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…"

[brettyd]

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

[Catoplepas]

Yeah, that's what gamers need.

Less games, more marketing.

[MostJadedGamer]

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

[Army_of_Darkness]

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.

[TenkoTAiLS]

@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.

[AsimLeonheart]

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.

[wishingW3L]

their marketing is crap anyway.

[UnwanteDreamz]

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.

[Tetsujin]

@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.

[neogeo]

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

[Jazz4108]

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 Dan]

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

[Tito08]

@ 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.

[MysticStrummer]

@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.

[miyamoto]

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.

[ConstipatedGorilla]

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

[jadenkorri]

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

[PS3Freak]

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

Not surprised.

[Dee_91]

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.

[jamesensor]

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

[Kingnichendrix]

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.

[jadenkorri]

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.

[Kaneda]

@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...

[BlackTar187]

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

Such a sad GEN this is

[MostJadedGamer]

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.

[zebramocha]

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 Camper]

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.

[Tetsujin]

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).

[crazysammy]

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. :)

[Eyeco]

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.

[showtimefolks]

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

[brettyd]

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.

[TheColbertinator]

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

Next up the Pope praises Catholicism.

[Xwow2008]

lol true

[ShinMaster]

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_gamer]

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.

[madjedi]

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_gamer]

@ 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.

[ShinMaster]

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_gamer]

"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."

[tweet75]

i think xbox is in trouble no new console release or new redesign of console and many gamers dont like halo

[Haha123]

many gamers dont like Halo?

*Looks at Halo Reach sales*... 9.16 million

Mate you are totally right!!

[Kingnichendrix]

It's true many gamers don't like halo, but there are lots of fans. Look at how many people buy call of duty compare its sells with that of halo. Halo is a quality game though, where I'm from though it gets much hate but I think there are more gamers who like rpg style games better where I live.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

Haha123
"*Looks at Halo Reach sales*... 9.16 million look at xbox fan base 55 Million. "

When your best game is a fps that keep having sequels & the adds perks to a "competitive shooter lol" then you definitely lack creativity.

Is it surprising that xbox players are the biggest Cod fans? I appreciate sonys effort to bring new experiences and not killing devs creativity.

Xbox has better online but games are lacking variety.

If we put games head to head ps3 vs xbox xbox always losses.

Sony is the only company who hasn't all but completely left the core gamers behind and that plus bad marketing is why they suffer.

You can't even get free multiplayer! smh.

Xbox & MS is more about image, perception and brand than games.

You want games that no one else is making? play these.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Those plus god of war. Now that bayonetta is a nintendo game xbox has no game that can compete with god of war or bayonetta. Left in the cold lol. They will need to find a third party to leech off again because new IP's cost them more money.

Is MS bring you new Ip's at the end of this gen to maximize your console investment? We both know the answer but but your fanboism makes you not care.

Nintnedo(who actually brought bayonetta from the dead)Sony & Valve are the only real gaming companies.

MS?
Their best game has
1) perks 2) only some of the original devs 3) is a sequel = story of Modern Warfare 3.

"According to the company(Microsoft), owners now spend more time watching TV and listening to music through the console than playing games with it."
http://www.tomsguide.com/us...

"Probably the same game every Rare fan wants to see and that’s KI3 (Killer Instinct 3). We all wanted to make KI3, but Microsoft [was] more interested in broadening their demographic than making another fighting game. So it never got made, I doubt it ever will." - Rare
http://www.cinemablend.com/...
nuff said

Please prove to me MS is a gaming company.

PC has better shooter also.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[ShinMaster]

Yeah, not many gamers like Halo. But the media sure likes to think so.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

I guess some console makers are not in the financial position where they have to redesign a console removing features and taking steps backwards instead of forwards to try and make a profit.

Halo 3 - 11.59 million units sold
Halo ODST - 6.07 million units sold
Halo Reach - 9.16 million units sold

If you think those numbers are an indication that gamers don't like Halo...

Then gamers must REALLY hate these titles.

MGS4 - 5.67 million units sold
Uncharted - 4.26 million units sold
Uncharted 2 - 5.72 million units sold
Uncharted 3 - 4.58 million units sold
Resistance - 4.08 million units sold
Resistance 2 - 2.33 million units sold
Resistance 3 - 1.19 million units sold

I think you have NO idea what gamers like. To me, I think gamers like Halo, Uncharted, Resistance and many other great selling franchises.

You are clearly out of touch in what gamers like.

[srcBFMVBMTH]

Yes, we all know sales equal quality dude. That's why Call Of Duty beats every single game this gen when it comes to quality and not many people hate it. /s

Being bombarded with Advertisements definitely doesn't have anything to do with it. /s

Also that movie Avatar, more people like that movie than ANY OTHER MOVIE!!!!!! /s

[Ben_Grimm]

@src

"That's why Call Of Duty beats every single game this gen when it comes to quality and not many people hate it. /s"

I really hate this arguement, the CoD quality is there. The multiplayer, the community the production value is high. The game beats all others because it IS a fun game, and only the internet ragers hate it so your /s is unjustified.

"Being bombarded with Advertisements definitely doesn't have anything to do with it. /s"

Nope it doesn't, CoD is a household name now.

"Also that movie Avatar, more people like that movie than ANY OTHER MOVIE!!!!!! /s "

No idea what this refers too.

[Sephiroushin]

In this gen the so called "gamers" has no taste at all, most of them get what others or friends get that's why the units solds on some games are so high, it doesn't matter how good or bad a game is if the game is a popular one ( and probably an overrated one too) then the so called "gamers" are going to the store to get a copy, it's not about them liking a game, they just want to be fashionable, sadly -.-"

[srcBFMVBMTH]

@Ben_Grimm

"I really hate this arguement, the CoD quality is there. The multiplayer, the community the production value is high. The game beats all others because it IS a fun game, and only the internet ragers hate it so your /s is unjustified."

You are mistaken buddy. The COD quality WAS there, not anymore. No one can argue against the fact that the series has gone downhill ever since MW2 came out. You trying to justify the quality in Call of Duty is laughable. Only reason why it appeals to so many is because it's easy to pick up. No skills or commitment required.

"Nope it doesn't, CoD is a household name now."

Maybe so. But if you give the same amount of advertisement to COD as say, an idie title (If they even get any LMAO). Do you really think it would sell as much copies as it does now? Not even close. You are delusional if you think so.

"No idea what this refers too."

You don't know the movie Avatar? The one that ended up being pretty mediocre (Like COD) but surpassed even Titanic in revenue? You must live under a rock bro. Well anyways, it was just an example.

[GrahamGolden]

well buddy if i had an xbox and the ONLY exlcusives games they were given to me was halo and gears then OFC the whole xbox crowd would blindly buy those

sony at least dont stick with 2-3 exclusives everysingle year..they release many exclusives around the same time and thats a reason numbers are so diverse unlike xbox wich is a one way pass.

[Kurt Russell]

Theres plenty of games on my xbox... a lot of multiplats, but I don't give a shit about their accessibility. And why would I?

[MaxXAttaxX]

You compared 3 games from one franchise VS 7 games from multiple franchises.

All I saw was variety.

[Allsystemgamer]

The only reason I have an Xbox is cuz of halo...

And nearly 10 million sales is small?

[raytraceme]

People seem to forget the great year sony has had in it's very profitable movie's, music, and imaging divisions.

Sony has 007 coming out this nov. while resident evil retribution recently came out.

Sony will soon be reporting spiderman's and mib3's profits and they seem to be high.

They have some very good camera's coming out soon this nov.- dec.

This holiday sony will more than likely to make a good amount of money with their playstation brand.

Sony needs to let go of their loss making vaio and bravia brands and invest in better mobile phones.

Sony's issue with its loss making tv division is the damn yen so it can't afford to go cost to cost with samsung or lg unfortunately. Hopefully kaz is right when he says that they will start profiting from the tv division next year.

[Resistance_lord]

Or, if possible, a lower end bravia. I really Like my 46nx720 but if it has to be done..so be it :(

[Haha123]

Actually the playstation division also made a loss so.....

[fabod86]

@Haha123 read comments from uninformed persons make me smile lol ;)

[jetpacksheep]

you seem to have some great ideas there, its true Sony need to make less TVs, their 2011/12 range got pretty bad reviews and they are just recently gaining traction again. The sub divisions that don't make are hardware have been great.

[GroundsKeeperJimbo]

Huh, I thought this website was for discussing gaming....

[Tetsujin]

Apparently 90% of the people on this site are shareholders, console designers, and some apparently know about how PR works than the actual people themselves...

[madjedi]

@grounds

That is so funny, we live in the age of metacritic being the standard for how good a game truly is.

Probably to actually get a gaming discussion started, all sides would have to drop their brand ego for a while and go to a less public/combative area.

Where justin beiber and twilight are considered the best blah blah ever made, because look how much money it made.

Lol at the disagrees for grounds, well i guess the shareholders are still here.

I would so love to see a next gen fallout game.

[Monkeycan8]

Why the hell do we need another one of these topics.

[Tito08]

@ Pekolie- This is actually coming from an PlanetXbox360 editor, they recently created that site, but they're for the most part an Xbox site, look at the top right of the site & look at the author's info, you'll see it clearly says PlanetXbox360, so Gribble has a point.

[StraightedgeSES]

It's funny how Sony and Nintendo are always doomed on this website yet Microsoft is not.

[Kingnichendrix]

Yeah been seeing a lot of hate on that WiiU personally I think it looks freaking awesome as a gamer I'm excited, that controller it has looks like it could add something interesting into gaming like imagine battlefield 4 and you had to diffuse a bomb or something like that would be awesome or if you were in fighter jet you could have switches you could flick. Now that would be awesome :P but yeah went of on a bit of a tangent there but I do see a lot of doom speak :P

[Ben_Grimm]

Maybe because MS is doing great...

But seriously, no one notices the people posting these "opinion" articles? It's funny that no one realizes they do this to get certain members on this site easily agitated. I already see the same offenders reacting and trying to spin.

There's no need too, get to these opinion pieces before they hit and press the FAIL button. Nothing can be posted without community approval.

Be proactive not re-active.

[BitbyDeath]

If you look at MS threads they are generally empty of comments. Sony and Nintendo get more hits.

Thus a troll is born.

[BitbyDeath]

I'm curious, why do you think i'm a troll?

I've been here 5 years and never lost a bubble so consider me intrigued into your perception.

Is it the avatar? 0_O

[Belking]

"It's funny how Sony and Nintendo are always doomed on this website yet Microsoft is not."

Then why aren't you laughing....lol

[NYC_Gamer]

Sony will be fine.Yes,the company is going through some issues.What other companies aren't in this half dead economy?every company deals with profits and loss it's just business.

[SOULJER]

That was sad. Those to fools,open up the comments.lol.2funny.

[Dogswithguns]

WOW.. I'm getting a new super Slim by the end of the year. what are you trying to say?!

[Straightupbeastly]

I hope my mommy puts a 360 controller in our tree this X-mas :)

Seriously though, Sony as a corporation is in trouble. They fell asleep at the wheel at the worst possible time.

[PhoenixRising37]

words cannot describe how unbelievably tired i am of seeing articles like this.

[rulakir]

I love Sony Playstation from the PS1 till present day.

[refocusedman]

Sony has provided me years of entertainment via PS1,2,3,psp and now Vita. Honestly, this article does have some valid points. It really seems as if the Vita is being hung out to dry with lack of software and poor advertising; Its almost criminal. Obviously Im not privy to insider information but, they dont even have a monster hunter game on the horizon which must be painful for Japanese Vita owners. As for the PR team being fired.......this can go either way. Its sad that the most of their titles are terribly advertised. Hey you never know maybe the PR dept was fired because they are doing a bad job.

[joeorc]

"It really seems as if the Vita is being hung out to dry with lack of software and poor advertising; Its almost criminal."

lack of software.? really?

OCT 3rd The PSVita will be getting 30 new games! that's right THIRTY Brand New Games to choose from for PSVita owner's to look through and buy.

if 30 brand new games being released not including more PSVita games for this fall also, is being hung out to dry, than what the hell is not being hung out to dry?

D@mn release thirty + new games in a single month , and the system is being seen as "being hung out to dry" WOW!

[WiiLovePS360]

30 new games on 1 day? Can you please post a source that confirms that as I find it very hard to believe, although it does sound great if true. I recently purchased a Vita so am looking for some new games.

You aren't just talking about Playstation Mobile launching are you?

[Bon Scott]

yeah but prove if any of em are gonna be any good.
Give me some names so I know if I want to buy any in the first place.

[joeorc]

"You aren't just talking about Playstation Mobile launching are you?"

what the hell does that matter, its freaking 30 new games!

Playstation Mobile details unveiled: 30 new games, more certified devices

http://www.androidauthority...

Positron:
alien breed:
Super Crate Box:
lemmings:
Panic! Online:
samurai beat down:
Tractor Trails:
Twist Pilot:
Tipper:
Aqua Kitty:
Beat Slider:
Passing Time:
Flick Honey:
Underline:
Hanging out:

i do not have the full list but there will be 30 games at launch, with many types of games.

[Belking]

Sony should of released one big exclusive this holiday season. I don't get why they always pick the worst times to release their games.

[Silly gameAr]

Wow. Another one of these?

[DivineAssault]

Sony is in so much trouble this holiday season.. All the exclusives & features headed to vita & PS3 are just pointless & wont help em.. Well, im buying another yr of ps plus & alot of games.. Guess im just the only one tho cuz their in BIIIIIG trouble lol.. Unless they put out shooters & casual titles, theres a big problem..

[boybato]

what is this sh!+? blasphemy

[telekineticmantis]

I'm getting something for Christmas, and I can't decide, between the WiiU and the Vita, I'm gonna research on all the games, but the WiiU looks real tempting because it's a whole new Console, for just 50 bucks extra. Is there a way to project Vita games on to the television?

[Tetsujin]

At the moment no, however in the future I'm keeping my fingers crossed

[telekineticmantis]

I'm gonna purchase it like a (real)console not like a handheld, I'd want to play it at home, and that would be also on my TV, and they need more cross play functions not just save and multiplayer

[WiiLovePS360]

i dont think sony are in trouble this holiday season per se - theyll still sell lots of consoles. it is hard to see them selling more than either nintendo or microsoft though.

the main reason for me is the holiday lineup. both the PS3 and 360 will have Black Ops 2 as their highest seller, guaranteed. after that, maybe assassins creed for the PS3, but the 360 will have Halo 4 right up there alongside Black Ops 2. the 360 will also have Forza Horizons, which could potentially grab some of the Need for Speed/Arcade racer crowd along with the sim-racer crowd and get some good sales, possibly even 2mil+ over the holidays. Thats still up in the air though, as Forza historically doesnt pull huge sales numbers.

on the exclusive front though, Sony have next to nothing that will even potentially drive console sales. Playstation All Stars is a niche title that will only appeal to "hardcore" sony fans that also like fighting games. Wonderbook is a bit of an unknown, but you have to assume that its not going to set the sales charts alight. Sly Cooper didnt really sell that well on the PS2, so releasing a new game 6 years into the PS3s lifetime isnt really going to send shockwaves through the charts.

the new PS3 revision WILL move some units just because its new and I know many people on here will be buying one even though they already own a PS3. One of my friends is trading in his Slim for the new Slim. Without a price drop though, assuming they stick to their guns and don't drop the price, it will be a tough sell.

[Apocalypso]

Didn't agree with the title of the article as I'm excited to be a PS fan this holiday, but some solid points were made.

Until the last point. Laying off some of the PR department was probably a wise move, they need to cut back. Let's be honest, Playstation has never had strong advertising, so laying off the people in charge of that was probably a well thought out idea.

And defending Will Powers? This is a guy who was basically handed a job at Playstation. I did in fact watch the first season of The Tester and it's not like it took much skill or intelligence to win that game, let alone given the competition he was up against. He then goes on to bash a company that gave him a job for nothing because he was bitter, good luck to him finding another job in the gaming industry after that.

[TheObserver]

Sony is doomed. You guys know the drill: Hide yo kids, hide yo wife.

[schlanz]

pretty good article, actually, all pretty valid concerns overall.

the only one I can kind of object to is the one about not having any big games for the holidays. All Stars Battle Royale should be plenty big.. and there is so much competition from 3rd parties this holiday I'm not surprised they would hold off some of their releases for later on.

[Someonerandom]

Sorry if I go off topic but this has to be said:

I post a comment about the recent flood of doom articles and I get marked for trolling.
Some of you here are really pathetic.
It's no wonder this place gets bashed so much.

Now go ahead and downvote me and mark me for trolling again, you'll only prove just how right I am...

[PersonMan]

Excuse me while I get back to playing great games on my PlayStation 3.

If Sony tanks right now, my PS3 will not break and I'll still be able to play all my games (offline of course... then again, I don't really play online anymore).

[Neko_Mega]

Just another person talking about doom for Sony, even if Sony is doing good.

[cyclonus007]

Isn't Sony #1 in worldwide hardware sales this year to date? By a lot?

I kinda see their strategy. They are more worried about losing to MS now than Nintendo. They aren't worried about the EU region. They know they will take a hit in Japan because of the WiiU release but that still keeps them ahead of MS. With NA, the WiiU will be taking hardware sales from Sony & MS.

I think MS winds up in second this year even with Halo 4 coming out.

[OooHJohnny]

Another doom article...

[BrianC6234]

What kind of use crap did this guy write anyway? I refuse to give them all those clicks just to read some stupid garbage.

[smashcrashbash]

Article number one thousand and one about how much trouble Sony is in. Now for article number one thousand and two how much trouble Sony is in with the usual suspects jumping in and saying for the thousandth and second time. 'We have to take this seriously. Sony is losing money and Sony fanboys are pretending like nothing is wrong', just because we are not saying 'Sony is in trouble' every ten seconds, peppered with advice for the multi-billion dollar company who despite the trouble they are in know more about business then the people who write these articles or the people who post on games site who seem to think they know everything.

[sdplisken]

i just want an update on the last guardian please
i hope it comes out sometime this gen

[ziggurcat]

OMG a sony doom article, this is the first time i have ever seen this type of thing on N4G... and they call this a sony fanboy site!

/sarcasm

[IQUITN4G]

Hilarious levels of delusion in here. Back when it appeared Xbox was destined to always remain behind Sony and Xbox fans feared the worst coming into this gen, most were at least realistic with their expectations that the brand would likely still be in second place by the end of it. People on here are forgetting just how unstoppable the Sony juggernaut actually was and how that reversal means Sony's fortunes are now much less assured. Yet on here you wouldn't think so

The time where Sony was cool and everybody wanted a piece is gone and that leaves a company not really knowing what it must do next- the Playstation era lets not forget was formed in a very unique way that was essentially the birth of awareness for games ie Sony's great hardware made games cool for a larger audience. Take that away and you don't have much to work with other than past franchise names that most people have since moved on from anyway. They are in a tricky spot right now

It's all very well saying "we have the best games" or that "Sony loves us by giving us what we want" etc, but there just isn't the levels of profit from this that Nintendo or MS manages. Sony can't sustain this if there isn't healthy money generated and so then what. It's been Sony's plan all along that a wealth of exclusive titles would change the tide somewhat, but that's not been the case for them and that means at some point they will have no choice but to abandon this

[joeorc]

well funny thing is, is quite a number fail to even learn about the stuff their spewing:

"While Sony's electrical equipment divisions, including its TV and digital camera businesses, account for more than half of sales, the main sectors contributing to operating profits are the finance and entertainment divisions. Four straight years of net losses show that the electrical equipment sector has been eating up all the profits generated by its profitable businesses."

http://ajw.asahi.com/articl...

Oh look right there

"Four straight years of net losses show that the electrical equipment sector has been eating up all the profits generated by its profitable businesses"

which parts are at profit:

"the main sectors contributing to operating profits are the finance and entertainment divisions."

so over 8 years of loss from the TV section and over 4 years from the electrical equipment part..and yet the people keep harping Sony's playstation will close down..lol

you and other's can keep stating everything you think is the way it is, not the reality of the way it is.

Sony is cutting the areas of their company where profit's are gettng sucked out , not the part that is generating profit's!

[IQUITN4G]

I'm talking purely about how much money Playstation makes for them and while I'm no expert, it's can't be good in comparison to Nintendo and MS. It will be very interesting to see how this pans out for them. Times have changed from previous generations and they're lost to what to do next

Put it down to having different opinions if you like but we'll eventually know just what the truth is for them on this

[joeorc]

"I'm talking purely about how much money Playstation makes for them and while I'm no expert, it's can't be good in comparison to Nintendo and MS. It will be very interesting to see how this pans out for them. Times have changed from previous generations and they're lost to what to do next "

What?

first of all Nintendo and Microsoft do not make TV's the overhead that Sony has vs what Nintendo and Microsoft has is no where near what Sony has in operating expenses. 2nd Do not know what to do? really?

you do know the TV biz is no long a core biz over at Sony, right after over 40 year's. and Your claiming Sony does not know what to do?

let's put it this way. Sony has a larger presense in the handheld market than Microsoft and Nintendo combined right now, even in the worse shape they are in right now. they sell over 7.4 million smartphones a sales Quarter and is expected to increase to over 8.6 million per sales quarter by march 2013!

why do you think Sony created the Playstation Mobile platform for?

its freaking pretty d@mn simple. it takes what roughtly 6 years or greater to sell over 100 million games consoles, nintendo currently has about 22 million 3ds's right? well in 1 year sony is selling over 22 million smartphones a fiscal year just by themselves. add in HTC, Asus, sharp, Nvidia Tegra chipset devices.with Samsung being courted

and to top it off:

Sony has 'open stance' on OS for PlayStation Suite!

Sony says it is open to bringing the PlayStation Suite to other OSes in the future

Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, said, "We have a completely open stance. With carriers and with hand set makers.

"There are a variety of operating systems, but we're focusing first on Android. There's also Windows, iOS and so forth, but we don't have the resources to make it compatible with everything from the start."

like it stated here:

He said investment will focus on games, mobile operations and digital imaging.

"About 70 percent of research and development investment will be concentrated on the three core business sectors, which the company hopes will contribute 4.3 trillion yen in sales in fiscal 2014."

[1]Costs will be aggressively cut in a TV business that has recorded operating losses for eight straight years.

Sony do not as you stated"Times have changed from previous generations and they're lost to what to do next"? really? look's like they know exactly what they need to do to me!

remember 40 years in the TV biz, and its no longer a "core" biz at Sony anymore!

[DarkHeroZX]

Is this really a Sony fanboy website? I'm beginning to think ps3 fans are a minority here.

[LaurenKB123]

This isn't a hate piece, it shocks me that so many people are either not reading it and just posting based on the titel or not willing to have an open debate about this year's holiday gaming season... sad!

[Platinum_k]

These anti-Sony articles are just plain annoying. Can't writers think of something else to talk about?

[ALLWRONG]

There are more anti Nintendo and MS articles than there are Sony. So suck it up and take your medicine son.

[Platinum_k]

You are an idiot(fact). Nobody needs these articles, whether that would be Nintendo or MS. They don't help anyone, nor do they provide useful information. Your use of the term "medicine" is incorrect, dumb-ass.

[ALLWRONG]

Price

[Sarcasm]

Wow I cant believe it's "X company is doomed" time of the year already. Time sure does fly.

[TheKayle]

i really think that ppls need to understand how a company work....sony is in ENORMOUS trouble and not just for the holiday but till the ps4 will come out and maybe they can go ok or totally fail

they dont would put out games they MUST also coz they pushing new hardware

1) they cant low the prices coz they production cost still higher than the other company (ms etc etc)

2) they cant low the prices coz they r in financial trouble

3) every game that u see coming out have a cost of production and u dont take back the money at first day
u know that uncharted 3 that like every good game production cost and market and ads cost close to 100$

"Uncharted 3, which typically cost nearly $100 million to develop and market"

http://articles.latimes.com...

and cost for us 40 euro

http://www.gamestop.it/Sear...

need to sell 3.63 millions of copies to take back a cent? that game that is ONE OF THE BIGGEST EXCLUSIVE of the ps3 sold just 4.58

and that money must be divided by naughty dog and sony that own that company with some sort of contract...

so pls before u open your mouth try to understand how much in trouble is sony

look at vita price ...USELESS...look at new ps3 supeslim at that price...WTF...

a company cant go on the market without looking what theres already and a what price..and ...guys sony isnt offering nothing of special...that ms cant offer to u

u will scream SONY OFFER GAMES? well gamers seem to like more xbox games if we see just at all the halo sales.it.pretty much take down the most ps3 esclusives...just add gears fable forza ecc ecc and u will see

A company dont stay alive with and for fanboys that after dont buy this much.....a good company listen and feel every segment of the market.....look how much out of this space is sony ...with the motion control segment .....WII end first this generation and kinect was the world record guinness sales for an electronic device

I know i know that u dont like motion control (on nag everything that sony dont do good is to blame) and blablalbala but so if u dont like it who bought that? who bought the nintendo wii? crazy ppl or a segment of the GAMERS cake?

i got ps3 and xbox and yeah i used more the ps3 coz of his browser but xbl is x2 time better than psn and im sure that the browser of the xbox will be better than the browser of the ps3
both console r great but behind the scene need to be a company that look in the right direction and sony like they r doing in all the other market (tv,music players devices) seem to be blind this times

[trouble_bubble]

"u will scream SONY OFFER GAMES? well gamers seem to like more xbox games if we see just at all the halo sales.it.pretty much take down the most ps3 esclusives...just add gears fable forza ecc ecc and u will see..."

And Mario Bros sells more than Halo, so by your logic XBox is therefore in trouble by proxy because there's a game out there on another console that sells more? Hell, multiplat COD sells more than Halo. Omgz, doom. Tell me moar. On second thought don't. There're only so many broken english financial lectures I can stomach in one week from dorm room Pachters. And its only wednesday.

[DarthBigE]

Wait....The last of us is a 2013 release?!?!?!

[CShadow]

And people say where's MS fans at? Their still here making articles.

[PantherDST]

Like clockwork you can set your calendar too...

Walmart X-mas displays go up in late Sept, and the Sony holiday bashing beging shortly thereafter!

[Adityac]

Oh god ANOTHER one of these ARTICLES, they piss me off! Sony is in this! Sony is in that! Yes, it's good to know about it once but not every fucking week. Why can't they have some GRAND THEFT AUTO V news every now and then.

[PurpHerbison]

There used to be a time where I could wake up in the morning, log on N4G, and not get mad. I seriously used to read great articles here. What happened?

[Adityac]

Ikr

[Kidmyst]

Sony has lots of supporters and a big market yet, if the PS4 flops then they could be in real trouble but look at Sega. Strong with the Genesis, then CD did OK, 32X flopped but the Saturn marketing and treatment of that console killed them. It pissed off gamers with the dropped support and almost immediate release of Dreamcast causing their demise. Sony has supported it's gamers well and if they keep it up with PS4 and continued PS3 support then it'll work out in the end. If the PS4 is a huge failure and they then close up shop. Glad to be a PC gamer and on Xbox. If Valve and Apple release anything, it'll be interesting and then remind me of the '90's when we had 3D0, CDI, whatever magnavox had and all the others on the market.

[Coach_McGuirk]

you guys do realize that the only reason people post these doom articles is because you all feel like you need to read it and comment on how wrong it is, right?