Sony To Hold Hour And A Half Investor/Analyst Meeting On November 19th

Well muddied to you means clarified to me: online gaming will remain free and my (and others') suspicion of content being offered in the form of a subscription model confirmed, whether they be TV-shows, netflix style movie subscriptions, IP-TV, digital comics, psn games, music, etc.

Having read the full presentation now, in this context their stress on IP-tv delivery capacity in 2010 on various devices (among others PS3 and BluRay players) looks good. Generally the presentation contains what I think are the proper key services to focus on. Unifying the online service across all the devices they sell is also expected, and will further strengthen their chance of success.

It looks like we're going to have an epic fight on our hands between Sony, Microsoft and Apple here. ;)
 
Sony just need WOW and friends and take a 10% cut of subscriptions. At the moment there are zilch subscription MMOs, despite pre-release talk of partnerships in this field.
 
Rangers said:
Edit: eh, perhaps I'm overstating things a bit, since I didn't clearly read that Kaz stated it would be in addition to the current free services. Still, even a tiered service would be...interesting. Wonder what they'll charge for? Maybe the same stuff as Qore, like early access to demos?
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I was just gonna mention that. They'd seriously upset the current PS3 installed base if they decided to remove access to certain features of the free service to start charging for them. As a service that's been free since launch, about 3 years now, they pretty much know it would be suicide to start charging for that service since it's already established.

I'd be very interested in a subscription model if it meant access to a PS3/PSP "app store" (non-game sdk anyone?) and a netflix style "all you can eat" type service for both movies and games on PSN across PS3 and PSP... If they did something like that, I'd bite down hard ;)

Hopefully the non-game sdk would be something they'll be able to use for adding lots of other services like the comic store. An XMB integrated BBC iPlayer would be a great start :D
 
Shifty Geezer said:
Sony just need WOW and friends and take a 10% cut of subscriptions. At the moment there are zilch subscription MMOs, despite pre-release talk of partnerships in this field.
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I maintain whoever introduces a WoW clone (since the real thing isn't happening) to consoles first will roll in buckets of cash.

Still, nobody has really even attempted it. While not exactly a WoW clone, I think FF14 may be the one...
 
It's hard to know how the subscription will work, but I think basic online gaming as it is now, friend lists w/ messaging and access to the store would remain free.

Voice chat services, streaming video, exclusive demos, group/party system etc are things that they could choose to subscribe. It will be interesting. It has to be something of real use/value if they expect to generate real revenue from it.
 
NavNucST3 said:
VAIO selling fewer units does not equate to VAIO losing money I didn't see any reference to VAIO being a money loser in any of the current or previous IRs.
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Right, I'm just thinking that wasn't part of the idea behind this weird 'reshuffling' to obscure the gaming sector's actual losses among other products? How much of the real picture can we actually discern through the obfuscation (though it seems that Sony's not quite that accomplished at it)?
 
I agree with Scott_Arm. Kaz meant the PSN will stay "as is", but they will explore additional services and hardware based on the subscription model.

Given the open and adhoc nature of PSN, it may be awkward (or hard) for them to slap an all-access fees.

However on the PSN, they can explore content-based subscription:
As someone mentioned above, Qore is already a subscription service. I believe Maininchi Isshyo went subscription based recently. They also sent out a survey for unlimited content subscription in Asia 2 years ago. Not sure what the conclusion was.

Tangible value-added services like voice chat, and hosted services are another good source. e.g., The Playstation Home Clubhouse is a subscription service, but Sony mentioned that they didn't want to start clocking yet.

On the "Sony Online Services" side (beyond the PSN), they could introduce new hardware and totally different packaging that has subscription service. e.g., The eBook device Kaz mentioned in yesterday's meeting.



The only surprising thing yesterday is Kaz didn't foresee the uproar. It seems that they really need a powerful enough PR lead, and Kaz to be more sensitive to his customers' concerns. There will be repercussion in this since it is very difficult to clarify a gummed-up message on the Internet.

The 3D direction.. emm... yeah, it was kinda exposed with photos and videos months ago. Only the date was missing.

Looks like PSN sales is doing rather well.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
Sony just need WOW and friends and take a 10% cut of subscriptions. At the moment there are zilch subscription MMOs, despite pre-release talk of partnerships in this field.
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Sony Online Ent. is a direct competitor for WoW, so I very much doubt Blizzard games will ever show up on PSN. Blizzard's cash cow, or its progeny, is much more likely to show up on Wii or 360 for that reason, IMO.

I am still mystified as to why Sony didn't implement Free Realms on PSN. It appears to be languishing on the PC, despite being a good idea with good tech. It could have been the de facto "Home for everyone else" on PS3 and PSP. I suspect it would have drawn in way more kids and women and really expanded the appeal of the PS3. Maybe they will still do something interesting with it in the future.
 
Something's up with SOE and the PS3. Every single new SOE MMO has been promised for the PS3 (DC, The Agency, Free Realms) but we've seen nothing. Hell, this week we're seeing Peggle on the PS3, courtesy of SOE. If I'm not mistaken, it's the first game SOE releases on PS3.
 
Zassk said:
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I doubt it. There were other MMOs on the PS3, and new ones planned. The platform owner will value a good IP on their platform. They get extra dollars.

Going by that "anti-competition" logic, NetFlix wouldn't be on the PS3 since it competes with the PS Store.
 
How profitable is XBL? Aren't the Gold subscription cards getting discounted often?

Anyways, Sony doesn't have the features or bandwidth to command a subscription for their current level of service.

It's also kind of overkill for a subscription video service. Too expensive than a video setbox should be. If they tried to compete with the Comcasts of the world, which control the pipes and soon, a major network, they will face a lot of roadblocks.

Someone needs to compete with Comcast but not sure Sony is the one to do it.
 
Oh and 3D is a big meh. Stereoscopic glasses, really?

Stringer has said recently they don't see an uptick in sales for the Xmas season. He was talking about all their products, not just gaming.

But they are running what seems to be a major ad campaign with celebrities right now.
 
oh goody. Now I'm going to get a ton of messages in my PSN inbox saying "Playstation is charging for PSN... please forward this petition to 10 people on your friends list to help keep it free"
 
Zassk said:
Sony Online Ent. is a direct competitor for WoW, so I very much doubt Blizzard games will ever show up on PSN. Blizzard's cash cow, or its progeny, is much more likely to show up on Wii or 360 for that reason, IMO.
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It wasn't a truly serious suggestion, beyond Sony needing to land some huge subscription titles of WOW ilk. It is surprising that they haven't actually created any MMOs though.

wco81 said:
How profitable is XBL?
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Hugely. It's almost entirely profit as running costs once you've bought the servers are negligable.
 
specwarGP2 said:
oh goody. Now I'm going to get a ton of messages in my PSN inbox saying "Playstation is charging for PSN... please forward this petition to 10 people on your friends list to help keep it free"
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If you don't want to see those, you could just tell me. :(
 
This is the part I don't like:

"Improve profitability in the game business by cost reduction and other measures"

Generally that sort of talk means layoffs.
 
specwarGP2 said:
oh goody. Now I'm going to get a ton of messages in my PSN inbox saying "Playstation is charging for PSN... please forward this petition to 10 people on your friends list to help keep it free"
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:LOL: It already went through one round a couple of months back. I sent it to deepbrown. :devilish:

wco81 said:
Anyways, Sony doesn't have the features or bandwidth to command a subscription for their current level of service.
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If they want to go that way, they will commit the necessary resources.

The issue may have to do with model conflicts. Today, the PSN online gaming is partly offered/funded/operated by the developers and their middleware partners. If Sony were to slap an access fees on top, they will complain (since they foot part of the cost).

Contracts have been signed to support the current model. It may be cleaner to keep things at its current state, and then look for new revenue elsewhere. The cross games stuff (e.g., different audio channel for cross game activities) may be a good investigation area. Don't know what Sony has decided on yet. As long as the hooks are in place, someone else could run it on behalf of Sony too.

Even in this case, I could see some aggressive people demand part of that revenue because they host the contexts where the communication takes place (e.g., like sharing ad banner revenue).

Scott_Arm said:
This is the part I don't like:

"Improve profitability in the game business by cost reduction and other measures"

Generally that sort of talk means layoffs.
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Not necessarily a bad thing. If they can consolidate effectively, hopefully they make more money, which will allow them to invest more resources/talent in the right areas.
 
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