Sony Has The Last Laugh

[Ares]

Sony Has The Last Laugh: PS3 Blu-ray Investment Paying off Big Time

by Ernice Gilbert on April 7th, 2010,

When the PS3 launched back in 2006, many a journalist and naysayers alike proclaimed the doom of Sony’s black behemoth. They said including Blu-ray as part of the PS3’s package didn’t make much sense and that it would only raise the price of an already expensive console.
But guess who’s laughing now? Ironically, one of Sony’s main selling point for PS3 right now is that its Blu-ray compatibility.
According to Blu-ray.com [Via MCV], sales of Blu-ray discs are up 68.5% in the U.S. during the first quarter.
From January to March, sales of Blu-ray rose to $331.31, and the format accounted for 12.3% of packaged-media sales revenue, up from 7.0% during the same period a year earlier. In the month of March, Blu-ray sales revenues rose to $130.36 million, which is a notable 86% year-on-year increase.
Now that the HD format is catching steam, things will only get better for Sony and PS3, as the console gives the most value for your dollar. Blu-ray is no doubt here to stay, and with games like God of War III out and many more exclusives yet to be unveiled, it seems Sony’s got its groove back.

Reminds me of PS2 days.

Source: Games Thirst

 

[yepimonfire]

sony will outlive XBOX360 because games are reaching their 8gb limit, and fast, i know the size of a typical FPS is around 7gb for a pc compared to last year when 3-4gb was the norm. XBOX 360 is either going to have to reduce their graphics q or increase the game storage devices to blu ray

 

[GlocksRock]

It may not have made much sense then but now that the PS3 sells new right now for half of what it sold for when it was first released. Everyone knew the console would eventually become cheaper, so it was a smart move on Sony's part. In fact the only reason I even own 2 ps3s is because of the blu ray... but now I rarely use it for blu ray since I have 2 HTPCs.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Drastic ramp-up in internet speeds (hopefully sooner than later) will be the last nail in physical media coffin.

 

[GlocksRock]

Drastic ramp-up in internet speeds (hopefully sooner than later) will be the last nail in physical media coffin.

And this is unfortunate, as it will only lead to the end user having less control over the content. How could I let my friend borrow my game, or borrow a game from my friend if I have no physical media.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Unfortantely Sony hasn't been laughing all the way to the bank with the PS3. For the most part the PS3 has been a fiscal nightmare.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

And this is unfortunate, as it will only lead to the end user having less control over the content. How could I let my friend borrow my game, or borrow a game from my friend if I have no physical media.

Such mechanisms COULD be developed and employed, but I doubt Big Content will be interested.

 

[Ares]

Unfortantely Sony hasn't been laughing all the way to the bank with the PS3. For the most part the PS3 has been a fiscal nightmare.

It hasn't been till recently that the PS3 started making a profit and that still does not off set the losses that Sony took in the beginning. With five years left in it's expected life cycle Sony may turn a profit by the end of it's life cycle but time will tell.

BoredSysAdmin -Drastic ramp-up in internet speeds (hopefully sooner than later) will be the last nail in physical media coffin.

If and when this happens I will most likely retire my controller, I prefer owning physical media not something on a HDD it will feel more like renting than owning IMO.

 

[Nemo128]

With five years left in it's expected life cycle Sony may turn a profit by the end of it's life cycle but time will tell.

If Sony's game division survives that long.

 

[Ares]

Nemo we are talking about Sony not Sega.

 

[j_garcia]

Unfortantely Sony hasn't been laughing all the way to the bank with the PS3. For the most part the PS3 has been a fiscal nightmare.

When it was first introduced maybe, but not anymore. They make up for losses by selling the media and everything else associated with the console, so even if they were losing money on the PS3, they are making enough to make up for it on everything else.

 

[KASR]

Glad to see them digging out of the hole they created during the format war, but I think they are still a ways off before they are totally in the black from that debacle. Year over year increases are great, but when you consider the WHOLE picture of how much they dumped into marketing on the format war...they still have some catching up to do.

 

[Shock]

Drastic ramp-up in internet speeds (hopefully sooner than later) will be the last nail in physical media coffin.

This is a long ways away imo. Physical media will have a place in most aspects of media distribution for quite some time. These super fast internet speeds would have to be available to EVERYONE at a resonable price before physical media would even have a chance to go away.

While I agree a purely direct to drive system is coming in the future, I would be surprised if it happened within the next 10 if not 20 years.

 

[j_garcia]

It will become available within 10 IMO, but just like Blu-ray is now, it won't be mainstream for at least 10+

 

[Chopper Greg]

Drastic ramp-up in internet speeds (hopefully sooner than later) will be the last nail in physical media coffin.

I would use physical media, even if I had a T1 line and internet service was free.

Simply put I do not like the idea of having to hook up each time that I want to see a different movie, nor do I ( and many other people ) have the funds for a huge HD to store them on - where as CD's can be made for less than $5 wholesale.

Frankly, the recent FCC ruling that says that Internet Providers have the right to throttle down heavy internet users, is also going to slow down the growth of internet provided media.


No, physical media is going to be around for long time, and is a better format for most peoples usage.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I would use physical media, even if I had a T1 line and internet service was free.

Well Greg, T1 line isn't that fast at all, despite any similarities to first part of Terminator
T1 is based on very technology and it's speed is limited to 1,500 kbps Download and 1,500 kbps upload.
For reference my home cable internet cost $45/month and it's 15,000kbps down and 2,000kbps up....

If I had 1gbps line both ways connection to net and good source of movies - I'd throw away all my aging DVD media..

 

[Chopper Greg]

Well Greg, T1 line isn't that fast at all, despite any similarities to first part of Terminator
T1 is based on very technology and it's speed is limited to 1,500 kbps Download and 1,500 kbps upload.
For reference my home cable internet cost $45/month and it's 15,000kbps down and 2,000kbps up....

If I had 1gbps line both ways connection to net and good source of movies - I'd throw away all my aging DVD media..

I used T1 as just an example as at one time it was the fastest but besides that it doesn't matter if it's was even a 5gbps line, I still wouldn't.

Between all the various fees ( and restrictions ) and hardware limitations, physical media is still the best option and the best buy for most people.


Simply put I have had more HD's go bad on me than I have had CD's, DVD's, or Blue-Ray go bad, and if the physical media player goes bad, all I have to replace is the player, not my entire collection of movies as well.

 

[skers_54]

This is a long ways away imo. Physical media will have a place in most aspects of media distribution for quite some time. These super fast internet speeds would have to be available to EVERYONE at a resonable price before physical media would even have a chance to go away.

While I agree a purely direct to drive system is coming in the future, I would be surprised if it happened within the next 10 if not 20 years.

I agree. Especially since most people will want a wireless connection, which are still kinda spotty for high-bandwidth use. My brother, for example, gets disconnected from Xbox live whenever my other brother's PS3 connects to the network (anyone know why it does that btw?)

 

[Chopper Greg]

I agree. Especially since most people will want a wireless connection, which are still kinda spotty for high-bandwidth use. My brother, for example, gets disconnected from Xbox live whenever my other brother's PS3 connects to the network (anyone know why it does that btw?)

2.4 GHz interference?

Unless the LAN hub is a simultaneous dual ban router ( 2.4 and 5 GHz ), it's quite possible that it's due to interference.

Allot of stuff uses the 2.4 GHz ban, wireless controllers, wireless phones, wireless internet for PS3's, Wii's, and X-Box ( although the X-Box is also 5 GHz compatible ), even some older microwave ovens were unshielded in the 2.4 ban.

Another possibility is the router is limited in the number of channels and is set to give the PS3 priority or the PS3 has a stronger signal and the router is just using the stronger signal.

( As it is, once I can get some money put together I'm picking up a simultaneous duel ban router and moving my X-Box to the 5 GHz ban.)

In truth, without knowing exactly how the WLAN is set up, it's all specualtion

 

[skers_54]

2.4 GHz interference?

Unless the LAN hub is a simultaneous dual ban router ( 2.4 and 5 GHz ), it's quite possible that it's due to interference.

Allot of stuff uses the 2.4 GHz ban, wireless controllers, wireless phones, wireless internet for PS3's, Wii's, and X-Box ( although the X-Box is also 5 GHz compatible ), even some older microwave ovens were unshielded in the 2.4 ban.

Another possibility is the router is limited in the number of channels and is set to give the PS3 priority or the PS3 has a stronger signal and the router is just using the stronger signal.

( As it is, once I can get some money put together I'm picking up a simultaneous duel ban router and moving my X-Box to the 5 GHz ban.)

In truth, without knowing exactly how the WLAN is set up, it's all specualtion

They're both running off of an old wireless-g router (which uses 2.4 GHz IIRC). The computer is connected via ethernet and the Wii, PS3 and Xbox are wireless. There's 4 ethernet output jacks on the router, but that doesn't mean its bandwidth isn't being exceeded. I think it's a combo of the old router and interference. My bro changed something on the router and it's been better but still not ideal. He lags sometimes too so he probably just needs to get a new dual-band router. Thanks for the help.