Sony is playing a dangerous game to continue its dominance of Microsoft

Sony is betting its future on unproven markets. But it's better than the alternative.

Microsoft is making big moves to unify Windows 10 and the Xbox console as part of an ambitious master plan to reinvent itself in the post-PC era. Next up is a new Project Scorpio console coming next year. A unified Microsoft presents a huge threat to the all-important PlayStation business.

Sony's strategy hinges on making sure you buy a PlayStation 4. For Sony, there's no plan B. If the PlayStation falters, so too does Sony's greatest source of profit.

[Sonyslave3]

It sad how sony might exit gaming before Nintendo and Nintendo not as big as Sony .

And I'm just responding to the article so mods don't ban me for trolling when I'm not.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

that's nothing but wishful thinking. Sony isn't going away. And if they do, PlayStation may still be around in their own. If the PS3 didn't kill Sony, I don't think nothing will at least in a long time.

Also Sony has a huge lead and the gap can only be bigger by the time Scorpio comes. I fail to see how is that gonna put MS on top right away? It took the PS3 years to catch up with the 360. Don't fool yourselves. Moreover, MS trying to unify the Xbox and PC only benefits their pockets. That shouldn't be a threat to Sony.

[Cindy-rella]

rubbish article

[Fatal-Aim]

This article is dumb.

This is PlayStation: http://www.sonyrumors.net/2...

Unless Microsoft can somehow shut those branches down, PlayStation isn't going anywhere no time soon and it will continue to expand BEYOND the game console and the PC

[DarkZane]

@XiKurapikaKurta

And the PS3 was outselling the Xbox 360 worldwide since the day it released, while the 360 was only winning in America.

The Xbox One will not do the same thing because it's never gonna win worldwide. They can barely win 2-3 months a year in USA, catching up to Playstation is impossible. They couldn't beat Sony at their worst, there is nothing they can do. The next generation will be the same: PS5 will win by a huge landslide.

Also, unifying PC and Xbox and putting all Xbox exclusives on PC is not as smart as they think. If you have a decent gaming pc, it makes getting an xbox one useless. If you want to play the games on max setting at 60fps, you need a pretty powerful rig, but you can easily play the games with the same visuals and frame rate as the Xbox One with a 5 years old PC. My PC is 4 years old and the only thing that doesn't hold up today is the GTX 770 and I play games on 1080p with better visuals and frame rate than the Xbox One. This makes the Xbox One useless to someone like me who doesn't have a good computer. I can just upgrade my video card anyway to make it a very high end computer.

[S2Killinit]

Sony hasnt lost yet to them so I think its just as possible that this is MS throwing the towel on consoles and slowly moving on to become a service on PCs

[_-EDMIX-_]

Agreed.

I love how this article pretty much pretends PS4 Slim doesn't exist.

I don't see how having an option will kill a company

[Kryptix]

PlayStation isn't going anywhere and that's real talk.
The article writer assumes that there is no Plan B, like everything is linear and predictable.
Microsoft is on Plan B with Xbox integrating the console with PC to mitigate losses, Sony has been on their own track, not faltering with the PlayStation.

I believe Sony are confident because time is only telling that PlayStation has been a great source of growth. Now they have their own VR headset on the market (starting Oct. 13) to profit from that with no other competition on console. Soon they'll have the most powerful console in the market next month and don't give me that Scorpio is BS, in November 10, it isn't the most powerful console available to purchase.

Lots of good moves here, with PS Vue getting excellent reviews as a great extra for entertainment.

Once they cash on PSVR and the Pro, there will be other ways to expand with their newly earned profits. That's how business works, the article writer assumes there's nothing more to PlayStation... Funny being called businessinsider and being shortsighted on the potential and areas it can work on.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

The article is nonsense and conjecture. Pure speculation that would make one think that the source for this story was a delusional Xbox fanboy.

[trooper_]

They're still with this 'Sony going away' nonsense?

It's been what, 2008 for the doom and gloom articles? And yet Sony's still standing?

Come up with new material please.It would take a miracle for the XB1 to reach PS4 sales.

[Jburr94]

Not to mention most PC gamers prefer steam lol..

[pinkcrocodile75]

I don't think anyone read the article properly.

This isn't a hatchet job on Sony, this is looking at what each company is focussing on and looking at the chances of success.

The article says Sony is pushing hard into VR which is not without risk and that they are not pushing service orientated business models enough (PS Plus, PS Vue notwithstanding) it's all down to how the brand will be focussed in a service orientated business model which is where all the big companies see this going.

IT's not saying Sony is going anywhere, just discusses in a some details the "Where Now" question with some detail.

A benefit for Sony is the "Only on PS4" means exactly that, however the converse of that in the future could very really make their ecosystem "Small" in comparison it's competitors in the years to come. Thus the question.

EDIT:

Consider music in the 80's as a prime example;

Sony was king of the walkman and top dog of music appliances for a long time, then mp3's came along and apple took the crown with ipod.

Then music streaming started eating into apples market share with all the steaming services out there, so apples unification across all devices and non apple devices made a difference.

Sony may push in the same direction as Microsoft in the future but for now all we can do is "Watch"

[badz149]

Kinda funny that all of a sudden, a unified console/pc like MS is doing is such a huge threat to Playstation.

Seriously, go somewhere else and come back talking about this when MS has finally decided to not relying on the same 3 games releasing in the 4th quarter of every year!

This play anywhere concept is great and all but it's useless when you don't have that many games under your belt to begin with. 3rd parties aren't going to embrace the play anywhere thing because they would want money for every single version of their games!

[XanderZane]

The play anywhere is for 1st party Microsoft games. Don't think it has anything to do with 3rd party games. With 3rd party games, you'd have to buy a copy on PC and XB1. The "Play Anywhere" is for digital copies only. Don't think it works for physical copies. Doesn't matter to me, as I play all my XB1 games on my XBox One.

[NextGenCeo]

Nintendo biggest and oldest gaming company on the world. And Nintendo have more money than Sony on gaming business.
Microsoft already goes PC with Windows 10. No more Xbox console just a modern small PC case for living room. Name Xbox.
But Sony have lots of first party games and games like Last Of Us, God Of War, Uncharted... When Sony loose those brand than maybe be Sony quit console business but until than it`s seems imposible to me.

(ESL guy so sorry for english)

[DC777]

Nintendo only has 5,000 employees world wide including studios. I love Nintendo but they are not the biggest anything.

[UCForce]

I don't think so. The only company that leaving console is MS. They are the one losing console war, that's why MS need PC to back them up which is a mistake for them to do it. They lost exclusive out of the gate. PS still have traditional routes by giving true exclusive game.

[XanderZane]

The Wii U is the one losing console wars. Microsoft still has console and brand exclusives. You can't play any of Microsoft 1st party games without either Window 10 or an XB1. All are owned and exclusive to Microsoft. Please try and play these games without a M$ product.

[iTechHeads]

Lol

[SierraGuy]

Sony has deep pockets and money to blow even if all this new tech doesn't work out alot of it due to the thrashing Xbox took this gen. It may actually work out for them in the end and in that case even further dominance over the others. Sony's no joke. I respected the Xbox console until day one and that God awful menu/OS. A week later I was standing in the glow of the ps4 UI in a barren ebgames and the mistake I made choosing Microsoft's console over the ps4 was unbearable. I traded it to someone for a ps4 and glad I did. Just wish the wireless adapter was 5ghz.

[lokirevamped]

You're dreaming if you think Sony has a lot of money to waste. If the were only a console company I would agree with you but their TV's and other markets are taking a loss. Nintendo is doing great because their handhelds are flying off the shelves. Microsoft is doing great because their markets are a success, Windows, Money from Android, they are making money off the X1 and even their phone market has seen an increase in sales. Sony's game business is doing a fantastic world wide job but their other markets is what limits the money they get to play with.

[zb1ftw777]

Uhm...

Im going to go out on a limb and say the Nintendo brand is infinately bigger than the Playstation brand.

Nintendo has been around for tens of decades and sold infinately more hardware and software compared with Playstation.

Playstation is like a toddler vs Nintendo, which would be the great, great, great grandfather.

[Red_Renegade]

you spelled and used infinitely wrong. it took like one generation for sony to match all of nintendo's home console sales. prolly even surpassed it. the only way nintendo sold more is if you add in handhelds. sony sells in places where nintendo isn't even thought about. so, yeah. pretty tiny limb.

[XanderZane]

@Red_Renegade
Sony has sold more console hardware, but Nintendo has destroyed Sony in handheld hardware and 1st party exclusive software sales. The software sales is really the reason why Nintendo is rich.

[MagicBeanz]

"exit gaming" LOL!, if I had a dollar for every time you guys had Sony exiting.

[Artemidorus]

You type rubbish.

[Sparta07]

@ sonyslave, stop. We know your hate is strong for Sony but PlayStation is not going anywhere.
You should be worried about Xbox not PlayStation.

[XanderZane]

XBox is not going anywhere either. Microsoft makes billions in profits every year. XBox is still a very strong brand. So I wouldn't worry about Xbox at all. I think Scorpio will be a big success at the end of next year.

[Xavy]

In your dreams boy, the domination will continue and so will your crying =D

[jaycptza]

you fuckin trolling

[XanderZane]

Sony isn't going anywhere and neither is Microsoft. Both companies are profiting right now, so it's pretty unlikely that they will be out of the gaming market in the next 3 years.

PSVR & PS Vue are big risks though. Not even sure why Sony is going into TV/Movie applications since gamers literally bash Microsoft for doing the same thing with NFL Football, Fifa Soccer and Kinect TV voice control. PS Vue is a waste of money. PSVR is going to be hit or miss. The games have to be extraordinary and great to sell millions of PSVR. If it's not, it could easily backfire on Sony. I still think they released the PS4 Slim way too early. Now you have customers with $300-$400 trying to pick from the PS4 Slim ^ PS4 Pro. Then Sony expects gamers to sell out another $400-$500 for the PSVR? Three NEW pieces of hardware in a matter of 6 months is ridiculous. The PS4 Slim should have been held back until next year. Sony just flooded the market and PS4 Slim sales will probably what suffers the most.

[Aceman18]

You and the 31 ppl who agreed with this comment are truly sad, and brain dead lol. You know damn well Sony isn't going anywhere lol. The writer of this article is a damn fool also.

[hirobrotagonist]

Are you related to Michael Pachter by chance?

[zaherdab]

I am sad that you are sad!

[Red_Renegade]

wow this article lies from the start. playstation isn't their biggest money maker.

[Death]

If 78% of the last recorded quarterly profit came from Playstations segment, what is Sony's biggest money maker if it isn't Playstation?

[TheColbertinator]

Cookies. Sweet fluffy Sony cookies fresh from the oven.

Mmmm

[Red_Renegade]

only last quarter? what about these past few years?

[freshslicepizza]

@Red_Renegade
"only last quarter? what about these past few years?"

why dont we go back even further? you know, when sony actually had a large stake in electronics prior to the ps3. now the company is much smaller which is why the article is saying the playstation brand hinges a lot now on the future and success of the company.

@Fatal-Aim
"PlayStation covers more than just video games with those branches expanding beyond the actual PlayStation console. So unless Microsoft is going to somehow acquire these branches some place else, Xbox alone is not going to prevent these branches from expanding throughout online capable devices."

through what, playstation now? sony is too scared to offer a meaningful game library because they want to sell ps4 systems, you can't even get ps4 games through the service.

[Fatal-Aim]

@ Death

PlayStation covers more than just video games with those branches expanding beyond the actual PlayStation console. So unless Microsoft is going to somehow acquire these branches some place else, Xbox alone is not going to prevent these branches from expanding throughout online capable devices.

[Fatal-Aim]

@ moldybread

The only one that sounds scared is you, scared that PlayStation is expanding too rapidly.

PlayStation Now is just the beginning of PlayStation expanding. What about remote play? It is already capable of running on the PC. Just like the Vita or PSP, Sony simply have to turn this on where it works over the internet. Then you'll be accessing PlayStation 4 anywhere on the globe. And because Sony is behind remote play, this can be implemented into things like cell phones, tablets, etc.. Sony is more nimble than you would like to give them credit for.

[Notellin]

I just read their fiscal 2015 full year financial results and the PlayStation division had the highest sales and operating income. So I did the research for you it wasn't just this year's first quarter.

Also sony profited 1 billion in Q4 2015 they aren't going anywhere.

[Silly gameAr]

Got to plant that doom and gloom into people's minds.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

Those are all good points to think about, but it is all based on one man's assumption about what may fail and what may not instead of facts. You don't know whether Sony has a backup plan for the worst, and how are Unifying Xbox with PC and Scorpio suddenly gonna put MS on top?

The real question should be: what is Xbox plan B if those plans fail to gain momentun over Sony PlayStation? They are the ones trying to make amends for that. PlayStation is in a good position right now. Reminding us about Sony's financial loses and bla bla is irrelevant because PlayStation is a division and has their own funds and investors. The risk they are taking is big, but it is too foolish to think that may kill them, as if having 12 game studios and spending millions (Just Uncharted 3 almost topped 100k milli, imagine U4 and the rest of the games) isn't already enough risk

To put things into perspective, Sony made a lot of amends to make the PS3 great and yet it wasn't until 2012 that they could catch up. By that time, MS had already banked enough to care. And it was not raw power that made that happen. Go figure!

[morganfell]

I remember the last time Sony was given the doom report for using unproven tech and that tech was called Blu-ray.

[freshslicepizza]

yeah, and now the irony is they are pushing 4k without a 4k player on a playstation console which has been used in the past to push cd technology, dvd technology and bluray technology into games. and also pushing 4k gaming without much in the form of true 4k games.

[ApocalypseShadow]

No. The irony is Microsoft using bluray when they downplayed it all last gen with people like you. Lol!

Now that's irony.

[morganfell]

It isn't irony. You need a dictionary. That is your hatred talking. Sony has been at the forefront of media change every single generation. CD? Yes. And it became the standard. DVD? Yes, and it became the standard. Blu-ray? Yes, and it became the standard. Now they are pushing all digital.

[freshslicepizza]

morganfell
" Sony has been at the forefront of media change every single generation. CD? Yes. And it became the standard. DVD? Yes, and it became the standard. Blu-ray? Yes, and it became the standard. Now they are pushing all digital."

pushing all digital through netflix? talk about being at the forefront. is sony going to exempt data caps too after all the streaming? funny how now everyone loves digital but only for movies and music yet still refuse to go digital for games. playstation now doesn't even support ps4 games, how is that pushing digital?

[morganfell]

So netflix is a gaming company? That is what we are discussing - gaming machines. Media formats for gaming machines. You can attempt to change the subject now that you lost this argument if you like but the facts remain.

And since you brought up netflix and say they are at the forefront, what have they done with all their advancement to remove data caps. A useless point on your part swatted down. I, like many people buy machines for gaming.

And who is refusing to go digital for games? Sony led the charge for free games with an online membership and those PS Plus specials are all about digital. If they were retail boxes I could build an apartment complex.

You want to bring PlayStation Now into the argument too? What competitor has a service even remotely like that? Let's drag Vue into it as well. What other gaming company is doing that? I wanted to focus on games but you insisted on losing this discussion in a wonderful and public fashion. You wouldn't be in this situation had you entered this thread for an honest reason.

You try so hard to be destructive in these forums. But no one takes you seriously. That is why your arguments fail because you never offer up anything remotely sincere.

I never see you talk about something you like. Instead you only enter threads to sow discourse because you feel threatened by Sony for some unknown reason. Tsk tsk. Everyone, I mean everyone knows this. Even Xbox fans see it. It makes me shake my head when I recieve PMs from people with whom I normally disagree and even they are embarrassed bu you. Sad really when a hobby like gaming brings so much fun yet certain people forget why they started gaming, if they ever began gaming for the right reason, in the first place.

Well I will no longer waste my time with you. Gaming means too much to me and my time is valuable. If you had a point of view it would be worth discussing but you do not. Maybe one day you will discover gaming like the rest of us but I have devoted all the time to your troublemaking worth sparing. Have a nice life.

[freshslicepizza]

@morganfell

you never explained how sony is at the forefront in gaming to keep them the leader moving forward. playstation now? sony wont even release numbers and the library lets be honest, isnt very good. sony wont even support ps4 games on it and the service itself is inferior to disks so tell me again how that is the forefront in gaming? all it is is OnLive that went belly up a few years ago. it also took sony years just to get the service on the pc.

then you talk about digital games and how great playstation plus is. take away that paywall to play people online and the number of memberships drastically decreases, whats so innovative with adding multiplayer to the service? microsoft did this from day one and people didnt agree with it but now that sony does it's at the forefront in gaming?

sony does not have the online infrastructure like google, apple, amazon and microsoft have. what sony does have a quite a few ip's in gaming that are of value along with some great development teams. that does not translate into a successful business model that will keep sony relevant for years to come. sony is much smaller of a company than they used to be and are not a powerhouse they used to be. that is why this article is here, to tell the story that sony is putting too much emphasis on the playstation brand now to carry the company and how their handheld devices have failed to offer them another tool to sell their software. all sony seems to be doing is trying to make more powerful consoles to try and prevent people going to the pc to do their main gaming.

[SierraGuy]

And I can guarantee you somewhere along the line Microsoft is paying Sony for that Blu ray tech...whether it be thorough a third party or not.

[ShowanW]

It hit MS that Xbox/Scorpio doesnt have to put them on top.

Microsoft just has to sell enough hardware, but they are really hopin that people buy a TON OF SOFTWARE. Hoping that people stay on Live (rather it be on Xbox, PC, Tablet, or Phone)

The more a person stays in a ecosystem , the more they tend to buy from that ecosystem. I dont see a heavy Playstation gamer buying anything Xbox anytime soon and vice versa.

[ninsigma]

Yeah software is their aim right now but the unification isn't going to work as planned if they keep the pc prices up so high. Pc gamers don't pay as much as console gamers on a game so to have the cost the same seems like shooting themselves in the foot to me.

[freshslicepizza]

@XiKurapikaKurta
"Those are all good points to think about, but it is all based on one man's assumption about what may fail and what may not instead of facts. You don't know whether Sony has a backup plan for the worst, and how are Unifying Xbox with PC and Scorpio suddenly gonna put MS on top? "

you're missing the point. microsoft can continue to prosper and be a dominant player as a business even with xbox. the question is what would happen to sony if the playstation brand faltered in the future? it also talks about apple and how far they reach their customers. 40 million ps4 owners sounds like a lot but pales in comparison to how many customers microsoft can reach with windows and how far apple reaches with their products.

[Chevalier]

We're talking about games. Not stupid MS products. Keep on topic for a change. Deflecting doesn't change anything.

[trooper_]

That has nothing to do with what was just said.

[PhoenixUp]

No matter what happens, at the end of that day PlayStation will always remain a stronger brand globally than Xbox.

[LamerTamer]

Xbox must have an internet connection, a good one, to update the OS. Microsoft FORCES you online periodically. No update, no new game playing. Not everyone in the world has good internet at all times. This will be a barrier to xbox sales worldwide.

The PS4 can be used totally offline as any needed OS updates are included on game discs (you can't patch buggy games but can still be used) .

[ApocalypseShadow]

I love these "opinion" articles. One,they always seem to ignore facts. And two, they always seem to try to push the narrative that Microsoft is gaining and Sony is in trouble. I'll keep this short this time...

Gaming is not the only thing Sony gets its profits from. That quarter was where Sony made the most money from PS4. What about the other quarters? Where's the comparison between them and Sony's other revenue makers like insurance?

Microsoft unifying its products should have been done long ago. Just like Sony unifying its business and sharing products and knowledge between them has helped them and should have been done long ago.

Diversifying your business to include TV and movie streaming is just smart business in an internet connected society. And to say Sony doesn't have the ability to reach beyond the console when you can stream PS4 to compatible TVs, cellphones, tablets,PCs, Vita TV, etc with an APP is nonsense spewing. Sony's idea of playing their products from anywhere was before Microsoft's play anywhere idea.

Any product that is released is a risky bet.starting a business is a risky bet.tell us something we don't know. But,if no one tries at all,then new markets never happen. And comparing PS4 to a heavily subsidized IPhone is dumb. If it was sold at its full price,no one today would even know what an IPhone is.

PS4's success, Sony's success, does not hinge on psvr.psvr is its own thing. PS4 gamers not interested in vr will continue to buy regular games and enjoy themselves. And, Microsoft releasing Scorpio next year and being more powerful than PS4 PRO doesn't guarantee their success when it will be more expensive and Xbox as a brand has not been accepted worldwide at the level as PlayStation.

But hey,we all have opinions. My psvr is shipping and will be at my house on Thursday. That's one profitable sale for Sony already. And that's not counting the games I plan to buy.

[gazgriff2k12]

At least you have a brain and know how to use it.

[Petebloodyonion]

and what are the facts that they are ignoring?

[Red_Renegade]

i think he listed some, like the other profitable divisions?

[susanto1228]

NO Sony's most dangerous game is that their only money making venture is the Playstation everything else has been a failure that is Sony's most dangerous proposition.

[Dark_Knightmare2]

Except their movie,insurance and a few other things aren't failures but hey you're the armchair analyst you know it all

[joeorc]

@Dark_Knightmare28h ago
[Except their movie,insurance and a few other things aren't failures but hey you're the armchair analyst you know it all]

Like the writer of this article, it seems many fail to do research . exactly as you just stated..I mean he'll every iPhone ships with Sony's camera CMOS Sensors, and many times that's more than one optical diodes, that's Billion's per sales Quarters. Not to mention the other cell phone manufacturers that also ship Sony' CMOS Sensors, the mobile Subsidiaries is now @ profit despite the earthquake recently.. Are they selling massive number of cellphones now..no, but they are etching out @ profit..and they like Google are selling their smartphone's in higher end only & unlocked direct to consumers.

PlayStation is a Subsidiary that while generates good resources for Sony its also less than 10,000 total employees while the rest of Sony is over 120,000+ people Employees working @ Sony or Sony's other Subsidiaries... Let's put it this way..8,000 to 10,000 people total working at PlayStation it quite a number of people, but that absolutely does not mean it's the largest or most importantly the largest most important of Sony's Subsidiaries @
Sony..

because all of its Subsidiaries are all important to Sony, because they are a multi international conglomerate!

Taking a snapshot of just a section of the conglomerate is not conducive in determination of how the companies Corpus stability , since the change in market conditions and as well as each Subsidiaries profits and growth can increase or shrink based on those dynamic conditions..in 2012 Sony's market cap was projected as 13 Billion today it's past 40 Billion..but yet this article claims or tries to claim this is mainly due to PlayStation?

Someone needs to do more research, because they are very narrowed view on such a small snapshot view of such a large Multi international Conglomerate that since many of the whole owned Subsidiaries are not even in any public IPO, there is no real way to gain a true Valuation of the Subsidiary companies value to Sony as a whole..and many already know especially @ Sony by keeping such away from corporate raiding Hedge funding vultures, that it irks many outside game walstreet game players betting against such companies making money on a Companies faulting..just so as to buy in at a lower rate in order to sell off parts of a company to make profit on a Companies sell off. But since Sony refuses to take PlayStation or its entertainment subsidiaries for public offering , they know it's never going to happen..but please let the media continue with this very short sighted Analysis that has been rehashed for over 6 years now, has the people trying to keep this going ever did research into the Japanese financial stock markets for the past 40 D@mn years?

History is a great teacher..the mainly Western financial analysis on Japanese markets are pretty Amusing to read , because they keep making the very same mistake..no company the size of Sony in Japan has been taken over by any company of the West, let alone collapse to be irrelevant.. Just like a company like GM or the many larger financial lenders in the United States..bail outs galore.

Sony has employed over 143,000+ People today the company still has today over 129,000+ people still working at Sony..that's quite a number of people a single company can employ. This small snapshot is just that a very narrowed view of this company and is pretty and away far off on the assessment because outside of the board of directors of each of the Subsidiary Corpus which many are not for public stock holding buy in or Hedge funds investing are not able to discern the true Valuation of such holding company Assets.

[Skillz1215]

please stop

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

If you own a smartphone, digital camera, have a laptop/tablet/PC that has a camera it probably contains imaging sensors manufactured and sold by Sony.
Also Sony makes
Image processors, laser diodes, OLED panels, and other components for High definition technologies. Sony also makes endoscopes, diagnostic tools for medical labs and research, movies, music, television, credit cards, banking, and insurance. Please stop posting nonsense. Thanks.

[EverydayGuy]

Hope the PS5 can play all games at 1080P at 60fps and 4k at 30fps and I hope Sony bring all their games to stream for cross play.

[nitus10]

The PS4 can already play games at 1080p 60fps. Here is a list if you don't believe me: http://www.videogamerplus.c...

I would not hold my breath for Sony to bring fist party games to the Microsoft walled garden that would negate the reason for having a Playstation console.

[donthate]

You mean Sony doesn't want to bring their walled garden to a free an open market like PC?

[Sm00thop]

I mainly game on Xbox but I like the fact that there is a choice when it comes to consoles, it keeps it competitive and makes things progress a lot faster. Hopefully Sony, MS and Nintendo are in the business for many more years, I do think that gaming will drastically change over the next 5-10 years though, cloud based gaming will be a major factor imo more so than anything else.

[Valkron1]

I kinda like seeing the big 3 all try something different. I like them all for different reasons. My PC might be getting more games thanx to Microsoft, but M$ will still get my xbox $. Don't think they care if I use a Scorpio or (superior) PC. Nintendo has always had great exclusives. My Playstations get the most use though. Still grinding Destiny and PSVUE replaced cable tv. I love em all and want the competition to stay strong to innovate and perfect their ideas!

[NecoTehSergal]

Shit article.

[conanlifts]

It's this reason alone that i want playstation to keep succeeding. Having said that i do think they are a bit arrogant due to their market dominance. But hey as long as they keep making great games i will buy them.

[nitus10]

Take a look at Microsoft's dominance of the desktop. When you do that Sony's so-called arrogance pales into insignificance.

I will draw your attention to Microsoft's EULA (if you care to read it) which basically grants you the right to use their operating system (you don't own it) and you can only run it one one machine. You must agree to the EULA when installing or using your PC for the first time.

I could go on but I won't bore you except to say if you have Windows 10 take a look at your privacy settings and remember that all of these were "on' by default. If you have turned them off then good for you but you may have allot more difficulty locking down your PC further.

[conanlifts]

Erm you do realise i didn't mention microsoft right. I don't trust any billion dollar company, but at the end of the day i will purchase from them providing they make a product that meets my needs. Both sony and ms do this.
But yes i am not blind to the faults of either company.
Not quite sure why the long ms related reply though?

[Yohshida]

So you are using Linux?

[kneon]

That Eula is in line with pretty much all commercial software. Go look at the Eula for any games you've bought, you don't own them either, you only have a license to use it under the specified conditions.

[thisgamer503]

Sony Rootkit says hello.

[Destiny1080]

no plan "B" run for the hills

[343_Guilty_Spark]

I will say I am enjoying PS VUE on my FireTV. I'm even recommending it to friends and family. Although, currently its kind of pissing me off because of buffering. I'm going to try resetting my connection.

Sorry on topic. Well we will see if their strategy works. They seem to be doing fine for now and their fans are extremely loyal.

[n1kki6]

Is it cool if i dont care and enjoy all the systems?

[Skate-AK]

Of course not /s

[corroios]

Payed pr. Nothing more . Just the same old formula

[showtimefolks]

playstation is a separate entity now so it's not going anywhere. if anything sony is investing more money back due to huge success of ps4

but i will always say competition is needed to push the boundaries so i for am glad xbox s is doing so well because this means sony has to try to compete

[masterfox]

More like MS is playing a dangerous game cause it doesn't have a damn clue in how to create a proper gaming console and just wasting millions and millions of dlls just in trying of staying alive in this industry, seriously just look at that hololens more 2000 dlls if you want to participate!, LOL!!!

[XXanderXX]

Key part of the HoloLens comment which u happen to leave out, its a Developers kit.
That why its priced at 3k & only released for developers .

[Yohshida]

Ye they are so Bad at it, PlayStation lost half its market after the ps2

[Skillz1215]

lol oh yea? and MS never won a single console generation in there entire history

[Yohshida]

How do you define a "Win"?

[buttcheeks]

Here's the thing in sales the wii won in games the ps3 and Wii had more games and higher rated exclusives and they certainly didn't keep that market share they've taken by the look of things now so no matter how you look at it Microsoft lost

[Yohshida]

So the Lead platform for the entire generation is actually the loser? The other consoles getting horrible ports etc is an actual win? OKAY

BTW... Nonne knows the total sales of all 3 consoles.

[Red_Renegade]

so you just forgot about the wii, and want to change what the console war is? you're such a xbox fanboy, videogamelab.

[jznrpg]

Ok....

[XXanderXX]

Oh well nothing last forever .
Don't get mad people its the truth, it can happen to anyone company no matter what at any time .

[Skillz1215]

yea your right it's been happening to MS since the original Xbox

[XXanderXX]

And if whenever MS Shuts the Xbox console portion down, I will be done with gaming unless Nintendo can keep me interested .

cause we no software is here to stay

[MagicBeanz]

So Sony's strategy is to make sure you buy a game console to play their console games, wow that's some crazy shit right there, what are they thinking. Clearly it hasn't worked for them just look at their poor sales numbers. The BS click bait spin articles are still going strong at N4G I see.

[Max-Zorin]

Flame bait at it's finest. People that keep submitting nonsense need their submit privilege stripped.

[Bolts]

The PC and console unification is huge if MS can pull it off. The problem is that for now it's all talk. Gears of War 4 is an amazing game on PC but does not have full featured crossplay and Froza requires 8 gig of VRAM because it's another shit port. In theory these are the two games that are supposed to carry the Xbox unification flag but they both fall short one way or another.

Until MS can actually deliver on their promises then Sony is in the clear.

[TKCMuzzer]

Sony will always be in clear because they have a broader games catalogue and a straight direction, games. Simple as that.

[trooper_]

Another day, another clueless article.

[pyroxxx]

This is wrong on so many levels, I would not know where to start.
It is MS that is basically leaving gaming,.. I would not be surprised if the handful of studios and games they have (that are not even exclusive anymore) don't end up on PlayStation and Nintendo's systems.

[iNathan]

Xbox Fanboys are trying real hard those days.

[gazgriff2k12]

WISHFULL THINKING MUCH! OR MUCH TOO MUCH!!!!

[lastking95]

Psnow makes me nervous for sony. Seem like they are preparing

[joeorc]

@lastking952h ago
[Psnow makes me nervous for sony. Seem like they are preparing]

Why would you think that?
Sony with PlayStation Now allows the PC to be turned into a PlayStation Node..PlayStation Now is not replacing the LivingRoom PlayStation systems! I mean why would Sony do such? It makes no sense, since its just another PlayStation..you may say no R& D expenses, or no need to make a living room PlayStation..but again that does not make sense, since you make software for the hardware..the PC is not going to be the #1 box sitting under the TV in the living Room because many who want a PC in their Living room already have Laptops for such or a surface pro or some Tablet or smart phone that's ready easy at hands reach.

With Smartphone and streaming Box's , which majority run Android OS or some Fork of it, Sony is already invested into such with PlayStation Now, PlayStation Vue so thus if you wanting to have a game system for under the TV. That means as of right now your argument as well as thus writer is Sony to exit making Playstation's for the Living Room..and again with Sony's market penetration world wide why would Sony stop making a Living Room PlayStation?

There is no reasonable reason for Sony to stop making them.

[Silly gameAr]

Sony was planning on PSnow being on PC from yhe beginning. This isn't some last minute decision.

[Red_Renegade]

like putting all their current exclusives on pc?

[lastking95]

Nah, thats just supporting their os platform the equivalent or putting a game on 360 and XO rather than a service. You hear rumors of xbox becoming a service but ps already has one it just seem like they are preparing to stop making consoles especially after the fact they declined ea access. Why would they decline it? I can only think of 1 reason..... and you can get it without a ps or even a pc!

[joeorc]

@lastking9517h ago(Edited 17h ago)
[Nah, thats just supporting their os platform the equivalent or putting a game on 360 and XO rather than a service. You hear rumors of xbox becoming a service but ps already has one it just seem like they are preparing to stop making consoles especially after the fact they declined ea access. Why would they decline it? I can only think of 1 reason..... and you can get it without a ps or even a pc!]

Again, you still need some device with a screen to play even a streaming game, thus PlayStation is such a device be that a smartphone, Smart TV, and yes a game console under a TV, a streaming Box.

Sony has sold over 43+ million units World Wide in under 3 years, and you think Sony is going to stop making Playstation's? And what let Microsoft take over the Living room with a physical box under the TV bit not a PlayStation?

Come on use some.common freaking sense.

[ChronoJoe]

I don't think Sony are betting their future on unproven markets at all. If anything the lack of triple A PSVR titles come from Sony's own studios demonstrates that they're very aware of the risks associated with VR game development. I think PS VR looks promising but there's every possibility it may not be a success.

At the same time they also launching the slim as a lower budget entry point to the Playstation gaming ecosystem, and the PS4 Pro for those that want to experience 4k gaming and other benefits. If anything their marketing strategy this year demonstrates that they're spreading their risk across multiple entry points to their ecosystem.

[joeorc]

From the Article:

[That, combined with the continued popularity of the smartphone, has Sony facing pressures like never before. Virtual reality is a big, risky bet, but it's also the best chance Sony has to keep growing as its prospects of becoming a real platform company shrink.]

So again it's this Analysis is coming down to the entire post by of which due to Microsoft & the Mobile Market from Smartphones will force Sony to no longer be a platform Creator in the games console market..👼

Can the writer just step back for a mere few moments and think about what this Analysis is claiming just for common sense points ..

For one on a world wide scale, PlayStation is and has penetration in the games console market much larger than Microsoft ever has..than Adding in Nintendo and Microsoft's market penetration is pretty Low on a world wide scale. Add in the fact that both Nintendo & Sony are both supporting iOS & AndroidOS now , also allows for both companies to move right along with the mobile smartphone market, as matter of fact Sony is even one of the 👉 open handset Alliance founders👈

Which means Android OS , and its forks are all able to run APK's package Application & More importantly Game's! Which is exactly why Sony created it's 1st Part Studio Subsidiary for 3 million early this year to make use of not just iOS & Android OS prolific expansion into games & Application as a mobile OS duopoly.. But Sony is making sure that not just Smartphones , but Smart TV's and Streaming box's can get PlayStation Now, remote play and PlayStation social network functionality to be turned into a 👉Playstation Node Device👈

That by no means will this be Sony wanting to replace the very core living Room under the TV PlayStation Game console systems they release on a world wide market..in under 3 years Sony has already sold through 43+ Million PlayStation 4' already and the production of over 1 million+ systems a month for production has not been lowered..that's for going on now almost 3 straight years!

And yet this Analysis by the writer is claiming that Sony is heading to become a no platform presence in the market?

🎅 Santa Claus can sometimes grant a Christmas wish, but this one is even out of Santa's hands.
😏

[Fist4achin]

This is somewhat interesting bc maybe MS is banking on an all digital future and to pretty much do away with a console altogether. I still prefer a console dedicated to gaming. Anything else is like whip cream and a cherry on top, meaning I could do without it if it weren't there...

[Edito]

Microsoft can unify all they want in the end what we want are good games and if Sony keep delivering good dames there is no chance for MS or anyone else, the gaming business it's not just about power war in the end we want games games and games...

[Taero]

So...PSVR isn't diversifying into a new type of gaming?

[DivineAssault]

Its no threat to me.. I dont care what xb does.. I'll buy a console if the exclusives are good period..

[cyber_daemonx]

This article is complete b0ll0cks.

[mastershredder]

Dangerous game... heh.....Stop watching so much television. I bet your are a sucker for reality tv and youtube drama videos.

[Petebloodyonion]

It's quite a interesting read and help see what companies are trying to achieve.
It's just to bad that most of the peoples here are jumping in the comment sections without actually read the article.

[Markusb33]

yeah what a shame playstation is closing down next week, since it has no good studios, and no one is buying their console. Really ? when does n4g become news for gamers ?? should just be called news that any moron writes that may be related to games, ntamwtmbrtg.com ? i am no marketing expert but the url is not as catchy

[Father__Merrin]

drivel at best, they have started the doom again how sad

[Drakul]

Sony is playing spoiled child.....no good at all.

[fllysurfer]

Sony competes on games quality before console specs (I´m not saying spec aren’t relevant though) but console success has historically be based on public perception. E3 2013 was a bust for for Microsoft they started getting bad rep about the DRM story in games and then it all went down hill from there particularly with the 900p vs 1080p games debacle.

The Pro vs Scorpio will be hugely apart in terms of spec but they aren´t coming to market at the same time. Scorpio comes a year later and by that time a decent amount of PS4s (slim or Pro) will have been sold. So Scorpio will probably force Sony hand to update sooner, in less time than the 3 year cycle expected… time will tell but I expect this to be the most probable scenario.

[Zorkaz]

You see this is what I've been saying for months and months and months! Not only is it risky for Sony, but it's bad for everybody else too. Especially the exclusive game. If Microsoft fights back on that front they have a lot more stability, and EA under their belt ...

[joab777]

I swear there is some agreement between them that if one gets too far ahead, they are obliged to start making stupid mistakes to let the other catch up. I'm convinced.

[vegasgamerdawg]

WOW! Did anyone in the comment section actually read the article? None of you are even talking about it, you're just making up fanBOY rhetoric......WTF?