PlayStation PR chief jumps ship
by Christopher Grant 
{ Jun 2nd 2006 at 5:55PM }
According to Next-Gen.biz, SCEA's PR chief, Molly Smith, resigned yesterday after leading the operation from the PlayStation 1 until now, a ten-year tenure. Sony has yet to make an official announcement.While it's easy (and fun) to chalk this up to throwing in the old PR towel amidst a recent spate of spin-proof doozies, the burn out rate in the PR industry is high. After working for one company in one position for ten years, when Sony does comment on her departure, she'll have left to spend more time with her family, or pursue other avenues. The real question is, will her replacement help Sony out of this rut they're in?
[Thanks, David]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
PsyClerk @ Jun 2nd 2006 6:23PM
What rut? Sony is the #1 game company in the world right now. Sure, they've made some crazy remarks, but that's one of the privileges of being on top.
Everyone (myself included) is assuming Sony will be taken down a notch or three once the PS3 launches, but the key word is "assuming." You never know what can happen between now and then. And until that time, Sony is king of the video game hill.
MarsDragon @ Jun 2nd 2006 6:31PM
So was Atari. So was Nintendo. Being at the top doesn't save you from bad choices.
C. Grant @ Jun 2nd 2006 6:31PM
It's a PR rut, and they are most certainly in one.
Cage @ Jun 2nd 2006 6:38PM
Dont know who could help this when your higher ups are the ones making the dumb comments. Who wouldnt get burned out from that?
Eagle @ Jun 2nd 2006 6:45PM
Maybe now that she's gone, someone that knows how to milk their public image (i.e. a Nintendo/Apple rep) could join the team...Sony has to learn to lie better, and they could learn a thing or two from their competitors.
I don't know if she left because of the PR rut, or if she helped cause it herself, but Sony needs a fresh look in terms of their management.
Bored @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:02PM
You can only spin Phil Harrison's comments for so long before you want to cleave your head off clean with Cloud's sword.
TK00 @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:22PM
PR rut? What, according to the so called 'blogo-sphere'? Web forums? You realize that is crap the general public doesn't care about right?
How about we wait until the system actually goes on sale before Sony goes out business, K?
Sacredleader @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:22PM
They might be #1 right now, but the PR rut is going to continue as long as you have to give a arm and a leg for a PS3.
Scott Summers @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:27PM
Do not underestimate the power of the blogosphere.
That said I have been convinced by Sony's hype machine. The game snippets, the specs, the graphic exaples of graphic capabilities, and the graphics. That and Too Human and Viva Pinata look like poo.
Sony can fail if ... not enough people choose not to plunk down $600 to play what will be the hottest games. I hope the next MS console finaly get's it right when it comes to the fun in the games. One flagship IP per generation is not enough to win the console wars. Gears of War and Halo 3 will not be enough.
puffpuffdaddy @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:28PM
They might not be in a financial rut but right now the ds is killing the psp in japan and pretty much usa too. There were alot of bad choices for ps3 so far and dont tell me a $600 price isnt a bad choice. Oh and dont say "but 360 costs as much once games are involved". Yeah and once games are involved with ps3 it goes up to $1000 possibly. The fact is it is more than 360 and not hardly any better graphics(if at all) than 360.
Being a fan of games in general i will buy anything with great games but at this time i dont see 1 reason to spend $600 on ps3. GTA was 1 example but thats coming to 360 too. Then you got gran turismo and killzone. Good games sure, but who would take them over halo/gears of war and forza and project gotham? The overall experience with xbox live is so much better than what sony did online so far that I cant believe people are still acting like ps3 is worth buying at this time. Honestly i feel like i am in some twilight zone world were sony possesed everyones minds into buying into this $600, huge, and overhyped system.
SuicideNinja @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:29PM
Now if they can get rid of Harrison and Kutaragi, Sony might be more acceptable!
puffpuffdaddy @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:41PM
Scott summers - thanks for making that comment cause you proved my point about mindless drones worshiping an overhyped console. Like I said i would buy a ps3 if the games turn out to be the best games overall but i dont see that happening. For you to think 360 only has gears of war and halo is crazy. Have you even looked at or played any of the titles coming out this year, I know you didnt because you are assuming 2 upcoming titles suck. We have to ignore titles coming out on every system except of course gta 4. That my friend is a huge loss for sony!! So if you take away third party titles what is coming out for ps3? Metal gear, killzone and gran turismo. Your telling me that is better than halo, gears of war, forza 2 and many other titles which could become surprise hits? I am not a fanboy thats just a cop out. I have owned every companies system but right now ps3 is not worth the price and 360 is. 360 will have 100 games by the time november hits and ps3 might have 20 if that. I just dont understand all these people who do think $600 is a fair price for something that developers are saying will look no better than 360 in graphics??
Kamalot @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:41PM
It is going to take more than good PR to save Sony at this point.
Fanboyism @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:55PM
Were all witnessing the fall of Sony. Believe it.
Sal @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:14PM
Molly lorded over Sony PR for a *long* time. Ten years dates back longer than most. Not sure if she'll be missed, per se, but this is very much the end of an era.
Lokiz0r @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:24PM
Sony (both SCE and as a whole) are far from dead. They're in trouble, no doubt of that - but they're far from dead.
As has been said above, don't underestimate the blogosphere. The Internet is the biggest rumour mill of them all - and it seems that practically everything is taken as gospel truth, no matter how far out or ridiculous it may seem. It's increasingly difficult to know what's for real and what isn't - and when you have the various company's execs answering questions and making press releases to dispel Internet rumour, it goes to show just how much of an impact it has - take, for example, GamesRadar taking the issue of non-resale of used games - something that Sony categorically denied in 2003 - and bringing it back to the front again, so it's posted everywhere. Why?
Here's hoping their new PR chief can get things sorted, and give us some cold, hard facts on just what's going on with the PS3 (y'know, like online strategy details (there weren't enough at E3), launch games, etc. etc.)
I, for one, will be disappointed to see Sony continue the way they are at the moment (i.e. some of the comments coming out of their people as of late).
apoc06 @ Jun 2nd 2006 10:34PM
i dont think is in any particular PR rut. i thin kthat Microsofts and nintenos pr teams have just finally stepped up to the plate.
microsoft says just as much off the wall crap as sony, but the only difference is that we dont see it posted all over the internet. if something bad is said about microsoft, there are alot of posters that will downplay it. take for instance the backwards compatibility issue with the x360. if sony pulled the same move, we would all be out for blood.
nintendo just knows how to pull in people. they know how to lay low long enough for people to forget the mistakes, blunders and the sometimes insane gap between quality releases.
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=196
RazorElite @ Jun 2nd 2006 10:52PM
Sony makes way more BS comments than Nintendo and MS combined. MS latest relatively 'dumb' comment was the whole BC thing. But at least the guy had a point and there are many people out there who would agree. While many would also disagree, probably 50-50. Now compare that to Ken's BS comment on the PS3 being too cheap where like 0.5% of people would agree. Don't ever compare Sony's comments to just about any other electronics company out there. There are still fanboys, and PS3 will still sell, but I think it'd be a far cry from the 100 million units per generation we've seen in the past.
n8dogg @ Jun 3rd 2006 12:57AM
Jesus on a stick!
puffpuff- You do realize the 360 has had a head start of one whole year on the ps3, right? And that launch titles aren't always so great with most systems? (with exception for the 360's stellar launch *cough* *cough*)
You act as though the only games that will ever be released on the PS3 are the ones that were shown at this year's E3.
Please, for the love of the internets, shut up. I like the 360, and I'm warming up to the Wii by the minute, but it still pisses me off when people dismiss the PS3 based on statistics that can easily change in the future.
The price will drop, and seeing as how soooo many people are soooo intent on not buying it, I wouldn't be suprised to see it go down faster than we predict.
And trust me on this one: The PS3 will get other great games besides MGS4 and FFXIII. Only a biased and unrealistic idiot would think otherwise.
Jed Merrill @ Jun 3rd 2006 1:44AM
Rut? Try the Grand Canyon. It couldn't be worse for Sony right now. They are going from 80% of the market to 20% in just a few months.
Mark @ Jun 3rd 2006 3:36AM
I think the Sony PR problem has become too massive to handle. When the number one company in video games announces their new system at twice the price as the previous. When that same company insults its own customers by saying it doesn't need games to sell their game systems, that their name alone should have you opening your wallets. (Sorry, I am no lemming Sony). Then they have the nerve to tell their customers that they should be grateful that they are getting their new DVD players(sorry, GAME system) so cheap. I am sorry for being upset, but I work very hard to pay bills. I have to budget my money very carefully. There are many people saying that people angry at the price should get jobs to afford it. But many of us do have jobs (some have two), and go to school. There are millions of gamers that had to wait till the price dropped to the $200 mark before they could even think about getting a system. I am sorry but $600 is a car payment plus insurance and gas for the whole month for me. So yeah, I think Sony does kinda have a big PR problem.
GamerG @ Jun 3rd 2006 5:52AM
Its not the PR dep's fault that the big wigs decided to force expensively designed technology on gamers when MS have proved that you could do it by simply adding some cores to a standard processor and by using compression on DVD9. I'd blame the technical department!!
Perhaps she sees the writing on the wall and doesn't want the PS3 failure on her resume??
Eric @ Jun 3rd 2006 10:09AM
Sony is in a PR rut right now simply because they haven't (can't?) justified to gamers that are "in the know" how important all their new technology is and why we should want it/need it. So far Harrison hasn't justified to me why I should need 50 gigs for a game. Nor why I need the combination of the Cell and RSX if the PS3's graphics are only marginally better. Harrison hasn't sold me that worthless controller yet.
If Sony can't swing people like us into wanting to put down $600, then they are in for a REAL PR pickle if they want to tell Joe Consumer to cough up $600 for unproven technology.
The controller is another issue. It is obvious to us that they made it quickly (ala Warhawk creator telling us that he found out about it a week ago) and are dodging rumble this generation because of the lawsuit.
However, I believe that $600 can be justified. All of their "useless" technology can be justified----If they would just get off their asses and do some PR work.
If they would stop making arrogant comments about the future based on their success of the past...If they would get their heads out of last generation, realize the PS2 has had its day, realize the fact that the PS2 sold 100 million units won't save the PS3 from the already growing Wii360 crowd, and start looking %100 at the PS3 and selling that (selling not hyping...Sony doesn’t know the difference) then the PS3 might still be #1.
Pedro @ Jun 3rd 2006 10:13AM
Your getting ripped-off by microsoft has nothing to do with this. Nitendo has the controller, the PS3 well it has everything and what does MS offer nothing same old shit just with better graphics.
And what rut are you talking about, blogging on the internet doesn't mean anything this isn,t even .00001 percent of the gaming. Always the same people dissing sony. Most of the people I talk to don't know when PS3 is coming out, they see the 360 is out they don't care for it. You know why because if it doesn't have playstation on it, they don't care for it. Xbox is for FPS bitches, PS3 is for the mainstream. By the time most people know that the PS3 is out and will be ready to buy it will be 2007-08. In the meantime the more hardcore gamers will have bought up all of what sony can make and news, the price won't matter beacause it's worth it. By the time most people get their hands on it there will be a price drop.
People quit their jobs everyday or loose them, just ask Peter Moore, so I don't know what the big deal is.
Mo-thug @ Jun 3rd 2006 10:35AM
Sony have a lot to lose, but again, its hard to keep what they have, everyone wants a peice,
i worked only 5 days extra overtime in the last 2months, and i have that extra cash for PS3
IF YOU CANT AFFORD IT DONT BUY IT, get a dustbins man wii, instead, sheesh even any company can creat a controller like that, even for xbox 1, and it will stil do the same stuff, wat a joke
jo @ Jun 3rd 2006 1:29PM
thier rut all seemed to start with the CD copy protection that HOMELANDsecurity advised them to remove.
K-NO @ Jun 3rd 2006 3:22PM
Most of you people don't even have the idea of how ps3 will be the biggest and best console by far out there in the videogames world.
I'd made a survey in my highschool and here I got some facts out of of 300 students I surveyed (of course with some help of friends):
1. 78% of them are interested in videogames
2. of that 78% only 2.7% want or have an xbox360
3. out of that 75.3% reamaining the 4.6% would definitely buy the Wii no matter the price
4. out of that 70.7% remaining the 28.9% would definitely buy the ps3 no matter the price(even if it's $700)
5. the 18.1% will preorder the ps3
6. the 3.4% will preorder the Wii
Juno @ Jun 3rd 2006 3:30PM
Sony really is shooting themselves in the foot with that $600 price point, and all their other PR. I currently own all three of older generations consoles, even though I only got the Xbox for Halo 2, and will only get the Xbox 360 for Halo 3. I plan on getting a Wii too, but I'd have to sell my soul to get a PS3, and it just doesn't seem worth it. Sony is not convincing many people at all...
killer_roach @ Jun 3rd 2006 5:19PM
The thing is, the current 360 install base is still very small, and far smaller than MS wants it to be at the moment. By the PS3's launch, the number of 360s out in the wild will be somewhere in the 7 million range, most likely (could be as low as 4.5 or as high as 10, but 7 is a good guess). Yes, Microsoft does have a good bit of momentum, but there is also the undeniable fact that the current PS1/PS2 user base is enormous, and that should carry over to quite a few sales from brand loyalty alone. By Spring '07, it could be quite likely that the PS3's brand advantage and the 360's temporal advantage will have cancelled each other out, and then we'll see what both platforms are truly about.
Gamer/Smoker4Life @ Jun 3rd 2006 5:41PM
I still find it funny that Sony can bitchslap their gamers in the face and fanboys will still do whatever they can to try to tell the rest of the world that PS3 is the shit.
To all of you who are defending Sony on the fact that they are number 1 in the gaming world....take a look at the way they play you:
1.) They steal everyone's ideas. Don't tell me their online service will be anything more than Xbox live with a Sony logo. Oh and the controller...riiight....i'm sure even the lamest sony fanboys know that they really didn't have any plans for their controller to have motion sensing capabilities until they needed something to *try* and kill Nintendo's thunder. Give it up, Sony hasn't been innovative for years!
2) The Whole "We don't need games to sell the PS3, people will buy it because of our name" comment. Well right their they are dismissing their own fanbase and calling them complete idiots. Would you really pay $600 for a system and no games? Oh wait, of course people will! It contains the new standard in High Def movie players!!! Riight. Its sad that Sony is using their army of fanboys to bring the trojan hourse into their homes. My only hope is that people will wake up and realize that Sony doesn't care if you play their games. They want you to buy all their other products. How about we let the mass market who watches movies decide what the next gen dvd will be, not Sony because they want the biggest slice of the pie. Pure greed is the only logical explanation for their actions. But remember, you won't care. Your dumb. You'll buy a GAME system without any GAMES, remember?
3) They shove sequel after sequel of the same thing down our throats. Now before everyone tells me that Nintendo and MS do sequels too, I want to point out the fact that most Mario and Zelda sequels bring something new to the table. New design, new gameplay, new ideas. Unlike GT2, 3, and 4....what did they bring? Graphical enhancements and the same old game? Yup.
Even the PS3 is one big fat sequel! Hey kids, do you want prettier graphics for the same games you can play in your sleep? Well come be a Sony drone and we'll clean your wallet out and shove ANOTHER new media format down your throat! How about doing something more with a game system then just making the nose hair and pimples of the hero more eye catching. I'm not a graphic whore, I'm a gamer, Thanks.
4) Whenever Sony meets any oppotions, or when they try to sell the consumers something new, what do they do? They throw sale...actually, not sale...shipping stats at consumers to somehow say look, our new product is good. We SHIPPED 14 million PSPs...that means the PS3 is GOOD!
How about you a) stop trying to justify your system using old stats and focus ont he reason I should want a PS3 (and trust me, its not because 100 million PS2s were shipped).
And b) when you do pussy out of trying to tell me why I want your product, actually give us some accurate sales not shipment. We've shipped 14 million PSPs! That's more than Nintendo sold of their DS! But hey kids, don't go to their press conference because they will tell you how the DS is kicking the shit out of the PSP in sales because they compare apples to apples, not to oranges like our muddled stats do!
You know, I could go on for days, because as an avid gamer and an owner of a NES, SNES, Genesis, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Pocket, GBA, NDS, PS1, N64, PS2 (actually 2, one that doesn't work and one that takes 15 minutes to load a disc), Gamecube, XBox, Gamegear, and an even an atari...i simply feel cheated. I loved Sony! I thought theu were gaming gods...but then Nintendo (and even MS, if just a little) showed me that Sony doesn't really care about gamers. They care about profits! They wouldn't focus on BluRay and tell me I would buy their system without games, if they cared about gaming. They care about being the biggest electronic company, and if that means ass-raping every last dollar out of me just so I have a HIGH-DEF player at the exspense of losing all respect I have for them, then that's obviously cool with them. And remember fanboys, only 'cool' people play Playstation.
Sony makes me sick and I will be running 360's around them and WII-ing all over them every chance I get until I'm satisfied. And that will only happen when they are in 3rd place this time next year. Then we'll see who the 'cool' systems really are. (and i'm guessing they won't cost 1 arm, a leg, and 2 testicles, won't force me to buy into bluRay hype, and won't be a stolen heap of garbage)
PS- I hope I sound like an angry MS and Ninty fanboy (and trust me, the angry part is right)! At least that's better than being in the same group of people who Sony openly says is stupid enough to buy their 'cheap' system, even if it don't have any games.
GamesRock @ Jun 3rd 2006 5:51PM
"IF YOU CANT AFFORD IT DONT BUY IT, get a dustbins man wii, instead, sheesh even any company can creat a controller like that, even for xbox 1, and it will stil do the same stuff, wat a joke"
your spelling and grammar help make you look like the idiot you are. "EVEN ANY COMPANY CAN CREAT...WAT A JOKE"
The only joke here is you. And no other company will need to make the controller. Nintendo already has. You the idiot gamers PS is aimed at. The ones who can't spell 'what' and will buy their system because of the name on it. The fact is, Nintendo made the controller, and no other system did. You can't argue that 'EVEN ANY COMPANY' can 'CREAT' it when no other company has tried.
PS- just how do you 'Creat' something?
Mo-thug @ Jun 3rd 2006 6:19PM
lol, im baaaaaaaak, nice to see ppl are replying to my comment,
NOw NOw, dont get all heaty on mee, if you look back you will see that ps1 had a motion sensor controller, with dual shock and the lot in it,
and who ever it is corectin my grammer is the real idiot, im a game programmer, iv been making mobile java games etc, iv got a cozy job, thats why im sayin i can afford PS3, yesterday i went out to buy a HDTV,l but said nah to it cuz, not hd stuff out yet, would be ap point.
i guesss this finished the arguement and every other comment coming after
SOny and XBOX360 are amazing machines, not a kids toy. like the wii
Slapaho @ Jun 3rd 2006 6:41PM
You guys are getting too worked up about something that is hardly final and months from even reaching consumers. I remember the 360 at E3 '05 with J. Allard playing Kameo which looked like a Gamecube game that was barely running stable. Then you see 360 at launch and it was like a whole different console with last minute changes like the 40GB HDD being changed to 20GB. PR guys are always going to talk about things that dont even really matter to me, a guy who just wants to use a console. I just have to wait and see what the PS3 will actually be and I am kind of glad games like Resistance and Heavenly Sword are already running the way they are. Also, with the price revealed so much time from launch I can save up money easily unlike the 360 which kind of cut it close but I still made it.
Mo-thug @ Jun 3rd 2006 6:57PM
well well well, if it isnt the fans with the wii between their crotch,
i know their gonna mass produce wii at their homes for their system,
just dont let the wii get involved when ur playin or do play it while u wii, on the toilet system..
nah its just a load of joke about wii,
yeh wii is gonna sell like hotcakes, n its gonna sell like krazy, but hey, ya know wat, after about a year, it wont matter anymore, the other 2 machines, wil have completly different games too wii, and thats why we will need a ps3 or xbox360,
and SLAPAHO
[QUOTE]
I just have to wait and see what the PS3 will actually be and I am kind of glad games like Resistance and Heavenly Sword are already running the way they are.
[/QUOTE]
U GOT A GREAT POINT THERE
last @ Jun 3rd 2006 7:26PM
ok...To start it off I personaly think the wii is trying the innovative thing. Its all good and creative but its not it wasn't thought of before. I'm pretty sure it has been made before as an accessory to an existing system. If not a system, for the computer. And all that bullshit saying graphics has nothign to do with it. Its just that Nintendo is poor. Design a system with upgraded graphics doesn't come cheap. Are you telling me that you don't mind playing games with nice looking graphics? The PS3 has alsmost CG quality gameplay. That itself is great.
Do you know what? What other system out there plays high definition? The 360 requires a freaking addon that will almost offset price difference with the PS3. Why the addon? Because PS3 has it. How about free online content? Sync with portable gaming devices like the PSP? Have you heard the Mircosoft is comming out with a portable device as well? Yes that is correct MS may be comming out with a portable devies like who? Like Nintendo and Sony of course. O and I bet you can sync it with the 360 OMG! So who is copying who now?
The only thing 360 has changed is the graphics and the color the the system. Games? the same only better looking. Controller? Fucking the same only wireless...like everything else nowadays. Yes i know PS3 lookes the same but they did change something. Do you know what? the bullshit about PS3 copying Nintendo is bullshit. With such a big project, you can't change something like that in such a short amount of time. Even if they did copy it, Would you not buy the PS3 because the had an extra feature? Bullshit. if the 360 adds a controller like that and you would all shut the fuk up. The 360 has absolutely no innovation to it. Its just a fucking over heating peace of furniture. I don't see how your all not saying anything about that.
Do you know whats great? You are all arguing about this all because of the PS3. The 360 is pressured by the PS3's realese. Thats why it was pusted and rushed for an early realese.
I agree the PS3 is a bit expense for those who are on a tight budget. I'm going to say that is comes with blueray but you'r all just going to hell at me saying its not an excuse. How much does a hd dvd player cost? how about a blue ray dvd player? $500-$1000 around there?
I plan to get a PS3 when the price drops just a bit perhaps a wii just because is small and compact (niced design btw looks nice unlike its graphics).
Just think about what Sony has made not what they have said. Take a few minutes and look at the specs and what it has to offer.
Chris1 @ Jun 3rd 2006 11:41PM
Seriously. Some of you people are so stupid it makes me lose IQ points when I read your stupid comments. You know what? Sometimes I don't understand why people think Sony is so great. The PS2 sucked major ass. Let's clear up 1 thing right now. The only reason Sony was so "great" was because their was a shit load of 3rd party support. They had games coming out of their ass. PS2 is like Kobe Bryant, he makes 80 points a game, but he shoots twice as many as shots than anyone on his team. PS2 had a lot of great games, but they had about 10 times more shitty ones that no one bought. I mean, get over it people. The PS2 was inferior to the Gamecube and XBOX. It had the worst specs. Now you morons try to justify it's price based on its specs which apparently meant nothing to you in the last generation. Man, not only is Sony laughing at you fanboys but so is everyone here. By your standards last gen then the Wii should own them all in this generation. XBOX should have been the best system and it wasn't. So get over your bullshit graphic hype cause it clearly meant nothing to you in the past. And for those that think that the blog world has no sway over others, I've already convinced tons of people not to buy a PS3 but to get a Wii and a 360. I've told my friends about the bullshit that Sony is gonna tell them when their system comes out and they know to not buy it. If there are 10 thousand of us and we talk five people into not buying the PS3 then thats 50,000 PS3's on the shelves. But it only get's worse because that means that the if we tell them to get a 360 and they do, the difference is now 100,000 units. Of course this is all in theory. I have convinced more than 5. For those of you conducting surveys in your little rich schools finding out that people will get PS3's no matter what, guess what? You are in the minority on this one. Most people won't say stupid shit like "I will buy one even if it costs $700" because they need that money to put gas in their car or to buy groceries.
I also love how you sony fagboys were claiming that they had that controller over ten years ago and that they didn't steal that idea. Please do me a favor and don't procreate. Most of you morons were claiming the the Wii's controller was a gimmick and blah, blah, blah. Now you have to find something to defend yourselves because your own company made you look like asses. I wanna see how Sony implements it's totally original "Online Forever." I haven't heard them claim this but I'm sure they've been planning this since the NES era.
Jason @ Jun 4th 2006 12:36AM
DEATH TO SONY...hahahah
Rise of the Nintendo!!! hahahaha
yeah...lets just hope that Microsoft doesn't take over the SONY position and do a complete domination of COMPUTER/GAMING/...blah etc...
lol...(i hate microsoft and sony, Go Linux and Go Nintendo)
sumaznguy @ Jun 4th 2006 12:42AM
all the next generation consoles are great but they all got their faults, XBOX 360 has shitty backward compatibility which pissed off thousands of xbox owners, PS3 has it price issues which may lead to the downfall of Sony gaming consoles, while the Wii has a motion sensoring controller which will be cool for a year or so but unless any company comes up with a game which really uses the controllers full capabilities and blows the mind of every Wii owner, the Wii may end up like Sony.
the winner of the next generation war will depend on how people will react with the pros or the cons of each console.
last @ Jun 4th 2006 12:48AM
umm a shit load of crapy games for the PS2 right? but how many games does the PS2 have? Alot more than any other system. Of the many there are also a shit load of good games, more than i can count or even play. Why has the Sony PS2 been that top seller? Maybe because its actually good. Have you ever asked WHY the PS2 had so many games? Maybe because the game devlopers think that the PS2 is the better console to make games for?
If the PS2 was inferior then why did people buy it. If it was shitty back then they would hav told friend to not buy it therefor create a chain reaction and sales would plummet. But you all know that that did NOT happen.
All you Microsoft fans all think their products are great. I agree some products are good but mostly their are just trying to dominate the market by expanding every where from mp3s to computer software.
Sony has one main purpose, provide the latest technology to the consumer in a nice looking package making profit at the same time.
Microsoft just releases products with a lot of marketing. They released the 360 with celebrities advertizing it!! If some little company released the xbox instead it wouldn't have lasted till now. Microsoft should just stick with their software and leave the hardware for other companys.
Wii, good job I like it, cheap small and below par graphics. a very good end of semester present for your younger cousin that he/she will play with for about a years and move on to the PS3 or 360.
just my 2 cents. again.
Mo-thug @ Jun 4th 2006 9:11AM
very nicely said by "last".
fun for a while, then they will move on to the other games,, sometimes im up hours and hours playin final fantasy and other RPGs, and if somebody thinks im going to play fighting games on wii, using the remote, forget it, i get exhausted enuff, after playin an hour of VF eyetoy, and my pops can get tired playin it really quick, Wii, is not gonna last its appeal will wear off,
HERE IS THE LINK TO THE MOTION SENSOR CONTROLLER, FOR PS1,, THATS RIGHT PLAYSTATION 1, ALL THE NINTENDO FAN BOYS WENT SILENT, , NOTHING GOOD TO SAY AT ALL
http://ps3.qj.net/Nintendo-tells-Sony-Stop-Copying-Me-But-who-s-copying-who-/pg/49/aid/42419
Jim @ Jun 4th 2006 9:31AM
Unbelievable. I am no fan boy of any system. I own every system since the 2600, yes even the saturn. Sony would not be in this position if not for the psx. Most people didn't buy the psx2 for the orignal games, they bought it for backwards compatibility because sony promised they would play the olde games at "better quality" and everyone bought it. People criticize Microsoft about the original xbox, but microsoft has made it very clear that they used that system to get entry into the market, nothing else, hence why they stopped production already not to mention nvidia would give them rights to manufacturingm, the 360 is ms designed and manufactured so they can produce smaller designes and add plants at the own whim. At least nintendo and microsoft don't need to come out with a "smaller" of every consle they have a couple years after release to get you to buy another one. That's what we call padding statistics. That's what PR is, making people believe your products can walk on water and Sony has done that with the ps1 and ps2, but it hasn't worked for the ps3. Don't tell me sony wasn't trying to copy the motion sensing capabilities of the wii. 3rd party devs only learned about it at e3 and not from sony. Even their own sony game developers were only told 10 days before and had to get it programed into one of their games before e3 for show. Some people need to read more and talk less.
Yes, interactive features have been tried before, but Nintendo has done this one right AND they have the GAMES (not hardware like Sony) to make it work. Nintendos motion sensing is not just left-right crap like sony (who most likely just changed because they are in legal battle over dual shock and just figured it would be easy to explain copying motion technology this way) it is a full 3d motion sensing, so wake up and smell the coffee.
I'm also tired of people bad mouthing microsoft. Who had the first led mouse, who had the first laser mouse, first properly ergonmic keyboard? wasn't our beloved logitech who's business is peripherals! Also who had the first properly designed online gaming experience, wasn't sony was it? (dreamcast was close though) People would rather pay for a good product than deal with a free crappy one. Microsoft does drive ingenuity. just because their software divsion is slow to respond (i would be too if i had to maintain compatibility for how many hundreds of thousand components out there), then again if you got sued for anti-trust every time you tried adding support for an "OPEN document format" (pdf) you would be slow too. Their hardware division and xbox divisions are completely seperate entitiies and are not driven buy the software part. Are you also going to tell me the microsoft's 3-core processor and 10x larger memory bandwidth (yes sony's is very tiny) isn't an advantage. From a programmers standpoint, i'd rather write multi-threaded applications than apps fro 1 processor and 7 dsps. 360 Devs even said they like how graphics load can also be offloaded to the main cpu is needed, how nice. I prefer the KISS (keep It simple stupis) method. Why do you think sony is losing 3rd party developers to MS now, not to mention MS is bringing on quite a few high quality gaing studios as 1st party developers. It seems as though the momemtum is shifting and starting to even out the gaming world. Also stop bitching about over heating, the new processor chips will ship in early 2007 and use the 65nm instead of 90nm process therefore reducing cost and heat. So expect a price drop 1st quarter 2007.
for all you people who bitch about microsoft trying to take over everything, i bet you believe that google is the savior of the software world too. I love gogle's search but they are expanding into every industry they can get their hands on to all at the same time making you believe they aren't becoming a monopoly. WAKE UP!
The point of all of this:
1. Nintendo is Back! Wiiiiiiiiiiiii! :)
2. 360 is a great console get over it PS fanboys
3. Blu-Ray doesn't matter why do i want to replace all my dvd again.
4. PS3 is not better than anything else out there and none cares about CG "like" graphics and sorry fan boys "full motion video" and "show demos" don't count!
5. Don't try to convince people they should buy something else. If they want to waste their money, let them. I prefer to call it consumer education.
Neil @ Jun 4th 2006 11:11AM
In terms of Sony's recent PR here is my slant:
1. No PR department asked for the root kit FIASCO. Do you guys really see any way any PR department could have dug out of this one? For those thinking it has no impact on PS3 - consider people like me - I think twice and three times now before I ever consider buying any Sony products now. Vanguard switching to Sony as their publisher has now made me at least twice as less interested in it as I was before. Will it stop me from buying it... no... will it add a level of decision making... yes and this is for what a $50ish dollar game.
2. Part of the cost of the PS3 is the developement of the cell processor. I think a lot of Sony's lost PR opportunity is hyping this more. Of course they had partners here so maybe their hands are tied. If I were Sony I'd be getting the processor to scientists and just hoping that one of them would come out and say some discovery they made was a result of having new programming tools available that were not possible before the cell processor.
3. A lot is being made of the WII+360 being about same price as (expected) for PS3. My thoughts are that a WII+360 will not deliver HD DVD (or whatever they are calling it these days). Sony needs to keep hyping this and pray they win the standards war that is brewing. Does anybody think MS will deliver an add on for 360 for anything less than $200-300 to add HD DVD to their platform? Personally I think Blu Ray just sounds cool too and shouldn't be discounted as a PR win. Here Sony has a big advantage because of their hands being in the movie industry. I've already seen coming soon to DVD and Blu Ray commercials and if I were Sony I'd be pushing for even more.
4. How many folks told ATI and Nvidia they wouldn't ever be able to raise the high end gaming vid card price into the $500-600 range? They did and both were doing damn good in that market last I checked.
I'm sure I could come up with more to say, but I'll let all your eyes rest for now :-)
Andy @ Jun 4th 2006 1:13PM
Man oh man, I'm waiting for a real-life war to erupt or something with all the flaming on this board... Seriously, you guys all ripping on each other need to get a hobby or something. I think everyone is missing the boat with the next generation of consoles: not only is there a significant chance the PS3 will fail in the gamer market, but the whole market itself may collapse. That includes Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and most of the 3rd party developers that focus on console games.
Don't you guys see what's going on? The reason why all the prices for the consoles are going sky high is because these "entertainment systems" aren't for games anymore. Instead of focusing on making a quality, affordable (key word there), and ergonomical gaming system, all the gaming companies are thinking "just how much crap can we stuff into these entertainment systems?"
Why exactly do we need the PS3 to support 50GB blu-ray discs? Do we really need all that space? Better yet, why does any gamer suddently have to make the jump to HDTV? I don't know about you guys, but I don't feel like forking over a few grand for a TV with "marginally better" picture quality. It won't be long until we're all required to upgrade to HDTV. And if you don't believe me, just research a litte on the ol' internet. Games of previous console generations looked just fine on regular TVs, so why do we need to change this?
The reason why game consoles are so expensive nowadays is because of their new fancy graphics. Um, I don't know about you "fanboys" of the various consoles, but I don't choose sides like that. The best company with the best console and the best games is what gets my hard-earned money. As a true gamer of over 15 years (are some of you even that old?), I have seen and played everything from the Atari to present-day stuff (sans X-Box 360). And I can tell you one of the least important parts of a game are its GRAPHICS. I'm not alone on this one, a lot of my friends who are gamers agree. A lot of favorite games of mine and theirs were made on systems such as PSX (Resident Evil, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Hot Shots Golf, Final Fantasy VII, etc.) and N64 (Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Super Smash Bros, Zelda 64, etc.).
Do you know why these are some of mine and other's favorite games? Because they're actual games instead of lovely CG movies that you happen to punch a couple controller commands into. These games aforementioned were on the forefront of 3-D console gaming, and they came from a time when gameplay was much more important than graphics, because they simply did not have the graphics chips to make realistic environments.
Here's the important part: The reason why we're paying more money for lesser-quality games is because the industry is heading for a huge crash. They are focusing way too much on graphics (no, I really don't care about seeing Shaq's sweat on the 360), instead of the actual gameplay. Instead of modified movies, I want actual games that I feel a part of, and I'm not just watching. It's the graphical components that are sending prices through the roof. Just take a look at any game's credits, and see the programmer list versus the graphical designer list. Huge difference. Not only that, but all this fancy HDTV crap with the way over-hyped modified DVDs cost way too much money. I can't even name anyone I know that owns a High-Def TV, because it's not that big a deal for most people.
The reason why the gaming industry is doomed is because they want to appeal to the .01% of the market that...
a) Has a lot of disposable income (doesn't include me)
b) Has the latest "must-have" CDs > MP3s. All these different media types only create a mass division in the market (dare I say blu-ray versus HD-DVD?) and it hurts the industry as a whole.
So, I don't know how many of you guys on this forum actually like to take a step back and think, but I have. I've concluded that although I have been loyal to Sony for the past decade or so, I have also tried Nintendo's, Microsoft's, and Sega's products. The 1995-generation of consoles were great. They were solely for gaming, that was it. The 2000-gen of consoles weren't bad either. They had some extra options like DVD playing capacity and online-playing, but they still focused on gaming. I can say I have no hope for the 2006-generation of systems. Gone are the days where the companies focus on gaming, and are replaced with the days of the entertainment machine that does your laundry, does your homework, reads you a bedtime story, and you need to make a second mortgage on your house to purchase it.
I have to say that I'm going to sit out this next generation of consoles, because I think almost everyone is going to lose in the long run, and be out a lot of money. You can push around all the facts, details, and "this-blog-said-this" comments, but it won't matter. The market will collapse if the consumer base loses confidence or finds a better alternative. Dare we learn from the American auto industry? So let these dictators -I mean corporations- sell you their crap, and remember the days where they actually cared about us gamers, because those are long gone. And think of the days (for those of you who are old enough) when games where games, not graphical masterpieces.
Andy @ Jun 4th 2006 1:26PM
Hmm, Joystiq seems to have cut out half of my comment... Right when you get to the part where I go "a)... b)...", read this part instead:
The reason why the gaming industry is doomed is because they want to appeal to the .01% the market that...
a) Has a lot of disposable income (doesn't include me)
b) Has the latest "must-have" CDs > MP3s. All these different media types only create a mass division in the market (dare I say blu-ray versus HD-DVD?) and it hurts the industry as a whole.
So, I don't know how many of you guys on this forum actually like to take a step back and think, but I have. I've concluded that although I have been loyal to Sony for the past decade or so, I have also tried Nintendo's, Microsoft's, and Sega's products. The 1995-generation of consoles were great. They were solely for gaming, that was it. The 2000-gen of consoles weren't bad either. They had some extra options like DVD playing capacity and online-playing, but they still focused on gaming. I can say I have no hope for the 2006-generation of systems. Gone are the days where the companies focus on gaming, and are replaced with the days of the entertainment machine that does your laundry, does your homework, reads you a bedtime story, and you need to make a second mortgage on your house to purchase it.
I have to say that I'm going to sit out this next generation of consoles, because I think almost everyone is going to lose in the long run, and be out a lot of money. You can push around all the facts, details, and "this-blog-said-this" comments, but it won't matter. The market will collapse if the consumer base loses confidence or finds a better alternative. Dare we learn from the American auto industry? So let these dictators -I mean corporations- sell you their crap, and remember the days where they actually cared about us gamers, because those are long gone. And think of the days (for those of you who are old enough) when games where games, not graphical masterpieces.
metalgearpoptart @ Jun 4th 2006 3:22PM
If I were her, I would be leaving too because of all the dumb comments made by Sony like the PS3 will replace your computer.
superjoe @ Jun 4th 2006 5:55PM
@#38 (Mo-thug)
After nintendo unveiled the motion sensing nunchuck controller design for its (revolution) console back in 2005 at the TGS in japan, Sony bashed the idea of a motion sencing controller for innovative gameplay functionality and called it gimmicky. However, at E3 2006 Sony unveiled a sloppy implementation of motion sensor technology for their PS3 dual shake (without rumble) controller wich looks like a duplication of Pelicans PS1 controller. Thanks to Mo-thug for raising awareness to the fact that Sony may have copied Pelican instead of nintendo for their PS3 controller design.
Ianc02 @ Jun 4th 2006 6:23PM
Drive drive drive shoot shoot drive cgmovie drive drive shoot shoot root kit shoot shoot drive wallet rape drive shoot cgi cgi drive shoot.
The PS3 experience.
1up_clock @ Jun 4th 2006 7:42PM
Dear last,
"I plan to get a PS3 when the price drops just a bit perhaps a wii just because is small and compact (niced design btw looks nice unlike its graphics)."
So... I take it you looked at Resident Evil 4 and said, "Man, this sucks. This is SO gonna look better on the PS2."? Because I think Wii looks a tad better than that, which is fine by me.
At least FatSonyFanboy hasn't marched in here and started personally insulting everybody based on what he assumes to be our average income. Man, it's like he's never heard of the words "budget" and "not listening to hype from a company that has lied repeatedly to it's customers and literally called them stupid".
C. Grant @ Jun 4th 2006 8:09PM
FSF won't be in here any more since he's been banned. Thankfully he hasn't tried coming back!
The Dude @ Jun 4th 2006 8:36PM
@30
I love you dude. I seriously do. I wrote a rant JUST LIKE that one in the Nintendo forums under a thread labeled "Lets face it: Sony is Scared...". I poured my heart and soul into that post just to have it NOT go through at all when I submitted it. The post must've took 20mins of non stop typing. So you could probably imagine how upset I was afterwards.
You know how funny it is to try to open a Sony fanbots (YES, I said fanbot because thats how you ALL are) eyes and then they go into a COMPLETE denial state, THEN ignore you because THEY KNOW you're making sense??! I call you 'defenders of shit' fanbots because like bots you only do what you're told! You have NO thought process and Kutaragi(sp) and his friends are the ones with the remote controls to your welbeing. But you know, being $ony fans and all, you're all just going to DENY it and say "Whatever. or "I don't care." We can already see how much you actually do care.
You fanbots are the WEAKEST of the 3 company fans ALSO because of you can't take heat from anyone when someone mentions anything negative about your beloved company. Going to deny this as well? Or stop reading?? Do that and you proved my point. YOU KNOW your company MESSED UP this year!! YOU KNOW IT!! To you people anything negative about Sony is blasphmey(sp)! WAKE THE HELL UP!!! OPEN YOUR EYES!! Don't you realizes you're being raped?? Or is it to the point where you can't tell anymore because you've been raped many times before?
You know, before, I don't give a crap towards Microsoft. Now its like..wow.. I see what you're trying to do, and I like it Micro, keep it up please. Nintendo, I'm on board with hands down. What has Nintendo ever forced down on me SINCE my first console with them (the SNES)? Heh, with Sony... I was seriously thinking of buying a PS2 because I've never really wanted on before.. but the only thing that son my mind when I would think of buying one isn't the games... I think about how the company in general is..and THATS what holds me back. Yeah, you may say "Oh well, thats you." and I agree. Thats me. $ony is becoming more and more obvious that its only in for the money (Not obvious to their fans though) which is why the PS2 hardware is crap PURPOSELY. It breaks down, and they MAKE you buy another one because they beat their developers over the head with rulers yelling at them to make great games so people would buy another(lol). *sigh* But yea. I odn't feel as passionate with this post as I did with my Ninty forum one, so I end my rant. Comments, replies?