Sony feeling the strain - Bach

[wraggster]

Via eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=70405)


Robbie Bach, the president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, has said that he believes Sony is focusing on too many different areas - and is feeling the strain as a result.

Speaking to the San Jose Mercury News, Bach defended Microsoft's decision to introduce new music player Zune to market, rather than a new gaming handheld.

At present, he said, the company's priority is to make sure that, "The second holiday for Xbox 360 is set up right, that we've got the quantities we need, that we've got the games we need, and anything I do to distract those guys is probably a bad thing.

"I think Sony, frankly, suffers a little bit from this problem, which is they're spread really thin across all these areas. And trying to do PSP, competing with Nintendo, PSP to DS; competing with us, 360 to PS3, I think it does strain - it would naturally strain any organisation," he added.

When it comes to competing with the PlayStation 3, "Right now we are thinking about how to cost reduce the Xbox 360. That seems to be the first order of business," Bach said.

"You have to ask the question, over the life cycle, who has the cost advantage? Who can price most effectively? Who can reach the price points quicker? That has a huge impact on what gets driven.

"Most publishers are doing their initial development work on the Xbox 360. That plays to our benefit. Because we are out there first, we have a bigger installed base of consoles. We can drive down the manufacturing curve sooner and faster. And because we designed a box that was fundamentally easier to manage on costs, we’re going to have that advantage," he concluded.

According to Bach, Xbox 360 will be "a great logical choice" for gamers who want to buy a new console this Christmas season, particularly as PS3 shortages continue - adding, "Our value proposition is just better."

He said that Microsoft's decision not to introduce a 2006 holiday price cut for Xbox 360 "was not that hard", explaining, "When your competitor is supply constrained, it’s not clear what price buys you.

"Sony is going to sell as many units as they can ship in the US. I don’t know that a lower price would make a difference in the outcome. As you go out into later years, cost and price are both important issues."

When asked how long it will be before Microsoft starts making money on Xbox, Bach replied, "To be clear, we have said that in fiscal 08, entertainment and devices makes money. That’s not exactly Xbox. We don’t break profit down by business. And there are parts of entertainment and devices that make money. Xbox doesn’t. Xbox has to make significant progress to enable E&D to get there."

However, Bach added, "We feel we are on track."

[steve-b]

Sony have always been 'spread thin' as he puts it. I mean, they make everything! I really don't see how adding a portable gaming device to their line up is going to cause the problems he is hinting at. I guess if he just means sony's gaming department it could ring true.

He does make some interesting points though. And if you think about all other distractions and bad press sony has had recently with batteries going pop, rootkits, shafting Europe with release dates (as usual), could the psp and ps3 failing be a nail in a coffin?

[danknugz]

bullsh!t . first of all, ds is no competition for psp, i wouldnt be caught dead in public with a ds. nobody says ninten'doh is spreading itself thin with its 2 biggest sellers, wii and ds. they complement each other. so do ps3 and psp. sure , it sucks now, but the ps3 has been out a week! and sold out i might add. look how much theyve added to psp in 1 year. MS is just trash talkin.seems like theyre scared of the competition now that they had a full year to dominate, theyre not the hot sh!t this season and they got nothing to do but whine. wheres THIER motion contorller eh? ( 6 axis is a load of sh!t tho, there was a MS pc joystick in 2000 that did the same thing, its a damn gimick, one that most smart people wont fall for. thats not inovation sony.)
spreading itself thin? has anyone read the reiews for the MS zune? steaming pile of sh!t that is, tring to rip people off.
anywayz......

[pt9087]

Sony suks anyways, f**k em

[danknugz]

the psp is a work of art. if they suck so bad, why is psp so good?

[TacticalBread]

PSP is the only good thing Sony has done since the PS1. I personally hated the PS2, and I'm sure I will hate the PS3. Even though they made the PSP, Sony still sucks. They may have made a good product, but that doesn't make them any less arrogant, in fact, I'm sure it has made them even more arrogant.


wheres THIER motion contorller eh?
Microsoft doesn't have a motion controller because they haven't sunk as low as Sony, to outright steal an idea from another company. They still have some decency left.

[Cap'n 1time]

the psp is a work of art. if they suck so bad, why is psp so good?


what it comes to is not whether you think its good or bad, its how it sells. Nintendo is completely dominating the hand held market and is rolling in the dough at the time.

The comment above about the ps3 only being out for a short time I can agree with. How the hell can you say a console is failing if its only been out for a very small amount of time. Also considering hte price, kids are more likely to receive it for christmas as its so close to the holidays. I am no sony fan, but I do know not to listen to everything MS (a huge competitor at the time) says.

[digitalpedro]

Microsoft doesn't have a motion controller because they haven't sunk as low as Sony, to outright steal an idea from another company. They still have some decency left.

Please... Microsoft av never made an original product in their life. Sony made the gaming scene wat it is 2day with the ps1. The ps2 was the outright bestselling console of the last generation why should things change now?

[mikebeaver]

The cycle continues, nintendo had 2 really successful generations before they had a bad patch, same with sega and now maybe sony are getting hit by a similar thing.microsoft will just buy market share as usuall with bills billions.

[Ichijoe]

Well I almost wish I could live in Japan right about now!
Personally I thought the first XBOX should have been dubed the FAILBOX for it's lack of J-Games.

But with all theses releases like:
DOAX2
Blue Dragon ... and
TheIdolM@ster

Make me want to believe in the 360.
Really it does!
Shame will likely never get to see such titles (like the last One), beeing exported. least it be *******ized to Hell with the latest American Idiot Idol or some-such Crap!

J-Pop FTW

[TacticalBread]

Please... Microsoft av never made an original product in their life. Sony made the gaming scene wat it is 2day with the ps1. The ps2 was the outright bestselling console of the last generation why should things change now?

You may be right, but Nintendo basically started the gaming scene with the NES, and they are and have always been the most original. If you don't think Nintendo is original, then you are an idiot.

[danknugz]

nintendo started the gaming scene? i guess you were too young too remeber the atari?? the coleco? intelevision? ( ok most of them are crap but they were first!)

[TacticalBread]

What I meant was Nintendo didn't necessarily start the gaming scene, but they made it what it is today.

[Emeriastone]

Well...yeah.

[Vega]

In fairness, I take all console slating from the opposition with a pinch of salt. consumers voices should be heard . . . not the usual bashing from the opposition.

[Basil Zero]

of course this "strain" will be temporary, look in about Q3 2007 and beyond, and u'll see sony steadily yet slowly coming back on #1

[TacticalBread]

In my opinion, Sony will never be top. Their unoriginality will be the death of them.

[aries2k4]

nintendo started the gaming scene? i guess you were too young too remeber the atari?? the coleco? intelevision? ( ok most of them are crap but they were first!)

Atari 2600 started it all for me. A very happy Christmas at the time. Space invaders, missile command, asteroids were many hours of fun:thumbup:

[xsimmonsx]

what a cock, I dont think he could fit up his own arse any more than he is already.

Im a big Nintendo fan, always have been ever since I 1st played SMB in like '86, yet I still own 2 psp's & not yet a DS.

I bought a 360 just a few weeks ago simply for Dead Rising & now ive a 2nd title, Oblivion.

But the fact of the matter is, when GTA IV comes out next Oct, the 360's going on ebay (if it hadn't already) & it'll be trip to the shops for a ps3 & a copy of gta.

Sony at the moment, i admit, do suck & I dont buy umd's because of this, just homebrew. But im sure it'll smooth out & be long forgotten with in a fair few months, but with loud mouth suits like this cockjockey, microsoft to me will always be trailing behind Nintendo & Sony (& prob apple with there release of a crap ipod rip off).

[jerrt]

i've been reading though the comments to this post and i saw something that i've seen over and over before. people hating sony because they are "arrogant". everyone's opinion is their own, but is it really arrogance? if we lived in japan, would the way our culture has raised us make us see this so called arrogance as an entirely different word all together? sure they have made mistakes, but so haven't other companies. I personally think all three companies in the game now need to stop being so cut throat to each other. [or at least figure out a way to make their fanboys less fanboyish] but I don't whole heartedly agree with the use of "arrogance" to deem sony as the worst thing since DDT.

i'm sure no one will really get what i'm trying to say, but just take a minute and do a self inventory of your understanding of the word "arrogance" and see if it really globally applies, or if you just want it to.

[fistikuffs]

Wow the fanboys are alive and kicking! "sony suck nintendo suck microsoft suck bla bla bla.." I'd be very happy if i had a Wii, 360 and a ps3. They all look good to me. Who cares who makes them? They are all money grabbing *******s anyway!

[lumisi]

Amen

[vanle]

hahhaha....fanboys...seriously

[TacticalBread]

I'm not a "fanboy." I own a PS1, a PSP, a DS, an Xbox, and a GameCube.

and,

The reason I don't like Sony, is because it's obvious they are money hungry. They shut down their biggest importer, Lik-Sang, because Lik-Sang was importing thier consoles so they weren't directly getting money from it. And also they make it so you need a PS3 for the PSX emulator on PSP, and that's pretty much saying, "Buy a PS3!" Even if Microsoft and Nintendo are as money hungry as Sony, they don't make it obvious. The Wii is $250 compared to PS3's $600, and the 360's $400. Sony is so deperate to make money, and sell consoles, that they are selling their console at a lower price than it costs to make it. Sony is losing about $300 every PS3 they sell. Yet they don't tell us that do they? They're trying to make it look like they are better because they are selling more consoles, when, if they sold them for more than if cost to make, so they would make a profit, then hardly anyone would buy one. I wouldn't pay $900 for a PS3 right out of the store. $600 is already too much for a gaming console.

[Shadowblind]

The PSP isnt that special. Coders have made it special. Without Homebrew the PSP is about as much fun as a DS with no games in it.

I can understand they're thoughts of an Xbox being a great thing to buy. The thing they are forgetting it, the real compitition lies within the Wii, not the PS3. WTF, the thing doesnt even have a decent game.

Wii and Xboxe 360 are the two most powerful video game companies on earth. This could get messy after a while... o_0

Basically, I agree with everything Tactical said as well.

[nhlhockey]

PSP is the only good thing Sony has done since the PS1. I personally hated the PS2, and I'm sure I will hate the PS3. Even though they made the PSP, Sony still sucks. They may have made a good product, but that doesn't make them any less arrogant, in fact, I'm sure it has made them even more arrogant.


Microsoft doesn't have a motion controller because they haven't sunk as low as Sony, to outright steal an idea from another company. They still have some decency left.

M!crosoft is the scummiest company around. They never invented the original D0S. They copied the W1ndows operating system idea from App!e, They never invented spreadsheets or wordprocessors, They tried to bully netsc@pe out of business cause they viewed their browser as a threat to !nternet exp1orer. Don't you remember maybe around 10 years ago there was a big investigation because M1crosoft was unfairly monopolizing the computer industry. Where do I stop. M!crosoft is one of the greediest companies around. Get your facts straight before you start bashing S@ny and defending M!crosoft. You probably were not even born to when M!crosoft was formed as a company.

[TacticalBread]

M!crosoft is the scummiest company around. They never invented the original D0S. They copied the W1ndows operating system idea from App!e, They never invented spreadsheets or wordprocessors, They tried to bully netsc@pe out of business cause they viewed their browser as a threat to !nternet exp1orer. Don't you remember maybe around 10 years ago there was a big investigation because M1crosoft was unfairly monopolizing the computer industry. Where do I stop. M!crosoft is one of the greediest companies around. Get your facts straight before you start bashing S@ny and defending M!crosoft. You probably were not even born to when M!crosoft was formed as a company.

I wasn't talking about Microsoft as an OS comapny, or anything else. I was talking about purely Microsoft's gaming branch. Not Windows, Word, Excel, but XBOX, and XBOX only. Notice the header of DCemu?
"DCEmu Forums:: The Homebrew & Gaming Network :: PSP Dreamcast Nintendo DS Wii GP2X Xbox 360 GBA Gamecube PS2 Forums"
No where does it saw Windows, or Mac. I know Bill Gates used to work for Apple, and stole their idea for an OS, but that has nothing to do with what I was talking about.

So, you get your facts straight.

[emuking]

no offense but when you buy their products that's all these companies care about, fanboy or not all they want from you is your money not your opinion, and fanboy support i guess

[danknugz]

haha i saw " pirates of silicon valley" too ! lol MS *******s ( you cant say b a s t a r d s???) . if you havent seen it, you should, the birth of ms and apple. funny as hell.gates bought dos from some guy for a couple hundred dollars, and stole the windows desktop gui idea from some coders at xerox corp.

[PSPFR3AK]

i stopped reading after :"Robbie Bach, the president of Microsoft's ..."

[belialone]

hmm do i like big companies?
no i dont
do i like sony or microsoft bashing?
if its funny then yes otherwise no
am i a fanboy?
definetly no
i can see where all this is going.
two companies fighting for the biggest part of the cake(sony&MS).
a small company trying to shove between them(Nintendo).
a lot of bashing going on between the two biggies and their fanboys.
the small company uses his chance(maybe) to create some advantage.
i can see the wii2 coming with VR headset, magic gloves who recognize your movement and massive online playability.
that would be fun
we are just on the beginning of a age of games
sony is bad
microsoft is bad
nintendo is bad
they all want your money and you cant do anything about that
but the future of gaming has just begone
imagine playing a massive online shooter live on the streets with graphic projected direct onto your retina that must be fun

[Xiofire]

But the fact of the matter is, when GTA IV comes out next Oct, the 360's going on ebay (if it hadn't already) & it'll be trip to the shops for a ps3 & a copy of gta.

I thought GTA IV was coming out on the 360 the same time as the PS3, so why sell the 360?

-Xiofire