"Where Sony went wrong..."

by Ed Stasick { Apr 28th 2007 at 11:30AM }

We all know that Krazy Kenny K officially announced that he was stepping down from his PlayStation empire this week, signaling the end of an era and the end of an explosive career. It doesn't take a genius to realize that Kuturagi is scape-goat #1 for any and all of the PS3s alleged failings (which include, but are not limited to, high production costs, launch shortages and lower than desired post-launch sell-through.)

Given the abrupt end to the Kuturagi saga, the analysts are already coming out with their takes on "what went wrong." Business 2.0 writer Chris Taylor has plenty to say on how Sony lost their lead and has "lost this round of the console wars to its Japanese rival, Nintendo's Wii." While we think it's too early to be making those kind of calls, the article is interesting -- even if we don't agree with the analysis in whole (or even in large part). For our lazier readers, Business 2.0 provides these key lessons from Sony and Kutaragi's PS3 development:

Focus on making a better controller, not relying on the same "handheld mess of buttons" (i.e. Dualshock design = failure)
Don't put drives in your console that are too slow to properly load games (I'm not making these up)
Build a console that only costs $150 like the Wii (they have since corrected this little doozy of a detail)

In the end, it turns out that this is really an article about what Nintendo may have done right. And there's no doubt that Sony has done -- and is doing -- some things right as well. We'll see how that plays out in the months and years ahead. Then we'll declare a winner (that's your cue, Xbox fanboys... attack!).

[Via CNN Money. Thanks Nav]

Tags: ps3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

theBishop @ Apr 28th 2007 11:46AM

Sony already has a "$150 system like the Wii"

Its called the Playstation2. Its comparable in terms of technology, and it way better games, and it costs half as much.

humpty @ Apr 28th 2007 11:46AM

Oh, puleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze.. the true test of a consoles' success is its staying power.. ie. GC and XBOX had premature retirements. GBA (sp iteration) is still selling 100k+ units a month today.

So, does anyone think that the wii going to be pushing 280-300k units a month in SEVEN years like the ps2? Is it going to reach 115+ million units sold.. to do that you need to be viable in the market for a long time.

matt @ Apr 28th 2007 11:50AM

this guy comes off as just another reporter who doesnt really know what they are talking about.

I for one like the dualshock / sixaxis design and so do most of my playstation having friends, and they did try to change the controller (see the boomarang, or silver bannana as i call it) and everybody was worried because they like the controller!

kingofwale @ Apr 28th 2007 12:01PM

Sony employees should be banned from making public comments.

and frankly, judging a console with a lifespan of 10 years as 'failure' after first 6 months is a bit laughable.

now, if you want Sony to do what Nintendo is doing, (build a console that has lifespan of 3 years), then go buy a Wii and play your mini-games.

let's face it, Sony and Nintendo are targeting very different audiences here.

bootsielon @ Apr 28th 2007 12:03PM

The only flaw with sixaxis is the lack of rumble and lack of precission with the analogue sticks and triggers compared to the gamecube controller. Other than that, it's great. Besides, a rumble version will come out, so the worst flaw will disappear.

Don't put slow drives? PSOne and PS2 had both "slow" drives and you could barely notice the loading times. Besides, PS3 eliminates that with the HDD.

Making a console be as cheap as the Wii would require you to always sell last gen technology. The argument is retarded. If you make the console more expensive to make by bringing more value, yet it costs the same as the Wii, you're more competitive and your console is more appealing. The argument should say "Make a console that is sold for an acceptable price". The amount it costs the company is up to themselves and how competitive they want to be. So, if Microsoft and Sony sold machines that cost the same as a Wii, but instead of earning $100 in profit, lost $100, they'd probably be outselling the Wii.

scott @ Apr 28th 2007 12:13PM

Sony defense force, assemble!!

Geoff Gibson @ Apr 28th 2007 12:17PM

I kinda agree on the controller bit. I was disappointed when they announced what the PS3 controller was gonna be like. For me the "next gen" controller is just as much fun to begin playing with as the new games, and console. Its like a package. Its something new and exciting. To see that it was the very same controller design minus the rumble was disheartening for me.

Ca't wait to see the PS4 controller! :)

matt @ Apr 28th 2007 12:31PM

@ Geoff G

the very same controller... except it has motion sensing which is new, and will eventually have rumble or even that new rumble that Immersion is talking about with better feedback.

Blazer82 @ Apr 28th 2007 12:32PM

This is some of the most retarded drivel im read in a while. First off, the dualshock/sixaxis design is great and the triggers on L2,R2 are excellent. Secondly not all of us want a Gamecube 2.0 (no hate against the Wii but I view it as a separate entity to the big boys). I personally like the functionality the PS3 gives me since yea I still like games but now that im an adult the other media capabilites make a difference (and purchasing decision) too. Quite honestly the media should research what they are talking about before the write such bs.

kingofwale @ Apr 28th 2007 12:53PM

>Metroid Prime 3 testers that it's shaping up to be much like a keyboard mouse feel. very intuitive.

although I wouldn't go with Nintendo hired testers' 'testimonials'. Wii is SUPPOSED to excel in shooter because of the motion sensor tech. And frankly, from the first three shooters they have out there.. Red Steel, CoD3 and FarCry, it's looking very disappointing.

if MP couldn't save it, Wii will be first party + minigame from now on.

John @ Apr 28th 2007 1:43PM

I think the only thing Sony did wrong with the PS3 is the lack of memory (ie RAM). The rest of the problems (ie lack of rumble, price etc) will sort themselves out in time but I think the lack of memory really hampers game development and could be a problem for Sony in a few years.

also a first party VGA lead would be nice lol

John @ Apr 28th 2007 1:58PM

This is an article written for Microsoft shareholders.

The criticism of the controller is simply false. Millions of ps2 owners aren't wrong on this.

Here's some customer reviews of the ps3 for the so-called "journalist" Chris Taylor:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Customer-reviews-for-Sony-PlayStation-3-60GB/sem/rpsm/oid/166283/rpem/ccd/productDetailReview.do#tabs

Majormauser @ Apr 28th 2007 2:02PM

just come out with games the ps3 is very powerful just come out with games a-holes

The Fifth @ Apr 28th 2007 3:33PM

*panting* sorry Scott (#6), i got here as fast as i could, what happened?

Bigwilma @ Apr 28th 2007 4:01PM

The answer to the question "Where Sony went wrong", is relatively simple. They produced a product that very few people wanted at a ridiculous price.

More fundamentally the whole strategy behing the PS£ is fundamentally flawed.A games console has to be affordable for parents because thats who buys the majority of them. Their not going to spend that type of money on a "toy".They might spend it on a lab top, they might even get sky hd for the family and a second box for the kids.

The PS£ is therefore competing directly with Bill and the 360, only starting a year later. The male 18-35 demograph was the backbone of the original xbox. Becoming number one in this market is going to be tough but even if successful your talking only a fraction of the PS2 sales.

Is the PS£ as an entertainment hub not for me, in theory it is capable, but my streaming media music and download are handled by my pc. So its outrageously priced as a games console and its other features are not going to be used by the majority of potential customers.

And theres also lovely blu ray.Someone at sony must have thought, "Forget HD DVD lets flog our own next gen HD optical format on the back of our most successful brand." Instead of being laughed out of Sony HQ and sent for immediate therapy, the PS3 is also blu ray player. Its the law of dimishing returns as regards optical media. HD DVD and Blu RAy while not dead on arrival will be virtually obselete in five years digital media is the king. Mp3 v CD hello Sony? HD DVD and BLU RAY may well exist for a long time like Vinyl but very much as niche products not the mass consumer format Sony needs.

Those Mad *******s at NIntendo went off their collective heads and designed a games console that didn't cost a small fortune, knew what it was and is actually fun to play. Sony you did a Sega.

Vincent @ Apr 28th 2007 4:15PM

Many people here say that Sony and Nintendo target different kinds of customers. But who is Sony targetting at anyway?
- graphics: nice but would you not expect that a console that costs double that of a Xbox360 delivers at least 50% more graphics? Now we even have articles about comparaisons about those two: there should not even be a question like that. And yes there are XBox360 second gen graphics vs PS3 first gen graphics. But as long as i have to pay for consoles the day i buy them...
- Second thing is the 'home entertainment device'. Close your eyes and think about that concept. Well i just don't see the point: i have a VCR, i have a dvd-player, i have a sound system ... and i like them because they are good. Now how to expect that one device is as good as all those seperate devices. If one is bad i replace it, if a combined system has a defect part the whole system fails.

So i don't really get the point of those different markets. I can understand that the PS3 is a nice blue-ray player and the games are fun and nice to watch but i feel that other systems may not do all that but combined they are just better. (and soon cheaper)

And a console with a 10 year lifespan... it's 9 years since Windows 98 was released. And yes you can still use it, but then who does?

acedoh @ Apr 28th 2007 4:28PM

Some are very shortsided to think that downloadable media will be the end all in five years. I think not. Most in the normal public will still buy or rent movies. Most in the normal public still don't or won't have internet that can even handle large scale movie downloads. In general you have to be realistic and understand that people still prefer the physical version of hardware. CD's may not sell as well as the past but song to song still outsell downloads. So Bigwilma you can go live in your fantasy world where everyone has the best of everything. I will stay in my real world.

Now the PS3 is made to exist for a decade. Knowing that Nintendo esentially has created another Gamecube with motion control is only confirming my beliefs. But as more and more go into the HD era and more and more can take advantage of lower console prices for the PS3 and 360 we will then see who the real winner is.

rfom @ Apr 28th 2007 4:23PM

The wii is cheap - the graphics card, processor and RAM in it together cost less than USD60 (not joking, check its teardown analysis).
The wii buyer is like a PC gamer who didnt upgrade his PC since 2001 and cant play ANY of the titles that came out in the last 2-3 years even at minimum detail
MOST if not ALL the top 20 2007 titles in PS3 / 360 are not coming to wii. Dont want those games, good for you, you saved USD200-300

In fact, a short list of titles that would have gone to the Nintendo console in the last round but not the USD249 console (because it cant handle the graphics/AI/physics): RE5, Lair, DMC4 (360 but not wii???)

rfom @ Apr 28th 2007 4:32PM

Cant help replying to Vincent...I know if he is one of those numerous xbots who cant resist the awesome PS3 forum, but some of the more glaring "stinkers"

"console that costs double that of a Xbox360"
599 / 399 does not equal 2 - as anyone who has gone to school can tell you - especially when the two are not comparable, the 399 is missing basic stuff like multiplayer, build quality or backward compatibility - its like comparing apples and rotten oranges

"If one is bad i replace it, if a combined system has a defect part the whole system fails."
Which is why its good that the PS3 has close to zero defects...unlike a crappy box we all know

"And a console with a 10 year lifespan... it's 9 years since Windows 98 was released. And yes you can still use it, but then who does?"
ever realised the difference between a console and PC? Of course not, with the 360 you have the same bugs as in PC, same machine crashes, short life support, same games....

joe loiselle @ Apr 28th 2007 5:00PM

things like these have made me wonder ever since big corporations like Sony released the PS3. as soon as i heard about it i knew i was going to get it. there was no stopping it. and if i go into my room i will see a PS3 sitting there instead of an Xbox.

Dont get me wrong, the PS3 is one of the greatest systems ive ever owned (along with the PS2 and my first GBA). i would just like to see more pizzas in its broadcasting and program systems before i start flushing all my money into it. its a very pricey business to get into.......... my wallet is not safe.

kingofwale @ Apr 28th 2007 4:34PM

>the PS3 is also blu ray player. Its the law of dimishing returns as regards optical media. HD DVD and Blu RAy while not dead on arrival will be virtually obselete in five years digital media is the king. Mp3 v CD hello Sony?

Are you kidding me??

First of all 18+ million songs sold on Itune. vs 500 million CD sold, you tell me, MP3 vs CD? If you think it's that simple, You obviously have no idea what DRM is and what it's doing (and will continue to do) to digital format.

for that reason, Sony pushed forward Blu-Ray and is winning this next gen DVD war. much like how PS2 pushed DVD forward.

kingofwale @ Apr 28th 2007 4:45PM

btw, change the music sold to 71 million worth of CD from ITune.

yeah, bad info from an pure DRM website, this new number is from Job's keynote. much more reliable.

Bigwilma @ Apr 28th 2007 5:09PM

Acedoh, lets agree to disagree regarding the future of digital and optical media. And you are quite correct in that the Wii is basically a gamecube with a bit more grunt and a magic wand.Regarding the whole 10 year thing, sony just might be taking the piss they do have previous.

http://www.megagames.com/news/html/console/sonyfakepspblogbusted.shtml

Bigwilma @ Apr 28th 2007 5:33PM

Kingofwaffle, i'm going to let you on a little secret but well keep it between just you and me okay, your talking out of your arsehole.To compare ITunes sales against CD sales and represent the ITunes total as a true comparison of digital music downloads ignores millions of consumers who don't use Itunes not to mention piracy. There is a a cure for this condition and its called r e a d i n g. It doesn't always work though as you also need the ability to understand and interpret facts and figures. Heres your prescription Kingofwaffle open up.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKN1724213620070417
http://press-releases.techwhack.com/9338/canada-music-sales/
http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSN1724213620070417

kingofwale @ Apr 28th 2007 5:46PM

aww, did you just say "Piracy"?? and you considered it a business model? LMAO

Well, I'm sure the RIAA and MPAA will just looove to hand out more digital content now, right? Again, you have NO concept of DRM and frankly, your thinking is EXACTLY what kept DRM alive for all this years. So, give yourself a round of applause for ruining digital contents for the rest of us

I think there's also a cure for it, it's called "DON'T STEAL" ;)

JimyD @ Apr 28th 2007 8:21PM

The guy has obviously never used a PS3. There is nothing wrong with the PS3 controller except for the absence of force feedback. It works as well as any other traditional console game controller.

Nintendo got its asses handed to them with the GameCube so they decided not to compete on graphics power and instead focused on making their next-generation different through the unique controller. This strategy is working right now since it has enabled them to come into the current generation at a much lower price point.

As far as the Blu-Ray drive being slow, it really depends on the game itself and is not solely dependent upon the system. A good example of this is Oblivion, which loads faster on the PS3 then the Xbox 360.

Yeah, a console system is all about playing games but most new technology products are multi-purposed. This is the route Microsoft and Sony decided to take; and again, Nintendo couldn't afford the risk of duking it out at the higher tech level.

To state the Wii looks more like the future because it uses less electricity is hilarious. People do not buy game consoles based on its power consumption and if one system doesn't look like the future, it's the Wii with its last generation graphics.

The moral of the story is simple - Sony is trying to sell a Lexus to a Toyota market. They forgot that in a consumer market, price is king.

scott @ Apr 28th 2007 10:11PM

Sony defense force in full force today!

Vincent @ Apr 29th 2007 5:19AM

I don't know who but someone said that 599/399 does not equal two. However 599/299 almost does, but then one could argue about add-ons you have to buy etc. etc.

I don't want to go there, but i think you missed the point. The Wii lacks a lot of features but i feel it is already too complex. I am used to insert a game, push te button, and push start untill the game starts. Now i have to go trough some menu's and more menu's before the game starts. And however i am a hse engineer i just want to play a game. I don't care about how the weather outside is, or surfing the internet on a tv screen ... or whatever.
And i feel like i am not alone, i can understand those features may be nice to some people but that is not why the general customer buys a console.
And there you go with your rotten tomatoes, oranges and backward compatibility. I don't even want all that, many other people don't care neither.
So you are very satisfied with your PS3, but i just won't pay a third of my net income for something a 250€ machine can do as well.

hester23 @ Apr 29th 2007 3:46PM

the problem with the ps3 is software, not the actual hardware. software can be fixed, hardware cannot. i love the hardware of the ps3 but the 360 has a better library right now. i think when GTA hits, it will help both the 360 and ps3 a lot, but more people are loyal to the sony brand so long-term, i think the ps3 will be a big hit.

Atomu @ Apr 30th 2007 2:54AM

in regards to blu-ray being slow, what exactly do you mean by that. Are you just going by the disk speed, silly silly boy. That doesnt matter! The blu-ray laser recieved data at a much higher rate, so even with a slow drive, it collects much much more data than a dvd drive of the same speed.

here. A DVD drive supports transfer speeds up to "11.08 Mbit/s"

Now, a blu-ray, althought the drive may only be a 2X speed, transfers data at "53.95 Mbit/s"

More data = less loading (althought don't tell that to motorstorm, friggin car select screen)

so again, what do you mean blu-ray is slow =D

Darko @ Apr 30th 2007 8:52AM

@Atomu

Please do some research before you open your mouth.... To clear things up...

12X DVD Read Speed ~ 15.8 Megabytes per second
2X BD Read Speed ~ 9 Megabytes per second

or if you perfer megabits then

12X DVD Read Speed = 126.4 MBits/s
2X BD Read Speed = 72 MBits/s

your speeds would put the drives at 1 megabyte and 6 megabytes... which is ridiculous... where did you find these numbers, your ass?

Scott Krueger @ Apr 30th 2007 12:37PM

If I wanted a Cheap console with Ugly Graphics then I would buy a Wii. Sure you want the games to be fun as well, but for me... Not at the Cost of Graphics.

I personally have no fault with my PS3.
It was no more expensive than my 360 when you add in all the extras that are necessary on the 360 + having to pay for Online Gaming... Plus the Backwards Compatibility blows away the Awful mess that is the Backwards Compatibility on the 360.

Wii is for the Kids and Casual Gaming Grandmothers in general. Though I do like the Zelda Franchise and being able to download classics is nice.
So it is great that Nintendo has filled that Slot.

I also like the Dual Shock/Sixaxis. But Also Like the 360 Controller. If we could only combine the best of all the controllers.
- PS3 Sixaxis for its weight and Motion sensing.
- 360 controller for its Triggers. (PS3 Triggers suck)
- 360 for Rumble too...