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The Making of the PlayStation
Edge Online has an in-depth look at the beginnings of the first PlayStation console. It starts at Sony's partnership with Nintendo, the purpose of which was to integrate a CD-ROM drive into the SNES. A falling out between the companies led Sony to stubbornly pursue a market dominated by Nintendo and Sega. The console's technology and Sony's unusual position in the industry quickly attracted the interest of many developers and publishers, eventually leading to sales that emphatically won that round of the console wars.
"'There was a huge resistance inside the company to actually being in the videogames business at all,' explains Harrison. 'The main reason why the Sony brand wasn't really used in the early marketing of PlayStation was not necessarily out of choice, but it was because Sony's old guard was scared that it was going to destroy this wonderful, venerable, 50-year old brand. They saw Nintendo and Sega as toys, so why on Earth would they join the toy business? That changed a bit after we delivered 90 per cent of the company's profit for a few years.'"
"That changed a bit after we delivered 90 per cent of the company's profit for a few years."
- Yep, PS2 was the only thing keeping Sony afloat as a company for awhile there. Then they spent some $2 billion making the over-hyped Cell chip for the PS3 and actually thought they didn't need a graphics card, instead one was put in last minute -- what a fiasco. Kutaragi the hyperbolist was later fired for that mistake.
Meanwhile, Sony is losing its rep as a hardware manufacturer and facing stiff competition in sectors it once dominated such as TV's and now LCDs. Of the three console makers, Sony relied on its console receipts the most in order to keep their company afloat. Even Nintendo survived on owning the portable gaming market through Gameboy and now the DS when its console offering was weak. Microsoft of course had Windows, Office and its other software sales.
Sony was willing to spent billions to make sure the PS3 was number one like its predecessors. It virtually bet the company on it. The market's rejection of that bid has been one of the great business-move blunders in recent memory. Remember, Sony built its own Cell chip-fab (then couldn't produce enough while it cut its teeth on managing the facility). Sony believed the Cell was so awesome that manufacturers would buy it for all sorts of products, such as TVs, DVD players, and... COMPUTERS. That's right, Kutaragi actually thought computer makers would install a Cell chip. I already mentioned that Kutaragi thought the Cell as CPU and GPU alone was better than an added graphics processor.
We all know the story about the Wii taking over the market with a new input scheme, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention this: Johnny Lee's use of a Wiimote to create positional head-tracking creating the illusion of true 3D, you've got to see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw
"I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist"
mnem
Where's the BetaMax?
"One of the crucial points in the campaign to win hearts and minds came when Sony offered a solution to the problem that Japanese game publishers had no production capacity or supply infrastructure themselves. After all, under the Nintendo model, Nintendo would make and distribute their software for them ... One of the crucial points in the campaign to win hearts and minds came when Sony offered a solution to the problem that Japanese game publishers had no production capacity or supply infrastructure themselves. After all, under the Nintendo model, Nintendo would make and distribute their software for them"
This was the real force behind the success. It brought a massive amount of Japanese-culture into game design. Game developers didn't have to make everything "culture agnostic" if they didn't want to, and this was a big turning point.
Entomologically speaking, the spider is not a bug, it's a feature.
Consider drugs, pornography, video games, etc.
Most of us have known people who play video games for hours. Their obsession drives them to buy new graphics cards, new games, etc. They simply cannot stop themselves. Their whole lives revolve around creating the best video-gaming experience in the world.
I know it's fun to bash Sony.. but really.. Come on! Get over it.
Tell that to the farmers who need subsidies shoved up their arse till the cows come home. After all I haven't seen a human survive without food (breatharian nonsense does not count).
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
If you look at the manufacturing costs, the real problem was the Blu-Ray drives. They were so desperate to win that format war (and that was truly a phyrric victory), that they upped the PS3's manufacturing costs through the stratosphere. DVD would have been more than enough, and the Cell's price has gone down, as all architectures eventually do. The reason the price is still this high is that the combination of the Cell *and* BR drives is simply too much.
Imagine having access to PSN with a sub-$200 console. They would dominate by this point, if they just had their priorities straight.
Entomologically speaking, the spider is not a bug, it's a feature.
has to thank, in a large part, the pirated CDROM and modchips that made their consoles sell so much in asia.
the other brands that had too good copy protection or games too bad to bother copying did not fare as well in asia as the PS and PS2.
i wouldn't be surprised if sony actually had a hand in helping pirated CDs of PS/PS2 games proliferate, pirated or genuine games the console had to be genuine.
http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/04/march-2009s-top.html
Paints an intresting picture. Not one that should upset Nintendo, they are doing fine, but the 3rd part game publishers, well that is a different story.
Combined with a recent slashdot article that showed the Wii got the least playing hours, it seems the Wii has opened a new segment, the very casual, occasional game buying public. They got the money to spend and aren't afraid to buy new hardware/controllers but they just won't be buying a new title every month.
Nintendo loves this, they make money on their hardware sales so if somebody buys a Wii Fit set and NOTHING else EVER again, they are happy, they got their profit.
But for 3rd party "regular" game makers, that is not good. It means the install base is NOT the same as target audience size for your games.
That is the reason 3rd parties are not to committed for the Wii and continue to aim for the small install bases of the 360 and the Wii, few machines but more people who are into "real" games and will buy them on a regular basis.
It is in a way unfair to really put the three consoles in the same group. Really, you got multiple gaming markets.
1: Cheapo's. Free online games on the PC. Largest market by far with an install base in the hundreds of millions.
2: Hard core gamers. PC, willing to spend money, the land of the MMO's. Install base hard to estimate but tricky because of piracy, although games that don't have to worry about Piracy can make it big (just how much does WoW take in each month)
3: Gamers. PC, 360, PS3, somewhat willing to spend cash but not to much. The traditional gamer who is reluctant to pay a monthly fee and wants their games to last but also be traditional.
4: Mobile gamers. DS, PSP, mobile phones. Got money, but just want a nice game they can play on the go and that is fun and quick. Puzzle games do well, anything you can pick up and go and pause.
5: The non-gamers who just happen to use a gaming console. Wii. WiiFit and such are not really games, they are activities you just happen to use a game console to do. Potentially a huge market but there is a problem, they are by definition, unending games. You don't finish them. So you don't need to buy the sequel, or a clone, or even a different take of it. If you bought the Wii to keep fit, then that is the only purchase you will make for a LONG time. That is NOT the way the other markets work.
Sony made a mistake, not so much with the Cell as with the blueray drive they insisted upon. While DVD would NOT have been enough, Blueray was to much to soon. Either they should have waited or thought of a different solution.
However, I wouldn't count them out yet. The PS2 was called a failure to at the start, people always like to see the big guys fall, and many complained that it was to hard to code for. But look at the charts, PS2 games STILL sell and even make the charts. Where is the X-box or the gamecube or the gameboy advance? I have no idea if the PS3 has hidden depths but we know the limits of the 360 and the Wii. The race is not over until the next round has started. Will developers be able to keep the PS3 alive for as long as the PS2?
Will Microsoft, now even windows is not making them as much as it used to, be able to fund the next sequel in time? The X-box aged fast, how fast is the 360 going to age? Is the market going to want its sequel when the PS3 and the Wii will be cheaper and perhaps even just as good?
I wouldn't make to many conculusions yet about who won this round of the console wars. If there even can be a winner when 1 party has effectively said it is going to run a in a different race and another party is spending a fortune on repairing its consoles.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Anything that creates an addiction is bound to be profitable.
. . . that Slashdot is profitable?!?!?!?!?
The next time someone posts one of those "1), 2), 3) Profit!" comments, maybe I should pay attention.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
This is a reprint of an article from the magazine's 200th issue. (It's now on 201.) Seeing as the "super-consoles" were the biggest thing to happen after the magazine's inception, it's kind of appropriate that they chose to do an article on the most successful of them.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Microsoft isn't Sony's problem. Nintendo is.
[blockquote]Most of us have known people who read books for hours. Their obsession drives them to buy new reading lights, new books, etc. They simply cannot stop themselves. Their whole lives revolve around reading the best book experience in the world.[/blockquote]
You can say the same for sex, eating, sleep, working, dance, painting, golf etc.
Anything that induces a pleasurable feeling can become an "addiction" for some people. As a psychology student I have looked at the studies and most of them show that video game "addicts" are actually doing what they do to escape an unpleasant reality, not because they got "addicted".
Fancy that, people who have an unpleasant reality escape into fantasy. Obviously so much different to the nerd kids who hid in the library and became "addicted" to Tolkein or Physics or Maths back in the 50's.
"Perhaps St Augustine was right and there is only one story: of creation, fall and redemption. In PlayStationâ(TM)s case, weâ(TM)re now waiting on the latter."
The Sony tale is one of how to take huge market share and massive goodwill from your business partners and throw it all away by convincing yourself you are different from all the others and that the rules don't apply to you. (George Bush post-9/11 parallels anyone?)
Sony is an electronics company that makes it products out of pcbs and transistors like any other, but they forgot that and seemed instead to be arrogantly convinced they had some divine right to dominate the console market and could do whatever thet want.
Nintendo has done with the Wii what Sony did with the PS1 - create a system the market wants. Instead sony built the machine it wanted to make (replete with technologies like cell and blu-ray)and tried to use its strength and dominance of the previous generation to force the market to like what it had built. We all know the result.
Anyone remeber those old PSX games. What was it now...
Ridge Racer: Racing game with had Space Invader as the loading screen. Back in 95 the game looked amazing and drew crowds. :-( Probably shitty, but it was the first 3D platformer - more so than that dull "Bug" game Sega touted. :-)
Wipeout: Never liked this one, way to hardcore for me but it looked different enough that it made you want to try it out. Another crowd pleaser for sure.
Jumping Jack Flash: I still remember the name! Of all the early PSX games this was the one I wanted to play most, but it seemingly vanished of the marked before I got the chance
Loaded: Some sort of top down shooter. Didn't impress me by its looks so I only played it for a few minutes. Still remember it though. How I wanted I playstation
Torshinden: This was a game that sold itself on graphics, but what graphics! The show off title of its time.
At the same time there was the Amiga CD32, CD-I, Jaguar and 3DO warring for my attention but they looked dull in comparison. When I saw the PSX it was immediately "the console to get", naturally I waited for the blurred up Nintendo 64 - no Ultra 64 - since Nintendo promised to blow the doors of the PSX. Ahh well.
Sega Saturn looked promising too, but it was big, ugly and expensive. That the early games were glitch fests didn't help either. In contrast the PSX was impressive from all angles: size, looks, controllers, and most of all... games! Sony's finest hour.
Earlier, Sega of Japan had also shot down Sega of America's proposal to use the SGI chipset that later became the N64.
it's easier to make something based on an existing game and just tack on half assed support for the control system, rather than designing a game for the control system.
You mean like the New Play Control! series, such as New Play Control! Pikmin, New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis, and even the launch title New Play Control! The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess? But then I guess those games are better than mediocre.
BD video is only 30Mb/s, and home Internet connections are likely to be faster than that by the time BD becomes cheaper DVD
Even in the country, where 0.05 Mbps dial-up is considered "a good connection"?
In a few months, it'll be 14 years since the release of the first console.
Quite a milestone I say. And that's why it's remained my preferred console for collecting.
If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
While Sony may have taken a hit in the beginning, the PS3 is now being sold at a profit. With a ~GeForce 7800, Cell, Blu-Ray drive, HDD, they are claiming to have been profiting on the hardware since March, even with the lower-priced 40GB model.
The PS3 also has a tie ratio of 6.5, closely following the 360. Without piracy to worry about, and with high quality PSN titles, the PS3 is doing quite well presently. With many first party exclusives, and most hit 3rd party games coming to the PS3, it is very competitive to the 360's lineup. MS has recently gotten rid of high profile 1st and 2nd party studios, and the ones they have left such as Rare, the future of exclusives on the 360 does not look as good as it does on the PS3.