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Buy a PlayStation 3 and Sink Sony
sonnyweathers writes "There has never been a more perilous time for Sony than 2006. But if you think you can save the company by buying PlayStation 3 consoles, you're wrong. Analyst Evermore believes that selling 6 million PS3 consoles will make Sony a ripe target for takeover — perhaps even by Microsoft."
... don't buy it and just let it sit there on the store shelves collecting dust. Taking this approach also saves you $600.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
Boy, that makes a lot of sense. If Sony makes "6 million PS3 units before April", and sells them all, then they recoup part of their expense. If they don't sell any, then they are somehow better off not recouping anything at all? More sensationalism.
Dan East
Better known as 318230.
"And who could be the potential buyer?
Microsoft.
That's right. I said it. Just think about it."
Okay. I've thought about it. And it doesn't make very much sense. Neither does the rest of the article -- but at least they tried to support their main thesis.
There was the same talk about buying XBoxes just to "stick it to the man." Everyone who thinks they can hurt a company by vigorously buying their products, even if they were sold at a loss on the razorblade model, is deluding themselves.
First, they will crow that they're selling tons of units, which will look good to their management and drive forward their strategies, whether or not games are being sold at the same rate. Second, the base units just get cheaper to manufacture over their product lifetime, so at some point, you're thinking you are still shafting them while they take profits to the bank. Third, as I've said before, once you're talking about millions of customers, any possible "hurt" done by a few thousand boycotters or complainers is something a megacorporation can simply shrug off and ignore.
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Actually, that's a strategy that could possibly save Sony -- abandon DRM loudly and publicly, and tout themselves as the Kings of Unrestricted Media. A big campaign of "We trust you to not steal our stuff, but Microsoft and Apple think you're thieves."
Sony is too big, and has an vested interest in too many areas. Thus they cannot serve only the consumer in any of their divisions. As long as we see movies with the word "Sony" in the opening credits, we can be certain that Sony hardware will embrace DRM to the fullest extent possible.
If Sony could have their way, the only media and hardware channel between the movies they produce and the consumer would be Betamax®, oops, I mean Memory Stick®, oops, I mean UMD®, oops I mean Blue-ray®. And if someone is reading this 5 years from now, insert whatever DRM infected crap they're currently pushing at the end of that sentence.
Dan East
Better known as 318230.
Yeah, right. Selling 6 millions PS3s would only cement sony's position in the video game industry. It'd give them a huge market, and would have developers lining up, purchasing *gasp* dev kits, and of course, licences to produce games. Big Name Games, and hell, sony'd make cash of the turdz as well. That's why they're selling it at a loss. I thought this was the basis of console strategy for a long time? (well, minus nintendo, but they're way out in left field anyway)
Luckily for Nintendo, they sold the Gamecube at a profit. It's a little known business trick in the console industry, but not selling your products at a loss is a great way to make money.
Yes, I know that if I want to purchase consumer goods that I need to work to earn money to be able to afford them. I have no problem with this, the problem I have is that Kutaragi's attitude is one of "The price is not our problem, the price is your problem, do something about it."
If you own a business, and your product is rejected by the market fot being too expensive, then you either deal with the lost sales or change your pricing structure. If you cannot do the former because it would hurt your bottom line, and you cannot do the latter because your have designed a product with a very high materials cost, then it's your problem, not that of your potential customers.
The saddest thing is that Microsoft is probably going to drop the price of the Xbox to $300 or $200 the moment the PS3 hits the stores. Consumers will have to make the choice between many $50 games on a $300 system or a couple $100 games on a $600 system. I think the choice is obvious. The Playstation line had a great run but complete corporate incompetence will probably kill it during this iteration. Pity, but that's life.
You're one of those funny Slashdot people who thinks the masses would care about DRM even if they knew what it was in the first place, aren't you?
Think about what you just said. "abandon DRM loudly and publicly." Go outside your home or office right now and run up to 10 people and ask them if they know what DRM means. Help them out even, let them know DRM stands for Digital RIghts Management but tell them nothing more. You'll be lucky to find one person who can tell you what DRM means. So how exactl would your suggestion help Sony again? And why is Apple so successful despite its use of DRM with iTunes?
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
If we can find out who is making all the decisions it probably wont be hard to convince him that they aren't selling because they need to manufacture more units, maybe add a root kit to every box and recall the old ones.
Or better yet... Get a Nintendo Wii, save money and sink Sony's market share.
If you look at the upcoming November console elections - I mean, launches, there's an interesting thing going on:
:).
1. The Wii is launching with more games than the PS3, and in greater numbers
2. Therefore, developers who develop games for the Wii or the PS2/360 will have greater sales than PS3 sales, simply by available units.
3. If a publishing company wants to make more money, make a PS2/Wii/360 game first.
I've even heard some publishers moving to shift their games to the Wii just because the PS3 will be launching in such low numbers. Eventually this will change, but if you're looking at your angry stockholders wondering why "Murder Death Kill 2000" sold only 100,000 copies on the PS3 while the Wii version of "Shoot Him In The Head III" sold 300,000 copies.
If the PS3, however, sells 6 million units within six months, you bet those same developers will want to be heading to the big lake since they expect bigger fish there. Personally, I'm holding off on the PS3 until about 2008/2009 (depending on certain game launches), and I'm actually considering getting a 360 next year with Mr. Tax Return or some such (once they get "Shenmue 2" and "Panzer Dragoon Orta" backwards compatibility up).
I'm getting a Wii this Christmas, if for no other reason than a) it looks sweet, and b) My Lovely Wife (MLW), Mrs. Non-gamer herself who got hooked on "Brain Age" is curious to try out that "Cute tennis game you showed me".
Just because any chance I get to have MLW jumping around the TV set in a cute little tennis outfit is a good day for me
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
"Name and conquer"
No, people does not know what DRM means, but what they do know is that they cant copy their music freely from their iPod as they could with the tape recorder. They also know they cant backup that game/app DVD as they could do 10 years ago, or that movie DVD as they could with their VHS movie.
What happens is that they do not relate those annoyances they have everyday with technology with the Bad(tm) DRM. They just think it is "more difficult". Back in the times of the VHS you just inserted the original and the blank and presseed REC+PLAY and voila.
It is your task as "computer expert" to let them know that it is not a consequence of advanced tech that it is more difficult or impossible to do that but it is a consequence of the restrictions that these corporations are adding to their content (wheter that is or not legal is another story)
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
Why do /.-ers always trot out the betamax to "prove" sony's desire to foist proprietary systems on consumers? First off, sony didn't own any movie studios when they developed the betamax and there were no prerecorded tapes untill several years later. Secondly, they did attempt to license the technology to JVC, who they didn't know at the time was developing a competing format, and did license to Aiwa, NEC, Zenith, Sanyo and Toshiba. Thirdly, how is JVC/Matsushita's VHS format any less proprietary if manufacturers have to pay a license fee to make them?
I'm not saying sony hasn't been stupid about other things, even in addition to the one's you metioned, (Mindisk, 8mm, rootkits, etc) but WTF do you people have against betamax?
"I forgot my mantra."
Being a martyr is all fine and dandy. But, honestly. If every white collar worker in America stopped working for corprorations that did one or more things that the individual dissaproves of, we'd have a nation of corporations with only exectuive management left working for them, and an unemployment rate of 99.9%. I left Microsoft a number of years ago. Not for any moral or ethical reasons. They do stuff I think is great (still), and do stuff I think is horrible (still). How is this any different from IBM, Oracle, Intel, AMD, Sony, the rest of corporate america? Experience has taught most people that, the way to make something better, is not to quit on ethical grounds and send yourself and your family to the poor house. Work on making things better, and if at the end of it, you no longer can handle it any more, then make that decision to leave. But, that's a pretty santimonious attitude you have there, no matter how you look at it, Moofie.
Of course, on the other hand, MiniDisc was actually successful in Japan... so something has to be said about Sony's mindshare there.
Read my blog posts on usability.
I'm not talking about being a martyr. I understand needing to pay the bills. I am saying, however, that your credentials work against your rhetorical stance. You benefit from MS's DRM practices. You might not like them, but you are reaping the rewards.
Isn't this comparable to saying, "Well, you live in the United States, so your position against the current government is essentially invalid where it counts." ?