This article, just reading the full thing now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/technology/how-sony-fell-behind-in-the-tech-parade.html?_r=1

How the Tech Parade Passed Sony By

Sony and many other Japanese manufacturers are pressed on all sides: by rising Asian rivals, a punishingly strong Japanese yen and, in Sony’s case, an astonishing lack of ideas.

• Sony hasn’t turned a profit since 2008
• It now expects to lose $6.4 billion this year.
• Sony hasn’t had a hit product in years.
• Sony’s market value is now one-ninth that of Samsung Electronics, and just one-thirtieth of Apple’s
• Sony’s share price closed at 1,444 yen ($17.83) on Friday, a quarter of its value a decade ago

“It’s almost game over at Sony,” said Yoshiaki Sakito, a former Sony executive who has worked for Walt Disney, Bain & Company, Apple and a start-up focused on innovation training. “I don’t see how Sony’s going to bounce back now.”


WHAT went wrong is a tale of lost opportunities and disastrous infighting. It is also the story of a proud company that was unwilling or unable to adapt to realities of the global marketplace.

One by one, every sphere where the company competed — from hardware to software to communications to content — was turned topsy-turvy by disruptive new technology and unforeseen rivals.

A delay in developing the PS3s Blu-ray DVD player forced Sony to push back its release. Sales suffered because the PlayStation 3 cost much more than rival models from Nintendo and Microsoft. Sony was also slow to move into the world of online games, giving Microsoft a head start.

Sony remains dominated by proud, territorial engineers who often shun cooperation. For many of them, cost-cutting is the enemy of creativity — a legacy of Sony’s co-founders, Mr. Morita and Masaru Ibuka

“Sony makes too many models, and for none of them can they say, ‘This contains our best, most cutting-edge technology,’ ” Mr. Sakito said. “Apple, on the other hand, makes one amazing phone in just two colors and says, ‘This is the best.’ ”

“The bottom line is: if you want to be perceived as a creator of cool tech, you have to create cool tech. The challenge for Sony is that those examples have not been there, and they haven’t been there now for a number of years,” said Steve Beck, founder and managing partner at cg42, a management consulting firm that focuses on brand vulnerabilities at top tech companies. “The tarnish on their brand has definitely begun.”

Bits and pieces, it's a 3 page article check it out.

bugsonglass said:

gamingeek said:

Cause it's cheaper.

Every game has a digital manual, just hit the home button while the game is on.

Mario 3DLand is the best portable Mario.

When you say it's the best portable Mario, do you ignore the fact that Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3, World, World 2 -  YI, 64 also exist in portable forms?

Do you just mean it's better than New Super Mario Bros DS, Yoshi's Island DS, that DS Peach game and Super Mario Land 1 and 2 on the old gameboy?

Regardless though, why is it the best portable Mario?  Give me a good reason why it's better than most of those games

Bugsy has transformed into Iga. Eventually all of you will be Iga. Resistance is futile.

gamingeek said:

Let me just expand upon that.

NSMB DS was good for a portable game, if it had been released as Super Mario Land 4 for instance on the SNES or whatever it would just be a lesser meh mario game. It's not great, compared to NSMB Wii, it's less than half as good IMO.

The marioland gb titles were good for the time, as good as a black and white 80s game could be.

Yoshi's Island 2 DS by artoon? I haven't played it, but I haven't seen much consensus that this is better than Mario 3Dland.

Now, if you were to compare Mario 3DLand to full on home console mario titles, it's nowhere near as good. It's not a Galaxy game or Mario 64 and it's too slight to rival Sunshine even if there are many aspects that top Sunshine.

What Mario 3Dland has though, pushes it leaps and bounds ahead of any made-for-portable mario platformer. It has great graphics - in 3D no less. Nuanced controls, great music, innovative level design, it's fun to play. But it's levels could and should be longer. It's essentially Bitesize mario.

There is some repitition - dark mario chasing you non-stop.... eh. But it's overall a solid product and deserves the 8/10 and 8.5 reviews it's got.

Do we live in a parallel universe where Wario Land 1, 2 and 3 are never made? Mario Land 2 was the shit. Anyone who says otherwise can fuck off.

Gears of War has literally the worst writing in gamesSays Dead Space Producer

Weell it IS made by one of the two kings of the "mindless" First person Shooter genre...

robio said:

Yeah that was a pretty scathing, but ultimately accurate article about Sony. They are utterly without direction right now. They're too big to disappear for a while, but someone needs to fiugre out who they want to be as a company and follow a plan to get there.

For 10 years now they have been losing popularity overall. They used to be known for making the most reliable products, but their quality has dropped off bigtime and they don't have that trust anymore. And I think they spent much too long being comfortable about riding the success of the Playstation, and thinking they were unbeatable there no matter what. They lost the Playstation image by trying to be Xbox too hard on the PS3 (although they've done a good job TRYING to regain the Playstation image). They lost their most important asset in gaming; having BY FAR the highest number of AAA exclusives.  They're not immediately the company you think of when you want a new TV or Stereo anymore.

PS4 really needs to be perfect for them. It needs to bring back "PLAYSTATION" in a big way.

Ravenprose said:

PS4 is my last hope for the next gen. Just give me a Dual Shock 3, and I'm all set. No more gimmicks please. I've already have my fill this gen.

There's always this:

aspro said:

Hopefully, given their current shape, they'll play it safe and stick with the form factor of the Sixaxis. I just hope they have not hit the desperation level yet.

Well they have stuck with that shape for the past 14 years. Why stop now?

PS1 Controller 1998:

PS2 Controller 2006:

PS3 Controller 2012:

Ravenprose said:

edgecrusher said:

Ravenprose said:

PS4 is my last hope for the next gen. Just give me a Dual Shock 3, and I'm all set. No more gimmicks please. I've already have my fill this gen.

There's always this: PC

I have been considering that possibility. If I do go the PC route, I'd most likely go with retro PC gaming, though. I've been eyeing a few titles on gog.com for a while now.

Cool shit man.

Dvader said:

Iga since when is Wario a Mario game?

Super Mario Land 3: Wario's Land? Unless you want to argue that it is a spin-off. Fine by me, don't care either way. The fact remains Wario Land 2 and 3 >> than all other Mario handheld platformers. According to people that played it. Need to play them ASAP.

Dvader said:


Edge is right, we will all be Iga soon.

Edge? Que?

robio said:

Oh and yes Mario Land 2 was a bad game. Boring as hell. I'd take Mario Land 1 over it any day (so long as I have a screen magnifier to play it with).

Boring as hell? Did not realize that a place fulll of eternal torment can be boring! But whatever floats your boat.

DISCLAIMER: No adorable, giggling babies were injured in the making of the above GIF.

Child abuse.

/YouTube comment.

Im watching Nintendo Direct, looks like the 3DS menu is getting folders. FOLDERS!