640°

Five Signs That Sony is In Trouble This Holiday Season

From the PlanetPlaystation.com editorial:

"At first glance, it would almost seem like Sony’s on a roll. They announced a new super-slim model of their PlayStation 3 system for the holiday season, along with exclusive content for Assassin’s Creed III and some new projects for the PlayStation Vita. But that said, you still can’t help but notice little cracks that indicate something is wrong beneath the surface. As much as we like Sony and the stuff that they’re working on for 2012 and 2013, we can’t help but think they’ve made a few mistakes, and this holiday season, those mistakes are more than likely to show, whether it’s the lack of marketing or a decision revolving around hardware. Sorry, Sony, but here are five indications that you might have a problem come Christmas time…"

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planetplaystation.com
4260d ago Replies(2)
4260d ago Replies(2)
brettyd4260d ago (Edited 4260d ago )

Of course their in trouble, they spend like drunken sailors. They need to release less and market more.

Catoplepas4260d ago

Yeah, that's what gamers need.

Less games, more marketing.

MostJadedGamer4260d ago

I am glad Sony significantly cut there bloated marketing budget. Its just a drain on the bottom line.

4260d ago
Army_of_Darkness4260d ago

Probably wouldn't care much about gaming all together anymore to be honest.
Nintendo is for Kids and I have no interest in anything Mario. microsoft charges for anything online and is mainly focused on Kinect crap now... So yeah, it would be a lost for me and the gaming community.

TenkoTAiLS4260d ago

@Army_of_Darkness
I trust then that you are not a real "hardcore" gamer? Losing interest in gaming just because a company leaves the market is a sad reason to quit one of your hobbies or passions, there have been a few that have come and gone and eventually what we currently have will too. I used to be an avid Sega fanatic, but I had to learn to embrace the others and get over my fan type nature.

Each console and company offers a unique take on gaming and most games are multiplatform now days anyway. Sony does have some nice exclusives but nothing worth quitting being a gamer if they dissapeared. The studios would move on, the ones run by Sony would move elsewhere and the 2nd parties would join other camps, just like what happened with Sega and Atari etc.

Sony may not go third party since they have other divisions they would go back to, but their former studios would. So you wouldn't lose the games, just a brand name. Silly thing to quit gaming over.

AsimLeonheart4260d ago

Another day and another "Sony is DOOMED!!!" article. We just had two articles where one laid off employee was bad-mouthing Sony and another where it was claimed Sony was in more trouble than it seems. It is the easy way and sure-fire way to get hits for your website.I clicked on the link just to see what "cracks" Sony had and none of the reasons were big or significant. Just trying to get hits and I regret giving them one.

wishingW3L4260d ago

their marketing is crap anyway.

UnwanteDreamz4260d ago

This "Sony is in Trouble" BS is getting old. It was old in 2007. Haters and their predictions were proved wrong the last 4 or 5 years. It has been just long enough for them to forget how wrong they were.

Sony isn't the same leader they once were but dont count them out. I remember when Apple almost died. Look where they are now. Sony isnt as bad off as armchair analysts would have you think.

Just my opinion anyway.

Tetsujin4260d ago

@Tenko

I'm in the same boat with Army of Darkness but for different reasons; biggest is PlayStation is what convinced me Nintendo had to step their game up back in the N64 days - Yes I was a big Goldeneye/Mario Kart 64 junkie however over time I saw certain games PS was releasing that made me think twice about the N64 for the long haul. I also overlooked Sega Saturn only because at the time Dreamcast was announced; and I did give the original Xbox a fair chance however the choice of "my" gaming preference was still on the PlayStation brand.

I'm more of a "retro gamer" since I prefer the older games and systems - before online, DLC, trophies/achievements, and internet persuasion; if Sony was to drop the PS brand yes I would give up gaming for the "future" but I would still keep all the classics as a way to remind myself what gaming was like back during the golden era.

I do have high hopes something can be done to secure the future of PlayStation at least.

neogeo4260d ago

yep I would be willing to give up gaming for some great marketing. lol

Jazz41084260d ago (Edited 4260d ago )

This is coming from a playstation fan site. This holds a little more water but its no secret sony is in alot of trouble. For the people mentioning Apples trouble are forgetting to mention that it was microsoft who bailed apple out.

Danny Dan4260d ago

Wait... everyone complains about Sony's marketing but bitches about their decision to fire a lot of the PR team?? smh...

Tito084259d ago (Edited 4259d ago )

@ Jazz4108- If you look carefully around the site, & look at the author's info, this is clearly someone from PlanetXbox360, just happens they made a new PS only site, & very obvious what they are by posting a 360 controller.. Not surprised by that since that site being posting PS news & articles on their own Xbox site.

Not surprised they would come with an article like that, & they always point fingers at everything Sony does, so basically, it's for the most part a 360 fan site undercover.

MysticStrummer4259d ago (Edited 4259d ago )

@Tenko - It's not a silly reason to quit gaming if the other alternatives offer you nothing you're interested in. Sure, Sony's studios will move elsewhere and make more games, but I won't buy a console hoping that the games I want to play will be on it eventually. MS and Nintendo show me no sign that we are on the same gaming wavelength. Until they do, Sony is the only game in town for me.

miyamoto4259d ago (Edited 4259d ago )

Sometimes gamers hate Sony for not splurging cash on ads like M$ & Nintendo does but IMHO Sony knows core gamers know much better than flashy ads on Tv. Real gamers research and look for games they want and are opinionated unlike casuals and soccer moms.

Sony can survive even if its the gaming division alone.

ConstipatedGorilla4259d ago

He's not talking about what gamers need. He's talking about what Sony needs.

jadenkorri4259d ago

yes another sony is doomed or do this to save your company sony.

PS3Freak4259d ago (Edited 4259d ago )

A lot of people on N4G don't seem to understand how a business works.

Not surprised.

Dee_914259d ago

I agree with 1 and 4.
I think the vita gets alot of marketing.Not really alot of commercial time.But I see Vita ads in alot of sporting events.They could do more for it.And I was just sure there would be a price drop on the ps3.

jamesensor4259d ago

Lol good sarcasm. Very precise. We need more EAs, lots of them.

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Kingnichendrix4260d ago

Their called investments, like gakai, that was a smart move on their part and one thing for sure sony isn't low on cash. But they do have to market more that is for sure.

jadenkorri4259d ago

You don't need to advertise a game as much anymore. When I want to catch a trailer for a movie or game, I go to YouTube, as most people do now anyways.

Kaneda4259d ago

@jadekorri.. Most people watch cat video on youtube, they don't watch trailer.

But I think Sony needs to spend money on marketing still. It is a step before people go to youtube to watch the trailer. M$ and Apple are doing an excellent job in marketing. Sony has been lacking this generation...

4259d ago
BlackTar1874260d ago

Wow how fricken sad that someone on n4g.com says this.

Such a sad GEN this is

MostJadedGamer4260d ago

Your mean they need to release more, and market less. There is no bigger waste of money in videogames then marketing.

Most companies spend way too much on marketing. Marketing is extremely overrated when it comes to selling games.

zebramocha4260d ago

I agree with you but it's not bad if the product in question seems cool but there is not alot of talk about it.

Campy da Camper4260d ago (Edited 4260d ago )

Strongly agree. Take Demons Souls; not one commercial but it was so good word of mouth spread and Dark Souls did really well. These are the games I enjoying plopping down 60 bucks for.

Tetsujin4260d ago

Word of mouth is still a form of advertising; so in a sense its free advertising for Sony.

I'm glad they never had to go the route of Mountain Dew cans, or "Doritos" or even cereal (Nintendo Cereal was good though back in the day with Mario and Zelda marshmallows).

crazysammy4260d ago

So not true. Demons Souls was successful, but sold no where near what heavily marketed games sell. The only mistake you are making is that you assume everyone is as aware of the game industry as you are. Take a look outside, the majority of people are dense, and slow. They need the TV box spreading the truth to their earballs. :)

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Eyeco4260d ago

that's the most ludicrous comment i've seen on this site this year, round of applause because that's quite the achievement on N4G, props to you.

Has anyone noticed these articles surface every holiday season.

showtimefolks4260d ago

I know it seems like dark days but you have to remember that sony makes a lot of their money from play station brand

Also with new CEO its gonna take some time but I think they are doingthe right things.

Also yesterday we had a similar article about Sony

brettyd4260d ago (Edited 4260d ago )

Sony is in trouble because they have a lot of products that no one hears about, you need exposure if you want things to sell. You can't just make games etc and expect them to sell just because they are quality items, if no ones heard of it it wont sell! Vita is a fantastic product, but ask the average joe, i guarantee 80% will say "what is that?"

I care about Sony as a business because I am a gamer, and without Sony this industry would hardly interest me. Believe it or not, the company is not in good shape.

4259d ago
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TheColbertinator4260d ago

I hope the N4G readers know that UltimaEnder and LaurenKB123 own that site

Next up the Pope praises Catholicism.

ShinMaster4260d ago

I like how they say that aside from 2 or 3 games, they don't have much this year until next year.

Well, that's 2 or 3 games more than the competition, I know that much ;)

Lvl_up_gamer4260d ago (Edited 4260d ago )

Microsoft:
Halo 4
Forza Horizon
Fable the Journey

Nintendo:
Super Mario Bros
ZombieU
Nintendo Land

Looks like the competition also has 2 or 3 games coming out...I guess you really don't know that much. ;)

@ gamingGod123

Why are you laughing at fable? Is it not a game? So now games that you may not like don't count as games? I guess Wonderbook is not a game? Sorcery? LBP Karting?

You call yourself gaminggod yet you seem pretty out of touch as to what a game is.

4260d ago
madjedi4259d ago

Why the hell would you mention fable the journey, over gears of war judgement? Unless it go pushed back to 2013.

If you going to be measuring a consoles exclusives you go with the "big guns".

No ps3 fan is screaming about wonderbook, sorcery(been out) and lbp karting as the the go to game this yr.

Solitare is still a game, doesn't mean it's anything worth talking about though.

Do you really expect fable the journey to even be remotely good.
Halo and gears will be quality games, like the previous games were.

Fable as a whole has been going down hill to me.

Lvl_up_gamer4259d ago (Edited 4259d ago )

@ madjedi

Gears of War 3 has NEVER been a 2012 release. It's been slated for a March 19 2013 release.
http://epicgames.com/commun...

No Jadjedi, it doesn't have to be a "big gun" to be considered an "exclusive". I don't know why you would use that kind of logic.

An exclusive is ANY GAME by ANY DEVELOPER that is ONLY on that particular platform.

It doesn't matter if Fable Journey is the best game in the world or the worst game in the world. It's got NOTHING to do about reception of the game. The game is EXCLUSIVE. Period.

I agree that Fable has been going downhill. I didn't care much for Fable 3 or Fable Hero's (XBLA) but that is besides the point. Fable Journey is STILL an exclusive game. Just like Wonderbook and sorcery are exclusive to the PS3. People may say they suck, but it doesn't matter what they say, it's still an exclusive game for that system.

ShinMaster4258d ago

We don't count games like Wonderbook or Sorcery and put them in our lists. We're not that desperate like you guys.

But sure, you can count Kinect games if you want.

Lvl_up_gamer4258d ago (Edited 4258d ago )

"We don't count games like Wonderbook or Sorcery and put them in our lists. We're not that desperate like you guys."

Who is this "WE"? Sony sure as heck does. If Sony considers them as exclusives why wouldn't you? Are you saying Sony is wrong to count those games as exclusives?

Maybe in your bubble of a world the definition of "exclusive" differs from what the actual meaning of it is. Maybe you should call up Websters Dictionary and advise them that the have the word "exclusive" wrong and that it should be "Exclusives only matter if it's a certain product or service that only ShinMaster likes."

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150°

Sony CEO says although AI "has been used for creation," it's "not a substitute for human creativity"

"AI is not a substitute for human creativity. We position it as a technology that supports creativity. Creativity resides in people. We will continue to contribute to people's creativity through technology," the CEO said.

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gamesradar.com
1nsomniac2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

...not yet but 100% within the next 10 years!

..Then Sony will use it like the drop of a hat. They're no different to the others.

isarai2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

They used to be 😞 sure it was always a business, and money's always the priority, but they used to have a very strong stance on supporting artists and creativity. "Dont f#@k with the artist" was a phrase they touted a few times back in the ps1-ps3 era, a philosophy carried over from their music branch PlayStation was created from. It's not COMPLETELY gone, but it's barely there compared to what it was back then, i just want them to return to that.

Eonjay1d 6h ago (Edited 1d 6h ago )

I am highly encouraged by their statement about human creativity. "Dont f#@k with the artist" is exactly what they are saying. But at the same time, I don't think people understand that Sony is a corporation. If they don't realize growth, they don't get to exist. When you say 'Sony', you are talking about a bunch of investors. To speak about them any other way is a illogical and incorrect. They haven't changed. They have been a group of investors since they became a public business.

isarai1d 18h ago

Ugh, i really wish people would stop gambling people's livelihoods by turning a project/game into their political soapbox. Im all for statements and having your own opinion, but there's more people working on this than just druckman, ham fisting your political beliefs onto just seems inconsiderate for everyone elses job security when it can result in a failure due to people avoiding it for that reason.

I play games for escape, im so tired of nearly every AAA game blatantly dragging real world issues to shove in my face when I'm trying to take a break from it all. They don't even bother to be subtle about it, quite the opposite, it's blasted and force fed to you and it's just getting exhausting

Einhander19721d 9h ago

People are taking a whole interview and cutting it down to clips that make him look bad and take what he actually was saying out of context. For example he also said things like this AI has "ethical issues we need to address"

-Foxtrot1d 8h ago

@Einhander

Why defend him at this point?

It’s not taking things out of context, he said what he said.

Old ND would never talk about soulless AI taking over so many creative things they are well known for. The whole “ethical issues” is just a good PR spin people who push this crap fall back on to make their statements not seem as bad. So many AI lovers do this.

AI has no place is so many creative based things.

Einhander19721d 9h ago

Well yeah, because everyone else is using it so they need to stay competitive. It's the same as paid online, they didn't want to go that route but their competition was making so much money they needed to add paid online just to keep up.

RaiderNation1d 6h ago (Edited 1d 6h ago )

AI will never replace humans in game development in terms of conceptualizing new games. Humans still need to come up with the ideas and what they want to implement. However much of the day to day menial coding could be AI driven to reduce production time and team size. I could also see AI being used for bug testing/optimization that could lead to better quality games at launch. I'm actually very optimistic about how AI can positively impact game development.

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XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

Good statement but hopefully this holds up

NotoriousWhiz1d 7h ago

People that aren't software developers just don't understand the benefits of AI. People who's only exposure to A.I is the Terminator movie and other related sci fi films won't understand the benefits it provides.

It's not about replacing human labor. It's about making human labor easier.

Many years ago, I had laser eye surgery done. It was performed by a robot. The doctor took my measurements and calibrated the machine to make sure it would do what needed be done. And then the robot corrected my vision in 10 seconds.

15 years later and I still have 20/20 vision.

Eonjay1d 6h ago

AI in and of itself is not a 'bad'. Money is bad. Money is evil, and corporations will do whatever they can to get more of it. They will find ways to implement AI to replace as may jobs as possible. This isn't even up for debate. It is the charge of the corporation to maximize returns for the investors. They have no choice. I'm a developer and I know that my job will absolutely be replaced. Therefore, I have decided to become an AI dev. AI has a lot of potential to help us solve problem on a scale most can't even imagine. The issue, as ever is that our monetary system only ever allows us to focus on greed and fiscal growth.

But I am a pragmatist. Perhaps an AI model can be built to help protect us from our most dangerous instincts and habits. And perhaps Congress can pass laws to protect us from people who would use AI to manipulate and control us (spoiler: they wont).

RaiderNation17h ago(Edited 17h ago)

Progress is inevitable. Nobody driving cars today is complaining that the horse and buggy is no longer around. Yes, some jobs will be lost but guess what? With innovation comes new job opportunities. It's how the cycle of the job market works.

150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos30d ago (Edited 30d ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers30d ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos29d ago (Edited 29d ago )

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken29d ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g30d ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing30d ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H930d ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola30d ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66930d ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle30d ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg30d ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos30d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion30d ago (Edited 30d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola30d ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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