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[Bartski]

Sony wants to be the Nike of PC gaming gear: executive

Inzone monitors and headsets will complement PlayStation, says Kazuo Kii

asia.nikkei.com

Sony exec says it wants to be ‘the Nike of gaming gear’ | VGC

InZone will target eSports competitors like Nike supplies athletes…

www.videogameschronicle.com

“There is no dominant leader yet among established producers,” he said. “The situation is like a landscape of warring states. This presents an opportunity for Sony.

“Many existing producers trace their origins to PC manufacturing. Because monitors are designed to display data, there are problems to overcome with vibrancy and contrast.

“Sony is unique in that we come from a background in TV manufacturing. We take pride in our picture technology. We look forward to showing customers our immersive experience and realism.”

Although InZone products are compatible with PS5, Kii reiterated that the line “targets hardcore PC gamers, not PlayStation users.”

“We’re going to start at the top and learn what top esports gamers want,” he said. “The vision we have in mind is that of Mizuno and Nike providing shoes for athletes. You can win prize money in esports. If a monitor’s response time lags even slightly, you lose. Sony products aren’t going to let people engaged in these grueling battles down.”

Sony’s flagship Inzone M9 monitor will release this summer for $899 / £999, offering 4K resolution with HDR, a 144Hz refresh rate and variable refresh rate technology. The cheaper M3 ($529 and coming later this year) offers 1080p resolution at 240Hz.

For PlayStation 5 users, the M9 monitor provides Auto HDR Tone Mapping, which allows consoles to automatically optimise HDR settings, and it will automatically switch to Cinema Mode when watching movies and Game Mode when playing games.

The headsets range from $299 to $99, with the premium H9 offering noise cancelling, 360 spatial sound and 32 hours of battery life. The $229 H7 lacks noise cancelling but extends battery life to 40 hours, while the cheapest H3 is wired.

The PC gaming gear launch is yet another signal that Sony is serious about pushing into the PC gaming space.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[reksveks]

It's not a great margin industry, is it?

 

[Topher]

Nike had Michael Jordan. Sony has....

 

[lh032]

would be an uphill battle, not to mention Sony electronics were not cheap at all.
With Samsung, LG and other monitor brand on the market, i wish them luck

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Gaming gear is usually trash so I am curious how this will turn out as Sony typically makes good products.

 

[Guilty_AI]

“We’re going to start at the top and learn what top esports gamers want,”

 

[ManaByte]

Nike had Michael Jordan. Sony has....

Michael Jackson?

 

[SmokedMeat]

Good luck with that Sony, but I’m totally down with them catering more towards PC gamers.

Wouldn’t mind seeing a mouse.

 

[Bartski]

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Time for cashgrabing the "gaming scene" With plastic garbage headsets with shitty mic quality.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Time for cashgrabing the "gaming scene" With plastic garbage headsets with shitty mic quality.

The monitors look interesting if someone is shopping for a new one

 

[RoboFu]

Well make a good 32” monitor then. 27” is too small these days.

 

[I'm nobody]

Nike had Michael Jordan. Sony has....

Spiderman lol.


Anyways consoles won't exist soon so pc market and vr is a good step

I'd love to see a playstation laptop/tablet
Upgradeable and vr enabled

 

[Topher]

Spiderman lol.

Sony sold the merchandising rights for Spider-man back to Disney.

 

[Haggard]

It´s a high margin (but also highly competitive) industry aimed at idiots who don`t realize that a crappy product doesn`t automatically get better by slapping RGB-lighting on it.
Everyone wants to make money with idiots, so not a surprise there.

 

[Rykan]

Didn't they only just learn that you could play video games on a PC?

 

[Punished Miku]

This is pretty much traditional Sony. High quality hardware with a prestige branding.

They went a little more mass market on their walkman's and stuff, but the TVs have always tried to sell as prestige products.

 

[Chukhopops]

The PC peripherals market is saturated as hell in every segment from low-end to high-end.

I suppose they will target the high-end since it’s the only segment making profit at this point.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Monitors mostly suck horribly and have lagged behind HDTVs for years now. There’s a reason why LG OLED displays are such a popular choice for PC gamers who care about image quality.

If Sony can give us some monitors in the 27-43 inch range with OLED or FALD + HDR1000 then maybe they have something worthwhile to contribute. Not really interested in their headphones or other stuff.

 

[SlimySnake]

Goodluck.gif

 

[Bartski]

 

[Spukc]

This plastic craptastic thing screams quality.. fuck i would actually prefer razer above this sheit

 

[BlackTron]

So they want to sell cheap mass produced goods with a logo slapped on at a crazy markup?

 

[Dream-Knife]

Well make a good 32” monitor then. 27” is too small these days.

LMAO what?

Size depends on how far you sit from something. It's not a TV. 27" is considered large for a monitor, especially for esports.

Monitors mostly suck horribly and have lagged behind HDTVs for years now. There’s a reason why LG OLED displays are such a popular choice for PC gamers who care about image quality.

If Sony can give us some monitors in the 27-43 inch range with OLED or FALD + HDR1000 then maybe they have something worthwhile to contribute. Not really interested in their headphones or other stuff.

Their latest monitor was quite competitive with the C2. Esports players aren't using that type of stuff though. I guess that's fine if you just play console games on your PC.

 

[Holammer]

That's great, I could see myself buying Sony branded keyboards or mice in the future. Make 'em ceramic white and you have a sale.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

SOny would go a LONG way by adding in more gaming features for their TVs. Mainly all 4 HDMI ports need to be full 48 GBps 2.1. Next years model will supposedly feature a new chipset with all 4. Things like a gamer dashboard that Samsung and LG have will go a LONG way.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

LMAO what?

Size depends on how far you sit from something. It's not a TV. 27" is considered large for a monitor, especially for esports.

Their latest monitor was quite competitive with the C2. Esports players aren't using that type of stuff though. I guess that's fine if you just play console games on your PC.

Mainly cuz those monitors aren't portable like high refresh rate 1080p monitors that are 24 inch.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I learned my lesson with Razer. "Gaming gear", not even once.

 

[Ulysses 31]

I learned my lesson with Razer. "Gaming gear", not even once.

Razer has nice mice and keyboards, what did they teach you?

 

[RoboFu]

LMAO what?

Size depends on how far you sit from something. It's not a TV. 27" is considered large for a monitor, especially for esports.

Their latest monitor was quite competitive with the C2. Esports players aren't using that type of stuff though. I guess that's fine if you just play console games on your PC.

who gives a shit about esports? lol I want a 32" monitor.
27" has been the baseline for the past 10 years. larger monitors are beginning to be more and more popular the past 2 years.
I have a 32" monitor for work and play and I cannot go back. If sony cant do that then its a no go from me. but if they did I would buy one day one.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Razer has nice mice and keyboards, what did they teach you?

That their headsets aren't nothing special at all.
Nothing against their mices. I git the death adder essential and yeah, nice mice.

 

[crunchyBiscuits]

Interesting. Maybe they will learn about resolutions other than 4k and 1080p. Give is 1440p for PS5 dammit!

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Everyone commenting without realizing this isn't about the PlayStation side of Sony is hilarious, lmao.

 

[Graciaus]

Focus on making a TV that you don't have to wait a year for an update so it'll do what was promised.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Mainly cuz those monitors aren't portable like high refresh rate 1080p monitors that are 24 inch.

Esports use 24" for several more reasons than portability

 

[AV]

Time for cashgrabing the "gaming scene" With plastic garbage headsets with shitty mic quality.

Given Sony make one of the best wireless headsets on the entire market I don't think it's crazy to think their Gamer Gear™ will be good. Just overpriced, because what Gamer Gear™ isn't?

 

[reinking]

Well make a good 32” monitor then. 27” is too small these days.

As someone that went back to 27" monitors from 32" I disagree. 27" is still a valid choice. Options are always good if they want to add a 32" monitor.

 

[GymWolf]

I can absolutely see sony releasing diarrhea woke spots like nike does...

 

[Dream-Knife]

Mainly cuz those monitors aren't portable like high refresh rate 1080p monitors that are 24 inch.

Portability has nothing to do with it.

who gives a shit about esports? lol I want a 32" monitor.
27" has been the baseline for the past 10 years. larger monitors are beginning to be more and more popular the past 2 years.
I have a 32" monitor for work and play and I cannot go back. If sony cant do that then its a no go from me. but if they did I would buy one day one.

Read the article. That is the market Sony is going after.

32" is too big for esports or competitive FPS at a normal PC distance.

Just sit closer I guess? Or use a TV.

Everyone commenting without realizing this isn't about the PlayStation side of Sony is hilarious, lmao.

"SIE is not fixated on the PlayStation, either. We share the same view of the future."

 

[LQX]

Sony's gaming gear seems to be built to break. They make amazing audiophile headphones that are some of the most long lasting, yet their "gaming" headphones that can cost even more all seem to eventually end up with cracked hinges you have to throw away within a year or two.

 

[mxbison]

Damn, it feels good to be a Gamer™.

 

[K' Dash]

I've never had any PS gaming accesory from Sony that didn't crap out, melt, or break. They make garbage.

Thankfully their XM3-4-5 headphones are high quality.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Their latest monitor was quite competitive with the C2. Esports players aren't using that type of stuff though. I guess that's fine if you just play console games on your PC.

The M9? Seems decent but not extraordinary. 27 inch 4K 144 hz with DisplayHDR600 and 96 local dimming zones.

I finally broke down last year and got a C1 48”. What I really would’ve liked is a 32” or 43” LCD with lots of local dimming (512+ zones), G-Sync, DisplayHDR1000, and Dolby Vision.

Esports gamers have tons of options for monitors with extreme refresh rates. For image quality though, there’s nothing that competes with high-end HDTVs

 

[nominedomine]

That is not going to happen.

Also, please stop making headsets that have massive flaws like the PS headsets that always break right in the middle in a way that is really hard to fix.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

Time for cashgrabing the "gaming scene" With plastic garbage headsets with shitty mic quality.

There is always a chance that they would release a separate VR headset for PCs that is priced to sell at a profit, separate to PSVR2. Don't forget that the PSVR prototype came from the Sony TV hardware department to begin with.

 

[ArtHands]

They just need to bundle each monitor with free copy of Bloodborne, Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok on Steam and price it at $500

 

[MiguelItUp]

That's a whole lot of competition to go up against. Especially when it comes to specs, cost, performance, etc.

I think there's a possibility they could pull off decent sales, but there's a ton of variables. I also don't know about a point where PC players desire Sony products over everything else that's available.

 

[Topher]

We are going to see some serious Sony sponsorships in the next year or so.

Sony, Alanah Pearce called. She needs a new chair.

 

[ResilientBanana]

It's not a great margin industry, is it?

I mean, they already sell electronics, there's also not a high margin on consoles. Not sure why you're so concerned. They make the most of their money on software and subscriptions.