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[njean777]

I really think this is a poor strategy. Sony isn't so talented that they can expect to win the casuals by treating them as a secondary objective when other talented companies (some considerably more talented than Sony) make casual gamers their primary objective, focusing all of their gaming efforts on them.

Again, the PS2 won the casuals in an age when there were essentially no platforms which catered to casuals first and foremost. Now there are several which come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices.

Sure, it's possible Sony will pull it out anyway. But I don't think it's likely, and it isn't a gamble I would take.

They won casuals in the ps2 days because of the DVD player, not the games. That is what sold the system to casuals as it was the cheapest DVD player at the time. You cannot rest your whole system on the casual base that is plain and simple. Nintendo did, and now they are really paying for it now.

 

[michaelius]

Their operating income is down 86 percent because they bet the farm on LBP Karting and Wonderbook and somehow this is a statement against core gamers?

They didn't bet their farm on LBP karting and Wonderbook - those were shitty games made with leftover development teams while the key studios were working on PS4 titles.

 

[Cipherr]

Its going to be interesting, thats for sure.

IMO the core gamer is by far the safest bet, the question is whether or not there are enough of them to jump start a new console. And if they can act as enough of a pivot to keep the console healthy and eventually draw in some casuals.

Sony doesn't need all of the casual gamers, just some of them and a good portion of dedicated gamers.

That being said, betting the farm on the casual gamers is far more risky by an order of magnitude IMO. They are the most fickle, the most likely to drop something like a rock and move on once they see something shiny. They did it by going from the PS2 to the Wii, and from the Wii to the mobile devices. There are a shitload of them, but keeping their attention for a prolonged period is an extreme challenge. So many of those mobile/social huge games fade into near nothing after a little while.

Wii Sports to Wii Fit to Nintendogs to Brain Training to Farmville to Words with Friends to Draw Something, I mean Jesus. There was a time where I couldn't go a day without hearing people going on and on about those games. But where are they now? Sequels to all of those games could be released tomorrow, and they probably couldn't count on even a FRACTION of the success the originals saw at their climaxes.

Meanwhile though, the next mainline Metal Gear, Dragon Quest, Gran Turismo, Resident Evil and God of War can all probably count on at least the core gamers to show up for their next entries, even if the casuals that enjoy them don't.

 

[Y2Kev]

I really think this is a poor strategy. Sony isn't so talented that they can expect to win the casuals by treating them as a secondary objective when other talented companies (some considerably more talented than Sony) make casual gamers their primary objective, focusing all of their gaming efforts on them.

Again, the PS2 won the casuals in an age when there were essentially no platforms which catered to casuals first and foremost. Now there are several which come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices.

Sure, it's possible Sony will pull it out anyway. But I don't think it's likely, and it isn't a gamble I would take.

I don't think they'll ever get exclusively Angry Birds-style casuals. The machine could never be built for that (at least as home consoles are presently constructed-- stationary, large, power hungry). But I do mean players that buy 1 or 2 games a year, maybe a major sports release and a GTA or CoD. And if their plan is to go after mobile gamers, they will certainly fail.

I remember your thread "the esoteric gamer." Maybe we should try and create a comprehensive taxonomy.

 

[FordGTGuy]

Their not betting the farm on anything.
People need to stop this nonsense.

The PS4 is aimed at being accessible and very social. Social Gaming is what the casual gamer who loves COD is looking for. The sports gamer will like it for the same reasons.

This stupid assumption that all gamers are the same as you, is ridiculous and remains factually wrong.
In Doctor Who fandom they use the term 'the not we', which is a reference to the show but is also very very good at capturing everyone you mean when your talking about people not as involved as you.


The PS4 is interesting to the not we with the new online functionality.
The games? Not so far, but it'll come.

Actually they are if you haven't noticed lately Sony isn't doing too great financially, if the PS4 were to fail(I doubt it very much) they would be in very bad shape.

 

[electricpirate]

We can't divide gamers into "True" and "Casual" anymore, it over simplifies things, and misses important nuance. What we have are a bunch of niches, the "DudeBro" niche, the "farmville" niche, the "JRPG" niche, the "Hardcore complexity loving PC gamer niche" etc etc.
And yes, a Niche of gamers who just want to try out everything. There are lots more here, but I'll leave it there for simplicity.

Sony seems to be banking on the continued homogenzation of the market towards it's traditional niches, JRPG fans, dudebro fans, and the guys who want to play everything. That seems like a bet in the wrong direction. Consumer niche's are separating more and more, some are growing, some are shrinking. Thankfully some of those groups, the ones that spend signifigant amounts of money, time and mental energy are growing.

Sony needs to position it's console so the various gamer sub groups have something to gravitate towards, but to do that it needs to be flexible first of all. Power comes secondary to that. IMO, they don't seem to be targeting that, and it's likely going to be a rough ride next generation. And no, more GDDR5 won't help that.

 

[Sid]

No,the core gamers are the early adopters and home consoles are actually relevant.

 

[Shadow Moses]

Except Nintendo isn't doing that. It sold poorly during a slow month where they didn't have any new games to push systems. The Vita did even worse than the Wii U.

Vita or any haldheld has its work cut out with tablets & phones. You can't compare that to a console like WiiU

 

[Manmademan]

I think the bigger issue is that they aren't showing any software that breaks out of their existing fanbase. Killzone 4 is fine, but is that really a flagship franchise when the previous entry launched to 250k units in the US?

Of course they are. I don't like Diablo III, but this is making inroads into the type of games PC gamers tend to play, as opposed to franchises that have been on the PS3 for 6 or 7 years.

The Witness seems like something more along the lines of myst, only a lot more interactive.

the inclusion of the touchpad and/or camera means that games that required a mouse on pc can be done on the PS4.

beyond that, I don't expect sony to show a TON of new and innovative titles at this point- its way too early. There's typically a drought for the first year or so of a new console. What they need to do at THIS point is convince the hardcore that the potential is there, so they pick the console up with only the promise of potential, and I think a good job was done there at the conference.

 

[megalowho]

It's so damn obvious, but the media have an agenda.

Only hardcore gamers are going to spend >400 on a console, which is why you target them first.

The Angry Birds crew aren't going to get these consoles until they're cheap.

They might buy a subsidized console+kinect from Microsoft though, even if it's a worse deal in the long run. It'll be interesting to see what the pricing gulf is between the boxes, especially if it's significant.

 

[saichi]

It's the same idea as Nintendo though. If we provide something different enough, people will buy our console. We'll have to see how Sony differentiate PS4 from PS3 and its competition.

 

[Opiate]

They won casuals in the ps2 days because of the DVD player, not the games. That is what sold the system to casuals as it was the cheapest DVD player at the time. You cannot rest your whole system on the casual base that is plain and simple. Nintendo did, and now they are really paying for it now.

Nintendo made something on the order of 5 billion dollars during the last generation. Sony, by contrast, lost nearly 5 billion (in aggregate) since the PS3 launched. The PS3 was the worst financial disaster in gaming history, losing more marketshare and losing more money than any system before it, including the original Xbox and the Dreamcast.

The Wii U certainly isn't doing well, but lets not detract from the Wii here or pretend like the PS3 was a success.

This is without discussing other platforms like iOS, Android, or Facebook, which are all rapidly siphoning developers away from the console market generally, not just Playstation in particular.

 

[funkystudent]

I think the event and Sonys answers to a lot of press questions were aimed 100% at the core ps3 user but I dont think the future ps4 events and reveals are going to be as gamer focused.


They mentioned the camera but didn't show it being used or any body tracking dance / fitness crap.

They mentioned the new touchpad but never used it to show making navigation easier or playing Angry Birds

They showed Move but ever single game there was played with a dualshock (other then whatever that thing Mm showed was)

They didnt show any small downloadable or F2P games or partnerships.



I bet we see all this stuff and more at other events. If we dont then the ps4 is screwed before it was even released.

 

[gofreak]

Actually they are if you haven't noticed lately Sony isn't doing too great financially, if the PS4 were to fail(I doubt it very much) they would be in very bad shape.

Betting the farm suggests PS4 and the 'true gamer' is the single front they're working on.

It's not.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Who the hell else are they going to market to other than gamers? Should they have opened the event with a PS4 version of Candy Crush?

 

[darkside31337]

They didn't bet their farm on LBP karting and Wonderbook - those were shitty games made with leftover development teams while the key studios were working on PS4 titles.

I agree with that but they still performed terribly.

It's weird to point out a quarter where they literally released -nothing- that appeals to core gamers and it being a disaster as some kind of statement against core gamers.

 

[Margalis]

Hasn't the retail market effectively died because the Wii died?

Software sales are down across all platforms even though install base is much higher.

Now it could be fatigue, but then again if it is fatigue I'm not sure how a new Killzone alleviates that - no matter how many gifs people spam.

Whenever this subject comes up people try to boil it down to a stupid dichotomy between either loving Killzone or Angry Birds. I think the reality is that people's habits do change over time. The CD player became the CD changer, then the Discman, then the iPod. MP3 players have lower fidelity than CD players but they are good enough for most people because of other factors.

I don't think the future is hardware you buy once every 5 or 6 years, set up under your TV and pay $60 for games on. That's just not the direction technology and lifestyles are moving in.

Younger generations like to play with iOS devices - this is just undeniable if you spend any time around kids. Older generations may be reaching the point where they don't need to go buy a system on day one for a variety of reasons.

It's basically insane to believe that the monolithic console box as it is conceptualized today is going to remain as popular moving forward. It's only a question of when the drop-off really becomes significant.

 

[Puppet Shadow]

I also don't think Sony is betting the farm on 'true gamers' or traditional console gamers. That's obviously the big focus for PS4 right now but they have other initiatives in the works that are clearly designed for other types of consumer.

I think just based on the price alone they are targeting the hardcore true gamers core players people that prefer what the Vita offers over the DS3. And with being able to pick up the majority of launch games for the existing PS3, albeit with less shiny graphics, I'm worried the PS4 will have a slow uptake. Same with the nextbox, unless MS brings it in at $399 or less, or shows a feature so cool that everyone wants it.

I thought glassless 3D would have seen the 3DS being sold out for months, and it sold like crap until it had a decent lineup of games you could only get on the 3DS. It all comes down to great games, ones you can't play anywhere else. So, I'm a bit worried.

 

[devonraynor]

casuals might buy 3 or 4 games a year (christmas, kid's birthday etc)
looking at myself as a "hardcore" gamer, i buy between 20-30 games a year.
More money to be made in that branch

 

[ironcreed]

When all is said and done, this is the gaming industry, and the Playstation has always been a gaming platform. Therefore, it only makes sense that they are still targeting the same market. The enthusiast market is not dead and they don't want tablets and smart phones to be the standard.

Sony is simply staying true to who they are, while at the same time, trying to implement some of those other features that may bring those who only play around on their phones over to our side a bit more. In that sense, the tablet and phone space is merely a branch of a greater tree.

Sure, it is thriving. Because that is where the masses are. But you can't expect Sony to just abandon a base of gamers and developers alike that are still alive and well. Best they can do is try to offer features that appeal to the other crowd as well, but while keeping everything gamer and developer-centric on the whole. This is their approach, and as someone who loves games, I applaud them for staying true to what the industry has always been about at heart.

 

[spwolf]

I really think this is a poor strategy. Sony isn't so talented that they can expect to win the casuals by treating them as a secondary objective when other talented companies (some considerably more talented than Sony) make casual gamers their primary objective, focusing all of their gaming efforts on them.

Again, the PS2 won the casuals in an age when there were essentially no platforms which catered to casuals first and foremost. Now there are several which come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices.

Sure, it's possible Sony will pull it out anyway. But I don't think it's likely, and it isn't a gamble I would take.

well Sony has not been able to target casuals with PS3... Wii U is failing spectacularly while trying to target casuals.

Anything else would have been crazy.

 

[Opiate]

I don't think they'll ever get exclusively Angry Birds-style casuals. The machine could never be built for that (at least as home consoles are presently constructed-- stationary, large, power hungry). But I do mean players that buy 1 or 2 games a year, maybe a major sports release and a GTA or CoD. And if their plan is to go after mobile gamers, they will certainly fail.

How about facebook gamers? Or PC F2P gamers? Because I think those are almost certainly out of reach with the PS4 as it is currently configured, too. Again, you can't expect to win customers you treat as second class citizens when other platforms are putting them first.

If GTA/CoD are the casuals you're talking about, then.... I wouldn't say that market is unsustainable, but it's not an area of significant growth, either. Or of high profit margins. If recent history is any guide, we're talking very low margins even if the PS4 succeeds.

The reason that's being criticized is that Sony as a company isn't particularly healthy and they aren't in a position to retreat back in to "safe" markets. They have to make a move because they're being boxed in from all sides, and not just in gaming.

 

[Ponn]

There are a ton of casuals for the amount of hardcore gamers like you.



The most popular crappy games are never that graphically impressive or intensive, just look at the top paid games on Android.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDcwNCwiYXBwc19ob21lX0dBTUUiXQ..

If you over look GTA III and NFS:MW(that do run generally well on new tablets.) pretty much all the games are nothing to write home about graphically.

That are much flakier and are happy playing their 99 cent angry birds over and over. Companies tried to jump on that bandwagon and got burned. Nintendo is finding out right now how flaky that group was to begin with. You cant build a long term successful console around a fad based group that really only want an occasional 99 cent app.

This article is just shit-pot stirring for clicks and they know it.

 

[gofreak]

I think just based on the price alone they are targeting the hardcore true gamers core players people that prefer what the Vita offers over the DS3.

They are absolutely targeting that gamer with PS4.

My point is PS4 isn't the only platform they have on the boil. That's my criticism of this commentary - the idea that Sony is sticking its head in the sand and only working on the 'true gamer', on PS4.

 

[Mortimer Brewster]

Sony's going at it the smart way. You need to court the enthusist GAF style gamers who will willingly pay the premium rate for a console at launch first. If you can secure the enthusist audience, they will help evangelize the console to the next tier, the dudebro gamer who will flock to whatever system has the bigger userbase and stronger buzz from the enthusist community. After that market is secured then you can target the casuals.

Its the strategy Microsoft used this gen so its a good move on Sony's part to take pages from that playbook.

 

[Ocaso]

Kohler's article mentioned above has more thought put into it, but again, I think it misses the point. Microsoft touts its media capabilities, but do we have numbers that show that success? Outside of Netflix, are people actually using those TV apps on their console? Maybe they are, but I for one am skeptical. Sony's approach, of eliminating barriers to play such as slow downloads and patches, of instant on, of simplified game and video sharing, are really smart ways to expand the appeal of the product without appearing to be a bloated device.

Without knowing how MS will respond, I suspect their big move to appeal to casuals will be to make the subsidized approach a default option, one that lowers the initial price of entry to a point that makes it too enticing to ignore. Even then, Sony has a chance to match that, all while possibly matching or even surpassing the online feature set. Just Plus is a better value even at this point, add Gaikai streaming, video sharing, and who knows what other feature and you've got a hell of a service.

 

[Walter Matthau]

You want hardcore gamers buying your console early because they buy more games and they are more likely to influence others to buy games and consoles. Publishers want their games to sell so they make them for consoles they'll sell on.

 

[Herb Alpert]

Pure gaming is no doubt a market. however it is not a market that can support the mega budgets in my opinion. Last gen publishers like Ubisoft could push AAA titles thanks to the insane amounts of money generated by "casual" games like just dance on wii. They had an insurance in case of a big game bombing.
So the danger is more studios to close, only a few to survive, growing bigger and bigger making always the same game or sequels because it is safer. In the end it only remains big bosses like EA, Activision and such. Nintendo is forced to do it with mario, for different reasons. When the players begin to lose interest in these big franchises, the maker is done.

 

[FordGTGuy]

Betting the farm suggests PS4 and the 'true gamer' is the single front they're working on.

It's not.

Of course it's not but the Playstation 4 is definitely betting the farm and right now the Playstation brand is Sony's farm.

 

[yon61]

With the situation of the Vita, I am quite wary...

 

[crazy monkey]

yes IMO. Their press conference should have included stuff that says we are trying to appeal to all segment plus this are the extra capabilities which are useful regardless of gaming platform.

 

[Hindle]

They should release hardcore games that appeal to the mass market at the same time. See Minecraft, Halo, as examples. Infamous and Killzone have zero mass market appeal so they could run into trouble.

I'm also concerned that when they make attempts at making casual games they don't do that well.

 

[Doublesith]

Why wouldn't they target the "core" gamers? It's still a sizable market on their own, and profitable if they play their cards right.

Casuals already have a glut of platforms to choose from, from phones to tablets to facebook, why should everything cater to them? If anything going head to head with Apple would be suicidal for Sony.

 

[gofreak]

Of course it's not but the Playstation 4 is definitely betting the farm and right now the Playstation brand is Sony's farm.

And PS4 is not the only new/future initiative in Casa PlayStation.

 

[Somnid]

I think it's definitely a mistake. I think any successful console run will need a certain degree of support from people outside of NeoGaffer types. Even for certain games it's important to realize there's the core audience and then there's the bandwagon. These are people who play the games but have no allegiance to anyone, not even gaming itself. They may only ever play one game. This is a market you want. You can shrug it off as lol Angry Birds, lol waggle, and lol Kinect but don't underestimate how big of a difference these things make.

 

[Manmademan]

Nintendo made something on the order of 5 billion dollars during the last generation. Sony, by contrast, lost nearly 5 billion (in aggregate) since the PS3 launched. The PS3 was the worst financial disaster in gaming history, losing more marketshare and losing more money than any system before it, including the original Xbox and the Dreamcast.

The Wii U certainly isn't doing well, but lets not detract from the Wii here or pretend like the PS3 was a success.
.

Are we talking a success in terms of how many of them they got into homes at this point in it's lifespan? Or are we talking how much money it made for sony? Because those are two different things.

Sony lost a ton of money on the PS3 in order to push Blu-Ray. Was that the right call? we may never know. Blu Ray may have gone the way of SACD without it, or we may still have had two competing standards. Now it's the last physical media format anyone's ever really going to use. Even the next xbox is using blu-ray now.

In terms of systems SOLD, the PS3 is tracking somewhere between the PS1 and PS2, at a much higher price point. if we're talking about marketshare in the sense of how many homes have them, and how many consumers are actually playing PS3 software, then comparing it to the gamecube, the DC, or the Xbox is simply false. it's a lot more successful.

If we're talking marketshare in terms of a percentage of the whole (70 million out of 240 million PS3's, Wii's, and 360s) that's not a good metric either, as the wii dramatically expanded the market by reaching out to nontraditional audiences, but promptly lost them all with the WiiU. those were never potential PS3 or 360 gamers in the first place.

 

[Izick]

Hell no.

Now listen, I know this is going to sound selfish because I, like all of you, are probably the target demo of what may be called a 'true gamer' but I honestly believe this is the smart move to make. 'True gamers' are the lifeblood of almost every console to come out. The big, ginormous money out there is Call of Duty, Madden, FIFA, etc., and while those are great, the casual market isn't really fueling anything but those games. People like us are buying the other 95% of whatever the console has to offer during the year.

So yeah, I think Sony is making a very intelligent approach to all of this, and I think it's going to pay off if they stay on course. Not to mention they're kind of having their cake and eating it too by having all these amazing social features integrated into the console as well, which is a big thing with the younger markets these days.

I think they're going to do great.

 

[Y2Kev]

How about facebook gamers? Or PC F2P gamers? Because I think those are almost certainly out of reach with the PS4 as it is currently configured, too. Again, you can't expect to win customers you treat as second class citizens when other platforms are putting them first.

I don't think they're going to win customers in those demographics, so no contestation here. The home console paradigm is not well suited to these players. I don't know what Sony means when they talk about streaming and "expanding content to other devices," but I have to imagine it won't be particularly meaningful.

If GTA/CoD are the casuals you're talking about, then.... I wouldn't say that market is unsustainable, but it's not an area of significant growth, either. Or of high profit margins. If recent history is any guide, we're talking very low margins even if the PS4 succeeds.

A few questions for you:
1. Is the PS4 a worthwhile endeavor for Sony if it is profitable but low-margin?
2. Does what Sony is doing with the PS4 preclude other parts of the company from engaging in mobile/F2P/Facebook-style gaming?

 

[PixyJunket]

I'm still not seeing what Sony is doing that is putting people into a froth that they're catering to "true" gamers (whatever that means).

Most of what they showed seemed to be more of the same overly cinematic stuff we have this generation.

 

[Wubby]

They aren't going to win anything going after the cheap and casual market. Nintendo can get away with it because people still buy their systems for Nintendo games. Sony had to have looked at the market and saw this was a battle they can't win so why bother? Ouya, future Apple TV box, and many more cheap options are going to eat that market. The smart move was to go in the opposite direction: build a box for the high end, but remain affordable enough for the general public.

Another way I look at it is Youtube vs. big budget Hollywood. You can stay home and watch youtube videos to your hearts content for free. But there is still a sizable amount of people that go to the movies and plunk down $15 a ticket for the blockbusters. If Sony doesn't build the box for the blockbusters who will? They have the history, connections, developers and know how to make it work. I think they made the right move.

 

[spisho]

Cifaldi's comments left us scratching our heads and wondering if he's living in some parallel universe where Sony haven't invested heavily in Gaikai and Playstation Mobile.

Let's not forget that Sony announced self-publishing for PSN and that Dust 514 is already F2P on PS3. Cifaldi decided to conveniently forget about all those facts Fox News style just so he could whine about how Sony doesn't get that the only games people want are mobile games. Why? Because Frank Cifaldi is a total asshole. That's why.

 

[XenodudeX]

True gamers. So fucking ridiculous.

 

[FordGTGuy]

And PS4 is not the only new/future initiative in Casa PlayStation.

If PS4 were to fall flat I don't think Sony would be able to recover, just to clarify I think Playstation will be fine personally.

 

[Opiate]

well Sony has not been able to target casuals with PS3... Wii U is failing spectacularly while trying to target casuals.

Anything else would have been crazy.

Elaborating on what I just posted to Kev, the reason this is a problem is that Sony as a company is being boxed in from all sides.

Their avenues for growth are being cut off in every department; TVs, Portable Music, Electronics, and now games. There are significant areas of growth or profitability in all of those markets, but Sony hasn't really been able to tap in to any of them. They have to take a risk somewhere because they're bleeding slowly.

Now, that risk doesn't necessarily have to be in the gaming market; that I agree with. But somewhere, somehow, Sony is going to need to take a bold and unexpected move, because this "retreating to safe markets" thing isn't working very well overall.

 

[Ocaso]

How about facebook gamers? Or PC F2P gamers? Because I think those are almost certainly out of reach with the PS4 as it is currently configured, too. Again, you can't expect to win customers you treat as second class citizens when other platforms are putting them first.

If GTA/CoD are the casuals you're talking about, then.... I wouldn't say that market is unsustainable, but it's not an area of significant growth, either. Or of high profit margins. If recent history is any guide, we're talking very low margins even if the PS4 succeeds.

The reason that's being criticized is that Sony as a company isn't particularly healthy and they aren't in a position to retreat back in to "safe" markets. They have to make a move because they're being boxed in from all sides, and not just in gaming.

Facebook gamers? Didn't Zynga collapse? As for F2P, Sony is already integrating this into the PS3, why should we doubt they'll do it on the PS4. If anything they're the only ones who as of yet have shown a willingness to dabble in this environment which puts them at an advantage.

As others have said, you can't depend on the Angry Birds crowd to sustain you, and as ubiquitous as smartphones and tablets have become, Angry Birds is not their killer app. Angry Birds only an opportune success story akin to Minecraft on the PC, impossible to recreate by force.

 

[Setsuna]

Actually they are if you haven't noticed lately Sony isn't doing too great financially, if the PS4 were to fail(I doubt it very much) they would be in very bad shape.

you have no idea sony would really have to fail in order to actually be in bad shape

they might not make as much as they used to but they can still keep going for a while with the amount they make a year

 

[Ponn]

How about facebook gamers? Or PC F2P gamers? Because I think those are almost certainly out of reach with the PS4 as it is currently configured, too. Again, you can't expect to win customers you treat as second class citizens when other platforms are putting them first.

If GTA/CoD are the casuals you're talking about, then.... I wouldn't say that market is unsustainable, but it's not an area of significant growth, either. Or of high profit margins. If recent history is any guide, we're talking very low margins even if the PS4 succeeds.

The reason that's being criticized is that Sony as a company isn't particularly healthy and they aren't in a position to retreat back in to "safe" markets. They have to make a move because they're being boxed in from all sides, and not just in gaming.

Facebook games and F2P games are popular because they are free and playable on computers people already have. How exactly does Sony try to get those people and make it a worthwhile sustainable model? With that group asking them to buy another $500 device has already lost them.

 

[Woorloog]

They aren't going to win anything going after the cheap and casual market. Nintendo can get away with it because people still buy their systems for Nintendo games. Sony had to have looked at the market and saw this was a battle they can't win so why bother? Ouya, future Apple TV box, and many more cheap options are going to eat that market. The smart move was to go in the opposite direction: build a box for the high end, but remain affordable enough for the general public.

Another way I look at it is Youtube vs. big budget Hollywood. You can stay home and watch youtube videos to your hearts content for free. But there is still a sizable amount of people that go to the movies and plunk down $15 a ticket for the blockbusters. If Sony doesn't build the box for the blockbusters who will? They have the history, connections, developers and know how to make it work. I think they made the right move.

What of Microsoft? Are they're trying to reach both audiences or what?

 

[Li Kao]

Nonsense. Chastising Sony for a direction when said direction was at best glimpsed at is ridiculous.
Sony aimed their message at core gamers first, and you can discuss the validity of it, evidently. But it was just that, an opening salvo months before release. There is still more or less big shows and many opportunities of marketing campaign outside of them.
With the online capacities Sony just Outlined this week, I bet there is a lot of potential for F2P and casual gaming. The only question is, will Sony be able to communicate these possibilities in due time (and again I don't think nearly a full year before release is due time) or miserably fail at hyping this like they did with Vita.

 

[electroshockwave]

Hasn't the retail market effectively died because the Wii died? The consoles are probably performing relatively in-line with how other 6 and 7 year old machines have performed (or even better, maybe), but the Wii fell off the table and as a result the retail market has been cut in half compared to its height 3 years ago.

I dunno if it is a seachange to mobile. I mean, there's definitely a seachange in that people are playing games on mobile like they never were. But I'm not sure it's zero-sum.

You also have to account for the fact that the PS3 and 360 are still relatively expensive compared to their predecessors in 2005/6.