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Stringer is ready to take the bull by the horns to turnaround Sony Corp. - Image courtesy Cinenow
800,000 PS3s sold in EU means success for Sony

Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer expressed pleasure over the success of the European PlayStation 3 launch, saying, “We came into the [European] market with more games and perhaps we lived up to the expectations in Europe in a way that perhaps we didn't in Japan.”

“I think we're close to an 800,000 sell-through in Europe now,” Sir Howard Stringer was recorded as saying at the Financial Times. “I think the first two days in the UK, £100m revenue changed hands and that's probably the largest consumer electronics sale in history.”

Stringer made his comments to the media while attending the global premiere of Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man 3 in Tokyo. In the context of the movie premiere, the executive let on that he is supportive of using Sony-exclusive content to help drive the sales of its hardware and formats.

“I see no reason we can't use content to drive the sales of hardware as the network connectivity becomes more sophisticated. After all, Steve Jobs is running around, trying to line up studios. I've already got one,” Stringer quipped.

Stringer was brought into Sony to help turn the company around with his fresh perspective. Although he has been met with some internal resistance from within the company, he remains remarkably frank and focussed on the present and future of Sony.

Shares of Sony Corp. are at a two-month high after Nikkei analysts expect profits exceeding original estimates, thanks in part to the strong performance of the company’s consumer electronic division from sales of Bravia televisions.

Part of Sony’s turnaround may involve the termination of various unprofitable, ‘zombie’ arms of the company such as PC peripherals and CRT televisions, though such an action is largely unfavorable in Japanese business. Stringer seems to be well aware of that, adding, “We are very reluctant to give up on unprofitable businesses ... and there has to be a balance ... The nightmare for me is complacency.”

Although Sony is losing money on every PlayStation 3 sold, that may no longer be the case a year from now, according to Yuji Fujimori, an analyst at Goldman Sachs. “In the March quarter of 2008, Sony will start making money on the console. In the longer term, I see the PS3's market share at 50 per cent within three years. In the shorter term, I see it at below 30 per cent,” Fujimori said.

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Interesting Note
By akugami on 4/18/2007 1:54:47 PM , Rating: 6
For one...I think we got the actual sell through numbers for Europe which is sitting at roughly 800k instead of shipped numbers. This is extremely good but as we all know, the initial launch might look rosey (look at the PS3 US launch) but it's what you do afterwards that matters most.

Steve Jobs doesn't own a studio but he does have one in his pocket. Considering Apple's success with the iPod and iTunes, I don't think Steve Jobs has to do much at a shareholders meeting to convince the other shareholders at Disney to get on board.

I do agree that at the current price point of $600 Sony may not be losing much, if any, money on the PS3 one year from now. The problem is that at that point, it's likely that the Wii as well as the Xbox 360 will drop in price.

I do find it highly highly unlikely the PS3 will hit a 50% market share in three years. That would have to mean that the Xbox 360 loses favor among gamers. While the Xbox 360 may slow down, it's proving itself as a pretty capable system for much less money than the PS3. The Xbox 360 while not as powerful as a PS3 is still good enough to hold it's own (at least from the games shown so far).

It would also mean the Wii loses it's incredible head of steam and momentum. Much like how the original PS1 started to build momentum and took the crown from Nintendo, these things tend to have a life of it's own and when one builds momentum it's pretty hard to stop the ball from rolling. As more developers get behind the Wii, meaning more games, and as more and more people buy the Wii (if they can find one in the next few months), it becomes harder and harder to stop.

At this point, the Wii is the darling of the games industry. Every gamer (casual or hardcore) wants one and every developer wants to make a game for it. For the PS3 to stop the Wii, it would need to make a huge huge splash. Either drastically cutting console prices or having such a stellar line up that gamers overlook the high price point of the PS3.

If they cut the PS3's price point further, and at too fast of a pace, they risk not recouping any money on the PS3 as a whole (not counting PS1 or 2). Sure, they might take the lead but unlike MS, they can't afford to lose a billion or two to gain market share. Especially not when they were the market leader in the first place.

It's already been quoted by a Sony executive that the PS3 will not become profitable until about it's 5th year. Further price cutting pushes that projection to 6 or 7 years. And regardless of what Sony says, we're going to have new consoles in another 5 years. You can bet the farm on the fact that even if Sony doesn't want to release a new console in 5 years, MS certainly will and Nintendo certainly will.

As for stellar lineups. Many developers and publishers are starting to put out their releases on multiple platforms and even the previous exclusives for the PS3's are now moving to the Xbox 360and in some cases the Wii. Sony also has never been known for their great first party lineup unlike Nintendo. This is also why Nintendo has been able to sustain itself through the N64 and GC. Excellent first party games, along with the Gameboy of course.

Make no mistake, if the PS3 merely takes 30% of the market and if Blu-Ray flops...Sony is going to be in a whole world of hurt as the Playstation line has made most of the profits for Sony the last few years and they are banking on Blu-Ray to dominate in hopes of reaping tons of licensing dollars.




RE: Interesting Note
By javiergf on 4/18/2007 2:34:12 PM , Rating: 2
"The Xbox 360 while not as powerful as a PS3"...really? Where did you get that?

I invite you to get some facts:

http://www.itvidya.com/playstation_3_vs_xbox_360
http://www.gamespot.com/features/6125087/index.htm...

If you get lot with MFLOPS and numbers, just look at game to game comparison

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6162742/

So do you really think that the PS3 is more powerful than the Xbox 360? Absolutely not, the fact that the cell has more theoretical "computing power" than the XBOX 360 doesn't matter for a gaming perspective because:
1) The GPU of the Xbox 360 is far superior
2) The APIs provided by Microsoft are better than the ones Sony provides plus it is a lot easier to make PC-Xbox conversions
3) Although both consoles have same memory, the Xbox has all its memory unified. It is up to the programmer to decide what goes to graphics, what goes to Video.


RE: Interesting Note
By someguy123 on 4/18/2007 2:51:52 PM , Rating: 2
it's true. there is no clear "winner" between the two systems; they both excel at different tasks. the ps3 has the ability to generate larger, more detailed draw distances thanks to the extra streaming dsps, but the x360 has better random performance. the x360 also has unified memory as you've said while the ps3 has blu-ray (which WILL be useful in the years to come whether you want to believe it or not) and the 360 is still on dvd9 although currently dvd9 is fine for most games.

graphically the 360 can generate a slightly better picture, while the ps3 can generate more distant pictures without losing quality or framerate.


RE: Interesting Note
By d0gb0y on 4/18/2007 3:25:00 PM , Rating: 1
Damn DVD9! I wish my 360 had a blue-ray, so I didn't have to get off the couch to *COUGH* change the dang disk...

I still don't see how this is worth it to the gamer for the high price of admission...


RE: Interesting Note
By someguy123 on 4/18/2007 3:47:05 PM , Rating: 2
thats not what i was trying to imply..it ISN'T worth it now, but it is still a feature that surpasses the 360.

the difference between dvd9 and bluray is a staggering 42gb of space per disc, meaning in a few years when games actually come close to filling an entire bluray disc it'd require 4-5 dvd9's per game. you're already seeing games that are only 4-5 hours long because of dvd9, and soon the standard may just be 2-3 dvd9 discs per game, meaning the highest production games will need to cut content/texture quality/models etc to fit it onto a dvd9...or they'll start making 4-6 disc games.

Sure it isn't the most economical solution, but people who can afford it would rather not have a few games taking up the space of an entire movie collection, not to mention more "fluid" gameplay without disc changes.


RE: Interesting Note
By SquidianLoveGod on 4/19/2007 9:40:34 AM , Rating: 2
Hmmm, I see your point, When the PS1 and Final Fantasy 8 came racing across the seas into my hot sweaty hands, I was shocked it was on 4 CD's It turned out, it was better as the game was basically split into 4 sections, And it took hours to reach the next disc anyway.
Saying blueray or HDDVD discs are required to play our games is a load of crap, Spreading them out on several discs and make each disc a 'chapter' works fine, besides the time it takes to complete 1 chapter, the disc would have been swapped out anyway by someone who wants to play some other game, I don't see it as an issue, And I dont have my games taking up space, thats what those CD/DVD wallet thingo's are for, and its easier to find the game I want to play as well, And I can rest easy that the disc hasn't come out of that center popping thingy and is banging around, damaging the disc.

And who cares if the game is only 4-5 hours long, A great game may last only 10 minuets, its still a great game, if it has awesome replayability I am all happy, I have completed StarCraft in about 8 hours, Yet I have been playing the game online since November the 27th of 1998. (Its my most anticipated game evah!) And I am still addicted to it after all these years, it just shows its an awesome game!

Sure Blueray has larger capacity than the good ole' trusty DVD9 BUT look at the transfer rates. What would you rather, a quick loading DVD or a slow pain in the buttox Blueray? And considering games can be spanned on multiple discs and have them set as chapters... I will go DVD every time, Besides DVD's are getting cheap like CD's, Meaning the costs of packaging a disc isn't as great as a few years ago, which also means its probably cheaper to span it across several DVD's than use a single blueray disc.


RE: Interesting Note
By Diatom on 4/23/2007 6:11:31 AM , Rating: 2
The 1X data transfer rate for Blu-ray Disc is 36Mb/s for data and 54Mb/s for movies, Dvd's Max read spead at 16x is 21.13mb/s

Might check the facts before makin the post...

http://www.answers.com/topic/blu-ray-disc


RE: Interesting Note
By javiergf on 4/18/2007 3:49:20 PM , Rating: 1
I honestly don't understand what's the big deal of blue ray for gaming. For watching movies if that's finally the format that wins, it is a great thing, but for gaming, I don't see why is so great.
First of all, blu ray is slower than DVD, it takes more time to load/read from the disk into memory... loading times are usually a lot faster on the Xbox360.
Second of all, of all the games released since 2005 up to 2007, only 1% or less actually used more than 9 GB. If you compress the textures and data, you can even squeeze that number a little bit more.
Third, let's imagine that someone develop a game that really needs 15 GBs... oh my, what do we do? You just simple ship the game with 2 DVDs... when you are done half way of it, you either switch to side B, or put DVD number 2.
Four, production costs of making 2 DVDs are way cheaper than making a single blue ray.

The bottom line, in my modest opinion, is that we won't need Blue-ray or HD-DVD for gaming, until 2010 or later. Please, nothing is personal, it is just an opinion. Prove me wrong if you can add some facts to contradict this way of thinking.


RE: Interesting Note
By someguy123 on 4/18/2007 4:47:52 PM , Rating: 2
well, like i said before, it is true that right NOW bluray and hddvd are overkill for most games. but the way games have been advancing the past few years i wouldn't doubt that within the next 2-3 years games will start to require 2-3 dvd9 discs standard.

i pointed to gears of war as an example. gears is basicly what the majority of game developers are aspiring for in the coming years graphically (or similiar to the cryengine). gow is already taking nearly a gb per level, and thats with compression while attempting to maintain it's standard in graphic quality. a regular person would take maybe 8 hours to complete the game, although the game honestly only has about 3-4 hours of real gameplay. on a larger storage format i'm sure gow would have been a gigantic epic, but due to the size of dvd9 they are currently doing the whole downloadable mappack everyone else is trying.

Bluray is slower than dvd, but they are both pretty slow mediums and really the best idea they've come up with (which is a pretty good idea) is to preload data on the hard drive before hand.

I'm not saying we NEED bluray/hd-dvd currently...i'm just saying it's technically superior to xbox's dvd9.


RE: Interesting Note
By Nekrik on 4/18/2007 5:00:41 PM , Rating: 3
Not pulling a side here, just wanted to throw out this comment.

It'll be interesting if Blue-ray 'loses' the format war and there is no demand for BR movies or players, this would leave the PS3 using a proprietary format that nothing else requires.


RE: Interesting Note
By javiergf on 4/18/2007 5:39:02 PM , Rating: 2
The thing is, and this is just my humble opinion, that if there is no need for more than 9GB until 2010, we will be playing xbox 720, wii2 and PS4 by then...
And regarding gears of war, I have the game, it uses 6.4 GB, the game is not very long in single player but don't blame the DVD9, they could have put a couple more levels to fill the 9GBs if the developers wanted. Most of the games, offer between 10-20hours of single player on any platform


RE: Interesting Note
By someguy123 on 4/18/2007 5:52:24 PM , Rating: 2
does it really use 6.4? thats odd. makes it seem like they really didn't care and just wanted a game running on the unreal engine or something. i expected gow to push everything on the system, but i guess i was mistaken.

but anyway you're right, bluray probably wont be needed for a long ways to come, but i stand by it as technical superiority, although not a very economic solution in it's current form.


RE: Interesting Note
By Zelvek on 4/18/2007 9:41:57 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
but anyway you're right, bluray probably wont be needed for a long ways to come, but i stand by it as technical superiority, although not a very economic solution in it's current form.


And that is why it is just dumb to gamble on bluray right now like sony has. Should it fail they will have to continue to build bluray disks for their games and lose money on the production of the disks. Although I think it is likely now that bluray will succeed over HD-DVD this was more the opposite prior to the PS3 launch (so it could go back). With the possibility that any HD will soon be out this makes things even harder for bluray. So while bluray (or HD-DVD) are technically superior to DVD the important question here is are they an intelligent investment at this time for a console? IMHO no; either of them are to early to invest in for this sort of application. They are not needed till the next gen of consoles and any HD formate at this time is a gamble.


RE: Interesting Note
By KamiXkaze on 4/22/2007 7:03:41 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed whatever happen to the thing called gameplay wow I have a 50gig game,and it does nothing for me.

KxK


RE: Interesting Note
By Diatom on 4/23/2007 6:26:23 AM , Rating: 2
First, the Blue ray in the ps3 transfers data 3x faster then the X360 Dvd drive. (see the link in my post above)

Second, who is going to be uncompressing all that data? Id rather use the CPU for playing games.

Third, blue ray is expensive now like the DVD/CD was when it first came out. Like all new high tech stuff, prices will drop within a year or two..


RE: Interesting Note
By DingieM on 4/19/2007 5:18:16 AM , Rating: 2
Graphically the Xbox360 can generate images that are much more realistic in terms of High Dynamic Range, lighting and reflections. It is all fully available to developers without having to think about problems in rendering speed.
This is because many important calculations are done on the separate EDRam die.
Though it is fully applicable to 720p and 4x anti-aliasing I don't know the technical requirements for putting up a 1080p image, relating to the use with the EDRam die. Considering the bandwidth between EDRam and main engine is an astounding 256GBit (!!!), maybe a 1920x1080p image can be created by generating 4 times 1/4 of the resolution meaning only 64GBit is left for other commands and/or data?
Just a wild guess...

Now the RSX has to deal with HDR, reflections, anti-aliasing, lighting all by itself meaning less rendering speed is available for the developers. Long distance drawing can be supported by the SPE's of the Cell but that's holding off other calculations like physics.
I image developing a physics game for the PS3, as much CPU operations have to go the physics calculations meaning there is very little to no support for the GPU. Next to this due to turbocache the RSX can address more than 256 Mb but that technology uses 64 Mb as cache so that brings the total available internal memory down to 448 Mb. That is if I'm correct.

Regarding reflections: where are the reflections for Armored Core 4 when the robot is flying in front of a large building? I don't see it on the PS3 version but I do see it in the Xbox360 version.

By looking at the current multiplatform games and the exclusives that are coming, I am convinced the Xbox360 games generate graphics that comes much closer to reality than the PS3. Just look at Forza 2 and end of this year PGR4.
To me, the Xbox360 is the clear winner.


RE: Interesting Note
By rykerabel on 4/19/2007 12:41:24 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Regarding reflections: where are the reflections for Armored Core 4 when the robot is flying in front of a large building? I don't see it on the PS3 version but I do see it in the Xbox360 version.

That is not a PS3 engine problem. API maybe, programmer definitely. Its an issue where the programmers chose to not do it on the PS3.

Its no big surprise. People have been writing programs for the XBOX360 for over two years, but developers have only had the PS3 API for barely a year. Add that the XBOX360 API is more familiar to Windows programmers and of course early games will be more feature rich on the 360. However, given a few months more for developers to better understand the ps3 api and this will cease to be an issue.

It still comes down to which console plays the game you want. I'm an RPG player and so Sony has always and will most likely remain the only choice whether its better or not.


RE: Interesting Note
By DingieM on 4/20/2007 3:31:21 AM , Rating: 2
Maybe so in a less demanding game like AC4, but the API issue really shows Sony didn't time well with new hardware in the form of PS3.
I am highly convinced that, if graphics are pushed more to the limit with lots of different shaders, multiple different lightsources, anti-aliasing, HDR, reflections, the RSX is very quickly running into bandwidth problems. The Xenos (or Xenon?) doesn't have this because of the dual chip design i.e. HDR, anti-aliasing and what more basically for "free" due to the EDRam.
That can be a major advantage for the Xbox360. Period.
But the Cell is faster in DSP calculations...but almost only DSP calculations, not games...

Now I don't like the turn-based Japanese RPG's. I really cannot understand why that is fun and I probably never will.
Though nice that Blue Dragon is created for the Xbox360 but it doesn't catch me at all. So repetitive. And than Lost Odessey, again so repetitive. Isn't that extremely boring???

I really like RPG's like Mass-Effect. Lastly I watched 3 screenshots and they were really breathtakingly beautiful.

Indeed it all comes down to the games and how they can be played.
That's why the Wii is so popular.


RE: Interesting Note
By Ravenlore on 4/19/2007 5:52:00 PM , Rating: 2
Yet at home shows that the PS3 IS very powerful. AND there are other proof that shows PS3 is more powerful than Xbox 360 dispite the ramblings of one bias view point!!

I have run out of time but will be back with more informaiton.


RE: Interesting Note
By DingieM on 4/20/2007 4:17:28 AM , Rating: 2
??

I presume you mean folding@home?
Then, if so, do you really think people would buy PS3's to use folding@home? Then, think again.
You are rambling.
Please look up some proof that the PS3 is more powerful than its main competitor. I already now its cleary more powerful in doing continuous DSP calculations. But does it deliver when a game consists of many AI and other general purpose calculations, that remains to be seen my friend.
Define more powerful please.
Please be more specific.
I have read many PS3 fanboy (I don't call you one) postings and many, if not almost all, lack the ability to defend their arguments.
Next to that many PS3 fanboys take it personal, while Sony is lying to them.
Sony says that PS3 is so powerful -wooooow- o my god Sony says so it must be true!
The PS3 still doesn't deliver considering its price point relative to the (main) competition.


RE: Interesting Note
By jadedeath on 4/18/2007 2:35:41 PM , Rating: 3
"If they cut the PS3's price point further, and at too fast of a pace, they risk not recouping any money on the PS3 as a whole (not counting PS1 or 2). Sure, they might take the lead but unlike MS, they can't afford to lose a billion or two to gain market share. Especially not when they were the market leader in the first place."

You're kidding right? Unlike MS? Have you taken a look at Sony stock lately? It's massive compared to MS, if they wanted to they could sell the PS3 currently with the same price tag as the 360 and still end up making money on not only games but Blu-Ray movies in which they own two of the major distributors of.

I don't think it's likely that Sony will hit 50% in market share in 3 years, 50% of the number of 360's that are out there perhaps, I totally agree with you that Wii has this war already won, I think they're up to 6 million with no end in sight, where the 360 has had a year lead and they're seeing it dwindle before them.

I don't see Blu-Ray flopping but that's just me and a topic of discussion for another day.

Logan


RE: Interesting Note
By akugami on 4/18/2007 8:33:19 PM , Rating: 2
I actually think Blu-Ray is the superior format between it and HD-DVD but as we all know, the superior format is not always the one that will win. It's all about the features and value that the consumer is getting. Two major things that tip the scales toward Blu-Ray are the higher data density per layer as well as the fact that it uses a protective coating that is highly scratch resistant.

This is one area where I felt HD-DVD dropped the ball. After nearly two decades of scratched CD's and DVD's you'd figure a protective coating that resists 90% of scratches much like that demonstrated by TDK would be standard for any new and upcoming optical disc format.

Someone else mentioned in a different post about the data differences between Blu-Ray and DVD's. AFAIK, there isn't a dual layer Blu-Ray game out there yet. All are single layer, which is about 25GB. I don't think we'll really be seeing dual layer Blu-Ray games for at least another year as developers are reaching just to fill 25GB. Either that or they're not bothering to use compression.

As for Blu-Ray failing...it'll all be decided by the pron industry since we all know pron drives technology. :)

I don't think the Wii has the war won, just that so long as they continue to build on their momentum and not screw up it's likely they will be the market leader of this round. Anything can happen though. The war is far from over.

As for Sony, their stocks may be up drastically and they are not even close to being in danger of any collapse but they are stagnating in most of their divisions besides a few, of which the electronic entertainment (Playstation) is the major bread winner. As far as ready cash flow, they don't have the billions that MS has socked away for any projects it so desires. In other words, the 3 billion or so MS has lost on the Xbox and Xbox 360 won't make investors happy but at the same time it's not going to cause investor's and management to start predicting doom and gloom like it would if Sony were to say they'd lose 3 billion over 5 years in a new market.


RE: Interesting Note
By someguy123 on 4/18/2007 8:53:57 PM , Rating: 2
the reason sony's stock is worth more per share is because microsoft split their stock into 4 a few years ago.


RE: Interesting Note
By BMFPitt on 4/18/2007 3:31:18 PM , Rating: 2
I once made the assumption that you would be able to buy a Wii in the weeks before Christmas. It's looking like I was right...just that it'll be Christmas '08.


Tray saying nothing.
By Mitch101 on 4/18/2007 12:20:12 PM , Rating: 1
You must resist the bash that is about to take place here. Let it go. Go to your happy place. Resist urge to slam.




RE: Tray saying nothing.
By Griswold on 4/18/2007 12:27:05 PM , Rating: 1
But it's so easy and tempting too, if they keep feeding us with nonsense like this...


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By tekzor on 4/18/2007 12:28:35 PM , Rating: 2
Finally!!
I was waiting to buy a PS3 here in the states AFTER it started doing well in Europe. My confidence level in Sony has returned!


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By othercents on 4/18/2007 4:53:19 PM , Rating: 2
Just remember that the UK got free HDTVs with their PS3s. I would have purchased one if I could get a free HDTV. Then just put the PS3 on eBay to make my money back.

Other


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By ATC on 4/18/2007 10:36:26 PM , Rating: 2
To be fair, the people in line only found out about the free TV giveaway long after they lined up and it did nothing to bring in new customers as there were only a 100 to be given out and it wasn't announced prior the event at all.


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By KaiserCSS on 4/18/2007 12:34:04 PM , Rating: 2
Well, I for one am glad that the PS3 is doing well in Europe.

Now all they need to do is ship the rest of them left on shelves in the States to Europe and they're geared for great success! Very nice!


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By Vanilla Thunder on 4/18/07, Rating: 0
RE: Tray saying nothing.
By Vanilla Thunder on 4/18/2007 4:22:15 PM , Rating: 4
I can't believe I got downrated for a little Borat humor. I guess saying p*ssy on a tech site just confuses all of you that have never seen one.

Vanilla


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By rykerabel on 4/19/2007 12:48:31 PM , Rating: 2
LOL, ok now that is funny...

You were downrated for being silly but uprated for bashing the very people rating you...

Makes me want to not rate you in order to not be associated with either camp. Like anyone could tell (besides you mr. admin).

LOL


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By Mitch101 on 4/18/2007 12:38:23 PM , Rating: 2
"perhaps we lived up to the expectations"
Did you or Didnt you?

"I think we're close"
"I think the first two days"
Thats a lot of thinking dont you KNOW?

"I see no reason we can't use content to drive the sales of hardware"
I see no reason we cant keep telling everyone something that isnt true but make it sound like it is.

Stringer is ready to take the bull by the horns to turnaround Sony Corp.
Well Stringer I think too but to lead you have to KNOW rather than assume your thinking is correct.


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By Naviblue on 4/18/2007 1:09:43 PM , Rating: 3
agreed

I don't know about everyone else but I know for dam sure that if I was head of a company and making an annoucement to the world, I would not be saying "I think" anything.


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By Verran on 4/18/2007 2:22:02 PM , Rating: 4
What's even worse is that he actually said "perhaps" twice in the same sentence...

quote:
We came into the [European] market with more games and perhaps we lived up to the expectations in Europe in a way that perhaps we didn't in Japan.


There's a bold statement. "Perhaps we maybe a little bit kind of almost lived up to expectations. Sort of."

Besides, opening sales are one thing, but how are long term sales looking? As has been said, I can find you 10,000 fanboys that'd camp overnight to buy a rubber dog turd for $600 if it had "Sony" stamped on it, but what about the rest of the world? If the sales in the states are any indication, their numbers will fall drastically.

Watching all of this idiotic PR where Sony pretends to celebrate the "success" of the PS3 is nausiating.


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By jtesoro on 4/19/2007 6:23:23 AM , Rating: 2
He's probably using these soft words to make up for the arrogant statements others in his company have let loose recently.


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By encryptkeeper on 4/18/2007 3:18:47 PM , Rating: 2
Mitch101 said:
"You must resist the bash that is about to take place here. Let it go. Go to your happy place. Resist urge to slam."

Too bad this is a blog and we can and are expected to speak our minds. Since you think we shouldn't do that, I'd suggest you find another website.


RE: Tray saying nothing.
By rykerabel on 4/19/2007 12:50:42 PM , Rating: 2
WTS Sense of Humor cheap - only 50k


I'm done with Sony.
By leidegre on 4/18/2007 1:28:05 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, it's over face it, Sony really failed to introduce launch the PS3. What I don't get is why they don't realize themself. Sure Sony has money, and a lot of it, and with it, they can continue to basically brainwash the PS3 into homes. But it's just not intressting anymore. The Xbox 360, and Wii, intrests me, but the PS3 price tag itself just makes me go, oh, I can buy a laptop for that.




RE: I'm done with Sony.
By michal1980 on 4/18/07, Rating: -1
RE: I'm done with Sony.
By someguy123 on 4/18/2007 2:08:22 PM , Rating: 2
this sounds like channel stuffing to me....i've seen stores in europe packed with ps3s and supposidly they've sold almost all shipments?


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By DingieM on 4/19/2007 7:05:20 AM , Rating: 2
Last but not least the sales apparently plummeted during the second week, that's NOT a good sign.


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By TimTheEnchanter25 on 4/18/2007 2:09:56 PM , Rating: 2
I'm extremely happy with my PS3, and future firmware updates and game releases are just going to make it better.

I can't imagine that any of the people that bash the PS3 have actually used it (playing on the 19" monitor at Best Buy doesn't count).

I've played the 360 and the Wii and there is no way I would pick them over the PS3. The Blu-Ray alone makes it a winner for me, it's way better than the 360's half assed HD-DVD add on.


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By Goty on 4/18/2007 3:36:13 PM , Rating: 2
Don't you just love how people will mod down a post just because it's pro-PS3?

This was this guy's personal opinion and someone modded him down because they didn't agree? Wow, get a life.


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By Zelvek on 4/18/2007 9:29:09 PM , Rating: 1
or maybe they moded him down because he gives no justification of his drastically differing opinions?


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By rykerabel on 4/19/2007 12:54:12 PM , Rating: 2
ha ha ha, like anyone bashing ps3 has any justification

LOLOLOL

but fact is he did justify it by stating that it was his opinion from his own experience.

99% of the ps3 bashing that i have read has been based on rumors, hearsay, wild guesses, misinformation, skewed statistics, unrelated issues, and a complete LACK of personal experience.


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By DingieM on 4/19/2007 3:25:09 AM , Rating: 2
And I'm extremely happy with my Xbox360.
Before the Xbox360 was even out I read technical articles of tis abilities against the PS3 and investigated the coming games like Gears and Mass Effect.
As a gaming platform it has a big headstart in firmware and triple-A games and future firmware updates only make it better. Not to mention the live service!
I believe games like Gears, Forza 2, Falbe 2, Mass Effect, Halo 3 etc. simply blow away the PS3. All blockbuster games.
Now, formerly would-be PS3 exclusives are coming to the PC and Xbox360, that is for a reason.
The game "Age of Conan: Hyborian adventures" is coming to PC and Xbox360, why not PS3?

Go figure.


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By Hawkido on 4/19/2007 1:27:04 PM , Rating: 2
I am glad you enjoy the Xbox360. I have seen it, played it, and even played it a bit at the store. The graphics were great, really good looking games and all. However, none of the games are really what i would pay for. Most of the Xbox360 and older Xbox fans don't seem to get is this:

Xbox brand doesn't catch the developers that make the games that appeal to the "original gamer". Remember that guy? The one that played games 4+ hours a day when it wasn't cool to play games? If you say "what are you talking about me and my friends..." stop right there. You are not old enough to know who I am talking about. Because the "original gamer" might have had 2 friends, but usually just one, if any. He played Bard's Tale on the Commodore 64, Ultima (not UO), Wizardry, Zork (the one that was all text, and not online). Most of you guys don't even know what these games are except for maybe the modern franchises you have been exposed to. These were the games that made gaming great. You talk about modern games having 4-8 hour play time. These games were measured in how many months it took to complete them (remember 4+ hours a day, more on weekends, no wife = no kids) This is the "original gamer" He (typically male but there are some females out there) makes up about 10% of the gaming population. Xbox discards them as rubbish, MS & developers for Xbox will not publish a game that caters to them. Sony does. Nintendo used to (SNES days, Gameboy still does) There really hasn't been a sucessful game platform that has ignored the "original Gamer". Till the Xbox, but the Xbox wasn't really that successful was it. Maybe popular, like social helth care, but it will always drain resources. The Atari console was sucessful. I remember my dad buying an atari console for ~$200 pre 1980. Do the inflation math, that is alot of money. The Atari was profitable... (Wizard of War... LOL my favorite!)

The popular crowd will play the FPS games then challenge their friends.. so they all (assume 4) come over and GoW each other to death... (1 console, 1 game, maybe 2-4 controllers) Have you been on a college campus? There are like 5 Xbox 360 for every dorm. The WHOLE building plays on just those machines.

The original gamer(s) (assume 4) wants to play FFXIII. (4 consoles, 4 games, 4 controllers). Different style of game is offered. Hell no I am not going to get off my RPG so you can run around and frag your friends for 30 minutes. Get your own damn system! Different type of person plays. THe OG is selfish, and internalistic. Also a much better consumer.

In the first crowd there may be more of them, but they share, they don't typically earn as much for their Cost of Living Area, so sharing makes sense, plus being more social, they have friends.

The second crowd, low to no firends. Self absorbed (once they start playing they won't stop) they go through games like cans of soda, so they target the tougher longer lasting games (ya know, the ones Sony typically endorses, and MS shuns. I am talking about, RPGs, Strategy games (No not RTS, you bafoon!). Games like Master of Orion (all of them, cept that last one sucked because they tried to make the "popular crowd" like it, It failed soo miserably.) Each one of the OG's will buy their own system, and Many Many games. (Yeah these are the games you can't find in the Bargin bin, because they always sell, and few to no one trades them nor do they get rid of them. Like Xenogears)

As Long as MS ignores the OG they will have a very hard time making a niche for them self in the gamers world. I think the Xbox 360 has an RPG out (blue dragon or some such...) in addition to the PC port of the lastest Elder scrolls... BTW anyone remember Daggerfall? Yeah pretty much the same old same old. MMORPG with out the MMO. "That would make it an RPG!" Shaddup, Play the Bard's tale series through to the end (I - III) LOL, I don't even think that is possible anymore. Geeze it would take more than a year. Then come back to me and say that the elder scrolls is an RPG. You will see it is really just an MMORPG-MMO. Too open ended, watered down storyline, no real substance, minimal impact. Beautiful tho I will give that, great for you hack and slashers, and the "I Pwned U" crowd.

I play RPGs because I wish to take on the role of someone else while I play, most other MMO'ers just use it as an EGO amplifier, so they can excersize their ID ("I PWNd u, Irulz Irulz! u suk L00serz!") bout sick of the Jock mentality, I wish gaming had never been made popular. The Jocks can go beef up on steriods to stroke their Ego, then have a stroke. Leave the game making to the OG's, and the Game playing to the OG's as well.

Short Memory list:
Jumpman
LodeRunner
Apache gunship
Bard's Tale Series
Ultima Series
Wizardry Series
Might and Magic series
Sword of Kadesh (lol wow that's old)
Telengard (hafta blow the dust off that one)
Below the Root
Space Taxi
Pools of Radiance (and the whole Gold box series)
Zork series
Suspended Animation
Dr. Livingston
Temple of Asphi Series

If the Xbox would get some good games, They would have my business, otherwise fuhgeddaboudit! I will buy a PS3 when FFXIII comes out.


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By akugami on 4/19/2007 2:30:13 PM , Rating: 2
You realize none of those games are made by Sony? In fact, and unfortunately, some of those developers are gone today. If people want to make RPG's (computer or console types) then they're free to do so on Xbox, Wii, or PS3. Remember that before Final Fantasy became a household name, it was a game played by "original gamers."

Quite frankly, I couldn't care less what system a game is on so long as it's a quality experience. Although the PS3 is making it really tough to buy it at such a price point...and I'm someone who can afford it. Not to say I'm rich or anything but I routinely bring $500 every two to three weeks to the Atlantic City casinos. If someone like me has to think twice before buying a PS3, what about Joe Consumer?


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By Hawkido on 4/19/2007 3:05:35 PM , Rating: 2
Final Fantasy isn't made by Sony either. Don't get me wrong I believe both you and I think much alike. I would buy and play on an Xbox 360, cept there are no games I would pay for on it. So in that matter Tech specs don't amount to much. If you look at my list of games from yesteryear, most didn't even have graphics, or require horsepower. But it was the style of game that I liked.

Yes I am dissappointed that Sony has bungled the PS3 as badly as they have, but the platform is not doomed. Blu-Ray disc is one of the features that Square-Enix want. They (well it was only square at the time) ditched the whole relationship with Nintendo because Nintendo refused to go with a storage format that would accomodate Square. That was a big mistake, because Square put out 3 of the most popular games they have ever made on the playstation (FF7, FFT, Xenogears) Those games really made the PS1 shine. Konami moved over as well, yes they still put games out on the N64, but oddly they sucked because they didn't invest the time on a console that the Japanese wanted to die.

If I had my choice I would have wished that Sony had Waited 1 more year on the PS3. The supply issues would have been solved the Bwards compat. issue would have been fixed. (the upscaling rez problem would have still been there, I think) and the FF games would be right around the corner. The Mfg costs would have been lower as well so they would just have been breaking even on the upper model. I think with Perpindicular writing now common they could have used a much higher density disk for deployment. I am sure they had their reasons for pushing it out the door, but it is really hard to justify those reasons now.

Just give me a platform that the developers feel has all the potential they need for 5 years, with a stable hardware platform. Then get the dev's of the great games to pump out games. Trust me I'll buy'em.

Xbox360 has the hardware (okay no HD is a minus, and DVD9 doesn't really cut it either sorry I don't buy the whole "it's enough" philosophy. It's a 7 year old tech. If you have a HD then load times are kinda moot, if your software takes advantage of it.

As for programming difficulty, good. I am glad the PS3 is tough to program for. I am glad it takes some thought to make a game, because lately "thought" has been the one game component in shorter supply than blu diodes. Hopefully it will spawn multi-core SPE heave APIs, something that has been missing for a long time.

Square has made the statement that the PS3 offers them everything they wanted in a platform. They have made some of the most technically brilliant games that possess an outstanding storyline and "thoughtful" gameplay.

See I dislike the "requires no thought because I have an API to do the thinking for me, and therefore I am shackled and walled into one method for my creativity" type of game development. Make the Devs break the mold each time, or take the mold away and have them recreate it. Do you really want to make it so that people that don't really know how to program make a game. How many bargain basket games are there already for the Xbox 360? It hasn't even been out for 2 years yet has it? I have already seen 3 packs of games for it (just to raise the price high enough to pay for the shelf space it occupies). The used games stores are chocked full of x360 games. Granted the 1st gen games always suck (Nintendo is usually an exception) and I am sure there will be many PS3 games to join that group as well. They can't even make good titles for games anymore "<Insert spokesperson's name> <Insert Sport Name> <Insert Year>" how many games like this do you see? those games are like 30 percent of the games on the market... I guess someone buys them, but I see them in the used game store sometimes days after they come out.


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By rykerabel on 4/19/2007 5:03:18 PM , Rating: 2
/signed


RE: I'm done with Sony.
By mrteddyears on 4/19/2007 5:02:25 AM , Rating: 2
Its good to see someone happy with SONY, but I have to say anyone that shafts its customer base to its face like they have done in Europe is not going to get my money.

I really hope Blue Ray fails as it would screw them good and proper but when you have a cartel for movie distribution it’s going to be difficult.

However as with the USA and Europe if SONY try the blue ray only trick for its movies someone will report then to the EU and they will be fined ala Msoft for non-competitive practises.

Either way they all want your money it’s just who you want to give it to. For me its Nintendo end of story and I will never buy SONY again.

Will I make a difference in the whole grand scheme of thing no but I will be happy and that’s all the matters :-).

As long as you are happy with SONY then life is good


Nice Picture.
By brandonmichael on 4/18/2007 3:25:18 PM , Rating: 2
He looks like he's having a stroke in that picture...




RE: Nice Picture.
By hecksign on 4/21/2007 5:54:24 AM , Rating: 2
he looks like he lost lots of his blood.


"If you look at the last five years, if you look at what major innovations have occurred in computing technology, every single one of them came from AMD. Not a single innovation came from Intel." -- AMD CEO Hector Ruiz in 2007

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