Every day we’re hearing of a company running through a round of layoffs or going out of business, it’s really not a happy time. Sony is not immune to the economic troubles either. Sony is talking restructuring and that involves a potential head count reduction of 16,000 jobs due to plant closings.
This leaves Sony with some hard decisions. Restructuring can mean drastic changes that effect all their product lines. The PlayStation 3 isn’t currently a shining example of high profit margins. The console needs time to reduce its overall cost, chip sizes and bring profitability. Is it in danger?
“Sony’s not in a position to halt all domestic production but it has to do something that drastic,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. “If it announces plans to move production overseas while keeping only planning and development functions in Japan, that would be a positive.” (gamestooge)
The yen is losing value in our global economy making it more difficult to export the product and build any type of profitability plan. “A source said this month the company will likely suffer an annual operating loss of about $1.1 billion, its first such loss in 14 years” (news.yahoo.com) All this noise is making CEO Howard Stringer contemplate Sony’s involvement as a “software only” company, making us recall the changes at SEGA to this same result.
The Financial Times reported Sony will unveil details of its restructuring steps on Wednesday or Thursday. It said Chief Executive Howard Stringer was meeting with resistance from some executives to shifting the company’s focus to software from hardware and cutting jobs in Japan. (news.yahoo.com)
Is this just a case of a fearful executive trying to lay plans for a more stable future? Software is easier to develop, pays for itself quickly and becomes pure profit as it ages. Hardware requires constant upkeep at manufacturing facilities, chip reductions and a boat load of quality planning for first shipment. Would Sony go full software?
Let’s face it, Sony isn’t SEGA, they’ve been developing hardware for consumers since anyone can remember and they’ve been doing it with quality and market penetration. It seems absurd to think they’d forgo hardware designs in replacement of a full software solution to the problem. In addition, Sony has already invested a large amount of cash into seeing PS3 through it’s 10-year plan and letting that die now is realizing a huge loss on investment.
If Sony pushes through the economic and maintenance course, the PS3 will become highly profitable, much like the PS2 last generation (with a slower ramp up for sales). Even if they break even after ten years it seems a lot better than throwing all the effort away.
Perhaps Howard Stringer is talking “software” for the next generation home console? You think Sony will create a PlayStation 4?
If you’re in the New York area, you’ll have a chance to meet CEO Mike Morhaime and executive VP of product development Frank Pearce. They’ll be a New York Best Buy signing copies of the title if you’re lucky to be in the area and plan to go out at midnight to get it. We’re not that lucky, but we’re also not standing in line this year for an event.
If youtube would have an easy way to get to the mp4 file they host, I could whip out some hosting/customized audio player/podcast feed thingies.
I mean they [youtube] do provide a good API for their player, I can do an app that you’d just right click on an MP3 and say “Publish”. But when it comes to doing a podcast feed, I’d need to link to the mp4 file, and that is not yet allowed by them.
@Yoshida: PlayStation Vita sales are below expectations
Erm, did you really expect something else? Not enough devs, you say? Really? Here’s my thought:
“And what do we have here? A PS Vita? It has a game pad, a back touch screen and a price that is too damn high”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqHZWdFVyyQ
Yessir …
@DICE giving away Battlefield 1942 for free on Origin
I did play BF1942.
Funny how a simple thing, such as password recovery page can have quite an impact on the number of customers. So yeah, bad web programmer, no twinkie.
— edited —
Their password recovery system is working ok now. He he he, forget what I said.
—————
Jordan, you do recall it right, but I think it was 1943, for BF3 (thanks Jonah for confirming).
@“lower-case aaa” games where the industry should be heading
You know, I am starting to hate the use of financial rating system with games. What would be rated as a Baa game?
As for ‘async MP as a core component’ … I think the writer went a bit outside of what was sane advice: “cut the costs and make good games”. Leave the game design decision to the game makers, please.
@Microsoft and 343 Industries taking hard stance on sexism
Really? Ban players for sexism? And you think that THAT will stop it? Really? On planet Earth?
Oh, and did I mention about this automatic censoring system that censored “glass” because of the “ass” part?
The same person who’s a sexist is not sexist just in Halo 4. Fix the bigger problem, with the real world, and the little one will not exist.
@QOTW:
Plenty of SP games that can be played. Plenty of software development that can be done without Internet. Most likely pull apart my for-repairing-and experimenting-with binoculars, see if I can’t do anything to improve it.
Just an update on my offer to help out moving the podcast to youtube:
If a feed like this is OK for an iPod, then I can implement the thing during the winter holiday:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/UploadsByClarkeanddawe
@Yoshida: PlayStation Vita sales are below expectations:
orly? is that so? perhaps one of the main reasons is, i dont know, YOU ARE STILL GIVING FULL SUPPORT FOR THE PSP?
seriously?
@DICE giving away Battlefield 1942 for free on Origin:
seen it, got it, played it, AWESOME.
even for 2002 graphics, the intro still gives me the chills. the gameplay is fantastic, simpler and still giver dozens of ways to play the game your way (i know it is a slower paced than now-a-days shooters, but who cares?) the sad thing is, in the first day there were thousands of players. today there were only about 300. the game is good, it was a great deal by EA, but unfortunatelly, is dying soon.
@Microsoft and 343 Industries taking hard stance on sexism:
sexism, racism, and anti-gay…ism are very real issues and deserve to be treated like so. i’m glad she (whoose name had escaped my mind right now) is taking the 1st strike against such issues online game wise, even if it is, officially, only on sexism.
@QOTW:
when the power is out i spend most of my hours trying the lights on my house *click* *click* *click* *click* until the power comes back, and when i have no connection i do what any sane person would do: SPAM F5
so, seriously, out of power, i TRY to do something productive, always fail. always end up on some kind of deppressive state of “what should i do now”?
no internetzz: i play single player games, or campaign mode or watch some series/movies i have on my external HD, while spamming F5 each 5 or 10 minuter appart.
@Asian Civilizations
Haven’t played Civ since 3 so this won’t affect me. It makes sense to release games aimed at the eastern audience. The East has a very different culture from the West. If something gets popular, pretty much everyone gets involved. Lots of dosh to be made there. But it doesn’t make sense to bar the rest of the world from it. I hate it when I can’t play a game cause my eyes are too big.
@DICE free Battlefield
Got it. Played it. Dated but still fun.
@Microsoft, 343 Industries and all that
The man behind Halo 4 was a woman?!!! Despicable!!! I will take out my frustration by traveling to the Large Hardon Collider to smash my copy of Halo 4 into a copy of Call of Duty to merge them. Oh no. Wait. 343 Industries already done that for me. Still can’t believe that the assault rifle I used for the past 10 years now sounds like an M60 machine gun. And “press B to crouch”. Seriously? This is why we can’t have women do man things.
On a more serious note, I tend to play on-line games with my friends in a private party chat. I dislike joining game chat parties because I hate trash talk. And singing 10 year olds. That’s my advice to anyone. You don’t want to be subject to abuse – don’t expose yourself to the low intelligent common rabble. If you find yourself forced to mingle with the simpletons (i.e. no party chat in Counter Strike: GO), just ignore them. Remember: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
@QOTW
I read books. A book is an object which is imprinted with letters that form words that form sentences which form Harry Potter. It causes no strain on your eyes and has a positive side effect of raising your intelligence, granted you are not reading Twilight (in which case you are a lost cause and should DIE). I always have a book around. It’s a great way to pass time while my brain is rebooting for some more gaming action.