Sony rating lowered to one point above junk status

[Fairweather Pure]

http://www.zdnet.com/sony-rating-lowere ... 000007163/

Ouch! No business can sustain extended losses for years like Sony has. I really hope they can turn things around but the writing has been on the wall for years.

[Aslanna]

Shrinking consumer demand for electronics has resulted in the Japanese firm's long-term debt rating being lowered

I'm not sure it's a shrinking demand for electronics as much as it is a shrinking demand for Sony electronics

[Winnow]

In other news:

Former Square president calls Enix merger 'a complete disaster'
by Steve Watts, Nov 09, 2012 3:00pm PST
Related Topics – Square Enix

Square Enix isn't the powerhouse publisher it once was. Missteps like Final Fantasy XIV's troubled launch have led to somewhat of a reputation drop for the Japanese company, and recent quarter reports showed a loss of 5.5 billion yen (approximately $69 million). A former executive of Square has criticized the company, citing its Enix merger and lack of vision as the cause of the troubles.

"The merger is a complete failure," former Square president Hisashi Suzuki said on Twitter (via Develop). "There is no vision for the future."

Suzuki himself was president at Squaresoft, then served as a director at Square Enix for two years following the merger. He pointed out that when the merger first happened, the market cap was at 150 billion yen, but has now posted a market cap of 124 billion yen.

Nintendo's up next with the awful Wii U.

[Funkmasterr]

While i still like square/Enix games, squaresofts games pre merger games were definitely better on the whole, I don't think anyone would argue otherwise.

[Siji]

http://www.zdnet.com/sony-rating-lowere ... 000007163/

Ouch! No business can sustain extended losses for years like Sony has. I really hope they can turn things around but the writing has been on the wall for years.

I was recently looking at cameras for a gift, and Sony as expected has well rated stuff. However, that stuff was on average almost 50% more expensive than competitors. Sony has always been overpriced. In this world of WalMart cocksucking and online shopping, you simply can't get away with that any longer.

[miir]

From the link you posted.

Sony's Q2, ending September 30, resulted in an operating profit of $388 million, in comparison to a $20 million loss in the same quarter within FY2011. The ailing electronics maker made a loss of $5.7 billion last year and $312 million in the first quarter.

It's common knowledge that they are restructuring and a nearly $400 million quarterly operating profit doesn't seem that bad.
They seem to be headed in the right direction.

I'm actually a little surprised Moodys waited this long to downgrade them to a baa3.

[Winnow]

I know miir likes to defend PS3 sales but this one is hard to ignore:

STAT | 270,000—Number of Xbox 360 consoles that sold at US retail stores in October; this is the 22nd month in a row the Xbox has been the best-selling console, with a 56% market share for the month.

The total retail spent on the Xbox 360 platform in October (hardware, software and accessories) came to $315 million, which once again means that consumers spent more on Xbox 360 products in October than they spent on the other two current-generation consoles combined.

If Sony wants to compete (Nintendo is guaranteed fail, 3rd place), they need to figure out their online strategy for their next generation. IMO, streaming games (Onlive, etc) will play a big role. Sony at least bought Gaikai which means they have a chance to focus on the right things this time.

All consoles (except suckwad Nintendo) will play 60FPS 1080p games effortlessly next gen with the possibility of 4K resolutions being supported so it comes down to online, and if Sony is smart enough to not use some bee hive processor that no one can program games for.

They also need to make a decent controller. If you haven't noticed. Nintendo ripped off the Xbox controller almost exactly, not the Playstation controller, for it's Wii U "Pro" games. (including concave triggers, not the ridiculous convex ps3 triggers)

[Fairweather Pure]

While that's true, both consoles are hurting compared to the past. I think "next gen" took 2 years too long to get here. I am happy that both consoles continue to improve their products though, even though they are on the way out. We also have a fair amount of heavy hitting titles still coming for each system.

Sony's does pretty well on the video game side of things. Their only real gaffe was the Vita, which I believe will be their last handheld. I hope they learned a thing or 2 from this gen. Don't come out a year after MS, and price the system correctly from the start. Both companies need to have backward compatibility and transference of trophies/achievements right out of the gate. And yes, fix the controller, Sony.

Next gen is going to be crazy good!

[Zaelath]

Is this the alternate reality where the PS3 controllers aren't better than the XBox controllers?

The XBox was improved greatly by it's shrinkage with the 360, but they're still not as comfortable after a few hours as the PS3.

YMMV if you have giant basketballer hands.

[Aslanna]

I really don't see backward compatibility being present in the next gen other than them selling you the previous gen game digitally. I'd be very surprised if you can just pop in your existing disc and have the game run. I know with the Wii-U can run Wii games with the discs but I don't think MS or Sony will have that. We'll see!

Transferring of profiles definitely needs to happen seamlessly to the next gen. I know some people don't care about trophies/achievements but a lot of people do and they will not want to be starting over from 0.

Other than the triggers going the wrong way I generally prefer the PS3 controller. It just seems to fit better in my hands and it's lighter. Yes I weighed both of them! And have you used the 360's D-Pad? I'd say that's a worse offense than the PS3 triggers going the wrong way

[Winnow]

Looks like Zaelath wants to unseat me as the new king of trolls.

Ill take a slightly worse D-Pad (not that I've noticed it performing poorly in any of the games I've played) than the opposite which is everything else being worse. Maybe people with puny hands that can't lift more than a few ounces can get an Xbox Mini Controller for the next gen consoles. I think third parties sell them now. The PS3 controller is an ergonomic piece of shit.

[Aslanna]

The PS3 controller is an ergonomic piece of shit.

So.. a lot like Windows 8 then.

[Winnow]

The PS3 controller is an ergonomic piece of shit.

So.. a lot like Windows 8 then.

How is Windows 8 "ergonomically" a piece of shit?

[Siji]

The PS3 controller is an ergonomic piece of shit.

So.. a lot like Windows 8 then.

Burrrrrrrrrn

[Funkmasterr]

I really like the Xbox controller, my hands don't bug me when using it for extended times like others do. I think that would change if it was smaller, and the weight doesn't bother me any. I don't really play the type of games that a dpad matters for (fighters, racing) so that doesn't bother me any.

[miir]

I know miir likes to defend PS3 sales but this one is hard to ignore:

STAT | 270,000—Number of Xbox 360 consoles that sold at US retail stores in October; this is the 22nd month in a row the Xbox has been the best-selling console, with a 56% market share for the month.

'US only' sales figures have always favoured the 360, much like Japanese sales are dominated by Nintendo and Sony.
PS3 sales are solid in all markets, the 360 is only solid in the US.
PS3 worldwide sales have topped the 360 since 2008.
2012 has been no different.

[Aslanna]

So you say. Let see some stats!

[Fairweather Pure]

Aaaaannd Junked.

[miir]

Not exactly shocking news.
Sony, Sharp and Panasonic have been bleeding for years.
Strong yen and slow growth in China have a lot to do with it.

Sonys and Panasonic's restructuring seem to be helping turn things around.

[Asheran Mojomaster]

The Xbox 360 and PS3 have almost the exact same sales numbers worldwide. Both right at 70 million. The Nintendo Wii handily destroyed them both. It is nearing 100 million.

We will see how this generation goes.

[Winnow]

The Xbox 360 and PS3 have almost the exact same sales numbers worldwide. Both right at 70 million. The Nintendo Wii handily destroyed them both. It is nearing 100 million.

We will see how this generation goes.

That's like saying Africa had the best decade due to population if you count all the stillborn and premature deaths as full lives.

Microsoft had their shit together this console generation while Sony totally fucked it up. Nintendo got lucky by selling a lot of Wii's that went directly to consumer closets. Even the dumbest of people all won't be fooled again by the Wii U.

[miir]

I'm not sure what reality you are living in, Winnow.

[kyoukan]

the reality in which he isn't a drooling, retarded pedophile that should have taken his own life a decade ago.

[Winnow]

The world would have been better off if kyoukan was stillborn.

[Asheran Mojomaster]

I bought a Wii and had a lot of fun with it. I played with it for over a year, until my dog destroyed the cables. I was a bit sketchy about the controller at first, but once I tried it, I found that the games were insanely addicting, and a lot of fun to play with my friends and family.

I think the Wii would have been pretty blah if I had no one to play it with, or if my friends / family were so self-conscious that they would not play because they were embarrassed or thought they would look stupid, as I had two people tell me when I asked them to play it.

I also have an Xbox that I love. I have at least 30 physical games, and another 10 or so that I have bought on Xbox live. I like my Xbox for completely different reasons than the Wii.

The PS3 didn't really appeal to me.

I will be buying a Wii U soon. My son loves tablets and handhelds, but also loves to play on a console through my TV. If I can give him the same game in his hands, and be able to watch TV or play my Xbox while he does, that would be awesome. There will likely be more games for me to play with him as well.