Sony Online Service aims to achieve brand loyalty

Agreed

NOTHING is free. You're either 1) too young or 2) ignorant.

What, Facebook, texting, cell phones, email and gaming networks don't provide you with enough networking ability to keep in touch with people? Seriously?

For what it's worth, I'm under the impression American's are distracted enough as of late and adding more noise to our culture isn't going to help anything. You know what Japan (Sony), stay hone and make noise there.

Whoa... where'd all this come from!? Apparently I love games but not the fact they're trying to make it so it's more and more difficult for me to turn them "off".

"NOTHING is free."

My good friend air would like to have a word with you.

Don't even try getting technical with some story about how we have to take care of our planet and trees to ensure continued production of oxygen (which in turn would cost). I could easily counter that argument.

In a society where it is becoming more and more common that people isolate themselves by technology and don't talk to other very much...you actually COMPLAINING that people are trying to find more ways to communicate?

Really?

This logic doesn't make any sense to me... PSN is free and therefore you have money for more 'games'... plural... If you have Xbox Live, you can easily find a deal that will make it about $40 or so for service for an entire year + one month in most cases... So, I could buy 2/3 of a new game for that price or a used game for that price.

I agree that PSN is a good network and everything especially for being free but for my money, Xbox Live has more services and more people available online. I don't go for the whole "12 years olds calling me names" argument either because I have experienced the same thing on PSN. Being a PS3 owner doesn't make you become an upstanding citizen considering how the console can be purchased by anyone or for anyone.

People are willing to pay for Xbox Live because of the content that comes along with it as well as the ability to play a lot of games online. The $40 or (if you're lazy and don't want to find a deal) $50 that you spend on Xbox Live can easily be recouped by getting as much out of the service as possible. PSN just doesn't offer the same services, in my opinion.

On the topic of brand loyalty, some people will blindly follow the company that creates their console (PS3 fanboys, 360 fanboys and Wii fanboys) so it doesn't matter what services they provide because they will always look better by comparison (in the eyes of the loyalist). Yes, free = awesome, but the idea that paying for Xbox Live automatically make it a rip-off is wrong. Also, saying that PSN is awesome based solely on the fact that it is free is wrong. Of course, you are free to have your own opinion.

sonicspike41 - canned air or how about scuba divers... I bet they pay for air.

Even death costs money in the USA. Don't believe me? If you were to die, someone will PAY to have you cremated or buried.

@D dogg

I think PSN is free...we will never know.

I don't pay for multiplayer after I rent or buy a game I just pay for internet and that's all. I did that with my Xbox but that's a different story because after about a year and a half I stopped using Live and started using PSN for a cheaper experience. (talking money here not quality)

Now I don't feel stupid when I'm missing out on new games or too busy with school and can't play for something I payed for. Not to mention $50 serves well for gas money not just another game. Sony's letting me play against others for free and supporting my habit lol, and get a couple of good friends and when you die let em pay the bill jk and try Uncharted, just throwing it out there..

I'm wondering if you ever play videogames... or keep mastering the dark side of the force for that matter...
Haha no hurt feelings XD
Keep posting I'll read it if you get upvoted :D

uhhhh yea....sure....like MS was the first company to do announce something similar....cut it out already

Yeah, and how has that worked out? Live Anywhere is...NOWHERE!

Sony was talking about expanding PSN to consumer devices since the launch of the service.

MS wasn't the first but Sony is on a Me too boat. Following MS on all there business models. First Sony along with Nintendo said people don't want online gaming. Then when MS proved thet Online gaming is what people wanted. They jumped on that boat too. MS said $50 a year for service. Yesterday Sony said they want to start seeking new revenue from their PSN. MS brings Facebook, Nintendo and Sony jumped on that boat. MS has Netflix Sony has now has Netflix. I could cite more but there is no need everyone one who is paying attention can see or in this case read.

My point is they are following really closely what other industry players are doing and spinning it as NEW. Which is a good thing this just mean We get more innovation, add-ons and stuff to do on our consoles as time goes along.

Sony never said they were going to charge for a PSN subscription. They said they would charge for other things. Really, the PS3 had Facebook integration long before the 360 did. Netflix is expanding to all devices, and Microsoft wasn't the 'first' to do that.

Sony created the business model with the original PlayStation. They just chose not to follow it for the first three years of this generation.

WHOA WHOA WHOA!!

Me 2 boat??

Uhhh Nintendo & Sony put Facebook on their devices so they are copying MS?? FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH THAT SHIT....

I guess MS was Copying EVERY Cell phone provider under the sun then huh? cause EVERYTHING connected to the net is getting social networking implemented into it....

Fact of the matter Is MS has talked about Live anywhere since 2003...and it hasn't managed to get ANYWHERE since then....Sony is talking about networking all of their products together so they are copying MS?? Wake up....CELL PHONES HAVE BEEN NETWORKED TOGETHER FOR OVER A DECADE.....as have plenty of other devices....

The netflix situation.....thats not Sony playing "Catch up" or "me 2" thats simply Netflix went to Sony AFTER MS cut them a BIG check...had Sony cut the check then would MS have been playing catch up?? no...because PLENTY OF OTHER DEVICES PLAYED NETFLIX....

Sure you can say that about somethings....but Netflix, and this is NOT one of them....

Guys, guys! Computers are copying Microsoft! Quick! DO SOMETHING!

@Omega:

Both Chris and Darth have got ya on this argument...

I think the bigger point that you're missing Omega is that the reason why these features are continually added is because of competition. Which is always good for consumers so that they have choices. Who cares if Sony has taken implementations from MS? I mean you could argue that MS pulled a 'me too' moment by jumping onto the console gaming bandwagon in the first place--one that both Sony and Nintendo were on long before MS jumped in.

So what if Sony did copy? How is that a bad business strategy if it works in the long run, the idea is that you copy and improve, copy and improve, so on and so forth, it makes you money and is the ideal business model. Saying that, you are talking about Micro here, and Micro aren't exactly known for spouting originality out of every door, nearly every single modern idea or product they have produced has been a replica of something else.

Are you telling me that if you weren't a business and you saw another business doing well at something, you wouldn't want to grab a share of that market? Microsoft wouldn't be in the gaming industry if they took that stupid ass perspective, they are copying Nintendo, Sega, Sony and every other tech company that went into gaming.

So lets stop this childish who is copying who arguement, because I too could hit you with several business facts which go against your reasonings

i think you guys missed my point:

My point is they are following really closely what other industry players are doing and spinning it as NEW. Which is a good thing this just mean We get more innovation, add-ons and stuff to do on our consoles as time goes along.

I am just tired of Sony Spinning everything as NEW. and haven't been done before.

Well...technically it is new, its new to Sony, and there are new concepts in there as well, it will also be new based on the fact that MS was all talk and no action, I have yet to see Live anywhere and even wonder what the purpose of it would be. I can see a small link with Zune, but thats about it.

With Sony's now, I can actually imagine playing PSP minis on my Erricsson, or PSN titles to play on my Bravia even without a PS3, or downloading of movies straight to your HDTV from PSN as opposed to MS that requires 360 to achieve this. I can see PSN being more widely available on PC and there is nothins Micro can do to stop that.

I can see me being able to access my account from any Sony device I have, and best of all, I can see a technological future for PSN as technology obviously develops.

Whether you like it or not, the basic CONCEPT may not be new, but actually producing it, would be, and some of the ideas behind it are also new.

Besides, didn't Microsoft say Vista was new, and refreshing, only for me to find out it was a complete and utter shameless rip off of Apple's OS system, the only difference is that Apple's OS system actually existed, Live anywhere doesn't.

@Omega:

Microsoft launched Xbox Live AFTER Sony introduced the PS2 Network Adapter, so Sony had online gaming before Xbox.

Although not identical, Microsoft redesigned its controller to more closely resemble the DualShock and an overall design concept that has been implemented since 1995.

And what about Kodu? You talk about a blatant rip-off of LittleBigPlanet.

So why didn't you mention any of these tidbits?

I'm a Xbox 360 owner and I just have to say this... Kodu isn't a ripoff of Little Big Planet... Kodu more closely resembles a steaming pile of crap. I don't see any similarities.

Yeah same, I've only got the PS3 and an Erricsson Phone, which I may get rid of soonish. If Sony release a good wi fi enabled phone and get into the whole app market more, then this would interest me.

they lost it for PlayStation maybe....but even in a recession people Still will buy Sony over say Samsung or even Sharp.......especially from Sam's Club or Costco where its a lot cheaper that normal retailers

Really? I've never noticed much Sony loyalty beyond the Playstation. Sure, there are some sleek looking Sony products, but it seems like there are more preferred brands in every other market Sony is involved in.

Of course, I am typing this from a Sony Vaio laptop I bought a couple years ago because it looked better than the other laptops, certainly not loyal, but what do I know?

No, they've lost it big time in the TV landscape. Sony could charge 20% more than any competitor in the 90s and get away with it because of their name and brand loyalty. Nowadays, Panasonic and Samsung both have stronger reputations.

For me, I'll pay extra for a Sony product. They still pay attention to the little details. That's probably why I've got a Bravia, a Reader, a Sony home theater...

But they have lost some brand loyalty, that much is certain.

Not in Japan, though.

Panasonic? really?? Samsung I can see as they have stepped their game up and made some real attractive TVs....but Panasonic still has the big bulky looking ugly ass gray TVs....and a FEW black ones....but they are Plasma and we all know where those are headed...

When I was an electronics salemen @ Sears I tended to steer people towards the Samsungs & Sharps even tho Sony had the higher commission on it....when I had Japanese customers come in they would AUTOMATICALLY go STRAIGHT for Sony....no questions asked....they also drove either Lexus' or Toyotas......Japanese people have more brand/country loyalty than any other nationality I can think of

@Chris:

I've gotta agree with Jenks here.... The Panasonic Plasmas are pretty hot stuff right now in terms of picture quality. Almost every review I've read has praised both the G10 and V10 series of Plasmas for their awesome PQ especially for the great price. CNET even went as far to say that in some ways they rival the extinct Kuro Elite. And many home theater mags have had nothing but great things to say about the Panasonics.

I even think the NYT or some other mainstream publication (I can't remember where yet) had a big article in the return of Plasma due to its cheaper cost compared to LCD. I think Plasma is far from dead since there are a lot of people not willing to drop 3 large on the best LCD tech when 2 grand will get you a ridiculously awesome plasma.

Fix of reply fail:

I'd like to think the rootkit fiasco cost them.

It probably didn't, but it should have.

Sony has an arrogance second only to Apple.

I think it's safe to say that Sony has been coasting on the brand loyalty they built in the '90s back when the brand had a reputation for quality products. Most people who buy Sony branded equipment today do so not because they did their research and found the Sony model to be superior to the competition, but because they REMEMBER the Sony name as being synonymous with a superior product.

In reality, today, there is hardly a single product category that Sony is truly competitive in.

Their TV's are decent, but Samsung has dominated and lead the LCD market for a while now. Back when Sony made rear projections and plasmas they were inferior products compared to JVC's and Panasonics and Pioneers respectively.

Sony's audio components are only competitive in the high end models and in that market, consumers go for more elite brands. In the low to middle tier models, Sony's AVR's are bested by Yamaha, H/K and Pioneer while Sony's speakers haven't been respected in the audio community for ages.

Cell phones, do I even need to go there?

MP3 players? Niche market. Sony hasn't been popular in the portable music market since the walkman and discman days.

Laptops? Eh. I'll give them props for style, but in price to performance ratio they get smeared from a number of competitors. Remember the LifestylePC? Yeah, a mini-netbook with a fully featured laptop pricetag.

Basically, Sony has become (or is trying to become) a stylish alternative. They gave up on making their products better, but to retain the high price-points and to justify their existence in the market at all, they tried to make them prettier. Informed consumers don't buy Sony products anymore, now "hip" consumers do.

Also, the korean companies caught up to Sony in terms of quality by the end of the 90's, so their market share (and mindshare) in home electronics got reduced that much more in the past 10 years. Where they got it wrong (in my opinion) was in spreading themselves into every media outlet imaginable, and then getting cocky about it (i.e. the rootkit fiasco, the PSP launch, and PS3 Launch, and the HD format war where they strong-armed the entire movie industry to back blu-ray).

uhhh this will be global.....as this came from a Sony CORPORATE meeting in JAPAN...

this should have been a reply to myself.

This comment system is broken. Someone should pay someone to get it fixed.

Sony has all the potential in the world, but there seem to be a few broken gears somewhere in there.

I was thinking more along the lines of putting snails on laptops and seeing how much work they produce in a year.

It's because they have so many divisions that they take so long. Too much in-fighting.

Exactly, you'd think that they all being under the same name have some sense of cohesion going on, but from the looks of it, they may be under the Sony brand name, but they all are very different companies and want little or nothing to do with each other. Otherwise a PSP phone would have been out yonks ago.

Sony needs to pull up its trousers, if they want to remain competitive and in the top 500 biggest businesses (not allowing the likes of Nokia, Samsung, Microsoft and other companies in different areas) they need to start working collectively.

That's part of Stringer's reorganization plan-to get the internal divisions on the same page. If he pulls it off, we should see better products.

Idiot, Sony still has a lot of brand loyalty outside of the US. Where I originally come from, Sony products are pretty popular and are always the first choice when it comes to televisions, music systems, laptops, DVD players - you name it.

Yes, I'm in the US now and I do realize that some of their products are overpriced and there are better options from competitors.

Take off your tinfoil hat and learn to realize that Sony does sell stuff and make a shit ton of money outside of the US or wherever you're from.