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Sony: We can't compete with Xbox's spending

Sony has cheekily admitted that it will never be able - or perhaps have the inclination - to spend the same amount on pushing PlayStation as Microsoft does on Xbox.

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Stealth Disagreer4976d ago

Its hard to spend what you dont make

GreenRingOfLife4976d ago ShowReplies(23)
Babypuncher4976d ago

is that why you don't have a PS3???

Dragun6194976d ago

@Stealth

Yeah, It's sorta hard to spend when you have 21 studios all trying to make AAA titles while trying to push 3D and PS Move all at the same time.

Sarcasm4976d ago

lol @greenringoflife supposedly owning a PS3.

Sarcasm4976d ago ShowReplies(4)
shoddy4976d ago

do you think it's cheap to own 21 studio?
what they are saying is they don't spend that much on ads.

thier resource are spend on quality content.

tinybigman4976d ago

I don't need Sony spending millions on marketing when they can put it towards 2-3 quality titles or some quality studios.

I don't play advertising, I play quality games this is something M$ needs to look into going forward into the future. Because I'm not going to be playing the same 3 exclusives over and over and over.

Smart knowledgeable gamers don't need adverts to know what games are coming in the future becuase we are always looking for game info.

alb18994976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

wait, you just can't compare does two .....money talking...........remember sony is a company with a lot of owners to make decisions and Microsoft is Bill Gates the richest man on earth.

pippoppow4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

Sony spends the money their fans give them on games. MS spends it on marketing, apps and features. As a gamer which one benefits you more?

MAR-TYR-DOM4976d ago

HAHAHA "I'm pretty sure Sony is rich enough to do what ever MS can do." Thats DEFINATELY NOT the case, sony is like one fifth the size of microsoft in terms on Company Value my reference is forbes company values (go have a look before you disagree with a Fact). But who cares really, sony gives us GAMERS great GAMES and offers a BETTER GAMING experience than its competition and that's all we should care about.

dillydadally4976d ago

I think it's smart they only spend on quality content. Spending money on advertising big games is an absolute waste of money. I think the millions MS spends on advertising is going to make them hardly anything at all because the videogame industry doesn't work like that - people don't learn about games or choose to look into them off of advertising like other industries - it's all previews, reviews, word of mouth, etc. Maybe if you have a new IP or a small unheard of game, it would be worth it. Has an ad ever convinced anyone here to buy or look into a game that wasn't an unknown?

Anarki4976d ago

Spot on! This couldn't be more right.

Microsoft are all about advertising
Sony are all about great content.

TheTwelve4976d ago

Sony doesn't need to spend like Microsoft does. If Microsoft doesn't spend this way, they'd have less of a chance than they already have. They're attempting to buy the value of the SONY namebrand and that's priceless.

12

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timmyrulz4976d ago

Basically Sony put all of their eggs in one basket by introducing Blu ray and the Cell - They expected to cream the competition again but strong opposition from Nintendo and MS have basically shit on their bonnett

wicko4976d ago

Way to stay on topic and instead find an opportunity to troll.

tinybigman4976d ago

I'm glad they did instead of resting on their laurels.

timmyrulz4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

How the hell is that trolling??????

The article is about Sony not been able to compete with MS when it comes to cash, my reponse was its down to them spending all of their money made from the PS2 on blu ray and the cell and they were expecting to rake it all back with sales of the ps3, however it didnt work so thats why they cant compete!

Oh sorry i forgot, anything negative against Sony is considered as trolling

raztad4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

"Basically Sony put all of their eggs in one basket by introducing Blu ray and the Cel"

Yet I'm enjoying watching full HD movies and playing exclusives that raise the bar in each iteration. On top of that 3D for free and high quality 7.1 sound. It seems like PS3 owners win. Hope you are a MS stockholder.

GrooveChampion4976d ago

I think it's considered trolling because it's pretty obvious that PS3 has tech that is at least less outdated than Wii or 360. It doesn't magically make games better, but it's clear that at least first party devs are making use of the features. Sony may have gone all in with Blu-ray and Cell, but it's paid off in terms of the games we play.

On a side note, the last 12 months or so has seen a rise in the belief that N4G is a pro-sony site. 3 years ago it could be argued it was a pro-microsoft site as there were a ton of 360 articles for various games. Well, I don't know if this site actually leans either way, or ever did, as it's a news aggregation site, so when there is news, chances are someone will submit it.

Frankly, MS has had Kinect, Kinect games, Halo and Gears 3 to crow about for the past year. Last year was pretty light too and next year is looking even lighter at the moment due to no Halo being announced yet. When MS puts out the games, N4G will be brimming with 360 news again.

So when Sony has 5 or 6 high profile titles per year, and another 5 or 6 low profile titles on PSN or whatever, don't be so surprised if they get coverage on N4G. When MS does the same, they will be treated the same.

If you like, you can go ahead and name 10 titles that are coming exclusive to 360 that deserve more news time, and then submit news stories about those titles. That should give us all something to chat about.

Narutone664976d ago

It should be MS put all their efforts into the shooter genre, hence their console is only well-known as a shooter console. That's putting all your egg into one basket.

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4976d ago Replies(5)
bjornbear4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

he only speaks about marketing. And its true, I mean, look MS = Marketingstrategy/Microsoft, same difference xD

MS probably does marketing better than anything else they do...so yeah

I rather Sony spend all that cash on good games_/ good console

marketing means sh!t if your product isn't up to par (in the long run, short run Marketing is king)

CBaoth4976d ago

word of mouth can only sell so much. Sony's studios make some fantastic games. But I consistently get PM'ed by friends on the PS3 asking me what I'm playing. Some have never heard of it. Infamous springs to mind.

And yes, I'd rather have games instead of marketing. But the games alone don't garner sales. Consumer awareness plays a part too. Frankly, Sony doesn't have the money since they allocate their resources to game development. This is the double-edge of the sword Sony swings. I utilize the internet, I read the gaming mags; unfortunately, not every gamer does.

ndibu4976d ago

The investors cannot afford to lose anymore money into that blackhole so they decided to go with word of mouth...chuckles
Here Come The Death Threats.
Pretty lonely at the bottom huh? Of course not, ps3 has psp to keep it company

milohighclub4976d ago

sony are making profit now so they lost nothing. personally i'd rather have good games to play, than a flashy ad on tv. ms seems to think gamers dont want to play games anymore.

mantisimo4976d ago

The option to edit comments if you only have 1 bubble.

The idea is to edit mistakes, not stealth edit or edit as a dozen more replys.

Green ring I'm a looking at you.

4976d ago Replies(4)
TheGreenMan4976d ago

Is that why the Playstation brand has made $63 billion in revenue over it's lifespan?

...get a life troll.

gtamike4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

Better to use the money to make games than spam ads

tinybigman4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

most of us have been gaming since the atari days so we know our stuff, so here's a question.

does M$ think we don't know what halo is? They are going to spend in excess of $100 million for. Advertising on something we all know about already. Should they use that money on 1-2 new IPs, or a purchase of a quality studio.

If you don't know what halo is after 5 games in this series you are a bleeding idiot in my book.

The Lazy One4976d ago

M$ doesn't market to you or me. We'll buy or not buy it regardless of the marketing because we are informed consumers. They market to the other 6.19999 billion people on the planet.

4976d ago
dabri54976d ago

While Sony may not spend as much as Microsoft, I do think they spend their money on wiser investments. Sony was not known for their first party titles during teh PS and PS2 erra. They were the console to go to because they had so much love from all the 3rd party companies. Lots of exclusives too. Now they have invested in lots of first party material and the stuff coming from them is AAA material. Seems like a better investment to me considering they still get the amount of 3rd party support that they do.

Sarick4976d ago

Microsoft live subscribers help pay for advertising. Sony gives the users online free with optional services. See the difference?

Of course they can invest on advertisements when they subsidize earnings from mandatory online subscriptions to play online games. Other consoles offer online play at little to nothing.

KiLLUMiNATi_894976d ago

See if you think about it, there's no way in hell all them developers that Sony has aren't paid undercover. I'm sure all them developers such as naughty dog and guerllia games wouldn't mine going multiplatform. IDC what any one says Sony spends money too undcover not just MS. Or unless them developers are faithful to Sony, but I'm telling you money talks.

sashimi4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

It's easy to spend when you only have 2 games coming out a year as vs Sony's 41534563(exaggeration i know but you get the point)games per year.Then theres the 26 studios that Sony has to support...how many does Microsoft have again...?

frostypants4976d ago

Why should Sony need to spend as much as MS? The PS3 is selling faster than the 360 at a fraction of the marketing expenditure. Sony is playing this game better.

Anon19744976d ago

I didn't see that anywhere.

I hate when articles splash up a headline that isn't actually supported by the article.

mrcash4976d ago

I don't think it has to do with what they don't make, I think its more about them already taking a huge loss on the ps3 and its time to invest their money wisely.

The Xbox Empire4976d ago

"Its hard to spend what you dont make"

hhahahahahahahahhaaaaa!!!!!

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United4Life4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

No shit Sony would Lose.But that Doesn"t Concern me , As long as they Give out Quality hardware and software like the Ps3 and it"s games , the PS3 will always be my Premier gaming Platform.

4pocalyps34976d ago

Microsoft aren't the richest company in the world. Also, why do you put random capital letters in the middle of your sentences?

ExplosionSauce4975d ago

I think Sony spends more money in studios and games rather than marketing/advertising.

AngryTypingGuy4975d ago

"Also, why do you put random capital letters in the middle of your sentences?"

LOL.

Digitaldude4975d ago

That may be so but they aren't using their money wisely then, Xbox exclusives in the upcoming year pale in quantity to Playstaions.

4975d ago
commodore644975d ago (Edited 4975d ago )

Of course they can't.

They are already in the red to the tune of $5 billion, thanks to the ps3.
Any money that they were going to spend on the ps3 has already been used in subsidising the sale of the Ps3 hardware in the last four years.

Not trolling, just pointing out the truth.

AngryTypingGuy4975d ago (Edited 4975d ago )

Hasn't the 360 been making a profit for a while now. I think the PS3 just started making a profit only a few months ago. Commodore, where do you get your information?

Also, why is MS demonized for advertising? It's what companies do. Good advertising helped MS to outsell the PS3 in the largest video game market, North America. Now if only MS would buy a game studio or two. I think that would be best, but then again, with MS's money, they'll always be able to secure exclusives.

ColJessup4975d ago Show
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Oldsnake0074976d ago

lmao dude even apple has more money than Microsoft.

97gsx4976d ago

NO apple does not have more money then ms. NO NO NO.Microsoft kills apple in profits and profit margins. You are thinking revenue which apple only beat ms one or two quarters. Revenue means nothing really.

aviator1894976d ago

Wow, you're...misinformed.

coolbeans4976d ago

Look up these things before typing them. MS isn't the biggest company in the world either

mrdxpr24976d ago

the biggest company in the world is the goverment o.O .. yes well they are a mafia but hey so is the Vatican

Trebius4975d ago

Do some research before typing silly things like that.

PopEmUp4975d ago

what can you say from an Old Snake, he living in the past haha

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97gsx4976d ago

Microsoft has no plan to recuperate the 8 billion and counting they have lost on xbox brand. The whole point of the xbox was to get the microsft name into your tvs not just your computers. The xbox was a trojan horse and now we will see microsoft abandon the hardcore gamers and invest everything into natal. Natal is exactly what MS wanted a device to control the home using MS SOFTWARE.

Sony did the same with blu-ray but they have no intentions on screwing the hardcore gamers.Since its becoming profitable for them again.

Independent_Charles4976d ago

the whole point of the xbox is to stop the dominationof apple and co. getting a gripe on your liveing room. they might take losses but in the bigger picture its capable losses.

frostypants4976d ago

Gawd, could you imagine if Apple took over the home console market? *vomit*

Independent_Charles4976d ago

thinks about your comment* then has nightmares

Theonik4976d ago

They tried to do that. Apple pippin ring any bells?
No?
Well..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

theafroman4975d ago

you're so wrong ms wont abandon the hardcore they broadening their appeal and thanks to live they'll make back those 8 billion back quick last year they made over 670 mill on subscribers alone

97gsx4975d ago (Edited 4975d ago )

The live subscription offsets the loses.Profit for last year for the whole division was around that much. The whole reason live is going up is because they need to make that money back double or investors will start selling. Also natal is gonna be a huge loss for the company many investors think it will cost 1 billion for them to release it. Microsoft has also increased costs to release on xbox live thats why developers are starting to get peeved.

dcbronco4975d ago

Sony had a separate games division until recently. MS has always included Xbox in a division with several other products. Most of which make no profit. Some are things like advertising for operating systems that run into the 100's of million a year while the profits 10's of billions in revenue from those products goes to another division. The 360 was sold at a lose in the beginning, they lose on RRoD. But the 360 started being sold at a profit around two years ago. So even in the third year when the division showed a loss, Xbox itself made money. Microsoft keeps Xbox in with a bunch of other products so they can keep the $299 price tag while making money on the console and no one complains. Do you really think Microsoft can't drop the manufacturing cost of the 360 over the last five years while Sony was able bring their cost down over $450.Microsoft has added several inexpensive parts(wi-fi), but shrunk the main chips two sizes and have now combined them. The GPU and CPU were the most expensive pieces of the console and die shrinks are where you get your major savings. Microsoft is making plenty from the 360.

PopEmUp4975d ago

theafroman fail in so many level, what a brainwash moronic M$ fanboy

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OSIRUSSS4976d ago

Exxon is the richest company in the world.

frostypants4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

Nah, J.P. Morgan Chase is.

The Lazy One4976d ago

actually it's walmart this year. Check the fortune 500 listings for 2010.

ABizzel14976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

People don't realizes this, but Sony is also one of the richest companies in the world. They never make Forbes list, because they are not a unified company. Each part of Sony is ran as it's own business.

Sony Computer Entertainment aka PS3
Sony Music aka the biggest Record Label in US possibly the World (since BMG merger)
Sony Pictures aka Sony's movie, television, and mobile entertainment studio.
Sony Ericsson aka Sony phones
Sony Electronics aka TV's, Blu Ray players, laptops, etc...
Sony Financial aka Sony Life Insurance, banking, etc...
Sony Corp. aka the business side of Sony

Sony is a huge company, but until they become one company then they won't have the support to blow money like MS can and does.

SkyGamer4975d ago

Sony is unified. What are you talking about? Even Columbia Pictures has the "sony picture company" below it. Besides how many of those divisions are profitable? Also Universal says hi as they own more studios than most anyone else. sony bought Columbia from Coke and Columbia isn't even that big back then. General Electric which still owns majority shares of NBC/Universal which owns the majority shares of Blizzard/Activision sees sony like a speck on the ground.

ABizzel14975d ago (Edited 4975d ago )

Sony is not unified, if they were Howard (CEO) wouldn't have initiated a plan to bring all the companies together in order to save Sony billions.

Each company is under the name Sony, but they are not one unified business. They all run separately.

4me24975d ago (Edited 4975d ago )

I think ABizzel1 is right about structure of Sony.
The companies he listed are to some extend separate entities.

Sony Corporation is EQUITY HOLDER for all of them.

For example when you watch TV show you see "Sony Pictures" (or something like that) and not just "Sony Corporation".

I think this is more complete list:

THE SONY GROUP COMPRISES:

Sony EMCS Corporation
Frontage Inc.
Sony Global Solutions Inc.
Sony Enterprise Co.,Ltd.
Sony Chemicals Corporation
Sony Communication Network Corporation
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Sony Supply Chain Solutions,Inc.
Sony Siroisi Semiconductor Inc.
Sony Life Insurance Co,. Ltd.
Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation
Sony Assurance Inc.
Sony Tochigi Corporation
Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
---Columbia Pictures
---TriStar Pictures
---Mandalay Entertainment (partial interest)
---Phoenix Pictures (partial interest)
---Sony Pictures Classics
---Sony Pictures Entertainment
---Columbia-Tri Star Home Video
---Triumph Films
---Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
---United Artists
---Screen Gems
Sony PCL Inc.
Sony Human Capital Corporation
Sony Finance International, Inc.
Sony Facility Management Corporation
Sony Fukushima Corporation
Sony Plaza Co.,Ltd.
Sony Precision Technology Inc.
Sony Broadcast Media Co., Ltd
Sony Broadband Solutions Corp.
Sony Marketing Co., Ltd.
Sony Manufacturing Systems Corporation
Sony Miyagi Corporation
Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.
---Sony/ATV Music Publishing
---Sony BMG Music Entertainment
---Columbia Records - popular music
---Epic Records - popular music
---Legacy Recordings - rare and collectible in many genres
---Sony Classical - classical music
---Sony Nashville - country music
---Sony Wonder - children’s and family entertainment

lonix4975d ago

Sony network entertainment (SNE)

ABizzel14975d ago (Edited 4975d ago )

@4me2

You are almost 100% correct.

Except a lot of those companies on your list are no longer there, they've merged into one of the Sony named companies.

skottey4975d ago

Sony doesn't make the Forbes 500 list because they are not a US company, not because they are not "united." The Forbes list being talked about is the top 500 US companies. That is what they are talking about when you hear Fortune 500. duh!

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Lifendz4976d ago

I said that a few weeks ago. We all know MS has more money than almost every company in the world. MS spending alone will keep Kinect from being the next Virtual Boy. Thing is, if Move is done right Sony won't have to out spend MS. Think about how many Wii commercials you saw. A few but it wasn't over done or anything. Word of mouth and a good spot or two on Good Morning America and Oprah are all that's needed. Unfortunately for Sony I gotta think MS is going to use both of those venues as well as excessive advertising. It'll be interesting to see which of the two (Kinect and Move) will be more successful.

andremasonbaba4975d ago

spending all that money to advertise a "so called good system(359)"...smells fishy

avengers19784975d ago

So what if they spend more money...They got it they can spend it.

Trebius4975d ago

M$ ONLY has Halo, and Gears maybe, but MOSTLY just Halo.

So they have to throw millions and millions into ads for it because it's their flagship title. It's THE Xbox brand's mascot, Halo.

SONY on the other hand has so many 1st party games that are good, that it doesnt NEED to spend millions and millions on advertising just 1 title, there are far too many exclusive games, so pushing just 1 would not make sense.

Uncharted 2 was an incredible game, and it wasnt heavily advertised, because it doesnt need to be.

Let M$ spend 100mil on advertising and putting images on bubble gum and mountain dew cans, that's their style, they want every child in the world to know and love halo, which is why there's so much fanaticism when it comes to Halo. Cause a lot of kids began their gaming experiences with that title.

Imperator4975d ago

Yea well I could care less about MS spending all that money on ads just to play the sales game. I'd rather Sony continue pumping out AAA, GOTY PS3 exclusives year after year like they've been doing for the past 2 years.

Anorexorcist4975d ago (Edited 4975d ago )

Advertising campaigns/Promotion costs are not what makes Hardcore gamers happy, it is the quality hardware, software, online offerings, and future potential that make hardcore gamers content with what gaming console manufacturer's console they choose to invest in and support.

Since the PSOne days, Playstation has always delivered in qualitative, quantitive software. Why would any real hardcore gamer have any resentment toward's Sony and it's console???

Hallmark Moment4975d ago

Sony's way of admitting defeat blaming the 360's success on marketing alone LOL

rareairtone4975d ago

How much of a feat the Playstation Brand is.

Quality over purchasing power.

RussDeBuss4975d ago

does the 360 being into profit include the $3billion RROD bill?

typical microsoft, overspend on advertising to convince their product is better than it actually is.
not just in gaming. I heard their budget for advertising windows mobile 7, or whatever its called, is into many $billions, shame the product is going to suck compared to android and iphone

KrazyFace4969d ago

Is your CapsLock BuTton BRoken?

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TLG19914976d ago

money isn't everything :D look who is overtaking (just saying)

CrazyForGames4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

*looks at the wii*

k what am i supposed to be looking at?

GarandShooter4976d ago

A dictionary, for the definition of overtaking. How the hell does Nintendo overtake a competitor from first place?

sashimi4976d ago

You fail at english sir. why don't you keep a dictionary around at all times to prevent self facepalm.

Senden4976d ago

And that's precisely why sony will never have a game like halo. I'd love for nothing more than for sony to crush microsoft out of the console race but in all fairness, it's never going to happen unless they seriously invest in their top games.

retrofly4976d ago

Why, the fact they are competing against eachother means the gamers are the ones who benifit.

Without out one there will be les drive to "be the best" as theres no competition.

mrmikew20184976d ago

Excellent point bro, but your statement is falling on death ears (sad to say) because the fans on N4G are full of a bunch fools sometimes. This is the healthiest the industry has ever been in while. The more Sony and MS "duke it out" the better games we will see in the future.

Heisenberg4976d ago

Don't mea to be a dick, but for future reference: it's "falling on DEAF ears" not "death ears".

BannedForNineYears4976d ago

Ahem, for the record, Senden.
PS3 owners will possibly be getting a game like Halo.
Bungie will be developing multi-platform games after Reach.
:P

Raz4975d ago

It's "mean" not "mea", Mr. Spellcheck. Unless you're trying to say "mea culpa". Oh, and you might want to include a personal pronoun at the beginning of your sentence, if you want to abide by proper grammar. ;)

On topic: *nobody* can compete with M$ advertising dollars. Except possibly politicians taking a run at the Oval Office. Which says to me they're all talk. Maybe if some of that cash went toward improving XBL or their core hardware issues...

PopEmUp4975d ago

thank for the input MR. Gramm@r Polic3, now STFU

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ravinash4976d ago

Why would you want to make a game like halo? We have halo for that!
I'd rather they make new unique games.

TotalPS3Fanboy4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

That is profound.

That's deep, man. That's deep.

Sarick4976d ago (Edited 4976d ago )

So Uncharted, Little Big planet and Killzone aren't being invested in?

Uncharted 2, highest ratings and a game so good it even helped media move away from "The PS3 is doomed" attitude.

Little big planet, so good that Sony purchased Media Molicule.

Killzone 2, when it first launched it set a new level for what console FPS was judged by.

IMHO, because Sony invested heavily in these games development they raised the curve for the quality of games in this generation. Sony markets games through word of mouth over placing advertisements everywhere. If this means using those extra dollars in development over marketing good for them.

The Lazy One4976d ago

he means investing in the existing product. Having an amazing product does not equal amazing sales. I wouldn't have even known God of War launched if I didn't come to N4G.

I'm sure sony would more than make up the cost if they actually advertised their games like M$ does.

Dacapn4976d ago

Which brings us to the point of this article. Microsoft will spend as much on advertising as Sony will in developing a game.

heyheyhey4975d ago

"And that's precisely why sony will never have a game like halo."

Gran Turismo will always be bigger than Halo, hell GT Prologue sold over 4 million copies, and that is like 5% of what GT5 is going to be

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Prcko4976d ago

Sony saving money for more important stuff,EXCLUSIVE GAMES!!!

WetN00dle694976d ago

That and the Multi-Billion Dollar debt............JUST kidding.......dont kill me!

meluvulongtime4975d ago

Sony's model is much more beneficial to me as a gamer. What would I rather have? A bunch of high quality exclusive games or see a whole lot of ads trying to push a couple exclusive titles? Hmm such a tough decision /s

Show all comments (268)
260°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

Read Full Story >>
insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere13h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN11h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos8h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

GamerRN1h ago

They can form a company if they want, they are just as jobless as if "Microsoft had left them as 3rd party".

peppeaccardo3h ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

PassNextquestion13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much

Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region

blacktiger11h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Profchaos13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.

I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games

Tacoboto13h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos12h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long9h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel12h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator11h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

Show all comments (17)
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.

jznrpg14h 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.

Profchaos14h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola9h 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

Show all comments (7)
280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple10111d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref11d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde11d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander197210d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville10d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff218310d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos10d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 10d ago
isarai11d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref11d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan11d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis00710d ago (Edited 10d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander197211d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

11d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197211d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

11d ago
11d ago
Zeref11d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde11d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander197211d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander197211d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier10d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto10d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff218310d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto10d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 10d ago
Hofstaderman11d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts10d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts10d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic10d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

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