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?...
...Is this just a case of a fearful executive [Stringer] 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?
Square Enix launches Final Fantasy X 25th anniversary site, revealing new Nomura art, books, music releases, and merchandise.
Look I know VIII has its issues and all that but how on earth can the do big anniversary events with new artwork and merchandise for VII, IX and X yet VIII got sweet f*** all.
They could have given it something during its 25th anniversary yet all it got was a single Happy Anniversary post on their social media.
they should know that we are OG fans of VIII as it sold truckload as well. not as much as VII or X. I personally didn't like IX but X and VI are my personal fav.
Shadow Hearts 2 covenant is another game I love. I hope one day someone can make remake, I would be delighted
Final Fantasy VIII is great and you are always the first to defend it in the comments
A brutal reset, a smarter story, and a return to what made it great—Mortal Kombat (2011) revived the series.
Underrated comment. I used to hate that game so much that any time my siblings asked me to play it, I just picked Hom and shut myself down mid-match.
15 years went by so fast. I remember playing through the story mode at launch.
Why did Sony push Shuhei Yoshida out of his role leading PlayStation's first-party games? He'd overseen some huge successes. Well, apparently, he didn't listen.
Yeah I can see that for sure. Shuhei Yoshida should have been in charge not Jim Ryan.
It should be free highway for him now.. but Sony are too stupid to see this, especially that moron Hulst
Wtf why all that anger. PlayStation is dominating on every level. Besides I think there is a little more to hiring a CEO than just who is available. Its not like its a athlete your team wants to buy.
S2Killinit
live service failures, chasing trends, closing studios. yes dominating
Sony is Dominating because competition is not existing. Compared to previous gens this is the poorest in terms of software offerings.
Last gen we got Uncharted 4 Lost Legacy and TLOU2 from ND alone.
This is so far a remasters gen, with no competition to lift up the quality
..."PlayStation is dominating on every level"....
...Really???
PlayStation are soon heading into a new generation in the not to distant future. They currently have the worst customer satisfaction they've ever sustained as a company. The company is heading for a huge crash while at the same time they'll need to be planning how they are going to try and win back that favour and the build up to their new releases.
Yes financially they're winning but they're going to have to ride out this complete public corporate disaster. No one has faith in the company or the product anymore. They've damaged their public image so much this generation. Greed can kill anyone.
He would've done the same thing and fire Jim Ryan and Shuhei would be the villain. Why?
Because Elite creates the narrative and distraction for gamers, users and citizens.
More confirmation that Jim Ryan is the culprit for what has happened to Sony. Hulst needs to go too. What sucks is that a lot of the good top heads at Sony are no longer there. I wish that guys that were forced out prematurely by Dumbo Jimbo like Shuhei and Layden came back.
Yep. Yoshida was responsible for bringing one of the best games of this generation to playstation (Stellar Blade). He is an actual gamer and is in touch with what gamers want (creative, fun games, not GaaS and agenda pushing). He also seems like a genuinely nice guy if you watch some interviews. Of course they got rid of him.
Makes you wonder if MS even thought about hiring him after Phil and Sarah were leaving. He certainly couldn't make their situation any worse.
All the gamer/consumer lead heads are gone across PS and Xbox. shuhei gone phil's gone (questionable) but gone. The future of gaming is somewhat uncertain across the board.
The PS3 lost a lot of money and support. Just axe it Sony and start doing games for other consoles.
I've been saying this for quite some time now. Sony should continue making hardware and start software development or at least affiliate themselves with a good software companies like Apple or Google for their products.
@2.1 Both actually. Sony is a quality hardware company so I don't see no reason why they should stop making them. But it seems unlikely due to these economic times.
It would be foolish for Sony to do any such thing. With the massive investment made in the PS3 as well as the longevity the unit is destined to have I cannot see this being anything more than a knee jerk reaction. The recession has hit a lot of companies hard and the most prudent move would be to restructure to reduce costs and stay the course. IF (I said IF) Sir Howard does do this I can only say that Sony will no longer be a household name in my house. Not only from a game console but to its' consumer electronics as well. It would truly kill Sony as a corporation in that it would alienate the trust of millions of consumers world wide.
EDIT: Thought I would add this link to a .PDF from Sony showing it's plans on restructuring. The document was released today and there is no mention of "Going software only" but there is a lot of cuts coming to the TV and consumer elctronics portions of the company. As well as consolidation of R&D.
http://www.sony.net/SonyInf...
The PS3 isn't causing as much of a operating loss for them as they would like to figure. when sony puts up it's operating losses, It isn't going to be just the gaming division and thats what the industry needs to understand, Sony is a Home electronics Company.
Movies (Production studios), TVs, Theatre system, Cameras, Music (record lables, Phones, portable electronics, Computers and software, and gaming are all under Sony's umbrella
So this loss that there are posting isn't just limited to the gaming department. to be exact, there gaming department has been one of there major sourcse of income and has been the most profitable out of all there other branches from there buisness tree, So please stop with the PS3 killing Sony.
they have a constant flow of cash coming in from the game department thats netting them plenty of profit to help offset the money they lost when selling PS3s. Most of it now coming from Downloadble content from the PSN game and video store, and the recently released PS Home. dont forget that they have been selling pretty steadily with the PS3, and great with the PS2 even in it's 9 years on the market and the well performing PSP and the fact that they are making an absolute killing off all bluray players and BD movies sold from just royalty fees.
they are now about ready to break even and they have had an extremely successful 2008 for all 4 gaming platforms So please stop the PS3 is doomed and Sony should ask the PS brand. If they do. Will let the world go causal and by then i'll have lost home. as ninty's blue market games is all we'll ever have.
Sony is doing fine. in the world of Buisness, operating losses will always be there, These economic times are hitting everyone. Sony as a company not as a game division is doing fine. and should have a pretty good year next year as they will always move to innovate the home entertainment market.
remember Sony the company is over 60 years old. and are pinoneers in the market of entertainment. they will always be in the market. They were successfull in the home console market and is such why they were able to succesfully launch a product in the hand held gaming market and while nmot selling like Ninty's DS it's still very successful and selling in amazing volumes. and is far from dead. people are buying it and they are making a killing and a profit on everything PSP related.
This editorial just needs to stop over analysing and let the real analysts do there job.
Epic faiL!!!!!
The PS3 isn't going anywhere regardless of what people may think. Sony has already laid out the 10 year life cycle for the PS3, they are just around the corner from breaking even on PS3 sales, there's boatloads of PS3 exclusives in development, and as long as there is competition, there will always be a Playstation console on the Market.
Sony has always been a Hardware company and produces some of the most high quality products on the market, and I don't see them going strictly into Software because Hardware is what Sony knows best.
"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."
Hardware companies like Sony have been hit harder by the Economic Crisis than a company that mainly focuses on Software like Microsoft because people are spending less on Electronics.... but then again customers aren't exactly flocking towards Vista either.
As the economy rebounds and takes a turn for the good, consumer spending will increase and things will go back towards sooth sailing for plenty of companies. Immature and much Younger people on this site seem to act like Sony hasn't been through tough times before and if Sony posts a Loss then the "PS3 is teh doomed", and it's like they think the only thing Sony does is make game consoles, ridiculous.