule, and Team ICO among others got such games out with the budget and time allocated to them. So many powerful IP's were given the OK by Sony's management which is what might be missing. As gamers that is something we will lose

Also judging by the RCR fiasco, Sony is also considered the far lesser evil of getting things published on their platform compared to XBLA while steam remains king. That's something else that the indsutry will lose which also affects us as gamers.

Talent will definitely still be there, but the talent means nothing so long as there is no structure facilitating and guiding its output.

 

[specialguy]

People keep saying "Sony has all these great games/IP's".

No they dont.

That's been one of their key failings imo. Nothing they have imo is on the level of Mario, Zelda, Gears, and Halo.

They have Uncharted, imo a decent franchise at best in both sales and quality (and besides that, it's single player focused, which probably isn't the future), and nothing else that really stands out. Nothing at all. Putting out a lot of content, the Starhawks and Resistances of the world, doesn't mean that stuff is any less forgettable.

 

[brumx]

Sega got really big for only 2 year then went down the gutter when 2000 hit. Nintendo was in trouble but they had Pokemon and other stuff

 

[specialguy]

While he's being hyperbolic I do agree that Microsoft's direction is not where i want to see the industry go. Neither is Nintendo's

Sony is a nice middle ground between the two. They like powerful consoles that don't charge you for things that should be free. They also have some great first party games but also plenty of 3rd party support too. If they go away you're left without that middle ground.

The power thing...

PS2, way less powerful than Xbox (everybody always completely ignores this)

PS3, a year after Xbox without a significant upgrade in power.

PS4 vs Durango, unknown right now, anything said is just rumors.

Dont see it either.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

What? lol. Sony isn't any better than Microsoft when it comes to their customers.

They are when it comes to games (IMO). I dont have to pay 60$ a year to use free services or services that has nothing to do with their network (YouTube, Netflix, hulu, amazon, HBO ect. I couldn't believe I needed gold for YouTube). Not only that but you still get ads shoved in your face even with gold. Oh and Microsoft first party studios suck (IMO) and I just refuse to pay for online. But this isn't gamer FAQs/system wars nor is this the thread for discussing this matter.

 

[patsu]

People keep saying "Sony has all these great games/IP's".

No they dont.

That's been one of their key failings imo. Nothing they have imo is on the level of Mario, Zelda, Gears, and Halo.

They have Uncharted, imo a decent franchise at best in both sales and quality (and besides that, it's single player focused, which probably isn't the future), and nothing else that really stands out. Nothing at all. Putting out a lot of content, the Starhawks and Resistances of the world, doesn't mean that stuff is any less forgettable.

Actually, I would take LBP over any of those IPs you listed. It may not be as fun, but I think I can do a lot more with it.

The Last of Us also looks more interesting to me than Uncharted.

Some folks also like Gran Turismo, God of War.

 

[Pistolero]

People keep saying "Sony has all these great games/IP's".

No they dont.

That's been one of their key failings imo. Nothing they have imo is on the level of Mario, Zelda, Gears, and Halo.

They have Uncharted, imo a decent franchise at best in both sales and quality (and besides that, it's single player focused, which probably isn't the future), and nothing else that really stands out. Nothing at all. Putting out a lot of content, the Starhawks and Resistances of the world, doesn't mean that stuff is any less forgettable.

Yep, iyo...

 

[Derrick01]

What? lol. Sony isn't any better than Microsoft when it comes to their customers.

Sony is better when it comes to focusing on games for gamers. MS just relies on third parties and throws out a few of the same franchises every year. We'll see if it changes next gen if Kinect sales start bombing.

 

[Misterhbk]

People keep saying "Sony has all these great games/IP's".

No they dont.

That's been one of their key failings imo. Nothing they have imo is on the level of Mario, Zelda, Gears, and Halo.

They have Uncharted, imo a decent franchise at best in both sales and quality (and besides that, it's single player focused, which probably isn't the future), and nothing else that really stands out. Nothing at all. Putting out a lot of content, the Starhawks and Resistances of the world, doesn't mean that stuff is any less forgettable.

Sony has plenty of multimillion selling IPs.

and to say Uncharted is decent is laughable. Didn't it hit over 3 million already or something? That's a huge success.

God of War has always been a huge success

Gran Turismo is HUGE

And as far as MS, what do they have besides Halo? Everything else is right on par with what Sony does sales wise (besides Forza, it will never beat GT tbh). Gears is also 3rd party and could go anywhere next gen. AND gears is pretty damn close to the same level as God of War, probably selling a little better overall.

Nintendo First Party is on another level of course, and no company will ever match their sales.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Not to mention there budgets are small compare to allot of AAA games.

You really think Nintendo would give them $20-$30 million to make an ambitious AAA game?

I'm getting mixed signals here? Which is it?

Compare Segas games during Dreamcast to post-Dreamcast.

Immediately post Dreamcast, Sega was on fire. Monkey Ball 1-2, Panzer Orta, VF4/Evo, Shinobi, JSRF, Billy Hatcher, F-Zero GX, HOTD3, Beach Spikers... plus all their best DC stuff was getting ported anyway (Skies of Arcadia, PSO, Rez, SC5, Virtua Tennis 2, Shenmue II, Sonic Adventure 1-2). Sega didn't fall down and die until they sold their soul to Sammy.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Dude said uncharted is decent..... I lol'd

 

[bangai-o]

Would probably quit gaming or go PC only. Nintendo cheaps out on hardware and lacks third party support for home consoles And Microsoft is basically satan

how can anyone fault nintendo for how they do things in athread about Sony being in billions of dollars of debt for how they do things?

 

[Colonel Nasty]

While he's being hyperbolic I do agree that Microsoft's direction is not where i want to see the industry go. Neither is Nintendo's

Sony is a nice middle ground between the two. They like powerful consoles that don't charge you for things that should be free.They also have some great first party games but also plenty of 3rd party support too. If they go away you're left without that middle ground.

C'mon now, Sony hides shit behind pay walls too. Cloud storage, automatic updates and syncing, sales. Just say online gaming.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I've been saying for a while now that if I were running Sony, I'd get out of gaming while the getting was good. I read the PS4 rumour threads and am just appalled. To attempt to fulfill the fantasies of many GAFers would be sheer madness*.

I see some posters downplaying how dire the situation is, but Sony isn't Nintendo or Microsoft. The former has enough cash reserved to withstand literally decades of losses like last year's and the latter has the revenues to sustain the Xbox as a loss-leader platform for their other products indefinitely.

*

Spoiler

Sony have made some decisions of late that make me question whether or not I ought to expect madness from them, so watch this space.

 

[patsu]

C'mon now, Sony hides shit behind pay walls too. Cloud storage, automatic updates and syncing, sales. Just say online gaming.

Most people get PS+ for discounted content rather than those convenience utilities.

 

[AgentChris]

People keep saying "Sony has all these great games/IP's".

No they dont.

That's been one of their key failings imo. Nothing they have imo is on the level of Mario, Zelda, Gears, and Halo.

They have Uncharted, imo a decent franchise at best in both sales and quality (and besides that, it's single player focused, which probably isn't the future), and nothing else that really stands out. Nothing at all. Putting out a lot of content, the Starhawks and Resistances of the world, doesn't mean that stuff is any less forgettable.

LOL

 

[gundamkyoukai]

People keep saying "Sony has all these great games/IP's".

No they dont.

That's been one of their key failings imo. Nothing they have imo is on the level of Mario, Zelda, Gears, and Halo.

They have Uncharted, imo a decent franchise at best in both sales and quality (and besides that, it's single player focused, which probably isn't the future), and nothing else that really stands out. Nothing at all. Putting out a lot of content, the Starhawks and Resistances of the world, doesn't mean that stuff is any less forgettable.

Nintendo has the best IP for certain and no one near that level but to say Sony has no IP near Gear or Halo is a joke .
UC and GOW sell as much as Gears 5 million plus , GT sell loads of copies like always .
Those IP just as big as anything MS has .

I'm getting mixed signals here? Which is it?

Well i was talking about ND and they said UC2 cost 20 million which cheap for AAA game compare to other titles.

I've been saying for a while now that if I were running Sony, I'd get out of gaming while the getting was good. I read the PS4 rumour threads and am just appalled. To attempt to fulfill the fantasies of many GAFers would be sheer madness*.

I see some posters downplaying how dire the situation is, but Sony isn't Nintendo or Microsoft. The former has enough cash reserved to withstand literally decades of losses like last year's and the latter has the revenues to sustain the Xbox as a loss-leader platform for their other products indefinitely.

*

Spoiler

Sony have made some decisions of late that make me question whether or not I ought to expect madness from them, so watch this space.

Gaming is on of the few areas they should stay in , they can make profit if they don't get stupid and there brand still has some sort of meaning compare to other parts of Sony .

 

[neptunes]

I can't believe some people would be perfectly with a major competitor bowing out the console race.

I can't picture any scenario that would benefit most consumers.

With competition the consumer always wins, less competition = more contempt.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Most people get PS+ for discounted content rather than those convenience utilities.

Exactly. And I'm not just talking about online. With Sony you can use Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, youtube, etc all without paying 60 dollars a year on top of paying for the services unlike Microsoft.

 

[Anuxinamoon]

Wow.

Good thing all that money is just numbers hahahah

 

[Colonel Nasty]

Most people get PS+ for discounted content rather than those convenience utilities.

I'm a plus member for those utilities. But they should be free to everyone.

 

[Stinkles]

Would probably quit gaming or go PC only. Nintendo cheaps out on hardware and lacks third party support for home consoles And Microsoft is basically satan

Yeah that'll learn 'Em!

 

[shinra-bansho]

Interesting.

In earnings calls, Kato has said that the game business is still profitable.

In the presentation slide, game is listed with operating profit.

As a whole the company posted ¥456.7B, of which ¥260.3B was a non-cash tax charge.

CPS posted a net loss of ¥229.8B - so it was the biggest contributor to the "real" losses, but that included a ¥60B loss write-down from the S-LCD sale to Samsung.

I find it difficult to believe that Sony isn't losing more money on the TV business right now than the game business.

 

[chris0701]

Maybe the RD cost of PSV,PS4, and operation cost of PSN aren't listed in company fiscal report of GAME business.

 

[dragonflys545]

If Sony's gone I'll just stick with PC gaming.

 

[patsu]

I'm a plus member for those utilities. But they should be free to everyone.

Cloud save ? Doubt Sony will make it free for everyone since there is no upsell (Sony doesn't charge you extra for going over the limit).

We can probably make a case for automated update.

Interesting.

In earnings calls, Kato has said that the game business is still profitable.

In the presentation slide, game is listed with operating profit.

As a whole the company posted ¥456.7B, of which ¥260.3B was a non-cash tax charge.

CPS posted a net loss of ¥229.8B - so it was the biggest contributor to the "real" losses, but that included a ¥60B loss write-down from the S-LCD sale to Samsung.

I find it difficult to believe that Sony isn't losing more money on the TV business right now than the game business.

I still think we need to understand the context for the numbers to make sense. For now, all we can do is to list all the possibilities. ^_^

 

[goldenpp72]

Spoiler

I happened to remember storing this picture a gaffer made a long time ago, seemed appropriate.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

I was trying to think what Sony brought to gaming with PS3...

Bluray
Chargable controllers

...

.....

HOME, I guess...

Help me out. Games excluded. OS, services and hardware only.

I was trying to think what a PS4 would be? Aside from MOAR PoWERZ. And, you know, it was kind of hard to see much innovation by way of PS3 imho. And I look at Sony's tablet attempts, Xperia, the PlayStation Suite, Vita OS, PSN, SEN or whatever it's called tomorrow...It's pretty clear they don't know what they're doing. You have to hope their 1st parties are advising them. I suspect prior to Kaz, Japan likely wouldnt have given two shits what Naughty Dog thought about how to turn PS4 into a winner. I hope in a Kaz World, the opposite rings truer.

 

[KillerTravis]

Sony is better when it comes to focusing on games for gamers. MS just relies on third parties and throws out a few of the same franchises every year. We'll see if it changes next gen if Kinect sales start bombing.

Aren't third parties enough though? That's what apparently sells and what gamers buy on PS3 and 360. If Sony treats Playstation gamers better, why don't they buy their software as much as they buy third party games? Neither Nintendo nor Microsoft seem to have a problem with this.

 

[Nibel]

Sony will go third-party. With the PS Vita they didn't just create a new perfomance orphan - they Dreamcasted themselves entirely. The iOS market will be probably Sony's new home and that's the best thing to do.

Godspeed, Kaz-chan.

 

[goldenpp72]

Sony will go third-party. With the PS Vita they didn't just create a new perfomance orphan - they Dreamcasted themselves entirely. The iOS market will be probably Sony's new home and that's the best thing to do.

Godspeed, Kaz-chan.

Dreamcast had a much more confident first party lineup though, but I don't think the Vita is done for, I do think they will transform it (or at least some version of it) to the phone space relatively soon. They seem to want those bite sized games, so merging those with Vita games on a phone would probably be their best bet at this point for that brand.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Aren't third parties enough though? That's what apparently sells and what gamers buy on PS3 and 360. If Sony treats Playstation gamers better, why don't they buy their software as much as they buy third party games? Neither Nintendo nor Microsoft seem to have a problem with this.

Nintendo, sure. But are you implying XBOX owners buy more first party software than third party software? EDIT: Disregard, I think I misread your comment.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Nintendo has the best IP for certain and no one near that level but to say Sony has no IP near Gear or Halo is a joke .
UC and GOW sell as much as Gears 5 million plus , GT sell loads of copies like always .
Those IP just as big as anything MS has .



Well i was talking about ND and they said UC2 cost 20 million which cheap for AAA game compare to other titles.



Gaming is on of the few areas they should stay in , they can make profit if they don't get stupid and there brand still has some sort of meaning compare to other parts of Sony .

As big as gears? yea ok. Halo? I dont know about that, its close but I dont think you could put God of war, uncharted

Spoiler

and gran turismo

in the same place as halo.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Dreamcast had a much more confident first party lineup though, but I don't think the Vita is done for, I do think they will transform it (or at least some version of it) to the phone space relatively soon. They seem to want those bite sized games, so merging those with Vita games on a phone would probably be their best bet at this point for that brand.

Truth.com

 

[Lightning]

This depresses me a lot but oh well if Sony goes hopefully someone takes their place.

 

[AgentChris]

I suspect prior to Kaz, Japan likely wouldnt have given two shits what Naughty Dog thought about how to turn PS4 into a winner. I hope in a Kaz World, the opposite rings truer.

A few years ago someone from Naughty Dog left to join the SCEJ R&D team; if I remember correctly. Also the founder of SSM, Alan Becker is the new head of SCEJ.

 

[Nibel]

Dreamcast had a much more confident first party lineup though, but I don't think the Vita is done for, I do think they will transform it (or at least some version of it) to the phone space relatively soon. They seem to want those bite sized games, so merging those with Vita games on a phone would probably be their best bet at this point for that brand.

Nah dude it's over. They shot themselves in the foot. I'm an expert.

They are doomed no matter how you want to look at it. Don't tell Takao though.