Sony looks to re-brand identity

Japanese company seeking to regain 'electronics giant' status.

Sony is looking to re-brand itself in the wake recent troubles and negative publicity in an effort to regain its rep as a first-class electronics giant.

[Stone Cold SA]

I think it's disgusting how people are talking about Sony right now, what a bunch of back stabbing people you are to bad mouth Sony like this and for what, they are no.1, they always release nothing short of the best, even if you have to pay for it, that's why you pay for quality! Without Sony they proably wouldn't be as far in the world of Elctronics as they are the now without them, so just remember that!

[FeralPhoenix]

because no matter Sony does, you will always blame the people who point out their flaws/mistakes....instead of joining your fellow gamers and speaking out WHEN its JUSTIFIED CRITISISM....thats exactly how we got HDMI put back on the lower priced PS3.....no thanks to you.

[Silverwolf]

I'll wait for your response. Oops I forgot you only have one bubble.

[Daewoodrow]

Jesus man is Ken K your father or something?

[Silverwolf]

All the arrogance they've been showing is the cause for all the bad publicity.

[calderra]

Sony 2 days ago: "Yes, the units at TGS had overheating problems."

Sony yesterday: "The units never overheated, and we have no idea what you're talking about."

Anyone who doesn't think ^that^ needs to change needs a serious head-check. Sony's lies are overpowering their brand loyalty.

[Chewy 101]

I want that picture!

[Karibu]

Picture and news has nothing together. Do your flaming and hating somewhere else DC rider.

[zypher]

while i agree that Sony needs to change, i don't think advertisment slogans are whats needed. heck, the very word SONY is advertisment enough. they need a better handle on public understanding and relations; thats where the change is needed. they have the right people (Ken K.) working the wrong jobs (CEO, when he should be a chief engineer or something; but he should NOT be making the costly decisions that he has).

[THE TRUTH]

I guess it just depends on your point of view.... This article is just flamebait the point could be argued either way with both opinions being correct. I do like the new SONY HDTVs BRAVIA they look amazing I am looking forward to purchasing one when I get my PS3.

[Mikey_Gee]

I am actually looking forward to getting my 60" XBR2 very very soon.

May actually hold off a few months and work a PS3 in with the TV deal (the TV will cost me $5000)

I have a pre-orded PS3 but will probably sell it on E-Bay at launch and use the money I make to spend on other Stuff.

Nice to see another "SONY TV" fan out there !!

[OutpostCommand]

Whoa...count me in !
However, due to my incredulously bad luck, the X series was released about a week after I brought my 40" V series.
Main difference between the two ? 1080P.
Sigh.
Ah well...heres to hoping that 1080i and 1080p are almost identical.

[PS3n360]

The reason the Bravia looks so great is that its a samsung screen in a sony box. Sony didnt believe lcd was going to be popular so they neglected to pursue it. Which is good because if they did it would be another faulty piece of garbage. I used to buy everything sony but in the last year alone I have had two PSP's die on me (Laser) and a stereo (2 months old)that will not play about 30% of my CD's. Bottom line is Sony quality is not what it used to be and I wouldnt expect that a billboard can change that.

[THAMMER1]

They need a voice that says look were not that bad. Now will this help sell the PS3? We do not know. But as a gamer I know the only thing that can save the PS3 is AAA blockbuster games. People will buy it for the games even if it dose over heat or catch on fire.

Dose any one remember when all of the PS3 fan boys were saying the PS3 would not over heat or have any of the problems the 360 had. I just think this is funny because we tried to tell them but they though we were just playing a silly game of words. The truth sucks some times but the games will make us forget the beef.

[Boink]

making good batteries would be a great start, this is just giving them terrible press right now, and is losing them millions.

Sony is setting themselves into a niche market, they are making high end equipment that is out of price for the general market. they can keep doing that, but they need to do like others have done, and come out with a low end brand that joe average can afford.

They also need to stop with their stupid new and proprietary formats (blu-ray, umd, beta, whatever their version of mp3 was). it just doesn't work, don't try and change the world, adapt to it, and they will start making money again.

Sony needs to realize that the market has changed, they are still trying to do things the way they were when they had success in the 80 and 90's.

[Watapata]

Some of their proprietary formats have been better than competitors from a technical standpoint. ATRAC3 is their format that is similar to MP3 and personally, I thought it sounded better more often than not. Though by default it did have a slightly higher sample rate. Though I do have to point out that Blu-Ray is not at all a proprietary format. HD-DVD is actually more of a proprietary format than Blu-Ray is considering the number of companies that have had a role in Blu-Ray's design, manufacture, and the number of companies producing drives for it. In comparison, HD-DVD is MUCH more limited. Also Sony's memory stick format has been a VERY successful proprietary format for them.

[omansteveo]

They need to quit over pricing they're stuff, Sony's Tv's are like 500$ more than others that are exactly the same just bc they say Sony

[OutpostCommand]

Ah...now you see, there is actually a reason for that.
Id rather have "SONY" on my TV than "MICROSUPERLCD" or some crap company like that.

[omansteveo]

They're are other respectable brands that make quality products for less like Pioneer,Philips,Samsung and Westinghouse are all just as good if not better but i guess if you buy stuff just bc of the name then go for it

[Watapata]

In general, Pioneer and Phillips, while providing a decent picture, don't provide one that is as good as the Sony TV's. Even Samsung is at least a little behind in terms of picture quality. You can see this going into just about any Best Buy or Circuit City, hell even Walmart has displays that can show you that much. Westinghouse however does provide a competitive picture. Granted, even considering all this, I would say that the increae in price is necessarilly justified.

[PS3n360]

Sony LCD's are made by samsung as are many other brands. the logo does not improve the quality, sorry. I got a little sony emblem for sale only $500 I will through in some glue.

[Watapata]

Sorry, it isn't the entire TV that is made by Samsung, just the LCD panel, the elctronics surrounding it are made by Sony. Consider that there are very few companies that actually produce LCD panels, what seperates the TV's are the electronics that are placed around them. Frankly, though what I said is my opinion, its also based entirely upon what I've observed in person at various stores. The difference is definitely slight, but it is there none the less.

[specialguest]

i think Sony's biggest blemish on their reputation as of recently is their world-wide recall of laptop batteries. WORLD-WIDE! this battery issue can cause physical harm and even death! that right there is huge! bigger than any Playstation console issues.

[Watapata]

That is definitely a blemish, though the reports of severe problems have actually been very few and far between. The incidence rate of the the minor problems has been the actual cause of the recall. I would say more than likely though that the root-kit was a larger blemish in terms of global image. Especially with the continually increasing number of people concerned over computer security these days.

[THELANDSOFSAND]

1- stop lying
2- give a damn about gamers again
3- stop treating people in the industry like scum

oh, and kill blur-ray.

[Watapata]

lets see here...

1) Every company "lies" about its products in comparison to competitors. Why do I say "lies," thats simple, every time specs and features have been announced for essentially any piece of hardware in decades it has been accompanied with a disclaimer stating that these specs could change before the actual release of the product. This disclaimer is standard and is essentially assumed at this point. You have to consider that each piece of hardware is a work in progress even up to and often for a little while after its initial launch.

2) Saying they don't give a damn about gamers is ridiculous. They listen to much of the criticism leveled at them in the last generation and sought to rectify that. The only points you can claim to say they didn't, are price and the inclusion of Blu-Ray. Both of which you can provide arguments on both sides. In addition, its a pointless statement as all gaming companies "give a damn about gamers" to relatively equal degrees. You have to remember that their main purpose is to make money, not necessarilly to please any given gamer. As long as it sells, thats what they care about and in order to get it to sell, they need to be pleasing at least a few gamers.

3) Competitors rarely treat eachother well. The "scum" treatment has been on just about every companies' side as much as on Sony's. Microsoft has done just as much mudslinging if not more. Just because Sony's gets more publicism doesn't necessarilly mean that Microsoft hasn't followed suit or started it in the first place. You have to keep in mind that companies do this is response to attacks both inplicit and explicit. No company is better than any other in this.

4) Why kill a format that provides a clear and demonstrable benefit over what has been previously used. I'm not going to get into the whole Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD comparison, but increased storage is definitely not a bad thing and the war between those two has also not been at all decided. Yes it increases the price of the PS3 significantly, but that doesn't necessarilly mean that its inclusion is a bad thing for the console. Discretion is needed in this because it won't be confirmed for a while yet as to just how beneficial or detrimental its inclusion will be. That won't be seen for at least a year after the PS3's launch. Blu-Ray is just as viable a format as any other out there, and from your past posts it really seems as if your only real issue with it is that Sony has more or less spearheaded the format.

[THELANDSOFSAND]

"You have to remember that their main purpose is to make money"

and thats why sony can't rebrand. thats why the focus on microtransactions for a online service. that is why they delayed the PS3 for so long, to force Blur-ray on people. thats why E3 and TGS were so poory recieved by journalists. thats why development units were late, spec changes keep occuring, why "gamestop hates sony", why THP8 and VT have no online play, why GTHD is a micro-transaction game, why Sony want to reduce your ability to trade or buy second hand games.

wake up. Sony won't rebrand.

they will decide what makes them the most profit, lie to you about features, then deliver the reality, an overpriced console created to support movie playback, not gaming. people will buy, people will be disappointed, and "You have to remember that their main purpose is to make money". well, no sh1t.

look at how they make their money.

if you want to see what a company that respects, listens too and understands gamers, take a look at the 360 since its conception. look at its community, look at how microsoft listen, look at what the developers are saying and producing, look at Live!

This is how a game company should conduct itself.

[PS3 Ultimate]

Blu Ray IS a great idea. More storage is better. You just don't like the fact that the PS3 has HIGHER capacity so enough with the fanboyism.

[THELANDSOFSAND]

ancient MPEG2 compression and lame movie support does not a killer format make.

adding several making of documentaries to a game disc isn't next gen. thats FILLER.

and having a format that people confuse with UMD is never a good thing!

[Boink]

It's not a matter of which is technically better, it's knowing when to not try and change the world with another format, resulting in bad business decisions. if not for blu-ray how many here would already be playing ps3's?

hd dvd and bluray are not needed, and are both very close to being obselete with the technologies that are coming win the next year or so.

Sony just can't seem to stop making mistakes, and that's the issue, and a big part of it is the new formats they keep trying to come out with.

Sony does need to change, but not the name, the name is probably all that will keep them alive for the next few years. They need to change the people making the bad decisions (execs/board etc).