Sony's back: shifting from "recovery to profitable growth" -- 380 new PS3 games
Certainly, much of the growth will stem from their lineup of Bravia flat panels, cameras, and new, hot-gastic Sony-Ericsson phones. While, Stringer owned-up to the fact that they ceded portable music dominance to Apple, he went on to say that "We have worked very hard to catch up so that in the age of video we will not suffer as much as we did in audio." Sony also announced an additional 380 PS3 games (compared to the 100 currently available) set to roll before the end of March, 2008: more than 200 packaged software titles and another 180 or so launching over the Internet. All considered, Sony President Ryoji Chubachi forcasts a $2.7 billion profit at the end of the current fiscal year. Good to hear. Sure, as disgruntled Walkman-era fan-bois we tend to bitch and moan the most about Sony's misfortunes. But make no mistake son, a strong Sony is good for all of consumer electronics. So good luck to ya Howie, we've got your back.
Read -- 380 new PS3 games
Read -- Shareholders meeting
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
McGinley @ Jun 21st 2007 5:39AM
Thats a very significant amount of games.How many does the xbox have does anyone know?
brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 21st 2007 2:29PM
It's certainly not 100+380. Sony was the main player in the time of PS1 and PS2, and they will be again in 2008. Things like Blockbuster going BDR only for its next gen format, and to a lesser extent Xtra-Vision over here in Ireland, those things will only speed up that process.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_games
Chris @ Jun 21st 2007 5:41PM
There's 301 on that list on Wikipedia.
iRobot @ Jun 21st 2007 10:32PM
@Brendan Sheehan Jnr
Talk is cheap. And wishful thinking doesn't cure cancer. Action is the only thing I believe in. So, let's see where Sony is in "March of 2008", before we start acting like gitty school girls.
In 2008, if Sony ACTUALLY accomplishes half of what he's smack-talk, and I see with my own eyes -- 200 (GOOD) games that I would want to buy, Then I' believe them. You and "Nine T9" can be the first ones in line with "I told you so", but until then, whatever.
Owen V @ Jun 21st 2007 5:46AM
note from consumers to sony: use standard formats (i.e. NOT memorystick (pro, duo), umd, ATRAC3, minidisc, whatever else [intentionally leaving out bd]) and we will buy more of your products. stop forcing me to own "everything sony" then maybe I'll buy something you make. Its not that I think the product quality is poor, I just think you are too arrogant using your own formats for everything you do. I'm almost surprised your TVs playback NTSC
nathan @ Jun 21st 2007 6:26AM
The biggest mistake sony made was the ps2 memory card if they had of used the memory stick there is a hundred million just for use with the ps2 and since everyone would have had a memory stickit would have become the standard flash memory for everything
karan @ Jun 21st 2007 9:15AM
What's a "standard format" for memory, pray tell? At last count there was over 55 different memory card standards and counting.
The minidisc format, similarly - while it is a sony-centric format, it was very successful in Asia, where it launched years before the West, which is testament to its capabilities (compact, recordable, easily swappable, around before the days of flash memory being properly cheap).
Give Sony some credit - their proprietary formats are no worse than any other, and often perform their role well enough. Where there isn't a standard format, Sony actually does alright. (Where there is an existing standard though, yes, it is questionable)
Jon Graft @ Jun 21st 2007 11:43AM
The Playstation2 is what jump started the DVD format...I know this isn't exactly the same, but still...for a while now, Sony has been pushing formats and making them the winner (DVD, Blu-Ray, etc)
dakuda @ Jun 21st 2007 8:14PM
The main reason I do not have a Sony camera is the memory stick. My last camera was a Memory Stick unit, but it would not take their larger-capacity cards. Since I already had SD cards for other devices, I went that route.
While many companies are at fault for their being so many different styles, Sony seems to the manufacturer that flaunts their own format so much more then anyone else endorses any other particular format.
Samo @ Jun 21st 2007 6:06AM
@Owen: i think you're slightly jaded regarding your comments on propietry formats, and although Sony do have them, not all are unjustified.
minidiscs were an open format if I recall correctly, as there were other companies that used them before they all died (in all but Japan, right?), and as for UMDs, well, when's the last time a gameboy cartridge could have been played by a non-gameboy product (both are handheld consoles).
As for flash sotrage, they have began to use CF cards as well, but since I have a SE phone, a PSP, and an old Vaio lappie, the MS sticks are fine, thanks.... now, if onyl i figure which MS type is the right one for the PSP I have....! LOL
Phil @ Jun 21st 2007 7:02AM
Sony made a huge investment in putting BluRay in the PS3, and that is clearly paying off in terms of making sure that format doesn't lose to HD-DVD the way BetaMax lost to VHS. Smart move. Plus Sony owns some popular content like the Spiderman franchise, so they can do BluRay exclusive to seal the deal.
The point about UMD is that it's not just proprietary - its horrible. Slow, noisy, and a moving parts power drain. Sony would have been much better off putting 2 memstick slots in the PSP and producing games/movies on read-only memsticks. It's also true that Sony could have made some good memstick money using that format for the PS3's removable storage.
The PS2 still rules as the number one selling console - even more sales than Wii, and Sony will find a pricing sweet spot for the PS3 that will allow it to take the PS2's place as the big leader with the Wii in second place and XBox+XBox360 in 3rd.
But in the digital home world - set top devices, flat screen TVs, digital cameras and camcorders, and personal computers and laptops - it remains to be seen if Sony will recover from much of its floundering. They are making some good moves in the camera and camcorder space, but who knows whether they will achieve enough success there. I can't even begin to describe how many f-ups they have made in the other areas, but they can still recover there too.
The thing I hate most about Sony is their insane dedication to copy protection. That is where they are losing the most consumer confidence. They can always pull back from that precipice immediately by doing what EMI is doing.
Godsmurf @ Jun 21st 2007 7:04AM
You own everything Sony and you don't mind paying double price for your flash memory, so for you the format doesn't matter. But for many consumers, it does, so it is hurting their sales. I won't even consider buying Sony as long as they try to shove their own non-standard formats down my throat. And that's a shame because they have some nice products.
cduran01 @ Jun 21st 2007 8:48AM
Well, Sony has been letting go of some of their proprietary formats. The PS3 for example not only accepts MS, but also CF, SD, MMC and of course you can use USB flash sticks.
As for Bluray...I hardly consider it Sony proprietary considering how many comapnies are backing it up and have a lot of money invested in.
Salem @ Jun 21st 2007 8:42AM
"I won't even consider buying Sony"
lol.. As if you could if you even wanted to.
(jk :P)
Mike @ Jun 21st 2007 8:18AM
FujiFilm invented and exclusively uses the xD memory card format and they are the most successful camera company in the world...
The formats have nothing to do with it, it's the strategy you use to implement them (ie. the products they are used in, if you rely on after-purchase memory sales to boost you into profit, etc.)
apex @ Jun 21st 2007 8:37AM
They are sooo popular that they added the SD format to their new cameras? If xD was sooo popular why did they add that?
tekdroid @ Jun 21st 2007 5:37PM
more accurate would be to say they developed xD with Olympus. Fujifilm is not the most successful camera company in the world by a long shot, btw. (at least not in terms of sales/ market penetration, if that's how you measure success).
That's not to say they don't make some fine cameras, of course.
Ayle @ Jun 21st 2007 8:40AM
The PS3 have 100 games??? Wow I didn't know that... I guess I'm knowledge on the ps3 is really weak.....
Ken @ Jun 21st 2007 9:01AM
Unfortunately, games like "Joust", "Mortal Kombat II", and "Rampage" (all downloadable from the PlayStation Store) count towards that 380.
In short, expect a deluge of craptastic games on the horizon.
Dan @ Jun 21st 2007 9:03AM
The 380 games that will be "available" I imagine is counting all the games released in Japan, Europe, and the USA. Plus half of that list are "virtual console" downloadable games, not something new. There is no way we are gonna see 380 individual games released here in the US, don't believe this crud.
Senshikaze @ Jun 21st 2007 9:08AM
Am I the only one who wonders if "Sir" Howard Stringer is really a knight?
JAmerican @ Jun 21st 2007 9:17AM
I like how the pic is from CNET but the story is from Yahoo.
jsn @ Jun 21st 2007 9:40AM
As many have said, that 380 games includes all regions, not just the US and 180 of them are soft releases (online only). Truth be told, outside of Japan the PS3 only has about 8-10 exclusive games coming out over the next year. Nearly everything will be available on both the 360 and the PS3.
brett @ Jun 21st 2007 9:51AM
thanks. by the time i had scrolled down through the first few comments, i had forgotten what the article was even about! Where would i be without your timely recapitulation? engadget should surely hire you for your journalistic expertise....
tekdroid @ Jun 21st 2007 10:03AM
But make no mistake son, a strong Sony is good for all of consumer electronics.
-----------
Disagree. I think a weaker Sony makes for good in consumer electronics. Less brand-worshipping and more common sense purchases based on value/ performance is what will make this slow-moving dinosaur (particularly in portable audio) wake up.
osyardo @ Jun 21st 2007 10:19PM
I agree that a strong Sony is good for consumer electronics, and believe that they have raised the game in quite a few places they have decided to dabble in. They put Walkman on the portable audio map the way Apple did in the MP3 age with iPod. PS2, PSP, and PS3 have all been leaders in their generations (Xbox while good still doesn't have the penetration). Their mobile phones are getting better and better all the time with some really slick products. And I hope they continue to improve what they are doing in the DSLR space.
Am I a Sony fanboy, no. My laptop will never be an overpriced Vaio, my cameras will always be Canon, and when I finally go HD on my TV I will seriously look at all the competition. Will they make the competition better, I hope so! Because these guys really know how to put something together that in a lot of cases (albeit expensive and sometimes proprietary in format) is packed to the rafters in features and functionality.
joon @ Jun 21st 2007 10:06AM
380 new games by end of march 08, that means 1.4 games a day, i don't see that happening, unless they are planning to include ps2 games and making the backward comp work better
Peter Payne @ Jun 21st 2007 10:06AM
Anyone remember when they tried to replace the standard headphone jack with their proprietary "mini" jack that only they could sell for? Not sure if they did that in the U.S. but they did here in Japan -- that was hilarious. Almost as bad as the days Apple had a special wide monitor port for no other reason than to make it hard to use any other monitor (which they no longer to, thank the maker).
Jared @ Jun 21st 2007 11:00AM
I used to purchase a lot of Sony gear, but they've made misstep after misstep and its resulted in them loosing a customer. I used to work for an audio company, we sound thousands of Sony head units. When CD-Rs came out, they mysteriously worked in the older units but wouldn't in the newer. We later found out that Sony was actively refusing to play CD-Rs. It wasn't until their sales plummeted that they started introducing "CD-R capable" players. Recently they got busted shipping rootkits with their CD's, etc. I could go on and on.
Howard Stringer couldn't be more wrong. They didn't cede their portable music dominance to Apple, they actively fought against the transition to new media devices, screwing their customers along the way. Though I guess thats what you get when you have a company that is both heavily invested in old media and new technology at the same time.
tekdroid @ Jun 21st 2007 5:30PM
In the early days of CD-R, Sony dropped support of "Disc-at-once" (DAO) burning, despite earlier models having it. Basically, Sony's CD-R recorders would only do Track-At-Once. To make back-ups of certain discs impossible, or "not identical" in the case of audio, and just generally harder.
They only re-introduced it after their countless competitors (Yamaha, Ricoh, etc) started to eat their lunch.
Jean-Michel Decombe @ Jun 21st 2007 11:27AM
I didn't know he was Chairman *and* Chief Mickey Mouse at Sony. Well, the picture makes it clear now.
Andir3.0 @ Jun 21st 2007 12:03PM
Hah, that is a fun angle on the photo. Nice catch.
Adrian Williams @ Jun 21st 2007 4:35PM
380 sounds like BS unless he's adding PS2 games also out of 380 games what 10-20 will be AAA games
shimman @ Jun 21st 2007 4:41PM
i don't think sony will recover to the growth mode as howie suggested; it is a bad move for sony in terms of stock prices as there will be some higher expectations than what sony can deliver.
being lagged behind of apple, sony came up with more open way to transfer music to their walkmen; mass storage class music transfer mode; this wouldn't be possible if sony were to do well in the business.
struggling sony is what we consumers want NOT the other way around.
this article is simply a joke probably written by a hard core sony fanboy
Mike @ Jun 21st 2007 6:49PM
It only takes one game one Killer App to change the currant anus pounding being inflicted right now.
Dook @ Jun 21st 2007 8:15PM
To all of you anti-sony, understand this, that Sony manufactures more products and they do more than most of other manufacturers. So don't judge about a company who is not even in the same level as others manufacturers out there.
TO: JIMBO
Trust me, Best Buy only puts the HDTVs on special lines and servers because those spots on displays are paid for by the manufacturer. I used to be a GM of a Best Buy store. If you're looking for an HDTV, look at Pioneer and Sony. That's it.
kostya7 @ Jun 22nd 2007 2:54AM
Apple - the best!
http://www.bhall.ru/
NineT9 @ Jun 24th 2007 8:22PM
Very well said Engadget! So much Sony criticism going around, I absolutly love Sony and have no complaints. I pay top dollar for some of my Sony electronics and get more than what I want.
Hey you reading this, your probably Anti-Sony, what are your thoughts, i could use a laugh :P
zargon @ Jun 21st 2007 9:04AM
Why do you pay top dollar for Sony products not counting consoles?
In my adventures with Home Theater, I have found that Sony products are not worth the money with the exception of some of their TVs.
Their DVD players have been notorious for a wide range of issues and junking out after a short amount of time.
The other one that really bothers me is essentially their entire line-up of receivers. Their build quality is just sub-par compared to other companies in their price range (Onkyo and Yamaha in the low to low-mid and Denon, H/K and marantz from the low-mid to mid ends). On top of that, they are well documented in using a power ranking system that is so far off from reality, it makes their receivers look powerful. I actually owned a low-mid end Sony receiver back a few years ago that cost me about $400. It sounded fine, but it could not handle the speakers I had at the time and they were not hard to drive. After about a year of major clipping and even the system shutting off when trying to turn the volume up (I couldn't even get the volume at a reasonable level). I got rid of it and bought a $400 Onkyo that was pretty much the same spec wise. It blew the Sony away in terms of build quality and sound, the Sony couldn't even touch it.
I have since upgraded my receiver to a higher end one, but did a lot of research and auditioning before buying it. I looked at everything, Sony, Onkyo, Denon, H/K, Yamaha, marantz, etc... Out of all the major ones I listed, Sony receivers simply could not touch any of them. I settled on a Onkyo Integra at first, but switched to a marantz shortly after and couldn't be happier. I don't foresee the marantz ever leaving me, it may not last much longer in the role of my pre-amp, but that is only due to advances in inputs (HDMI) and sound formats (though, 5.1 really is enough for me, only the true uncompressed formats have any interests with me).
I really feel for most products, especially DVD players and receivers, Sony simply is not worth it. Their are better products out there for the money that will perform on the same level, but most of the time out perform them.
I however am looking at the Sony SXRD as my next HDTV. However, last time we were looking, my wife pointed out a Mitsu DLP that was amazing picture wise. Granted it was at Best Buy and I have no idea if any were tweaked for the picture, or messed up or even still factory, but the Mitsu looked the best their. It is a ways off, maybe x-mas time, so I have plenty of time to research and check them out in person in my local high end shops to get a better idea of what I really want.
Jimmy @ Jun 21st 2007 6:39PM
@Zargon
I certainly respect your opinion and if you do not find the Sony products matching up with your needs then you should certainly purchase another product. However, to suggest that Onkyo, Yamaha, or Denon somehow offer more for your money is in my opinion just wrong. I have owned about a dozen receivers in the last 18 years and can tell you that at matching price point Sony gives you at least as much as the other brands and often more.
We can certainly argue that one of the other brands has cleaner, sweeter, neater, stronger, smoother, your-adjective-here sound. Which one sounds he best is always up for debate in my book. But option-for-option and value-for-value Sony's receiver line-up fairs very well.
I did some comparisons about 6 or 7 months ago while I was thinking about getting an HDMI receiver. Some of these models may be out of date and/or the prices may have changed but from my personal list here are some comparable models that are worth a look.
$500-$800 range | Sony STR-DG1000 | Yamaha RX-V2600 | Denon AVR-2307CI | Onkyo TX-SR674
$800-$1100 range | Sony STR DA5200ES | Denon AVR-2807 | Pioneer Elite VSX-82TXS
iRobot @ Jun 21st 2007 10:32PM
What's there to laugh about? Sony's reputation speaks for itself.
bjrcboy @ Jul 5th 2007 12:17PM
@zargon
Any self respecting audiophile would never use a sony reciever... Tv's are great but leave the audio for the companys that truely know how to do it.
NineT9 @ Jul 5th 2007 6:14PM
Thanks for the nice read guys! Good comments
As far as Home Theater Audio, yea thats not something I can ever speak on for Sony, or any other manufacture. I do not have a home theater setup.
My 'Sony' experience comes from my Desktop PC, Laptop, LCD, MP3 Player, and soon: Playstation3 & Sony Ericcson Cellphone. (& I used to hate Sony Ericcson)
With some of my Sony products, I sure did pay a lot of money, but they were a lot better then the competition I was looking at, for example:
My Sony Laptop (TX-Series), It costs me $3,000~. When I first went shopping for a laptop, I only cared about 1 thing: portability. Thats all, Its a laptop. So I wanted the lightest, most smallest dang laptop (Im a shorter guy, I can handle a smaller keyboard)... After looking through about every single laptop, It came down to 2 laptops: Sony & Toshiba. They both met my requirements and were the lightest laptops of this generation, but Sony's was sleek looking. From my previous Sony experience, I've never had problems, so I went with Sony.
Sure I am somewhat of a Sony 'fanboy' as they call it, but what makes a fanboy are great products. Unlike most 'fanboys', I don't speak negative about the competition and attempt to convert to my side... I respect an opinion, especially the comments replied here, I expected some kids replying but that didn't happen at all.
Although its interesting to read about Sony's Home Audio, when it comes to expensive home theater audio, I don't hear Sony's name too much... but ive only had a couple conversations of it
fenix @ Jun 26th 2007 3:39PM
Wow Fianlly, I am a big fan of ps3 so this should really improve there profits
---http://www.fakebets.net
Sabeer Kibria @ Jul 4th 2007 2:20PM
Sony products tend to be well built. With the exception of the PS2(The dreaded disc read error), most of their products work as described. If you want to bitch about the PS3, read this article first.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/03/xbox-360-refused-repairs-and-really-high-failure-rate/