Evil_Cloud
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Game over for PSX
- Thread starter Evil_Cloud
- Start date
Better. Sony should focus on what's important right now, PSP, PS3...
Evil_Cloud
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london-boy said:
Sony -> PSX
Sony Computer Entertainment -> PSP, PS2, PS3
Evil_Cloud said:
Sony -> Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony + SCE -> Converged approach to Home dominance. I don't think PSP and PS3 are going to be as separable from Sony's CE goods in future, with Cell crossing over into other equipment and future PS products pushing this convergence thing.
Evil_Cloud
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london-boy said:Evil_Cloud said:
Sony -> Sony Computer Entertainment
Alright, you got me there.
But how is this going to affect Sony's convergence device approach with PlayStation?
Evil_Cloud said:Alright, you got me there.
But how is this going to affect Sony's convergence device approach with PlayStation?
Well, it all depends on how serious Sony are with the whole "We'll use Cell for everything, even hoovers" thing.
Was the thing too expensive to produce or something? I still know a lot of people who've been interested in seeing the PSX make it across the pond, and I still think it could have functioned quite well in its market. Just not at 50%-100% higher prices than it SHOULD have been. All they did was price themselves out of contention.
Certainly the market would have some residual confusion between types of people for "is it a DVR?" and "is it a game machine?" distinctions and would lose some of the more serious customers, but the main reason it flubbed is they priced it so only those types of customers would consider buying it to begin with. It's not like the DVR trend is going away or anything, so...? All they needed to do is keep it priced alongside its contemporaries and offer decent guide features (even licensing TiVo the way Toshiba, Pioneer and others do to have a TiVo Basic function and otherwise lean on TiVo's expertise so they don't have to worry about expending effort THAT way) and they would still easily have the extre oomph of the built-in PS2 to sell in volume.
Just dumb. While I can see them perhaps wanting to push more things like this with other machines in the future, it's never worth it to slam your foot in the door the first time out and leave a lasting negative consumer impression. I think they could easily have made a much better-selling and longer-lasting machine with more interest and longevity, so long as they were willing to not profiteer off it. (They would get future savings from other cost reductions, same as always. And a bigger built-in audience to their next machine, in whatever form it would take.) Offhand, I don't think the machine would have even cost 25% of the MSRP they were charging to make, so they should have brought it out somewhere more realistic, as opposed to making a confused entry with a complex machine and not giving it any momentum to carry on.
All they did was price themselves out of contention.Certainly the market would have some residual confusion between types of people for "is it a DVR?" and "is it a game machine?" distinctions and would lose some of the more serious customers, but the main reason it flubbed is they priced it so only those types of customers would consider buying it to begin with. It's not like the DVR trend is going away or anything, so...? All they needed to do is keep it priced alongside its contemporaries and offer decent guide features (even licensing TiVo the way Toshiba, Pioneer and others do to have a TiVo Basic function and otherwise lean on TiVo's expertise so they don't have to worry about expending effort THAT way) and they would still easily have the extre oomph of the built-in PS2 to sell in volume.
Just dumb. While I can see them perhaps wanting to push more things like this with other machines in the future, it's never worth it to slam your foot in the door the first time out and leave a lasting negative consumer impression. I think they could easily have made a much better-selling and longer-lasting machine with more interest and longevity, so long as they were willing to not profiteer off it. (They would get future savings from other cost reductions, same as always. And a bigger built-in audience to their next machine, in whatever form it would take.) Offhand, I don't think the machine would have even cost 25% of the MSRP they were charging to make, so they should have brought it out somewhere more realistic, as opposed to making a confused entry with a complex machine and not giving it any momentum to carry on.
Evil_Cloud said:
Not quite.
Sony "SCE" -> PSP, PSX, PS2, PS3
Posted b4, http://www.ga-forum.com/archive/index.php/t-12787.html
Evil_Cloud
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pahcman said:
I would almost swear PSX was released in Japan by Sony... :?
I think he's referring to Kutaragi's involvement, and other comments like how much PS engineers were involved in the project--though that's to be expected for such a cross-platform project.
The main point of contention is who controlled the ultimate business decisions for the project (especially rollout and pricing), and that point is not clarified by the article.
The main point of contention is who controlled the ultimate business decisions for the project (especially rollout and pricing), and that point is not clarified by the article.
This was an issue with PSP as well, wasn't it? I think I remember reading an article somewhere where Sony (SCE) engineers were frustrated at the limitations being put on them from aove, such as wanting to support MP3 but being told they couldn't. Thankfully that changed, and KK rebuked the men from 'above' for making ridiculous decisions like not supporting MP3 in the first place.
It'll be interesting what shakeups happen in Sony if KK does become CEO
It'll be interesting what shakeups happen in Sony if KK does become CEO
You all are kinda wrong...
It's:
As for the PSX, it's collaborative effort between SEL and SCEI, however in the end, it's an SEL product.
Finally. The product concept wasn't so bad, it was just the execution that stank royally...
Kuturagi's comments have had little effect... The move to support mp3 (badly overdue) has been in motion long before his comments... (You'll notice it this year on all '05 products starting with the HD3 (although the HD1 and 2 are firmware upgradeable too)...
It's:
As for the PSX, it's collaborative effort between SEL and SCEI, however in the end, it's an SEL product.
Finally. The product concept wasn't so bad, it was just the execution that stank royally...
Kuturagi's comments have had little effect... The move to support mp3 (badly overdue) has been in motion long before his comments... (You'll notice it this year on all '05 products starting with the HD3 (although the HD1 and 2 are firmware upgradeable too)...
I don't think KK had much (any?) influience on consumer electronics changes, but he has voiced the need for change. Maybe that's just trumpetting an already in-place motion in the company and doing so makes him look good for the top spot?
Well, it's just a word play, but Kutaragi was allowed to become a vice president of Sony Corp. in 2003 or sometime near and is still the CEO of SCEI, so the PSX is one of his first ventures as a core Sony executive (which failed in the end), but was not released from SCEI.
It sold not too shabby in quantities (Sony could briefly get the top share in the DVD recorder market in Japan in 2003 thanks to the PSX) but was far less than the projected sales, and more importantly, its competitive low price (gamer crowds often bitch about the high price of the PSX compared to the PS2, but actually it's a very cheap deal compared to other HDD DVD recorder products) devastated the market that had a high margin for manufacturers back then, forcing other CE companies to lower prices. It's nice for consumers, but other CE-centric executives could treat Kutaragi as a n00b for it
It sold not too shabby in quantities (Sony could briefly get the top share in the DVD recorder market in Japan in 2003 thanks to the PSX) but was far less than the projected sales, and more importantly, its competitive low price (gamer crowds often bitch about the high price of the PSX compared to the PS2, but actually it's a very cheap deal compared to other HDD DVD recorder products) devastated the market that had a high margin for manufacturers back then, forcing other CE companies to lower prices. It's nice for consumers, but other CE-centric executives could treat Kutaragi as a n00b for it
chrisrt2 said:
Yes please, find me an existing large-HD/DVD-burner alone that costs $199. The PSX wasn't even too out of line--at the time--for the type of device it was, but the main problem was that it ONLY aimed at the extreme high end. Those devices don't sell in volume anyway, and meanwhile people willing to shell out that much for aren't going to think it "wicked cool" that they have a PS2 built in. That fact would be more likely to make them think less of the machine, I imagine.
What the PSX needed to do was remain absolutely competitve on price at launch (as they want to attract attention and could always "not drop as much" versus the competition if they establish themselves) and--more importantly--have at least one model in the low end that would establish their presence and make them far easier to adopt, use, and gain ground as a whole product line. After all, I imagine all those large-capacity iPods sell better for having the lowest-capacity one driving the way into the market. If, say, there was a PSX model with a 40-80GB drive and no DVD burning capability...? Most people just want the DVR for its program-recording functions anyway, so a device like that would actually appeal to the mass market that wants a DVR and thinks well of the PS2... It could easily be profitable (since it would essentially be a PS2 with a hard drive and different software), and would have made the line's existance and uniqueness felt.
Other things it should have done were A) not skimp out on ports (make sure all the existing PS2 ones were there and make sure the USB ones were 2.0) and B) push the fact that the machine could and would be getting frequent updates and added capabilities, whereas competing machines would usually be cut-and-dry, lower in scope, and make you buy new models to take advantage of the more interesting things. Deliver, say, a slick and easy web browser or email client shortly down the road (you don't want to get defined as "the new WebTV" right off the bat), and other general computing things that take advantage of being a networked device with stressed general computing abilities...
That they can and DID add to the PSX through updates was good; that it was mainly seen as "patching their undelivered promises" rather than delivering many new things other players couldn't...? Foolishness.
<sighs> Bah. Makes me irritated just thinking about it.
Let's be honest, PSX was a mediocre product at best end of story. I'll post the relevent thread for those with defective memory cells...
Just remember that a burning laser doesn't last as long as a reading laser. If you can't figure out what that means with regards to a gameplayer with burning features then...
Just remember that a burning laser doesn't last as long as a reading laser. If you can't figure out what that means with regards to a gameplayer with burning features then...
PC-Engine said:Let's be honest, PSX was a mediocre product at best end of story. I'll post the relevent thread for those with defective memory cells...
Just remember that a burning laser doesn't last as long as a reading laser. If you can't figure out what that means with regards to a gameplayer with burning features then...
Doesn't it? Damn i've been burning DVDs like crazy lately on my PC, 1 or 2 every day. I can't afford a new DVD writer!!!