[Kolzig]

The company that created the transistor radio and the Walkman is at the precipice. If Sony's new $600 console doesn't blow gamers away, it may be time to say sayonara.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.09/sony.html

[Solid Snake]

The real question is :Will the Ps3 bankrupt Sony?

[bigjko]

If the PS3 ends up being a huge flop, then I hope it just makes them wiser. Sort of like when Nintendo made all the biggest mistakes possible.

[undeaf]

What, sony needs saving? Maybe the PS3 will save nintendo.

[Junkface]

What, Nintendo needs saving? I was under the impression that they're still doing very well in spite of their comparitively low Western home console marketshare, what with their hand-held stuff and minimisation of risk on their hardware sales.

[undeaf]

Well, at least in terms of their size and reputation, though I guess you'll likely be able to say the same thing about sony's reputation after all the shit they're pulling.

Sony at least is in all sorts of markets, from crappy headphones, to obnoxiously loud rebranded lite-on optical drives, to DRM and poor interface encumbered portable audio players, to propaganda, to rootkits.

[insane_cobra]

Originally Posted by undeaf

Sony at least is in all sorts of markets, from crappy headphones, to obnoxiously loud rebranded lite-on optical drives, to DRM and poor interface encumbered portable audio players, to propaganda, to rootkits.

Don't forget makeup, finance and fancy restaurants.

[SakSquash]

I'm slighty a Microsoft guy, but I don't want to Nintendo or Sony go out of business, because at the end of the day, I love games, and the more that come out, the better.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

PS3 Preparations in Disarray? | Spong.com, 30 Aug 2006

Sony behind schedule say hardware and software people.

Last week we reported that opaque Sony plans are making Japanese brokers nervous. There are more rumours this morning suggesting that PS3 production is going less than smoothly. Sony has set itself the target of rolling out four million PS3s this year, planning to make two million a month in November and December. Kaz Hirai recently asserted that Sony was still on course to meet the targets.

Production of the home supercomputer has yet to begin however, and those at the ready with soldering irons and screwdrivers in China and Japan are murmuring about shortages of laser diodes for the Blu-Ray drives. The vaunted Cell processors are also in short supply, it seems. It is said that these logistical problems have the potential to halve production.

Using such 'fresh-out-the-box' technology was always going to cause problems, but it's not only the hardware people suggesting Sony have been rushing things a bit. Frustrated sources in third-party development are grumbling too. While they have dev kits for the PS3, the operating system for the machine has yet to be finalised; something of a stumbling block when trying to build front end and menu systems for games. Technical requirements guidelines, which run to pages and pages for PS2 and both Xboxes, are non-existent. Tools, or any guidance at all, for programming online protocol and the recently added controller motion sensors have yet to be supplied too.

Sony will still have to push very hard to meet their hardware deadlines. But the mad rush is leaving big question marks over the functionality and quality of release titles too. Will it be alright on the night? Or is Sony going to reap a whirlwind?

'Kamikazi' is that word that keeps popping up in my head.

[Solid Snake]

Isn't the word "Kamikaze"?

[Tanukitsune]

I shouldn't say this, but there is a tiny voice inside me that is saying that this is contrived way to get us to buy a PS3 out of pity...

And since I've seen people who are now saying "GASP! Sony will go bankrupt if I don't buy a PS3? I didn't want one before, but I do now!" the voice is growing louder and louder....

Read all what I say before getting mad at me, but Sony SHOULD lose... BIG TIME!

From one point of view, Sony should lose becuase it would possibly end the era or shiny buy shallow game and game with innovative and/or fun once again...

Before you say "You're just a Nintendo fan who hates Sony", listen to this...

Sony NEEDS to eat humble pie, they are twice as cocky as Nintendo was before they lost first place! They have to learn that they can't get away with anything they want. They have to learn that power isn't everything...

My hopes is that Sony with lose badly, survive and hopefully learn from their mistakes like Nintendo did and become a better company...

So... Sony has to lose and eat humble pie, learn from their mistakes and become a better company...

You can start throwing rotten tomatoes at me now...

[insane_cobra]

I don't care whether Sony wins or not, but I don't want to support the notion that it's all right to charge $600 for a console. Otherwise expensive "supercomputer" all-in-one entertainment systems chock full of technology nobody asked for might become the norm.

I have nothing against the $500 model, but it just doesn't feel right to get a stripped-down device for that kind of money. Somebody said that they shouldn't have introduced the $600 model at all and I completely agree. It just makes the cheaper model look bad.

[undeaf]

Originally Posted by insane_cobra

Somebody said that they shouldn't have introduced the $600 model at all and I completely agree.

No, no, no, if they did that, then how would they drag in blue ray with the PS3? Sony might be willing to shoot themselves in the foot, but that would be doing so with a BFG. Like I said before, blue ray is the whole reason the PS3 will be so expensive in the first place, the drive will be expensive, and if they're going to be bumping the cost up so much with 25-50 gig disks, it only makes sense to alse make other components equally high end.

[Solid Snake]

Blu-Ray is one reason why Ps3 is so expensive, the other main reason is the Cell processor.

[bysmitty]

Another, bigger reason is very low yields they are getting manufacturing the extremely complex cell processor.

...bysmitty

[undeaf]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

Blu-Ray is one reason why Ps3 is so expensive, the other main reason is the Cell processor.

That's exactly what I'm saying, if they weren't going to be putting in a blue ray drive, they'd have more flexibility with regards to things like processors. They might be able to settle on a cell with less functioning cores.

[insane_cobra]

I don't get your point, do you think a processor less powerful than PS3's Cell wouldn't be able to handle Blu-ray reproduction?

Anyway, both Cell and Blu-ray are also in the cheaper model and HDMI support won't be necessary for at least several years. By the time they enable that crappy protection, PS4 will be on the shelves.

[undeaf]

No, I didn't say that at all. I said that they need components that would match an expensive high capacity optical drive. There wouldn't be much point to a 25-50 gig drive if the other components bottleneck it.

[insane_cobra]

That still doesn't explain why you think giving up on the $600 model would be a mistake.

[undeaf]

Oh, you're completely trusting of the film industry to not use the downsampling flag. They're using the PS3 to drag in blue ray, so they better make it a decent blue ray player. Of course, there are also other reasons why people would want an hdmi connection.