Where Will Sony Fail Next?

Seeking Alpha: "With its once-revered electronics business flagging, Sony Corp. (SNE) is placing a huge bet this year that 3-D technology will vault the company back into a leadership position in the living room. Will it be successful or will it be another lost opportunity from the former "Walkman King?"

Whether it was Apple (AAPL) with music players, Samsung (SSNLF.PK) with televisions or Amazon (AMZN) with e-readers, Sony has repeatedly been overtaken in businesses where it was once a leader."

[Genesis5]

Maybe it will be Bluray. Oh never mind that's already being adopted faster than DVD. Gee! These people can't even wait for Sony to actually launch their products now before they start the viral campaigns.

Life is to short to be full of so much hate. Specially when it's just a company the makes electronic products.What's wrong with these people?

[Noctis Aftermath]

..

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

[mastiffchild]

You have to shake your head and laugh at some of the hate these days.Amazingly people want to put their names to approving such badly researched(on purpose too) crap-damned by their own actions, sadly. Appears that we're not going to become a real community of gamers anytime soon.

[rekonizakilla]

news?

[lociefer]

lol sony/ps3 are doomed, again, and again, and again, how the hell did this get approved anways

[Sez]

" people can't even wait for Sony to actually launch their products now before they start the viral campaigns."- much like sonyfanboys in every natal article.

ontopic:

i don't see many people running out to rebuy HDTV that will support 3-D. hell many people still don't have HDTV let alone looking to upgrade. HDTV is just starting to take off. now they are expecting people to run out a shell out more money on new tech. i don't see it adopting fast anytime soon.

[Chubear]

Oh where are the "Bann this site!" "I knew it was hiphopgamer just from the title" comments. IGN post headline titles that don't even compare to the headlines of HHGS on this site but I never see the same sort of rhetoric I see with HHGS articles and they're supposed to be the "professionals.

Gee, why is that?

[TheDudeAbides]

to dissapoint

[rezenu]

...Gotta love the media. :)

It never ends with them.

[jammy_70]

what a jjookkeeee!!!!

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

With all these Sony doomed articles, you'd expect Sony to be bankrupt by now.

[gamesmaster]

if i had a penny for every, sony is doomed / natal is doomed article...

[Anon1974]

Only Vega75 above me looks to be the only one who actually read the article.

The headline confused me as this article has nothing to do with Sony's "failures". This article mentions a few points where Sony has struggled recently but certainly doesn't support the notion that Sony has "failed" at anything. The article itself was well written and factual but the headline seemed like it was made for another article entirely. Here's their points. Sony lost their dominance in portable music to Apple. That's true. Sony lost their TV dominance to Samsung and LG and sales of their HDTV's have lagged for the last 5 years. Also true. Sony's e-readers have been replaced by Amazon. I don't know how big of an impact that has, but whatever.

And now Sony has a lot riding on 3D, and this article is right...it's risky as hell. The transition to HDTV's has been slow and it's not like people are going to rush out overnight and replace their 1 or 2 year old HDTV sets with new 3D sets.

Sony stock price and overall revenue has been hammered by the appreciation of the Yen versus western currencies like all other Japanese electronics makers and the article is again correct in pointing out that the P/E ratio for Sony's stock is currently sitting at historic lows. It's telling that with the title "Where Will Sony Fail Next?" that they disclose that they hold long positions of Sony's stock in their portfolios. The future can't be that bleak for Sony if they're risking their clients funds on them.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

People who have not yet bought an HDTV may, when they make that plunge, invest a little extra in a 3D TV instead. It's not like you have to buy a regular HDTV before you buy a 3D TV. I myself plan on replacing my SDTV with an HDTV, but now i might replace that one with my non-3D-ready HDTV and put a 3D TV into my home theater system.

[Sez]

i'm in no way saying that sony will fail in supporting 3-D tv's. we all know tech evoles every year.but people paychecks and understanding of new tech doesn't. many of the new adopter to 3D tv's will be tech heads or hardcore gamers. most people won't be able to aford 3d tv's being as they will be more money than what HDTV are now. and some people are just making the switch to HDTV from SDTV. i think 3D tv's has a future. just not this soon. especially when HDTV's are just taking off.

@above

yes late adopters will help 3D tv. but they also could hurt it to. when people buy tv's they factor in price. many won't care or worry about if the tv they buy has 3D. they will go with what they can aford. and if giving a choice between a HDtv or a D HDTV that cost more. they will go with what they can aford.

i for one hope it does take off. and i also hope they have TV channels that will support it in the future.

[mint royale]

@darkride

Your well written analysis doesn't really belong here at N4G. Do you really think all the fanboys above read the article? The gamerzone/openzone thing was a nice idea but it just doesn't work when most openzoners are in this section.

As for the 3D tv's, I think although a risky thing to push at the moment, but if Sony can get their foot in the door before their competitors it could be a very good move for them. Over the next 10 years they should become standard so the potential market growth is huge.

[beardpapa]

Well even though the article has a lot of good points and true for that matter, you have to think about it as a whole. Sony, though having been the king in the portable audio department long ago, was a great pioneer of portable CD music. When the digital age came where minature harddrives were affordable, Apple took the risk and brought forth digital music. They took even greater risk having the iTunes store to ensure people would be inclined to purchase digital. At the time, Sony nor any other companies out there thought it'd be a profitable venture, especially when in 99, a 64mb Rio music player was sitting at a hefty $300 where a cd walkman can be had for much less - also take in mind 64 mb wasn't much, and $300 back in 99 was a lot. However, Apple took the opportunity, held onto it, and the Pepsi deals / promos later on brought it to what it is today. Eventually, Sony did come out with mp3 players and some sort of digital download store, but alas a little too late and poor integration made it a chore to use.

LG and Samsung can be said the same. They came out with their successful and inexpensive television sets while the Sony sets were still priced competitively with other comparative sets. However, given the time back in the day, the LGs and Samsungs were just much more appealing with their price point, hence they are now a house hold name. It's not to say that Sony really "failed" as a house hold tv brand name, but we can say that two additional companies have came into our homes and Sony's image is of the high-end even though it may not for the majority of its models.

And as for the e-reader, it is a similar situation to the iPod. Amazon had its own infrastructure for supporting digital books. Sony didn't. With that in mind, you also have to know that the Kindle always had wireless as a very positive feature - something the Sony readers don't have. Add to the expensive cost for the Sony reader, the Amazon kindle just looked much more appealing given the amount of features you get off of it and the added bonus of anywhere wireless connection to your favorite books.

I suppose you can say that a lot Sony has a lot of everything, but their biggest focus is their television line, given the fact that you see much more advertisement of Sony pictures and Sony television/bluray than you do any of their other products. Marketing [their other electronics] is something Sony doesn't put much thought/effort/money into.

So you can say that they have "failed" in a sense, but they really haven't when taking into consideration, a lot of their products are still sitting around in the market today. A failure is when you don't even see the product on shelves anymore.

[specialguest]

Sony has taken many risk and met success, as well as failure. Through these risk taking actions, new technologies and trends were pushed to the forefront, and inspired healthy competition in its industry.

[Lifendz]

PS1? PS2? PS3? If you say the either of the former you're out of your mind and if you say the latter you must be so myopic that you don't realize the U.S. doesn't equal world wide sales. World wide the PS3 is second only to the Wii and even if not ahead of the 360 despite having such a higher price point for so long. In the U.S. Sony is competitive but MS has claimed the U.S. as it's own...for now.

But seriously, failure? I was watching some AVGN videos about the 32x and Sega cd earlier today. Those were failures. Sony's console is far from it. I rarely report articles but this one is flat out why some people can't stand N4G.

[eagle21]

Sony has the balls to do what other companies just "wait and see" (cough*microsoft-balls*cough).

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

If they can get 32-42 3D TVs under $800 like HD TVs are now then Sony would kill. Now back to reality, 3D TVs wont be affordable for another 5 years when all media formats will be all digital. In three years it will be a smart move for Sony but right now it's pure fail.

[iiprotocolii]

What people who write these kinds of articles fail to realize is that Sony is one of the lead pushers of new technologies. They were the first to implement DVD playback and technology into consoles (PS2), to which others regurgitated; and, now, they have added Blu-ray to the PS3, which has trumped HD DVD and leads the market in high-def mediums.

Do Sony's decisions to try new things out always pan out for them? Absolutely not. But what we do have to respect them for is that they aren't afraid to push boundaries and try new things. This is where almost everyone in the console business fail - they are ok with playing in the safe zone.

Given, the company, as the article states, has been losing quite a bit of ground in other areas of tech to other companies. The 3D thing IS a bit risky, but that's what Sony's known for - taking risks. It's what makes them a competitive company, and it's what makes them one of the more respected ones. Pretty good read, by the way.

[table]

lol, look who submitted the article - soda popinsky. I guess we know what he types into google on a daily basis.

[HighDefinition]

My guess would be.....pleasing the people who hate them. :)

[itisa]

And report Soda Popinsky as well because of this lame article.

[gamingisnotacrime]

PSP
Blu Ray
PS3:HDMI for games, Cell Processor

According to Reality

PSP has sold over 50 million units
Blu Ray is being adopted at a faster rate than DVD
PS3 is on its way to tremendous success in its first 5 years, the other 5 years (10 year cycle) should also be sweet

[blackpanther25]

the article does make sense about the things Sony did in the past. If the company had worked together as a whole they wouldn't have lost in a lot of those fields.

I'm not sure about this but i heard 3D enable TVs were only gonna be like 200-500 more but i could be wrong

[DatNJDom81]

........... Then I saw who contributed the article............ sigh turned to LOL...........

[darthv72]

however, they do have interest. They can make this work like they made bluray. People forget that in order for something to succeed it has to have support. Who better to support this than sony. They have content from their movie studios they own not to mention other studios they are friends with.

They have tv's to support this because they mfg tv's and have friends who do as well (panasonic, rca, etc).

They have the players and platform to support it (bluray, ps3).

The only way for it to fail is if they falter in their support.

This is how bluray won the hd war as well. Same trifecta. Content, platform, delivery.

[boodybandit]

^quoted for accuracy!

[vhero]

I thought I wonder what 360 fanboy posted this article at N4g and then looked. Yep I was right it was a 360 fanboy and one of the big ones too.

[thesummerofgeorge]

Although they get ragged on for it every step of the way, I'm glad Sony takes this risks and forces the rest of the industry to progress, otherwise we'd all still be playing games on DVDs, we wouldn't have games like U2. They are leaders in an industry full of followers, I'm no fan of companies that play it safe, follow trends, and react rather than act. Whether the 3D thing works or not, (and I believe it will, as we all like our toys, and it looks cool as hell) at least they're pushing forward and taking strides towards the next big thing, so it can either fail and on to the next, or it can thrive and we all reap the benefits, and then on to the next. Like it or not it's progress, we should all be thankful that progress hasn't been stunted by complacency.

[TheDeadMetalhead]

@Darkride and Mint Royale - Did you actually expect anyone to want to give the site hits with a title like that? It basically screams "Crying 360 fanboy" (even if the article itself doesn't). Seriously, that title is HHG-bad. :/

[Saaking]

The Ps3 is selllig more AND faster than the 360. It also has the most exclusives, multiplats are looking identical now as well. i wonder what these fools think about the 360. If the PS3 is doomed then the 360 is already buried.

[SilentNegotiator]

The PSTREE IS TEH DOOMED articles are back!

[SilentNegotiator]

This guy takes logic from humorous movies too seriously.

[zoks310]

The worse that will happen is 3DTV will slow HDTV sales as late HDTV adapters wait for 3DTV to be released.
3D TV is the next step for home entertainment, once it hits the market it will make stand alone HDTV obsolete and companies will only support and develope 3D/HD TV hybrids. So you pretty much don't have a choice here, 3D is the future by default.

Sony is making the right choice getting 3D out first which means they have learned from their mistakes when the digital era started and they entered too late. With partners like Disney, ESPN, IMAX, Discovery, and many more high profile companies 3D will be a sure success.

The success of 3D in the theaters have proved that people want 3D and Sony is going to give it to them.

[Bigpappy]

Most people have not even moved to 1080P yet, let alone LED. 3DTV will have to work without glasses; be cheaper than plain OLED TVs, which aren't even selling yet; and be supported the gamer (The early adopter of new tech). If they release 3DTV at a high price point, I could see it taking 3 year to start to be even considered by the general public. The average person would be scared of the tech for general use. They would think it is going to screw up their eye or something. Most people are actually scared of tech.

[Marty8370]

Sony always takes calculated risks with innovating new tech, that how to stay ahead in the field.

Walkmans, Cd media, Trinatron TV, PlayStation(entry into console market) OLED panels, PS2(using DVD media in a console),Cell processor, Blu-ray media, PS3(using Blu-ray media in a console),all were risks that did / or are going to pay off in the long term.

Jump Out, Play B3yond

[Droid Smasha]

wait whut?

[chrisulloa]

Sony had the portable music industry, but it lost to Apple. It had the gaming industry, but it lost to Microsoft and Nintendo. It had the e-reader industry and it lost to Amazon. It had the TV industry, but again it lost to Samsung. The only thing it has right now is blu-ray, and who knows how long that'll last. Sony is desperately gambling to keep up.

[Bill Gates]

Go SONY go!!

[karan8624]

Thats because Sony isnt a follower. Sony innovates. Sony MADE those products, and made them popular, and made them work

Then other companies copy so they take over those spots. Then sony innovates and takes it all back, better than before. Thats the cycle

Sony TOOK the industry from Nintendo before, BTW
Sony WILL have the 3D TV market locked down for the first few years
E-reader never caught on anywhere
Portable music was first done properly by sony. I like apple too, so good for them for innovating. They did what sony does

And blu-ray? Thats sony's, gonna stay sony's, because nobody else took the risk, Sony did, and this time around Sony took the market share first

[RedDragan]

Sony developed the AAC music format that Apple iPod uses.

Seriously, this article has been reported as flamebait!

[Marty8370]

AAC was developed with the cooperation and contributions of companies including Fraunhofer IIS, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Dolby, Sony Corporation and Nokia.

Sony played a part in the creating ACC, but was not soley responsible for the tech.

[Nuckles]

Flame On!!!!!!!!!! LOL

[mrv321]

Blu-ray, HDMi, Portable, PS3, HDTV... all went well with Sony.

Even Betamax Sony's 'failure' was actually a surprising success since it was still widely use by media for years.

[mcnablejr]

lol!?

[sikbeta]

lol @ you, poor soul

Betamax was [/still] supported by the Professional Broadcast Video Industry globally

[mcnablejr]

why the HELL would you care about that? it has nothing to do with you and never will do.

[n4gn4gn4gn4g]

SONY e-readers outsell the KINDLE world wide.

and yet...SONY MP3 players outsell the iPod in Japan and Asia

and yet...SONY has established the next gen of optical media

and yet...SONY has the 2nd fastest selling current gen console in the world

and yet...

Seeking alpha needs to get its head out of its Americentric arse...you DO know that America doesn't run the show anymore right?

[mcnablejr]

SONY e-readers outsell the KINDLE world wide. (with little competition).

and yet...SONY MP3 players outsell the iPod (only) in Japan and Asia

and yet...SONY has established the next gen of optical media only to be beaten in the market by simmilar tech.

and yet...SONY has the 2nd fastest selling current gen console in the world (and has still not sold as many units as the xbox 360. or nintendo wii.

[hay]

Wow mcnablejr, you're a saaaaad panda.

[mcnablejr]

you aren't denying it , i must be right =D

[bjornbear]

so...he's right too eh

[mcnablejr]

leave that bit out, as im not on this site much im not too sure what he is referring to when he says '' panda'' or is he just calling me a panda? if so i think you will find im more of a chilled, content kind of panda.

[n4gn4gn4gn4g]

...with little competition...

See...that is the WHOLE point...SONY often pushes the tech envelope in many directions...sometimes they win and sometimes they lose.

That is a company I can get behind. (thus my avatar)

[superrey19]

Everyone thinks that people are goin to be pissed that new 3d hdtvs will be out...as if households only have ONE tv at home. I only have one hdtv and 2 sdtvs so i wont be pissed at all when i have to replace them with 3d hdtv sets.

[divideby0]

guess the author is just to stupid to understand..innovation and risk taking will bring about successes and failures.
Sony just knows how to make stellar electronics (XBR TVs are some of the best looking sets) and didnt they just show how BlueRay is the new DVD standard, oh and for the clueless author..didnt they bring True or Full HD and now they are bringing home to the PS3 at no charge 3d.

Guess the author prefers MS which cant design a console (on my 3rd 360), backs a losing HD DVD standard, just to try and derail the BR DVD standard, many of us knew was gonna be the one with staying power
and how about the long life span of the PS2 and the PS3 (psst...MS is already talking about relaunching the 360 with the now gimped Natal)

Sure Sony never competed with the ipod...but do I have to remind him about Zune...

Goota luv the Sony hate..it just makes it to easy to show these authors how good Sony is compared to many other companies

[iambenk]

The article is definitely overly dramatic.

It's strange that everyone is so concerned with the first 3 years of PS3 considering the life of the PS2 - (where the Xbox dropped out shortly after the 360 came along). Sony has plenty of time to make the PS3 profitable.

[thief]

Sony is a failure, and the PS3 is proof of that.
-The cell processor is useless for gaming, and developers will never make any games for the PS3 because it is too hard to program.
- The PoS3 has no games.
- The split RAM / weaker video card means that PS3 games will never look as good as 360 big-hitters such as Halo 3.
- The blu-ray is a waste, even the biggest titles such as FF or MGS will never use more than a DVD capacity and PS3 games will also load slow as a result of BR, in contrast to the lightning-fast loading of 360 games like Mass Effect
- BR is inferior to HD, which is likely to win the HD race
- Killzone 2 will never look half as good as that trailer, which was a lie. Of course, Sony just keeps lying, in stark contrast to how transparent MS has been to defect rates

[iambenk]

Exactly.

[divideby0]

^..yea...its 2010 but the MS stench from me going through 3 launch 360s, which I never had any other console fail for me going back to SNES still lingers on for me...
now my 3rd 360, I fear to put Natal on since its gonna use my CPU..MS needs to guarantee me Natal wont toast my 360 before I even think about buying it..

[lh_swe]

1. Uncharted 2 is proof that the cell when used right can do some amazing things, I mean textures, draw distance, lighting, enemies on screen, objects on screen, physics calculations of building collapsing all look miles beyond any games preceding it with the exception of the lighting which could e argued is better in KZ2.

2. The PS3 is a new hardware design, thus people need to adapt, which takes time, which means that its easier now since they have had 3 years to learn the tech.

3. Split RAM, hmm I'm not a tech head but looking at the most visually impressive games the PS3 defiantly has the top 5.

4. Halo 3 ran at 640p and looks alright and to mention that as a graphically impressive representation of the 360 power shows how ignorant you are (Gears 2 would have been a better pick)

5. Has no games, well fist off that comes down to preference and I wonder why it is that I own both consoles and the highest rated exclusives for both yet in my top ten current Gen exclusives games only 2 360 exclusive made the list.

6. MGS4 did use the whole BR disc, FF is using uncompressed sound and video so they are technically using it too, and considering the newer BR discs are even bigger thusly mean more space which in turn means more contents, space etc in games. I mean why do you think CT has 1000 cars?

7. Killzone 2 did look better that the trailer, the only things that didn't look as good was the fire and smoke aside from that everything was improved.

8. lightning fast loading in Mass Effect? did you and I play the same game? Those elevator rides were excruciating so no.

9. Blu-Ray has been adopted faster than DVD and as far I know it's winning the race.

[JoySticksFTW]

I think he was just pointing out all of the cr@p PS3 fans had to endure during 2007

The FUD spread by both media and "gamers" was epic.

Almost funny until you think about all of the misinformed potential buyers too ready to believe it

[Mr 47]

"The PoS3 has no games."

Name more than three good exclusives 360 has released in the past 12 months. Yeah, exactly.

"The split RAM / weaker video card means that PS3 games will never look as good as 360 big-hitters such as Halo 3."

Made me lol all over myself. Have you seen Uncharted 2? Or even Killzone for that matter(yeah, it was just as good as the trailer, don't know where you heard it wasn't, but you were clearly misinformed.)

"BR is inferior to HD, which is likely to win the HD race "

HAHAHAHA!!! Dude, on which freakin planet do you live? HDDVD isn't even relevant anymore. Next time you see a commercial for a movie coming to video, listen closely so you can realize it only says, "coming soon to DVD and Blu-Ray disc(No HDDVD, HAHAHAHA)." Also, next time you go to rent a movie(assuming you do), head on down to the HDDVD section and... Oh, that's right, there isn't one!!! Nope, just a Blu-Ray section, LMFAO!!!

"Of course, Sony just keeps lying, in stark contrast to how transparent MS has been to defect rates."

Well, they couldn't really hide it. When your console breaks, im sure that is a topic in the next conversation you have with your friends. But when you began realizing all of your friends consoles were breaking, im sure someone would put together that there is something wrong with the systems.

[xztence]

he wasn't dissing the ps3... read between the lines.

He is just pointing out what the MEDIA (and xbox fanboys) said about the ps3 in 2007.

no need to correct him on every point for no reason.

[Optical_Matrix]

Good lord guys he was being sarcastic. He was pointing out all the crap that the media and gamers gave the PS3 in 2007/early 2008. The onslaught was incredible. I have literally never seen a game system be so harshly treated by the gaming media.
And guess what? All the FUD spread was wasted as the media and Xbots were all proven wrong. Now the PS3 is embarassing them and their claims and it seems to save themselves, they are going back to their old ways and ripping into Sony before they can get their take out into the open. It's so pathetic.

[Omega4]

Sony are rarely the best at what they do mainly because they do so much so being second/third best in lots of things is better than being first in just one thing.

[OmarJA-N4G]

I see you back where you belong, good. :)

[anti-gamer]

yea
just like blu-ray vs hd-dvd blu-ray was the 2nd & fild, or like last gen ps2 was big file & the xbox was the winner.

[Shane Kim]

And MS can't do a single thing right so what's your point?

[weazel]

Dude, I thought at least you had a bit of intelligence, wit, and humour.
With one post you've disproved all of my preconceptions.
Officially, you're as dumb as the rest of the FB herd.

[keysy420]

most consoles on the market selling the fasted hd console this gen, first 1080p system on the market first open source console. first lburay player, first console to have dvd in it. most studios fromany company. please tell me what sony has failed at because i dont get it. you want ot know who has failed MS came out a year early and cant keep the lead, system broke 56% of the time, terrible xbox 360 design, large non eco freidnly system with a huge power block. last gen disk tray. rocket ship in you living room (loud). lost hd-dvd format war. system doesnt come with wireless or rechargable batteries. the only thing MS has won at is convinceing american teens that thery are the next big thing. but thats not true because playstation is kicking there arse and next year it seems in december ps will be #2 i guess at that point. you wont see anymore articles sony sould quit or is sony done. truthfully if sony comes out first next gen and still have a blu ray ps3 on the market for 100to150 dollars this gen will look like it was never really competition and ms needs to comeout first for next gen. or its a wrap before it begins. oh yeah that may be one of the only things that mS has done right come out first. the didi also fund playstation development form rocstar when they purchased gta like idiots. here MS here is a suggestion stop trying to take sony games and get your own. games that traditionally are sony game wil always be so dont waste your money third parties looking for extra return on product will put the game on your system.MS is really confident in a loosing battle . ps3 sold 4million consoles in a month and 2010 is a bigger year. Oh yeah ps3 is sold out in my city

[mrv321]

'Sony are rarely the best at what they do mainly because they do so much so being second/third best in lots of things is better than being first in just one thing.'

I agree, Sony hasn't released the most powerful console(PS3), Sony hasn't introduced the next-gen format(blu-ray), Sony hasn't got the best laptops(Vaio), Sony hasn't got the largest uptake of MP3's in Japan and asia(Sony MP3's), Sony's TV's are still the best in terms of contrast and specs.

So give me and example... of the Sony can't be best because they are so big.

Oh and BTW YOUR 'because they are so varied' let's take and example shall we.

Apple, they are pretty big and varied, but what is the best MP3 player(generally)? which is the best softwere for movie editors? See what I'm getting at

Varity =/= sacrifice. In fact if you get your devisions talking to one another it can be great. I am pretty sure when making the PS3 Sony would talk to their computer deparment, their tv deparment, they disk department. And now look

They have the most powerful console, which uses the next-gen disk format, with 1.3 HDMi which supports 3D.

[K-man00]

Will get worse media campaign than BR. Stupid media never learn.

[mcnablejr]

FACTS. no denying that.

[Karooo]

can i borrow your timemachine you dumbass? enjoy your gimped natal.

[rezenu]

I guess faulty hardware is a fact too. It never ends with you fanboys.

[xcox]

sony is a big icon that attracts the repressed hatred of many losers with internet access in their mom basement

even with my trusty adblock+, i didn't give that site a hit cuz it felt like visiting a 40yo's bedroom with dirty underwear, buggers and 2 months old pubic hair all over his boring blog

thx but no thx soda :P

[AliTheBrit19]

^^ xcox

It's actually a stock market website

But hey, maybe you still have time for a stealth edit, yano, save yourself some embarrassment.

[xcox]

my bad, i was talking about soda :P

[iambenk]

It's a stretch for sure to be applying the fanboy war onto Sony's general operations. They've been making quality electronic hardware for close to fifty years.

Sure, in the current generation of consoles they were a bit slow out the gate but Sony isn't a company most people would associate with expectations of "fail."

As far as the topic at hand, I don't see 3D tech selling a lot of NEW televisions, maybe up-selling at retail. We're all riding the Avatar wave right now and certainly companies are looking to cash in on future market opportunities but to say that Sony, a company that has their fingers in numerous market spaces, has a lot to lose on 3D tech is a bit dramatic.

[kraze07]

The author of this article fails.

[monkey nuts]

Sony doesn't really fail, but foxgod always comes in second, max.

[Foxgod]

Sony doesnt really fail, but they do always come in second, max.

[cyborg6971]

Yea and the 360 will be in third this coming summer. And be forced to leave the gaming industry after only 2 gens.

[Sez]

Even if 360 comes in third by summer or even by the end of the year. The 360 is a success for MS being as they will sell close to or more than 50 million console by the end if the year. Which will double the sells of the xbox. No MS isn't going anywhere. Neither is any other company this gen. So you can expect new console from Sony,MS,Nintendo.

[bjornbear]

what? PS1 and PS2 were both top sellers of their generation...what's wrong with you?

however, MS's console's have never been 1st in anything...yano, like the uncool kid in the group no one notices?? ;P

[Vmura]

Well Sony will always fail at keeping happy Sh@#y websites like the one from this article, trolls, and fanboys.

[mcnablejr]

Microsoft does marketing.
sony fails @ that too
i would put money on natal becoming a greater success no matter how lame they may both be.

To me those wand things seem like a DIRECT copy of the wii. mabye im wrong.

[3sq]

No no, marketing or not, at the end of the day the consumer who bought the faulty hardware fails.

Oh and Natal is a DIRECT copy of Playstation Eyetoy.
Oh and NXE is a DIRECT copy of Mii
Oh and MS Game Room is a DIRECT copy of Playstation Home

[mcnablejr]

And which of these comparisons will be/ already haas been the succesful one? lol

[keysy420]

it will sell no doubt, but what many arent realizing is that mS needs to do more than just sell this thing they need to sell games that are specifically for the natal feature and that will be terribly hard to do when wii has the casual market and with natal using 33% of the xbox. it write casual all over it. but even if they use it as a add-on. it will be a fail becuase it wont manage to sell systems or games. what people dont get about sony motion controller is is that there is a market there for a hardcore wii. but that isn't sony's only advantage here, head tracking and 3d will all be added to that wand. as long as neither one of the companies make you get up to play games they will be fine though. hopefully

[yoghurt]

I'm not sure what's worse, the people that write these articles or the people on N4G who approve them.

I admire the media'a commitment to bashing Sony though, I mean it must be quite hard to keep launching article after article about the latest Sony product or idea failing - only to be proven wrong.

[reaperman]

OMG we are all doomed.... quick grab your lifevests and form an orderly queue. Women and children first, the Sony ship is sinking abandon ship, I repeat "Abandon Ship!!"
Seriously though what a load of old BS.
Sony have the guts to be innovative and other people are once again jealous because they didn't have the bottle to do what Sony is doing.
Oooohhhhh Sony are making a big mistake NOBODY wants to watch movies in 3D... strangely enough when I went to see Avatar at cinema in 3D there was not an empty seat to be seen.
I have 3 PS3's in the house and also a full 1080p Projector for watching movies on and even though the projector cost me quite a bit of money if to get the 3D experience at home I have to buy a new tv or a new projector then so be it. To be able to watch Avatar at home in glorious 3D like the cinema then I will invest in the technology as I will only have to invest once to get the things I need.
Sony will do well in 2010 and beyond regardless of people trying to say they will once again fail. I don't recall them failing yet!!

[morkendo]

fail???? haaaaaaaaaa, good one. NEXT article.

the article should read.....WHERE WILL MICROSOFT fail next NATAL ANYONE??

[bjornbear]

think about it, all 2007 articles about "PS3 will fail" and "Blu-ray will fail"...and look now!

PS3 is going very strong and the blu-ray buried HD-DVD, so...

this means 3D is going to be HUGE! =D

*looks at submitter*

oh...i get it...this is the blow back from yesterday's "natal slaughtering" that went on, i understand now =)

[LostDjinn]

Do you feel better now Soda? Not that there's anything wrong with posting "teh DOOOOOOMZ" pieces if they get you through the day. ;)

Lets be pragmatic about this.
Sony aren't the only ones that are ready to drop 3D tech on the market. 3D is where almost all TV manufactures are heading. Sure, Sony'll have to compete at retail. From a neutral third party point of view, that just means the adopted tech is spread by another company. It's still being adopted.

It seems the only ones praying the Z axis isn't added to home entertainment are: You, M$ and this poor site that needs help finding alpha. Thanks for the laugh though.

[DelbertGrady]

I never said I agree with the article. I don't. Not in any way. It's funny how people think you automatically agree with something just because you post it on the site. Bloodmask gets it all the time even though he posts all kinds of stories. Funny thing is we never see the same reacion when someone posts something that bashes MS. I wonder why? ;)

On topic. All the major television producers, like Samsung, Sony and Phillips are making 3D TVs. Of course it will be successful. I find the writers opinions to be extremely ignorant and only posted it to see the fanboy reaction, which was beyond my wildest expectations. Thx for the laugh(s). Now go ahead and disagree with me and feel free to take all my bubbles while you're at it. :)

[Simon_Brezhnev]

lol yeah u know soda feels a lot better now

[LostDjinn]

First of all, let me point out what a magnificent job you've done claiming to share my point of view. After the fact.

Secondly, "On topic. All the major television producers, like Samsung, Sony and Phillips are making 3D TVs. Of course it will be successful. I find the writers opinions to be extremely ignorant and only posted it to see the fanboy reaction, which was beyond my wildest expectations. Thx for the laugh(s). Now go ahead and disagree with me and feel free to take all my bubbles while you're at it. :)"
You just admitted posting an article purely to gauge the "fanboy reaction". I believe the word is flamebait and you just admitted to posting it. Don't the posting guidelines have something to say about this sort of thing?
Nice work Soda.
You just pwned yourself.

PS. You keep your bubbles. Something tells me you're going to need them.

[DelbertGrady]

It's not more flamebait than HHG's posts. At least you can understand what this guy says.

And wouldn't I "pwn" myself more if I denied that it was a poor article? Don't get your reasoning there. But if I did pwn myself, enjoy...I guess.

The mods wouldn't let it through if it broke against the guidelines. It is, however, against the guidelines to spam the report section and falsely report an article as a duplicate when it's not.

[LostDjinn]

if you're talking about this: http://www.n4g.com/tech/New... and this http://www.n4g.com/tech/New...
I was under the impression that if an article is written by a person (Mike Schuster in this case), it doesn't matter how many sites run the article. If it's the same article, it's a duplicate. Didn't you read the "stories" in question?

On topic: my point of view is unchanged.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

They will make their money off of sales of 3D Blu-Ray movies. Not only are they one of the owners of blu-ray technology, but Sony Pictures is a huge movie studio. They will also make money from sales of 3D cameras, as well. Avatar was filmed using Sony cameras, for example. In fact, the more 3D TV's that sell by ANY manufacturer is good for Sony, because if 3D becomes popular in homes, people will demand it in the theaters, where Sony can make money by selling 3D projectors. And if regular TV shows start being in 3D, there's thousands, probably tens of thousands, of more potential 3D camera sales for Sony. They don't have to be #1 in sales of TV's to be successful.

The world does not end outside your visible range. There is more to the world than what YOU see. There are entire businesses that are HUGE that you've never heard of because they work in markets you don't know.

[MaximusPrime]

few months ago Sky TV (UK satellite provider) announced Sky 3D and many distributors and channel providers are interested.

Looks like 3D viewing will have a bright future.

I cant see how Sony will fail.
IMO: sony came at the right time to announce 3D product. its a long time coming and it came right on time.

[Hyrius]

Where will seekingalpha.com fail next ?

[shikwan]

Sony was promoting DVDs & minidisc players (PS2s & ATRAC minidisc players) heavily & saying MP3s & online gaming was not the future.

Look@where DVDs went...and those minidisc players sold like hotcakes (j/k).

And we all know about online gaming! ROFL@PS2 fanboys who used to say they preferred to play single player games (cause xbox had way more online titles).

New decade 2010, they're promoting 3-D TV & BluRay. And are finally jumping on the online gaming market.

I can't imagine going to a sports bar or having company over and we all have to put on $100+ glasses & hopefully get a good seat to view the 3-D, just to watch a game!

I'd like to see where BluRay will be by the year 2019 as well!

[Qui-Gon Jim]

I do like to play online now and then, but i just prefer the more cohesive, narrative experience of a single player game. Not everybody who likes something different than you has to be a fanboy, you know.

[n4gn4gn4gn4g]

that minidisc was successful in Asia right?

And you're implying that DVD was a failure?

And yes...I actually DO prefer single player story driven games...its a generational thing...I don't suffer from ADD like the current gaming generation.

'Finally jumping on the online gaming...'...can I introduce you to SOE and Everquest? Lets see...that started when? Oh...1996.

Blu-ray will be gone for the most part in 10 years...just like VHS/CD/AudioTapes and the rest...technology moves forward...but if you don't have the tech in the first place you can't move to the next tech can you? You seem to think SONY has to invent/back a tech that will be here forever...the don't. I'm surmising you are a MS fan...so are you still using DOS? Bob? Playsforsure? WebTV?...are you still getting new games for your Xbox?...smarten up.

[mattygamefreak]

Sony, fail? Does not compute.

Are we talking about Sony, those people who made the Playstation 2 in late 2000 with DVD support? Everyone called them crazy and said such a system would never sell, that no one would adapt the DVD format. From what I heard that system sold over 138 million units since September 1st 2009 and still continues to sell to this very day.

Playstation 3, Blu-Ray. You do the math. Blu-Ray is already sky rocketing and to claim it is not needed is an ignorant statement.

Last time I checked Playstation 3 has 33 titles on Metacritic with a review score of 75 and higher. 360 on the other hand has 21 titles with a review score of 75 and higher. Four of those titles are available on PC and 3 of those are DLC. Isn't it about the games after all?

[gamer0123456]

ummmmm psp go was a failure big time especially in NA......3d is cool but most wont be able to use it. i still see people asking for RF/AV cables for there ps3 rofl..

[MaximusPrime]

too early to say PSPgo as a failure.

Its like saying Bluray is a failure after barely few months of released.

come back in a year and then give your opinion on PSPgo.

[gamer0123456]

psp go was a failure for sure

[MONOLITHICIDE]

how when it just contributed to the psp sales, its the same psp but digital download, so really its also sold 54 million as well, i forgot that means failure

[mattygamefreak]

People that say the PSP Go is a failure obviously haven't played one. The PSP Go is far more comfortable then the original PSP and the ability to download whatever game you want when you want is a feature I greatly prefer over having to run to the store to buy UMDs. Everyone said UMD was a failure, so Sony makes a PSP without it and everyone rejects it? Clearly people can't be pleased.

[keysy420]

me an dalmost all of my friend since this gen has started have bought atleast 2 tv's so i dont think there will be a problem selling these things becuase as soon as they are around 1500 to 2000 im getting one

[JeepGamer]

When it comes to Microsoft or Nintendo, the press always seems keen to scream their praises and announce how their ideas will revolutionize things.

When Sony tries something new or proposes something different all we seem to get is how it will be a huge failure. I seem to recall that being said about Blu Ray and the PS3.

I even recall how being hard to develop for was going to hurt the PS2.

Sony should hope for such "failures" apparently.

[Omega Zues]

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

[mattygamefreak]

Yeh, Damn Sony. They should stop being so innovative!

Be like Microsoft and use outdated PC hardware. Or be like Nintendo and use a broken gimmick for a controller that was developed as an accessory for the GameCube.

Damn Sony, stop being so awesome!

[tiamat5]

I am tired of these kind of articles. If he wasn't actually trying to cause conflict why did he use that title to head his article? These people come off as writers looking for attention. What is with the 'Sony will fail' articles? Sony has bedn a tech giant for decades and suddenly because of a few set backs they should throw in the towel? By that logic after Nintendo's last two crappy systems ,practically alienating third party developers and Microsoft releasing the piece of garbage Xbox, the failed format HD-DVD, several glitchy OS and software the almost equally glitchy Xbox 360 and the Zune that nobody wanted,they should have gone out of buisness a long time ago.

[TheMailman]

"Will it be successful or will it be another lost opportunity from the former "Walkman King?"

Man this must be the most retarded thing I read for a long time...

[Blitzkid]

I do not read these news, cause the title alone says everything about the author :/

[bullaaaa]

"Whether it was Apple (AAPL) with music players, Samsung (SSNLF.PK) with televisions or Amazon (AMZN) with e-readers, Sony has repeatedly been overtaken in businesses where it was once a leader."

Apple, Samsung and Amazon can only WISH they were in Sony's place. Sony does what all these companies do single-handedly, whereas those three companies focus on 1 or 2 of their products. Sony produces incredibly durable laptops (Sony VAIO), top of the line LCD TVs (Sony BRAVIA), Industry standard e-readers, as well as the definitive videogaming console of this generation (PS3). iPod? Been there, done that. Did the author forget about the immensely popular Sony Discman? What about Blu Ray technology?

The author of this article is suffering from amnesia. Whenever people hear of word Sony, they immediately think quality. Its been like that for the past decades and it will not change anytime in future.

[ReBurn]

Actually in the areas you mention Sony has fallen behind. Sony shot themselves in the foot with the whole proprietary AAC format for music when MP3 players were the big thing. Apple saw where Sony dropped the ball and offered a comprehensive online marketplace to buy music to support their proprietary format. Now, when people think of portable music players the first thing people think of is iPod. I don't see how you can argue with that.

For eBooks Amazon did something similar. Kindle is the household name for those into electronic books and they also have a comprehensive online marketplace integrated with their device that makes the purchase of new content extremely quick and easy.

Maybe you could argue in the television market, but Samsung was making a push into HDTV's in a big way while Sony was still pushing Wega. When I bought my first HDTV nearly 3 years ago Samsung is what I chose because they led in the features that sets were measured by, like contrast ratio and refresh rate.

So yeah, all of these companies did get the jump on Sony and now Sony has to fight their way back. You know why they got the jump on Sony? Because their focus was more narrow while Sony's focus was too broad. We'll have to see how Sony pulls it all back together. It should be interesting to watch.

[ReBurn]

Wow, this is going to ruffle a lot of feathers just from the article's headline. I can see where Sony has lost the edge in some areas where they used to dominate. But I have to admit that Sony is willing to try something that nobody has ever tried before with throwing down the 3D gambit.

I guess we'll have to see how all of this works out.

[JonnyBigBoss]

DVD9 faded out. RROD never went away. XBL still costs yearly fees. Games and sales for the 360 are slowly getting worse every year. This article has no base.

[ReBurn]

This article isn't about gaming. But in case you haven't noticed Sony isn't exactly leading that market at the moment, either. While the issues that you cite with Microsoft and the Xbox 360 have been valid, using such ad hominem attacks doesn't invalidate that Sony's electronics business has been struggling for the last few years.

[jimbone]

The only base you have is on Sony's D!%# and trying to bash MS. This article is not about MS at all, so what's your base? BTW the game sales thing you should probably leave out of a pro Sony rant.

[DigitalAnalog]

Wow, the media truly hates SONY.

-End statement

[evilmonkey501]

campaign is supported by far more than just sony. Tv stations, movie studios, professional sports are all starting to film EVERYTHING in 3d. If the content is there, people will want it and buy it. It may take 5 years before it becomes mainstream, but it WILL happen and you WILL love it.

[GeoramA]

This "article" fails as much as he does.

[minimartin91]

there giving you the option of letting you view games in 3d if you like.... LETS BURN THEM DOWN i hate these pointless articles of crappy opinions that come up every day im this close to leaving this website

[N4BmpS]

Yeah they are narrow minded.

[seifer085]

Soda Popsinky

Yeah.. Im gonna go ahead and ignore this.

[N4BmpS]

Puts you in the mind set that Sony will Fail, the title alone "Where will Sony Fail Next" is a little bit disrespectful to the brand and shows a bit of bias as well. It is true that Sony is no longer leading the entertainment pack, but they speak of the campany as if any venture they make is dead on sight at launch. I'm not a professional journalist but I probably could have wrote better than this. The title should have been "Can Sony Make a Comeback or Will They Fail?" but that's the title alone. I personally feel that Sony might have a shot.

[daflint]

Does anyone smell. I don´t got any sony stock and want to buy some please let them drop for a while so i can buy some!

[make believe]

...at making the "dumb consumer crowd" buying their pathetic lies?

In case you didnt notice, there is a full range marketing war going on.
And they are all after the our hard earned money. They lie, steal, deceive, and basically do anything to meet their ends. Ever since the big corporations entered this industry gaming is slowly dying. And this propagan...errr "news" page is another cog in their digusting machinery.

[mjolliffe]

To be honest, I doubt they will. I think if they drop the PSP, it'll be an advantage for them...

[ZombieAutopsy]

lol Sony always getting so much hate because they ruled the video game industry for 2 generations and are one of the leaders in electronics/movie/technology industries. I highly doubt Sony considers what they have/are going to do failures, hell the only reason they get so much hate is because they're not "#1" this gen for video game consoles.

[Pirateogta]

You've got to do something very wrong to go from 1st place by a mile to hopelessly dead last in just one generation.

[ZombieAutopsy]

lol i will actually kinda agree with you on that (even though ur fanboy glasses are on). Sony took a risk by adding in Blu-ray causing the price of the Ps3 to be much much higher than the competition. But theyre not hopelessly in last place...hell if you would actually not be a dooosh bag you would factor in the year head start of the Xbox360 and see that the ps3 has sold at a faster rate and a higher price.

It's all good though because i get to choose from a huge selection of Multi-platform and Exclusives on my Ps3 alone so it doesnt matter to me how many they have sold as long as they keep putting out games for it....you know something Ms doesn't really do.

[ForROME]

SONY will always have a better chance than people like MS for a few reasons

1 SONYs names Globally outshines MS and counter parts
2 When SONY laches on to a technology they are usually togehter with samsung, pannasonic etc

MS has lame ducks like the Blu Ray vs HD DVD fiasco that was a joke

[ATi_Elite]

This is a DUMD title aimed at one of the most successful companies in the world.

I don't ever remember SONY failing at anything. Just because a product doesn't sell in the U.S. doesn't mean it isn't doing very well in Europe or Japan. With Hollywood and global sports filming on Sony cameras things are looking good for Sony.

Except this 3D "niche" is mind boggling. i'm so tired of 3D. I have 20/20 vision and I'm not wearing glasses unless they are protective glasses.

Stop waisting time on 3D and get on with HOLOGRAPHIC gaming. That's innovation.

3D has been around since 1930's or before. This technology isn't new just being applied to more devices. STOP IT WITH 3D Already

WE WANT HOLOGRAPHIC GAMES.

[dagreylion]

Everyone is throwing hate at Sony, there are so many companies that have not faired well in the industry, but you hear no one speak of it. Microsoft is still trying to get windows right where is there failure article?

[Quadrix]

I think this is proof that user-approved articles = a retarded idea. Should be mod-approved.

[AnotherGamerUser]

Theres a reason why Natal rhymes with Fatal...

[Raoh]

i swear i'm surrounded by idiots.. its simillar to the ps3, blu ray, vhs, betamax, walkman etc..

read this
http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blo...

now read this info in the quotation marks

"But the new 3D TVs, like Sony’s just-announced Bravia that will be available in the summer, aren’t for you and me. They’re for the early adopters who will happily plunk down the obscene amount of money to beta test the technology for when the rest of us are ready. Content providers are just now announcing their plans to provide 3D content, and it will be slim pickings for quite some time. I remember getting an HDTV relatively early in the cycle and being amazed…at the assortment of PBS shows and un-narrated nature scenes. We’ve got some time to kill."

now read the blogger and other bloggers nonsense..

not all products are meant to be affordable from the start.. early adopters and enthusiast help to beta test and give feedback..

i dare anyone on this or any board to name me one product by sony that was affordable at launch?

they make high end gear not low end gear, their name is not microsoft or hp or sanyo or vizio.

like apple, sony is not known for cheap affordable equipment, they are known for high end quality equipment..

i remember friends buying recievers by sony, they would know the model they wanted that would be out soon, they would then wait for the next 2 generations of recievers to pass so the original receiver was affordable.

playstation 1 and 2 were the most expensive consoles.

walkmen were not that cheap.

everyone is talking about affordable, if you cant afford its not for you at least not yet, that means that its most likely not ready for mass production, its in the early phase and i'm happy to have other people test it for me so i know what to buy when it becomes available to me if i'm interested........

now on to a more important question, "

[HIGGI666]

man people should get there facts straight.(the negative ppl on this article are prolly takin it up the rear from bill gates anyway). Sony help create AAC and look at ipod, id say good job, sony brought in partners in the dev of blu-ray(wich apple was a part of) and look at what happened to hd-dvd, Sony did not loose the TV market to samsung, little know fact is that all the technology inside Samsung TV's are from sony its just tailor to samsung spec's so they can put their name on it. and Sony IS NOT the only one spear heading 3D, panasonic is it it with them. man people are stupid wake up and smell the real world, there is a world outside of bill gates's fantasy land you know.

[Shendow]

Wow, guess they haven't seen Avatar? Anyways, I see it doing better then what it has done in the pass and seeing how the glasses are not paper any more.

Even if it doesn't do to good for gaming, it will do good for the movies that use them and I got a HDTV but it doesn't do 1080p an it was free after my grandma pass away. So I been planing on getting a new HDTV that is LED an bigger then 50 inchs.

[Shendow]

It seems 360 people think outdated tech is the way of the future, its funny because the less I check PS2 ran DVD an all 360 has got is alittle upgrade from what PS2 has.

Plus it seems the people fail to understand how the PS3 works, the cell does more then notthing, it helps the games run and look better in its own way.

An 360 can't go to a 1TB hard drive or even a 500GB for under 100 bucks.

[JokesOnYou]

"How can they say its going to fail when its not even out yet"
-Looks over at Natal

"Another ps3 is doooomed article"
-Yeah because doing a well researched article full of valid points with well respected sources such as Google Finance, Ned Davis Research, and Wall Street Journal will always mean the author's whole point is baseless/flamebait because the only thing you read between the lines is "ps3 is doooomed". lol

"Well bluray is a success"
-Yeah somewhat, HD-DVD failed but bluray hasn't exactly taken over like expected with huge adoption rate over DVD, more like bluray is chugging along, surviving. And I don't neccessarily agree with the headline but it still would make sense even if they are saying sony has some success and some failures, (like all companies) so the question for their latest effort with 3D is which category do they see it fitting in.

"They didn't actually talk about any failures"
-Sure they did, Sony lost their dominance in portable music to Apple. Sony lost TV dominance to Samsung and LG. Their HDTV's sales dropped for the last 5 years. Sony's e-readers have been replaced by Amazon. I would like to add their lost dominance in the console arena to nintendo, and microsoft.= All those can easily be seen as failures to any un-biased bystander...but the truth is its foolish to hold any company to such a high standard of never losing market share in a competitive business environment, sony can and will be profitable eventually even if they don't lead or dominate any particular industry. Same goes for microsoft and nintendo.

JOY

[tiamat5]

Everyone always talks about Sony as if they are new to the buisness world or something. Can't you see that 3D has come full circle and is the new wave coming and Sony wants to be ready. Avatar has made made record sales and Disney is already on the 3D train.Just imagine comlng home and experiencing Toy Story and Avatar in the same 3D as the theaters.Not metion Final Destination and all other 3D movies.Disney alone is a gold mine. So stop the gloom and doom before you see the results,because remember everyone thought bluray would fail too and it is now at the top of the entertainment format.

[loki52]

I think most 120 hz tvs are already 3D ready. all you need is for each image to be at 60 hz and 1080p. Don't really think you need 1080 but whats the point of 3D if it looks bad. Anyway, Samsung started making all of their 1080p DLP tvs 3D ready 2-3 years ago. And I'm not sure where anyone gets the idea that being THE name in electronics for decades and posting billion dollar profits during a world recession is somehow a failure. get a clue people