Post Xbox One Two Scorpio, what should Sony do next? *spawn* (oh, and Nintendo?)

[goonergaz]

Dreamcast was early and cheap compared to PS2. PS2 was hyped about being very powerful. Wii U launched early and cheap, was weak and didn't sell. Original Xbox established itself in North-America despite the handicaps you mentioned (and several others), perhaps due to being very powerful. How many units MS sells if Xbox was not only later and weaker?

360 was not only early and cheaper, but around the same power level as PS3 and with better multiplatform versions. PS4 is more powerful than Xbox One.

PS2 had BC and a built in DVD player...those were really important factors at the time, I was working in sales and being able to buy a console and use your current games (PS1 being best selling console ever) was a big thing and getting a 'free DVD player. And you missed Wii but mentioned WiiU (which IMHO was not cheap). Also, OXB had a massive price drop which probably saved it...it also picked up some PC gamers (in particular those who wanted Halo) and of course the US buyers who liked to back their product. Also wasn't N64 more powerful than PS1?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It's such a mess now with this iterative stuff. Sony will have to respond to Scorpio,...

Possbily not. We've no idea how these new consoles will be received, nor if there'll be a hungry market shortly after. Chances are not, IMO. Like the phone market is drying up because the annual phones aren't that much better than the previous ones, if new console hardware isn't that much better than old, there's not as much incentive to upgrade. I don't think there'll be platform competition as there was before. So what in Console A2 is 40% faster than Console B2? Console B2 is good enough and user can upgrade to Console B3 later, which'll be good enough whether it's the more or less powerful iteration.

I think it'll come down more to ecosystem. I think they'll be far more entrapping than ever before. Disparity between hardwares will be less, while BC library and friends and services will be long and more valuable than a few exclusives on the other system.

 

[goonergaz]

Possbily not. We've no idea how these new consoles will be received, nor if there'll be a hungry market shortly after. Chances are not, IMO. Like the phone market is drying up because the annual phones aren't that much better than the previous ones, if new console hardware isn't that much better than old, there's not as much incentive to upgrade. I don't think there'll be platform competition as there was before. So what in Console A2 is 40% faster than Console B2? Console B2 is good enough and user can upgrade to Console B3 later, which'll be good enough whether it's the more or less powerful iteration.

I think it'll come down more to ecosystem. I think they'll be far more entrapping than ever before. Disparity between hardwares will be less, while BC library and friends and services will be long and more valuable than a few exclusives on the other system.

The mobile market is also skewed because the mindset is to get a 'free upgrade' every 2 years, but finally I think people are waking up to the reality that they can get a really cheap sim and hold on for longer.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

PS2 had BC and a built in DVD player...those were really important factors at the time, I was working in sales and being able to buy a console and use your current games (PS1 being best selling console ever) was a big thing and getting a 'free DVD player.

I think those were important features, but not really fate deciders imo. I think you buy new console to play new games, back then way more than today, when ecosystems are more prevalent. The visual jump from PS1 to PS2 was also colossal and I remember the hype surrounding the PS2, it was about how powerful it is, and it deliver great looking games pretty soon.

And you missed Wii but mentioned WiiU (which IMHO was not cheap). Also, OXB had a massive price drop which probably saved it...it also picked up some PC gamers (in particular those who wanted Halo) and of course the US buyers who liked to back their product. Also wasn't N64 more powerful than PS1?

Wii U was cheaper than the others, sadly weak as well. If it was Xbox 1 level, it probably would have done a lot better. While the original Wii showed that a weak system can sell, it also showed that you don't need to launch early and I think it would have also sold very well at its peak had it been priced at the same level as Xbox 360. It was a hard to repeat one off phenomenon.

Original Xbox launched at $299 in the US, the same price PS2 was going for. Microsoft was forced to follow Sony going to $199 the next year. Xbox had a massive price cut in Europe shortly after the launch, but the launch price was much higher in Europe.

 

[goonergaz]

I think those were important features, but not really fate deciders imo. I think you buy new console to play new games, back then way more than today, when ecosystems are more prevalent. The visual jump from PS1 to PS2 was also colossal and I remember the hype surrounding the PS2, it was about how powerful it is, and it deliver great looking games pretty soon.



Wii U was cheaper than the others, sadly weak as well. If it was Xbox 1 level, it probably would have done a lot better. While the original Wii showed that a weak system can sell, it also showed that you don't need to launch early and I think it would have also sold very well at its peak had it been priced at the same level as Xbox 360. It was a hard to repeat one off phenomenon.

Original Xbox launched at $299 in the US, the same price PS2 was going for. Microsoft was forced to follow Sony going to $199 the next year. Xbox had a massive price cut in Europe shortly after the launch, but the launch price was much higher in Europe.

Sorry, but I know - because I was selling the systems. Sure there was the power factor but it was not the deciding factor for the general public. You have to remeber that PS2 also improved the PS1 games, it was a massive selling point to parents.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I'm claiming a similar to current outcome would have materialized, even if PS2 didn't have backwards compatibility and you'd be knowing something else based on your sales experience

 

[goonergaz]

I'm saying that PS2 had several advantages;

1) it was backwards compatible and improved the graphics
2) it had a DVD player built in
3) it was a successor to the most popular console ever with a brand that was making gaming 'cool'

I'd also add the OXB was revealed around the same time PS2 launched so...more powerful and 'failed', and was released around a year after PS2...

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I'm saying that PS2 had several advantages;

1) it was backwards compatible and improved the graphics
2) it had a DVD player built in
3) it was a successor to the most popular console ever with a brand that was making gaming 'cool'

I don't really have a problem with that, although I'd put the number 3 to 1 and mention a huge generational leap in performance.

edit:Also PS2 had a very strong exclusive lineup, even from third parties.

 

[liolio]

The reviews I'm reading here and there are showing pretty well that the jump from 4GB to 8GB is doing nothing to improve the Rx 480 performances at 1080p and 1440p. So an extra 4GB of memory sounds like more than enough to me if not unnecessary (depending on the actual usage of the RAM reserved for OS).

 

[mpg1]

Apparently a PS4 slim is coming, supposedly being annonced at Tokyo Game Show:

http://gamingbolt.com/ps4-slim-also-being-worked-on-in-addition-to-ps4-neo-report

I'm really curious to know how small they got this thing...considering the size of PS4.

 

[MrFox]

"Looks like Sony are adopting the Microsoft strategy."
Bad journalist. Bad. Go sit in the corner.

 

[Cyan]

Sony recommend to wait for the official specs before comparing Neo to Scorpio.

http://www.jeuxvideo.com/videos/rep...a-aucun-jeu-exclusif-a-la-ps4-neo-e3-2016.htm

 

[BRiT]

Sony recommend to wait for the official specs before comparing Neo to Scorpio.

http://www.jeuxvideo.com/videos/rep...a-aucun-jeu-exclusif-a-la-ps4-neo-e3-2016.htm

If thats a report on the Sony guy laughing, then its already been reported on in english earlier and this is just echo chamber effect.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Maybe he's still laughing?

 

[3dilettante]

Maybe he's still laughing?

Perhaps he's learned how to laugh in multiple languages?

 

[goonergaz]

Maybe he's still laughing?

 

[GrimThorne]

Maybe he's still laughing?

If he had just said something like, "Project Scorpio specs sound very impressive, but I'd caution everyone to wait until we've shown you what we've got before making any speculative comparisons", it would have sounded more believable. But when he laughed it just sounded disingenuous.

But then again, we should all know Sony by now, they would have never been gracious. When they have the clear advantage they shout it from the rooftops, they make Xbox jokes or start trumpeting the differences. They've never had a problem in the past sticking it to Microsoft, they would be hitting them with sharp digs. But this time it just sounds like false bravado.

*But if they can laugh an additional 2 TFLPS of performance out of the Neo then more power to them.

 

[Jubei]

If Sony can launch a much more expensive console (but not better specs) a year after Microsoft and still end up in a tie with them in the end then i dont think they are trembling in fear over Scorpio. Digital gaming libraries makes it harder to switch between consoles now and they have their strong first party titles. They only care that Neo makes them more money

Microsoft is taking by far the bigger gamble here. Im getting a 1070 (once the prices become reasonable) why should i buy a Scorpio if all the xbox titles are available on PC? MS still makes money either way? Sure they will make money from the games i buy but how will they make me pay for an Xbox live subscription? Why should i buy a third party title on their store when i have like 60 games on Steam already and im satisfied with their service?

Sonys only gamble is the iterative console, otherwise they are still making a traditional console with games that can only be played on their hardware

 

[temesgen]

If Sony can launch a much more expensive console (but not better specs) a year after Microsoft and still end up in a tie with them in the end then i dont think they are trembling in fear over Scorpio. Digital gaming libraries makes it harder to switch between consoles now and they have their strong first party titles. They only care that Neo makes them more money

Microsoft is taking by far the bigger gamble here. Im getting a 1070 (once the prices become reasonable) why should i buy a Scorpio if all the xbox titles are available on PC? MS still makes money either way? Sure they will make money from the games i buy but how will they make me pay for an Xbox live subscription? Why should i buy a third party title on their store when i have like 60 games on Steam already and im satisfied with their service?

Sonys only gamble is the iterative console, otherwise they are still making a traditional console with games that can only be played on their hardware

I think MS is perfectly content to have you in their ecosystem regardless if its XB1, Scorpio or Windows 10, from their perspective I think that is the point. That said you raise a good question about Live, although Steam makes a truck load of money so perhaps Live migrates more to that sort of a business model. From a monetization stand point selling digital versions of games probably has a higher ceiling than many other services you could provide.

 

[goonergaz]

If Sony can launch a much more expensive console (but not better specs) a year after Microsoft and still end up in a tie with them in the end then i dont think they are trembling in fear over Scorpio. Digital gaming libraries makes it harder to switch between consoles now and they have their strong first party titles. They only care that Neo makes them more money

Microsoft is taking by far the bigger gamble here. Im getting a 1070 (once the prices become reasonable) why should i buy a Scorpio if all the xbox titles are available on PC? MS still makes money either way? Sure they will make money from the games i buy but how will they make me pay for an Xbox live subscription? Why should i buy a third party title on their store when i have like 60 games on Steam already and im satisfied with their service?

Sonys only gamble is the iterative console, otherwise they are still making a traditional console with games that can only be played on their hardware

Indeed, my mate at work has been gutted over the PS4>XBO gap and as soon as Scorpio was announced it was like the 2nd coming. I had to point out that today I can get a more powerful GPU for ~£400 which will play most (pretty much all) the Xbox exclusives as well as all the PC games out there (and improve all my current PC games), so why would I get the Scorpio?

Sony OTOH have a very strong 'true' exclusive library as well as 'bringing' good new IP to the table and (as mentioned) a tie-in due to digital purchases...so for me I sell my PS4 and get a Neo for a similar price as upgrading my PC and get a similar effect. Scorpio will be great for XBO owners but anyone on the fence would be better off with a PC really.