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Sony Claims Game Sector is 'Weak'
GamesIndustry.biz reports on comments from Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda, saying that the company's dip in profits is due to a 'weak' games industry. "Speaking at a news conference, Oneda said that without the battery recall and PS3 costs to contend with, 'We would have been on track with the midterm plan, or more than that. But the game segment is weak and is the major challenge for us now,' he added. PS2 software shipments during the quarter were down by 3 million units to 47 million, but the figure for PSP software rose from 9.9 million to 12.9 million units. PS2 and PSP hardware shipments rose to 5.02 million and 3.89 million respectively. However, both hardware and software sales were down overall, with sales and operating revenue standing at YEN 170.3 billion (EUR )." In other parts of the 'weak' market, Microsoft is hopeful that they'll hit their 10 Million target by the end of the year. If they do, they're going to have to scramble. Current projections put them at 6 Million sales so far.
Gears of war will help the 360 - Not sure what will sell the PS3s. Appears the Wii has Japan locked up - will 2 consoles be able to launch at the same time while the 360 is launching about 40+ local native titles as well (developed/launched native instead of us imports)??
market shrinking? i think not.. Just the Playstation domination haseth cometh to its endeth
So basically what they're saying is if it wasn't for them screwing up horribly and for intentionally making their products cost way more to manufacture than they could possibly sell for (which of course they do for the consumer, not as a way of pushing their own format innovations), it still wouldn't be their fault they're not making money because it's the INDUSTRY'S fault. I'm especially amused by the related article: "Nintendo Profits Up 72%, Sony's Down 94%" Hey Sony, what's that do to your theory that the industry is to blame when in fact a company that bases ALL of their profits on gaming is doing well, whereas your company, which does only a fraction of its business in gaming, is not doing quite as well.
Hey Oneda, how exactly do you need to "contend with" PS3 costs when that is something that's entirely within your control?
So, you piss off your customers in almost every way possible, then blame the industry as a whole as the reason you're losing extreme amounts of money, where Nintendo is making extreme amounts, and MS isn't doing bad either? Yeah, that's totally the industry's fault. Sony Execs: If it weren't for competition, we'd be making money because we're the only game in town! Damn you, Nintendo and Microsoft! And your fat plumbers and Master Chiefs too!
Scale it back kitten... these kinds of remarks don't do anybody any good...
...but like my mom always used to say "If you don't have anything nice to say, say it on /."
Just because you don't care doesn't mean some of us don't...
Save your anger for your myspace page or your angry misunderstood whiny teen blog
While this may be an appropriate characterization, I don't think so. From the article it's not clear that's what he's saying. It seems to me more like he's saying that Sony's game division is weak. Just read the quote:
He's not saying that the "games market" is weak. He's saying "the game segment". Segment of what? The market? The company? He doesn't specify.
Now, maybe he said this stuff in Japanese, and this is a translation? In which case, how accurate is the translation? Perhaps what he actually said was that the game market is weak, but this article doesn't tell us that. Perhaps he definitively said it was Sony's game division that was weak - the article simply doesn't give us enough information to say and there is insufficient context to even draw any kind of well-supported conclusion. Or even poorly supported.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
A CFO at Sony says that their games sector is weak (due to dipping sales of the PS2), and you say that the Sony CFO has said that the entire industry is weak and make a sly crack on the internet/media perception of the PS3 (from the only-where-they're-standing dept.).
Zonk, you really are a tool.
Ok, I admit. You make some decent hardware. The PS2 is very good game console (once you worked out all of the kinks in it). I can understand how you would feel about people bashing you on all the time. I just don't see the reason in try to justify it over a crappy sales slump. I mean, you have the next gen systems coming out soon (including yours), of course there are going to be less software sales overall. People are trying to save up for the next set of systems. Wouldn't you want them to spend money on your new system, instead of the predessesor?
Now, if you can only improve upon your reputation and your caring for consumers, then you might start working your way back up.
The Galatic Freedom Force marches on! Defend!
News at 11:00.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
The Gaming Sector Claims Sony is Weak
Yep. "The industry is dying." I'm sure this is COMPLETELY different from every other time game sales drop off before a new console launch. And I'm sure the PS2 isn't down because everyone and their brother owns one, or the fact that Sony has been hyping a $600 console for over a year (so if you want one... SAVE UP). I'm sure the PSP hasn't grown much because no one is buying stuff, not because Nintendo is stealing all their sales. I'm sure Microsoft having the 360 out NOW has had nothing to do with the PS2's sales over the last year either.
It couldn't be that games are just waiting for what happens in 3 weeks when TWO big consoles come out. It couldn't be that Nintendo isn't having any trouble selling DSes (in fact, there were shortage problems). I'm sure it isn't that the PS2 is basically replaced at this point. Nintendo is doing great. MS is doing well. The Wii has TONS of people (gamers and non-gamers) excited. The PS3 has all the hard-core fan boys waving cash. The fact that there haven't been much in the way of killer games in the last few months (Bully is about all I've heard about, and that was mostly because of Jacky Boy). The big games are either coming soon (Guitar Hero II, Zelda, etc.) or coming later (Gears of War, God of War II). Okami wasn't a smash hit (and who really expected it to be), plus I've seen some reviews saying the game is uneven (some spots great, some boring).
I think the industry is either fine or great. I think SONY is the one having a slowdown. And their non-stop PS3 hype hasn't been helping.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
The games industry is weak. That's why this is the perfect time to flip it over and hit its stomach for massive damage.
Stop spending money on suing a company that makes you money by selling your products was not a good idea. You lose money and you get all the bad-will from assorted angry gamers.
...can I get a little of what you are smoking. Gears has all the makings of an overhyped but underwhelming FPS ala Resistance fall of Man for the PS3 and I'm infinitely more excited about Resistance that I am Gears. That "advanced screening" for gamespot customers was hot garbage and actually has me contemplating not getting the game.
Like it or not the PS3 will sell because its the PS3, even with all the mess ups of Sony launching this thing they will sell 10 million units of this thing on name alone. MS knows this that's why their goal was to have 10 mil sold by 2007.
Marvel is on many platforms, including the PS3 and even the PS2. System movers are typically exclusives.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The system mover for the PS3 is Resistance: Fall of Man.
Kind of funny that the two big system movers both end up being futuristic combat titles.
Hard to say the domination of the Playstation has come to an end when month to month the PS2 still outsells the 360, that's more people buying up games they may eventually run on a PS3. Nintendo will obviously do very well with the Wii, as they always have.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Oooh! You make me so made I could just go cut myself and write about it on my emo blog. I mean, here I was trying to sound like a big man by putting somebody else down and you come along and call me kitten! Damn you, now I've got to go huff some glue and torch some bugs to make myself feel better.
Because the majority see no point in buying shit for a platform that you're, for all intents and purposes, phasing out. Ok so they're keeping the PSP, but no one sees a point in buying that period.
The games market is in transition, but I wouldn't say it's "weak."
This is some over-paid CPA bitching that people aren't buying their current products while also lining up with cash in hand for their new products. It's the same old shit, "People aren't giving us enough money!"
No sig for you!!
I love how in the transition between actual quote and article/topic it went from "game segment" (referring to Sony's game division, using "segment" because we're talking about financials) to "game sector" and the explicit claim they're referring to the entire "games industry". That's some great journalism. By which I mean some really poor elementary-school reading comprehension skills.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
I mean, everyone's waiting to attack the giant enemy crab in its weak point for massive damage!
(and sheesh, if you already have your copy of Ridge Racer, what more do you need? RIIIIDGE RACERRRR!!!!!)
The easiest and cheapest system to buy for will be the PS2.
The ability to make the game a system draw on the 360 then depends on the value to the consumer only of the "Next Gen" aspect of the game, where the gameplay is going to otherwise be the same between the 360 and the PS2... except that a cheaper way to get that "Next Gen" flavor also exists, the Wii. Nintendo should be able to have a lot more units available.
On the PS3 and Wii you'll be able to use motion control in the controls for the game, which seem like they would be a bigger draw as far as true "next-geness".
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It is not really funny but makes a good argument for people who say that the videogame industry is becoming far more generic as development costs increase.
I think I know what you mean but is generic really a good term? It seems the plethora of militarily-themed combat games is getting more specific and pigeon-holed, not generic...
I'm not saying I don't like them but it does seem like an awful lot of a very few games types compose the majority of system games.
I really think the online games from both the PS3 and 360 will help escape this trap though as it will allow for smaller, more experimental games.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The PS2 may be old school but it's what a lot of people have already, and new PS2 units are still outselling the 360 so for those buyers the system will be new.
The PS3 and Wii will be out soon enough that the time delay difference does not matter much for people who want to wait for the PS3 or Wii versions (both of which offer motion controlled enhancements to gameplay).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Man, you almost got it perfect - just one tweak. . .
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Subject: "In Capitalist America. .
Body: "Game Sector Claims Sony is 'Weak'"
Well... if you count all the money people must save for their upcoming console, and that's a hell of a lot of money, i bet they aren't weak at all!
oh they definitely hit the nail on the tip on this one. I'm sure that the fact that they're a crappy company has nothing to do with it. Oh and of course, sales down for them must mean the gaming sector in general is weak. Why do people even print articles about companies like them saying stuff like that?
Is it just me or is it not going to upgrade to Vista in here?
What Sony's saying now is exactly what Nintendo was saying for years... the video game market in Japan has been contracting for awhile now, and the rest of the world has been fairly sluggish. That was the whole reason Nintendo has focused their recent strategy around non-gamers, Sony and Microsoft are spending more and more fighting over pieces of a shrinking pie.
Sony'd been denying this for a long time, and it finally swam up and bit them in the ass this quarter. Good for them, they finally get it. The real question is, is there time to adapt their business model?
I don't know how it is in other parts of the US or the world, but in my area it seems like every eb/gamestop and independent retailer have piles of used PS2s for relatively cheap (not to mention craigslist/ebay). Furthurmore, with the PS3's (probably dodgy but included) backward-compatability and the inevitability of a HUGE flood of used PS2's once Wii and PS3 come out, it seems logical to me that there would be a drop in hardware sales. Who wouldn't see that RIGHT BEFORE the PS3 launch buying a *new* PS2 wouldn't be the most economical idea?
The PS2 is nearing the end of its life-cycle. Considering the number of people who own a PS2, I would not be surprised if we see a year or two (or more, who knows?) of software before the final PS2 game is produced. Yet, I can't help but feel that this isn't really news, it's just an inevitability in today's video game industry. Wouldn't the real news be if PS2 sales went up right before the PS3 launch?