Difference in Opinion

Monday on Forbes.com, Sony release its profit/loss numbers regarding the Playstation 3. On Sony’s 2008 annual fiscal report to its investors it was reported that “the large-scale investment required during the development and introductory period of a new gaming platform that may not be fully recovered.” In 2007 Sony lost $2.16 billion and $1.16 billion in 2008 due to Sony pricing the Playstation 3 below its production cost.

With the numbers that Sony has just released the questions that were around before the system was released have re-surfaced. Is Sony selling the Playstation 3 too cheap? I am a big Playstation 3/Sony fan and being that I think gives me the opportunity to give a look into that question and others that most people can not give. “Was The Playstation 3 Worth It?”: The Good will be the first part to my three part article. This part, entitled The Good, will talk about the things that make the Playstation 3 worth the amount of money the Sony has spent in order to make the system.

After seeing the amount of money Sony has lost due to the Playstation 3 a couple of questions come to mind. Should Sony have used 6 or even 5 cell processors instead of 7? Does a home gaming system really need wireless internet? Did Sony choose correctly when they decided to charge nothing for online capabilities for each system?

My quick and dirty answer to all those questions is No. But, here is my long answer:

Sony has dominated the gaming universe for almost 15 years. During its reign of domination, Sony has learned what it takes for a gaming system to succeed. The Playstation was the pinnacle of home gaming systems when it was released in 1994, and continued its domination until Sony decided to make its replacement, the Playstation 2. Even when the Playstation 2 was only half way through its life, it had already claimed the title of the best gaming system to ever be created. Now with the Playstation 2 getting old and towards the end of its life, Sony has given the gaming world the beast that is known as the Playstation 3. With a track record like Sony’s does the question, “Was the Playstation 3 worth the cost?”, really need to be asked?

Sony is a business above anything else, and the goal of any business is to make a profit. If Sony did not think that the Playstation 3 would make them profit, they would have not spent all this money in research and development, advertising and marketing. In order for a business to make a profit, the business first has to spend money, and possibly incur a loss during the beginning in order to experience a profit. Sony is expecting the Playstation 3 to have a life of 10 years, and in just two years, it has experienced the amount of the loss dwindle by $1 billion. So lets do some math. If Sony’s losses due to the Playstation 3 never get any more than what they were in 2007, $2.16 billion, and lessens by $1 billion per year, then in a year and a half, starting now, Sony will actually be making profit on the Playstation 3.

These numbers represent profit from the Playstation 3. 2007 = -$2.16 billion, 2008 = -$1.16 billion, 2009 = -$.16 billion (-$160,000,000), 2010 = $.84 ($840,000,000)

That is right, by 2010 Sony could experience a profit off the Playstation 3 of $840 million. By 2010 Sony would incur a total of a $3.48 billion loss, but by 2013 Sony would realize a total profit of $3.84 billion year over year. Since the Playstation 3 was released at the end of 2006, its 10 years would be over in November of 2016. So from 2014 to 2016 Sony would be making profit off the system. As anyone can see though, there are many things that could change with my math. As the years go by, technology will advance and it will become cheaper for Sony to produce a Playstation 3. As the world moves into the Hi-Def era, Blu-ray players will become more necessary which will increase sales for the Playstation 3. With not just the USA economy experiencing a slowdown, but the whole world experiencing the same thing, the amount of disposable income that people will have will decrease which will take away the money that someone could use to buy a Playstation 3. With the 10 year life that Sony is expecting from the Playstation 3, the competition could put out a better system within 5 years slowing down the sell of the Playstation 3.

The Playstation 3 is a video game behemoth, there is no doubting that. It was built to usher in a new age of gaming the world has only dreamed about. To achieve the “next-gen” gaming experience, Sony decked the Playstation 3 with everything it would need to achieve that goal. Built-in hard drive, which can be upgraded, to store all of your saved game data and the things you download off the Playstation Store. Blu-ray optical eye to read the Blu-ray disks (currently 50 GB) that will eventually take over DVD as the main format. Blu-tooth to give the clearest and crispest connection available. Sixaxis in each controller to give a gaming experience like no other. HDMI output to show games in the highest resolution on the planet, 1080p. Free online access for everyone because playing with friends should be free. The ground breaking Nvidia RSX GPU to render graphics that have never been seen before. Not just one, but seven of IBM’s powerful Cell Processors to preform tasks only dreamed of before. But the Playstation 3 was not made solely for video games.

Along with the goal of making the best video gaming system Sony had another goal, to make the Playstation 3 the center of the owner’s entertainment world. Sony wants people to use their Playstation 3 not just to watch Blu-ray movies and play video games, but they want everything to revolve around the system. In order for the Playstation 3 to be used as a person’s center of their entertainment world at their house they needed to include certain elements that would meet all the needs of the owner.

One of the ways Sony tried to achieve that goal was the inclusion of the ability for the Playstation 3 to connect to the owner’s computer through a network and share files between the two. With this feature, the Playstation 3 has the capabilities of streaming music straight off the owner’s computer, saving hard drive space on the Playstation 3 for other things. Although, if the owner really loves a CD, the Playstation 3 can copy music from the computer or from an actual CD to its hard drive. On the XMB (Cross Media Bar) next to the Music icon, there is an icon for Photos. Sony knows that people love to show off their photos. They decided to add this feature in to give people a chance to display their pictures on the biggest frame in the house, the TV. The Photo section of the Playstation 3 acts a lot like the Music section, photos can be viewed through the Playstation 3 that are on a computer when connected to a network. If the owner wants one of their photos that is on their computer to be saved to their Playstation 3, there is an option to copy the image to the hard drive.

If that was not enough to give the Playstation 3 the power it needed to become the center of a person’s entertainment world, what else could Sony add to help it become that? Sony gave the Playstation 3 the ability to log on to the internet. It is the actual internet, not the cell phone version, or even a limited version, but the real internet. Everything works as it would if you were actually on a computer. You are able to open up to seven different windows, each with their own pages, and they are updated in real-time.

Tired of having to get out of your favorite chair in order to go on to your computer? Well the Playstation 3 can be your computer. Sony included the option to set aside part of the Playstation 3’s hard drive for use with an operating system. A few companies have came out with Playstation 3 exclusive operating systems, i.e. Linux. The Playstation 3 is able to connect wirelessly to any printer, so someone can print anything saved to the Playstation 3 hard drive. With the USB ports on the front of the Playstation 3, it gives easy access to a keyboard and mouse.

As anyone can see, Sony has pulled out all the stops in creating the Playstation 3, but was it worth it? Only time will tell if Sony made the right decision in putting so much money into the Playstation 3.

Look for the second part of my opinion on “Was The Playstation 3 Worth It?” coming soon.

I don’t think I’ve rambled enough about GTA IV so guess what? Prepare for more! This time let’s focus on the Playstation 3 version.

GTA IV launched yesterday April 29th but was available for purchase Monday, April 28th. From long lines at Best Buy or EB Games to news articles you read about this game even before it’s launch date. Massive billboards plastered on tall buildings and you hear in the news that people get stabbed over a copy of GTA IV. I’m not really a fan of the GTA series but I had to pick up the new game because of it’s online capability.

After picking up my daughter from daycare, we stopped by Best Buy to purchase Grand Theft Auto IV. I waited for my daughter to fall asleep so I can finally play this game because I don’t want my 2 yr old to see her mother beating up on prostitutes. Before you can play, an update has to be installed first which takes about 10-15 minutes which I believe is for online play.

Once you start the game, you can either go through training or go straight to the Single Player game, or use your cellphone to connect online. Once you’re online, you have quite an array of multiplayer modes from standard team deathmatch to co-op cops and robbers and up to 16 players can go head-to-head in the multiplayer matches. You will rank up as you earn more money which is classic GTA wherein your wins are measured in cash rather than kills.

Unfortunately a great game such as GTA IV comes with a painful price, and when I say painful… I mean headache. The low res 640p game for PS3 (720p for Xbox 360…what’s up with that?) was not very fun to play through a 1080p HD screen. The controls, especially the L3 stick was too sensitive for me so that contributed to an even massive headache when the main character runs around and turns. The worst part is that I cannot connect to the server AT ALL! Actually, I got connected once and it disconnected me after 3 seconds…doh! So eventually, I just gave up and went to bed. Hopefully this weekend servers would be up again and everything would run smoothly, otherwise…that game is going back or I’m trading it in for a 360 version!

This whole craze with Grand Theft Auto IV has been so huge. You see massive billboards in Los Angeles, they sneak in a commercial of GTA in every channel, heck… I hear everyone talking about this game at work the entire day! Even our Director of Data Services says he has to rush home so he can get his copy of GTA!

But all this hoopla about this M rated game and the launch of it’s online capability gave some people a reason to camp outside their favorite game store and get stabbed! However, we are forgetting the poor lil ‘ole Wii… and the launch of Mario Kart. Sure it doesn’t have any prostitutes, guns, and you can’t run around beating random people and get chased by cops… although I’d love to beat up Luigi, he annoys the living hell out of me. But it’s as close to GTA as any kid 7 years and below can get their paws on.

Let’s compare shall we?

GTA 4
You drive all over town either meeting up with Roman or picking up prostitutes.

Mario Kart
You drive all over a certain map and try to shoot your opponent’s balloons, no prostitutes. But I think Peach is a w**&^%.

GTA 4
You can run all over town and beat up people and get chased by cops!

Mario Kart
You can’t run all over town but wouldn’t you love to beat the s*&%^ out of Luigi?

GTA 4
You can pick up random guns on the street (takes awhile) and shoot random people, or whoever your target is at the moment.

Mario Kart
You can drive and hit those hovering boxes and you can get either 3 banana peels, turtle shells or bombs to throw at your opponent!

GTA 4
Got friends to play with and gang up on people? Play online!

Mario Kart
Yes… it goes online too.

GTA 4
PS3 version of GTA IV runs at 640p

Mario Cart
I believe all Wii games runs at 640p… LOL

Now that we’ve seen the uncanny resemblance between the two games, if you have kids and you don’t want to expose them to violent and mature games…start them off with Mario Kart.

My game rating for Mario Kart: 7.5

Perspective is defined as “a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface.”

I never like to start off with a definition when I write, but I think that definition fits perfectly for echochrome. Over on the Playstation Blog Kumi Yussa, Associate Producer for echochrome, told us that the demo for the game would be available to download tomorrow and the finished game will be released in May. For those of you who do not know what echochrome is, here is very short description of the game.

You walk around a 2D world with 3D physics. Your objective is to collect all the echos that are found within a level. Sounds easy, right? Well that is just the tip of the iceberg with the hurdels you will be given in echochrome. Many of the echos will be unreachable due to many different reasons; they are below you, they are above you, or there may be a gap in front of you. In order for you to be able to reach them, you have to manipulated the level. You accomplish that by rotating the level with the right analog stick. If it looks like two paths connect, then they do.

It has been a long time since I have been this excited for a puzzle game. My blood pressure raises at least 10 points, I start sweating profusely, and I say things my mother would be very disappointed in me saying. So obviously puzzle games are no where near the top of my list for “Games I Have To Play”. Ever since its revealing at E3 2007 I can’t seem to get enough of echochrome. The idea behind the game is so intriguing to me that I will risk my blood pressure level just to play it. Maybe the most exciting part about this game to me is the part where I will be able to build a level and send it to all my friends that have echochrome through the Playstation Network and let them try and beat it.

I hope you will join me and help me in May once echochrome will be released to the world.

Well just as I feared… Playstation HOME has been delayed yet again, hopefully for a good reason! The public Beta of PS Home was supposed to start beginning of the quarter, 2008. Then it was delayed till this Spring. Now Sony announced yet another delay for Fall this year.

“We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today,” - Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment.

Now that it’s been bumped for another few months, Sony has announced that they will be inviting more people in this closed beta. Well…here’s to hoping!

Finally got a copy of Metal Gear Online beta for pre ordering a copy of MGS4. Waited till Sunday night to do the necessary updates and downloads that it requires since the Online Beta launches Monday, April 21st. It took the entire night to do a “peer to peer” download of the update…but alas, the Beta was delayed to this Friday because of server load issues…DOH!!

Now that MGS4 Beta has been moved to April 25th, I’m not sure everything will be fixed in 4 days. So us Metal Gear Fans are really hoping and crossing our fingers. A lot of people had some issues with typing in the code or the “Konami ID” which by the way…is case sensitive. The code is found in the copy of the Metal Gear Solid Online game box. I believe you can still get your copy as long as you pre-order your MGS4 game copy at your gamestore like EB/Gamestop. There might be limited quantities of the MGS4 Online Beta copy so please go and pre-order your game so you can get the chance to get the Beta copy.

To read more about the MGS4 Online Beta, go to the Konami Website (http://www.konami.jp/mgo/us/index.html) for the latest info.

Finally, after a long delay, the wait for the Call of Duty 4 map pack to be available for the Playstation 3 is over. The COD4 map pack will arrive on PS3, next Thursday, April 24th.

I’ve played the COD4 map pack for the 360 and enjoyed all of them, except for Chinatown. That map was camp city! Creek and Broadcast are my 2 favorites. To celebrate the new map pack release for the PS3, Robert Bowling, Director of Communications / Community Manager for Infinity Ward announced in his blog, iamfourzerotwo.com:

“To celebrate the release of both map packs we will be hosting a Double XP weekend for North America from 12:01 AM PDT on Friday, April 25 to 11:59 PM PDT on Sunday, April 27. North American players will be able to play the new maps against members of the Infinity Ward team on Friday, April 25 from 5 PM to 8 PM PDT.”

In addition to this; the map pack has passed Sony Europe Certification and will be available in the Playstation Network, May 1st. Oh yeah baby… hit me big time!

I am sure everyone has already heard about the new facelift for the Playstation Store that is due to come out around April 15th. The facelift will be included with the firmware update v2.30. Along with the rest of the Playstation fans, I am very excited to know that a new way of browsing the store will be available to us in the near future.

The store in its current state is very clunky when it comes to looking for something that is not on the main page. You have to search by categories that are broad and often have the same thing in multiple categories. With this facelift of the store, I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will add a level of user-friendliness that is only seen in Xbox Live.

I enjoy looking through the Store and finding some of the old content that was on the main page before the system turned one year old. There are some very fun games that at the time I couldn’t dish out $9.99 for, but have invested in buying a few recently, such as Calling All Cars which has turned into one of my favorite PSN games. I am hoping that with this facelift I will be able to search through the content easier and quicker and find other gems like Calling All Cars.

With the release of the firmware 2.30, we are even closer to the “rumored” v2.40 update that will include the in-game XMB.