Playing with Real Money

BY Fast Company staffWed Sep 13, 2006 at 8:34 PM

One way or another, Sony's due for a big fall. Or Fall, as the case may be. As a story on news.com sums it up, Sony's got a huge slate of consumer-electronics products that are coming out in the next few months, from the Mylo (the latest handheld personal communication device) to the Sony Reader(the latest e-book device) to the latest high-definition televisions, blu-ray players, stereos, and..oh yes, the latest gaming console, the PlayStation 3.

Despite what the CNet article says, though, Sony's got a lot riding on the success of the PS3. It's not quite bet-the-farm time, but it's awfully close, considering the string of bad news for the company, from the recall of several million batteries in Dell and Apple laptops, to bad copy-protection software on their CDs, to decreases in production estimates for the PS3.

But what's it going to take for Sony to bounce back? How much do you think the PS3 will factor into it? Will they be able to retain (or reclaim) the gaming console crown, or will the Xbox and the Nintendo Wii dethrone it? What do you think will be the key for Sony to insure the success of the PS3?

Topics:

Work/Life, news + current events, Sony PlayStation3, Sony Corporation, Video Games, Culture and Lifestyle, Games

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Recent Comments | 3 Total

September 14, 2006 at 12:33pm by Sean Comeaux

I read an article in wired that basically summed up Sony's future with the success or fall of the PS3.

Personally, I am torn. I am a Playstation fan- when I have time to play- but I have been struggling with the price tag. A Blu-Ray included just doesn't do it for me.

I think the Wii will get my money.

Sony is in a very sensitive position right now. If the PS3 flops- and from what I hear within my own network I don't know of any buyers- then we may see Sony being slimmed down to nothing.

The philosophy at Sony has always been to try to capitolize on a niche in the market. It was with Beta's way back when and we saw what happened with that.

I think that they need some unity in the house instead of all of the engineers always trying to come up with the next great product. Create the things people want and need, even if someone else already made it and make it better or cheaper.

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September 14, 2006 at 8:20pm by Phil Buster

Wait a second, are we gauging the long-term success of Sony on the PS/3? I think not. Sony has a long stable line of electronic products from soup to nutz at every price point.

They are a stable trusted brand around the globe.

Wouldn't u rather have a Sony television?

The Nintendo WII continues it's train of juvenile market focused products, games are made for 2 platforms, not 3 these days if anyone noticed, and I know my game cube has been idle for at least a year and no titles are available with any chutzpa.

After plunking down $500 for the XBox 360, it's nearly unimaginable needing or wanting another system. Not to say that XBox has it all right, but it's all there, ready for exploitation.

Sony can recoup and can only succeed with equal Media Center Extender capabilities and provide advanced features that seemingly should already work, like watching Movies already on your computer hard drive. You can view the photos, listen to the music, but not the video?

Sony's delay to market is hurting it most, and with the price point of the new systems, people are going to keep looking for PS/2 and XBox compatible titles for sometime.

I mean, $60 for a game? $99 for an HDMI cable?

Microsoft will rape the world as long as they can. As least Sony tries to soften the blow and doesn't think they control everything.