Ok this directly links to Majiks Thread, although its a report from FT.com which paints a more bleaker outlook on the sudden management reshuffle compared to playstation.coms more positive view on the matter.

link - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f6728ed8-8095-11db-9096-0000779e2340.aspx

Analysts said that Mr Hirai’s promotion to a global role at SCE could mark a critical shift in management thinking, with Sony changing its emphasis so that the current generation of games console will be its last as a hardware manufacturer.

“The appointment of Hirai could be the start of a shift from hardware to software,” said Yuta Sakurai, an analyst at Nomura. “I cannot now imagine a PlayStation4.”

Mr Sakurai said that Mr Hirai’s new global portfolio puts a predominantly software-focused manager in charge of the company, adding that SCE’s future would be shaped by Mr Hirai’s relationship with Phil Harrison, the president of SCE’s worldwide studios.

Analysts argue that while Mr Kutaragi, a brilliant engineer, was the right man to run SCE as a hardware powerhouse, Sony may now see better opportunities as a pure maker of games.

WTF??? I hated sony but i don' t want them to get out of the console business altogether.

There' s going to be a PS4. Don' t worry about it.

No it means the PS4 will be a super Uber computer capable of doing enough floating ops to tear the fabrick of time and space as we know it. Not to mention Killzone 4 will display more polygons than real life AND do it all in 5 dimentions!

WTF??? I hated sony but i don' t want them to get out of the console business altogether.

I' ve wanted them out of the industry after PSONE. But I doubt Sony will leave the console ring they have known the potential of winning in this industry and if they can' t take losing then my philosophy about them holds up.

No it means the PS4 will be a super Uber computer capable of doing enough floating ops to tear the fabrick of time and space as we know it. Not to mention Killzone 4 will display more polygons than real life AND do it all in 5 dimentions!

OMFG ROFL! plus it can even be displayed thoughtout multiple dimensions, times, and create a link to our cerebral cortex

PS4 is going to be so powerful they are calling it PS5.

I' ve wanted them out of the industry after PSONE. But I doubt Sony will leave the console ring they have known the potential of winning in this industry and if they can' t take losing then my philosophy about them holds up.

dude sony rocks thats y thier #1...

shit-box-360 is a dubbed down ps3
i rekon wii will beat down microsoft

dude sony rocks thats y thier #1...

shit-box-360 is a dubbed down ps3
i rekon wii will beat down microsoft

But they aren' t #1 this Gen Microsoft is :P (In sales)

Sony has bastardized the industry since they first came in. The only real addition to this industry which Sony provided which really allowed for it to flourish was changing the image of Gaming. Prior to Sony gaming was for Geeks and Nerds, after Playstation however gaming became something that was cool.

Like I' ve stated before if it wasn' t for Sony releasing PS2 Dreamcast would have probably flourished and SEGA wouldn' t be putting out shitty titles like they are currently. I' ll always hate Sony for that...oh and I just hate the whole Mega-Corporation stepping into Video Gaming I hate Xbox when it first came out...then I played Halo and was hooked...then I realized Microsoft was actually trying to change and innovate in gaming.

Seriously though give me 2 things Sony did that are industry standards today?

Edit: And 360 is not a " dubbed down" PS3, they are made from parts...you can' t exactly rip off parts...especially if they are available for your computer. Are you trying to suggest that my computer is a " dubbed up" PS3?

I know this analyst' s prediction probably wont come true, it' s quite interesting none the less. But with sonys current (rather dire) situation i wouldn' t dismiss this prediction altogether.

lol

cartidges > cd' s = sony
cd' s > DVD' s = sony
DVD > Blu-Ray = sony

2d > 3d arcade style gfx = sony
bringing new light to the industry = sony
showing microsoft the possibilities = sony...wait thats a bad thing

xbox thought they could use their billions to try to steal the money out of the industry, any company that tries to be a conglomerate and own everything is wrong! if sony did that (may 1 day) then they would lose some support

xbox thought they could use their billions to try to steal the money out of the industry, any company that tries to be a conglomerate and own everything is wrong! if sony did that (may 1 day) then they would lose some support

At least you have the presence of mind to say that, and we can agree with you.

But for one thing, you used the ' >' and ' <' wrongly =/

Now THAT' S embarrassingly.

' >' means ' greater than' , and ' <' means less than.

Basically, you got them mixed up. And it' s a purely pictorial symbol. That' s...kinda dumb, sorry.

Unfortunately, and this is very obvious; Sony has been trying to do this since Playstation. In the very same vein as Apple with its iPod, they conquered the market because there was simply no real competitors besides Nintendo, which had its share of problems until its recent advent of the Wii!

Economics 101 would explain that consumers loss consumer welfare if the market is controlled by a single company, and this is exactly what Sony has done till PS2 and the Xbox came out.

The truth is that every single gamer would LOVE to see Microsoft as the big bad conglomerate company that' s trying to take over the gaming market. But it IS a naturally very commercial business, and Microsoft has honestly done nothing that no other gaming company has done.

Sony is not even a ' gaming' company either, it' s a much larger electronics brand.

But for one thing, you used the ' >' and ' <' wrongly =/

Now THAT' S embarrassingly.

' >' means ' greater than' , and ' <' means less than.

> = progression from > to duh

..." Now THAT' S embarrassingly." ... grammar would help

The progression in media & technology has been pushed by sony no doubt about it but its not always a good thing. The ps3 is currently suffering major shortages due to its inclusion of a blu ray drive. THis has mean its previously forcasted estimates of 4million ps3s Worldwide by years end has dropped to as low as 500k in only America and Japan. IT also meant the price of the console is considerably higher, at US$500-600 means that once all the hardcore fans get the console the price will be difficult to sell to your average consumer. Also considering the over US$240 loss per ps3 sold that price will stay the same for a long time (maybe 2 years?). This low install base means developers have lower chances of earning money, means less exclusive ps3 games which means less people buying the ps3 (theoretically speaking). All this because sony wanted to pack all the latest technology into one bleeeding edge device. Is this a good thing? Ask the consumers who own ps3 and currently have a small selection of games available and will apparently for the forseeable future (http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=21378), ask the developers who will lose money because the low user base means they can' t sell the 500k units of software to break even (according to Namco), plus on top of the poor attach rate of 1.5 games per ps3 console (currently), or ask sony who despite selling the ps3 at a high price still takes a loss.

cartidges > cd' s = sony
cd' s > DVD' s = sony
DVD > Blu-Ray = sony

2d > 3d arcade style gfx = sony
bringing new light to the industry = sony
showing microsoft the possibilities = sony...wait thats a bad thing

Sega did CD first, though Originally Sony and Nintendo were set to make a system for CD (it eventually became the playstation) the idea wasn' t Sony' s.

DvD' s are better, but Sony did not create the DvD format it was merely an industry choice at the time (media industry that is).

Blu-ray' s though they have more capacity still haven' t really proven to be a staple upgrade.

3d is something Sega did first...once again.

Bringing a new image to the industry is more like it.

Yep if it wasn' t for Sony Microsoft probably wouldn' t be in this game.

Now I asked for 2 Industry Standards...3d was the only you gave me and it wasn' t Sony' s.

Using DvD' s wasn' t an industry standard until this Gen...and even then it isn' t a standard.

If you had included Dual Analog I might have taken that...but once again Nintendo had already done that on their N64 controller...speaking of controllers those are probably the best example for Industry Standards review this article (which is a cool read) to understand what I am getting at.
Mind you the first 2 are not standards.

if it wasn' t for sony making the moves xbox would hav been a dead end system....oh wait it is ahahahah

I hope Sony gets taught a real lesson in how the manage their buisness this gen. A shift in the marketplace wouldnt be bad!

Starting at the top...

WTF??? I hated sony but i don' t want them to get out of the console business altogether.

It' s a possibility. The amount of money they are forecast to lose in the next 5 years is immense and the possibility of them making enough money back from console sales (if it does become profitable at all) and royalties is extremely low. Sony' s metaphorical ass could only possibly be saved by Blu-Ray' s domination of the home-video market, something that is looking increasingly unlikely.

For the past decade Sony has been reliant on it' s games division. Dominating the 20b/year industry has kept them afloat and has been the only constantly strong sector. Developing CELL and Blu-Ray simultaneously has cost them severely so far. The original decision to use multiple CELL processors to power PS3, meaning having no GPU, was retarded. IOt doesn' t even work in theory. When they saw it wasn' t viable they ran to NVIDIA with a sum of money and basically asked what they could get for it.

A year of bad management (more than a year, but a year publically) complete with stupid quotes galore, total arrogance towards the competition, 2 pathetic E3 showings, numerous delays etc has meant tons of bad press, which in turn has resulted in hits to the share prices. Hits to the share prices have pissed off major shareholders and they' ve decided a management shuffle might help. Publishers are looking and saying " actually we' ll just wait and see what happens before we commit to anything" and Sony' s shareholders need to appease them. Shuffling the management team is a public offering to those publishers and developers, and it' s meant to look like Sony are taking responsibility for the past year and saying " ok, we' ve fucked up and we' re doing something about it" .

Sony can' t actually " afford" to build as many PS3' s as they need yet. They are losing money on every machine sold and simply can' t absorb the damage like Microsoft could. PS2 is needed to keep them on their feet and every dollar made from their second console this holiday will be going straight into building more of their third. For Sony, PS4 is a loooooooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggg way off.

dude sony rocks thats y thier #1...

shit-box-360 is a dubbed down ps3
i rekon wii will beat down microsoft

Living upside down has affected your brain. Try not to think too hard.

Sega did CD first, though Originally Sony and Nintendo were set to make a system for CD (it eventually became the playstation) the idea wasn' t Sony' s.

Incorrect. TurboGrafx 16 used an optical drive before SEGA.

DvD' s are better, but Sony did not create the DvD format it was merely an industry choice at the time (media industry that is).

Sony had their own DVD format but it wasn' t chosen by the DVD forum as the standard and they couldn' t get it going. They lost out to Toshiba. Interesting eh?!

3d is something Sega did first...once again.

No, you mean Nintendo. Super FX baby!

If you had included Dual Analog I might have taken that...but once again Nintendo had already done that on their N64 controller

Nintendo had a dual analog controller before Sony?! No.

If we were talking analog control then SEGA was first to market with their NiGHTS pad, although Nintendo had showcased their N64 controller months before. Sony were the first to use dual analog sticks and Nintendo were the first to use force feedback.

> = progression from > to duh

..." Now THAT' S embarrassingly." ... grammar would help

Squeeze me?

Byakko' s grammar is far superior to the vast majority here, including yours. She' s also correct in saying that...

' >' means ' greater than' , and ' <' means less than.

...progression has nothing to do with it. moving from one thing - another uses a completely different symbol. Did' ya catch it?!

Also, your entire post...

lol

cartidges > cd' s = sony
cd' s > DVD' s = sony
DVD > Blu-Ray = sony

2d > 3d arcade style gfx = sony
bringing new light to the industry = sony
showing microsoft the possibilities = sony...wait thats a bad thing

xbox thought they could use their billions to try to steal the money out of the industry, any company that tries to be a conglomerate and own everything is wrong! if sony did that (may 1 day) then they would lose some support

...is dumb/wrong/laughable/the perfect example of Sony' s idiot casual userbase.

I hope Sony gets taught a real lesson in how the manage their business this gen. A shift in the marketplace wouldn' t be bad!

And i fear that without a significant change, the industry would be headed for another crash.



I don' t know why i bother.

Incorrect. TurboGrafx 16 used an optical drive before SEGA.

I was going off the top of my head I had a nagging feeling that TG-16 did it first :/

I was thinking of the GC controller instead of the single Analog the N64 one had :P

Thanks for the corrections Majik.

ORIGINAL: Alecrein

Incorrect. TurboGrafx 16 used an optical drive before SEGA.

I was going off the top of my head I had a nagging feeling that TG-16 did it first :/

I was thinking of the GC controller instead of the single Analog the N64 one had :P

Thanks for the corrections Majik.

PSone had a Dual Analog, then incorporating force feedback and becoming the Dual Shock. Thus the PS2 version being called the Dual Shock 2.

Gamecube however had the best controller last gen. At least, i prefer it.

last gen I prefered 1)the dual shock 2
2)the smaller x box controller (I think it was called the S type but I am not sure)
3)Gamecube controller
4)xbox fat ass uncomfortable controller

this gen I prefer 360' s by far I mean Microsoft really did their homework on that one