Sony Delays PSX To 2005 In U.S.

Thanks to Bloomberg.com for its story revealing Sony is delaying the American release of its PSX PlayStation 2/digital video recorder combo device until 2005, allegedly "because the device may not appeal to U.S. consumers", according to the article. Dick Komiyama, although not explicitly stating these worries, said: "We're working very hard to make the technology feasible for U.S. consumers", and analyst Masayuki Ito argued: "'Delays give a bad impression... Investors probably didn't have high expectations for the product' because it has had little appeal in Japan." We recently discussed the debut of an enhanced PSX in Japan, as well as earlier issues with last year's Japanese launch.

Comments

Why delay? Why not just scrap it altogether?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sony was right about how this might not appeal to the American audience, or other audiences for that matter, for a number of reasons: 1) Who in the world would want to record up to 325 hours' worth of TV shows, commercials or movies? Granted, that's 325 hours worth of highest-compressed video at which quality wouldn't be top-notch, but IMO, 80 hours is more than enough. I don't use TiVo, since I don't watch much TV, but if you think about it...300 hours is a bit too much. 2) PSX: $700 or $900, depending on the size of the HDD you want (these are Japanese prices, but I doubt the American ones wouldn't be much different). PS2: $150. 80GB TiVo: $210-$300. Do the math. 3) IMHO, this is a very overpriced and under-appealing gadget from sony corp.

Re:Why delay? Why not just scrap it altogether?

[Andy Mitchell]

I don't have some special insight into the US psyche but a device that lets you play games and do cool TIVO style things should have near universal appeal! Clearly Sony realise this, but they also know the current products costs too much and does not have the right feature set.

Now the Japanese culture is something I have even less insight into but from what little I know they don't like to "lose face" and standing up and saying we've got a good idea but our implementation is buggered is not likely to happen. Hence the use of a euphemism about it not "appealing to US consumers". Now accept their explanation before some poor Sony engineers have to commit Sepuku

Of course in this day and age you may find the Japanese now follow the western "way of the spin doctor", when your spin does not serve your master you must perform the time honoured ritual of "updating your resume". :-)

Re:Why delay? Why not just scrap it altogether?

[Babbster]

300 hours isn't too much at all if you like the shows you're recording. It's not a big issue for folks who are internet-savvy with the availability of file-sharing software, but for others who want to save shows for long periods of time (it's particularly handy for kids - my parents use the DishNetwork PVR to save a lot of shows for the grandkids, particularly shows not available on VHS or DVD).

On the price issue, I'm right there with you. Considering I could score a dual-tuner HDTV (both OTA and satellite) PVR for $999, it's not a good deal, and as you point out much better deals can be hand at the cheap end. I will note, though, that the prices you gave for TiVo didn't include the price of monthly or lifetime subs, so it's not QUITE as disproportionate as you make it out.

Re:Why delay? Why not just scrap it altogether?

[king-manic]

On the price issue, I'm right there with you. Considering I could score a dual-tuner HDTV (both OTA and satellite) PVR for $999, it's not a good deal, and as you point out much better deals can be hand at the cheap end. I will note, though, that the prices you gave for TiVo didn't include the price of monthly or lifetime subs, so it's not QUITE as disproportionate as you make it out.

When has sony ever been on the cheap end? Not for the last 20 or so years. $999 may be a lot for generic recorder/burner/dvd player, but the equivilent sony products likly add up to somewhere in that neighborhood.

Twice as many products, Half the support

[PKFC]

I just got used to the idea that the PSX would not make it to North America, but I guess its coming anyways. It really makes me wonder as an owner of a PS2 HDD though as to the kind of support PSX owners could expect. Sure we will get the new hardware revision due out in Japan, but after the thing is out then what? How much visible support for the PS2 HDD been from Sony? This is a similar enough product (niche wise) so I don't think it looks good...

Obselete as soon as it's out

[fr0dicus]

Looking two headlines down I see PS3 production will also start in 2005. It's no secret that 2005 is the pencilled in date for the next generation of hardware. Who will want an obsolete console and overpriced PVR/DVD-R then? Certainly not me.

Confused by Name

[superpulpsicle]

I am very very convinced once this thing is marketed, it will cause mass confusion in the US. Is it me or wasn't PS1 first called PSX before PS2 came out. Why the hell did Sony pick such a similar name to represent a new product. How about PS2.5 or PS2++ or PS special edition or something.

Re:Confused by Name

[PKFC]

The first Sony CD based gaming system was an addon for the SNES and it was called the PlayStation. For a number of reasons, the deal fell through and Sony, having done so much work on it already, decided to keep making a CD based console but they called it PlayStation X internally. The media caught wind of this though and everywhere OTHER than Sony is their first system called PSX. Of course, your suggested alternate names point out the problem of coming up with a catchy name with the word PlayStation in it and potentially describing what it does. Everyone knows what PSX is even if they don't know that its their PVR device.

Re:Confused by Name

[Trejkaz]

I don't see what's wrong with PS2X actually. If it's based on the PS2, then they should keep that thing going.

Because simply everyone is going to have problems if there is another PSX on the market. Consumers will be confused, game magazines and all websites will have to change all their abbreviations, and it will be a complete fucking nightmare.

That aside, I wouldn't be too worried. By the time the PSX is out, the PS3 should be near enough that nobody cares, and the Xbox 2 will be even better than Just Another Shitty PlayStation [TM].

Don't be so sure

[antin]

Although Microsoft has stated that they intend to release in 2005, Sony don't seem as keen to do so (and really, with their current sales why would they?). They have announced they will start production, but that means very little, who knows when the console will actually ship.

On the other hand, if Microsoft do ship in 2005, and Sony aren't ready, Microsoft may enjoy huge success with no competition. But say Sony were to release their PSX at the same time as the new Xbox... it might not outsell it, but it will probably still get a bunch of sales - it plays all existing games, has all that added functionality, and happens to look sexy as hell.

I wouldn't be suprised if the delay in the PSX release is just to align it with the new xbox - that way they may hurt the xbox release enough that it doesn't get the critical mass the Playstation and Playstation 2 did.

Re:Don't be so sure

[Babbster]

Sony's own marketing plan takes the PSX out of their gaming division and puts it into the consumer electronics area where it will inevitably be a weird niche product. Even if there's another year before the PS3 (I expect that device to hit Japan in spring of 2006 and the US during the holiday season), it's still not a reasonable alternative to buying a PS2 given the monstrous price gap.

This device is not intended to compete with any console - it can't. It's more like Sony trying to get their foot back in the PVR door after their relationship with TiVo ended.

What about support?

[bugbeak]

If the PSX is to come out in 2005 as specified by the article, there is one more major issue: support/after-service. What happens if, suddenly out of the blue, you can't play any games? Or if you can't record shows?

This is a potentially stressful problem on the consumer's end when it comes to convergence devices. It's cool if you have multiple stuff in one set-top box -- saves you cable clutter, missing remotes, etc. But if one thing breaks, it means taking EVERYTHING to the nearest Sony center and basically having no TiVo or PS2 or whatever part was still working.

Not a bad product for Japan, but America?

[bugbread]

Before too many people get into a tizzy, I just want to point out two things about the PSX in Japan.

First, the Playstation was never called the PSX in Japan. The internal prototype name was apparently picked up and carried by foreign game magazines / sites, but in Japan, the Playstation was always called the Playstation (or Puresute for short, as PlayStation is Pureisuteshon in Japanese).

Second, while the PSX is damn expensive, it's actually not poorly priced for Japan. Sure, you can get a Tivo for a lot cheaper in America, but there is no Tivo in Japan. The average hard disk TV recorder thingy starts at $500 and goes up here, so the PSX is about the price of buying a PS2 and a hard disk recorder anyway, if not a bit cheaper.

That said, it's tacitly clear why the PSX is not appealing to the US market: it costs more than a Tivo and a PS2 combined, by a good margin.

Re:Not a bad product for Japan, but America?

[badasscat]

Second, while the PSX is damn expensive, it's actually not poorly priced for Japan. Sure, you can get a Tivo for a lot cheaper in America, but there is no Tivo in Japan. The average hard disk TV recorder thingy starts at $500 and goes up here, so the PSX is about the price of buying a PS2 and a hard disk recorder anyway, if not a bit cheaper.

I think the point is even a $500 hard disk recorder is a niche product in Japan - these things just aren't as popular as they are here - so the added expense of the PSX there just makes it even more unpopular. And if it's unpopular in Japan, it'll be even less popular here, where DVR's are even cheaper.

It just seems like a pretty poorly-conceived device all-around. It's not particularly appealing in either country - in Japan because DVR's are not that big to begin with, and in the US because other DVR's are so much cheaper.

Re:Not a bad product for Japan, but America?

[bugbread]

Well stated.

I suspect I know why...

[Thedalek]

So let me get this straight: The PSX was basically a PS2 with the hard drive built in, Tivo like software pre-loaded, and the ability to record shows to DVD-R.

They don't need time to make it "more accessable" to US consumers. They need the time to make it less accessable. In the past month, a grey-market pirate product called HD Loader was released, which allows users to run copied games from the PS2 hard drive. Sony needs the time to break compatibility with HD Loader.

Sony making a mistake?

[clu76]

IMHO... Sony is making mistake with the PSX. I don't believe a device like this would capture the attention of the American consumer market. Even if it does, they've pushed the release date too close to the rumored launch of the PS3. Plus, since everyone and their grandmother already owns a PS2, many of them won't want to pay for functionality they already own.

Re:Sony making a mistake?

[aj50]

I agree, anyone who doesn't have a PS2 by now either won't want an all singing, all dancing, tv recording, game playing gadget or won't be able to afford one.

Mistake?

[king-manic]

Everyone here syas it's a mistake but lets look at their cost:

Game player: PS2 R&D paid off long ago
HD: cheap commodity product
DVD bruner: Cheap commodity product (when it's realeased)
Television signal recorder: Fairly cheap product little R&D

Over all the product isn't a lot of work to put together, has alright margins and has a niche market apeal. I don't think they can lose much in this proposition. And if it's successful the next PS might have more of the same features. I'm sure Sony would like a thicker margine on it's Machines. The razor blade model has bankrupted many many many of it's predicessors.