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?
@Kinect: I’m glad this gimmick seems to be fading I rather use a remote or get up if I have to. The whole system felt clumsy and as Jonah demonstrated annoying when doing things that have nothing to do with the system. I’m quite content with using controllers, it just feels quicker and more precise.
@Windows open source: It seems to be little more then speculation if they are actually going to do this or if all that has happened is they talked about it. There are people that barely seem to be able to even use a computer let alone meddle with it under the hood.
@Kickstarter: I think this would be a great topic for an episode, I know Paul feels burned out on it but there are successes. Pillar’s of Eternity is just one of many, their’s is probably the best example of it being done right. I looked for games that I wanted to play and this was one of them, and yes I also looked at who was making it so yes choosing “famous” or those already previously successful is exactly what one should take into consideration.
Also a game’s difficulty rating I don’t think deters from the fact that a company that said they would deliver a game did so. I found it hard too but that doesn’t make it a failure of a game or a kickstarter investment. Like with this topic and the previous Windows open source people need to exercise some common sense with these things. Kickstater or crowd funding isn’t a bad idea when it is helping those with good ideas, and knowledge on how to do make it happen but just lack the funds to execute it.
You don’t have to back anything but I don’t think it deserves condemnation as a failure either.
QotW: Back to a topic Paul does like, I think I mentioned that Abadonware would be a good policy to help preserve these old games. You guys are right that we do more to preserve records and history than we have before and it’s a shame that games are facing trouble because of outdated software, license holders, hardware advancements, copyright laws etc.
I love you guys. I listen to you. But I work like a horse for the good of the public. Being an adult sucks.
@QOTW
Not sure. I didn’t get into heavy gaming until 2005 sadly. Eastern Europe had limited access to video games. So a lot of the classics I am playing first time. People fuelled with nostalgia tell me how good Goldenye, Zelda and WoW were. But when I play them I feel they are dated and clunky and not half as fun as modern games. Playing Twilight Princess ruined Ocarina of Time for me. Ocarina didn’t have a lot of modern features that I would expect from a modern game. And I won’t even start on Kingdom Hearts.
Only a few games contain a formula that endures over time. Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Halo are all still good games. But because of that they are re-released a lot, and I would rather play their modern descendants. So I would say on the future, Retro gaming will become a niche part of gaming, much like a genre. You will play it if you like it. Wider gaming public will ignore it and those games that have good gameplay would be updated every other year. Wait up for Mario Kart 15 and Ultimate Super Smash Bros Tussle.