still gotta look at the big picture. Having money is worth something.... Just by investing in safe and risk free markets... you can make a signficant return on your investment. For sony to make risky expenditures, they at least need to make more of a profit than they could investing in a risk free assets.

So lets say i just throw around a theoretical figure... like PSN cost 100 million to create and maintain over a 10 year period. And remember sony is operating in debt... so they are paying interest on that borrowed 100 mil. Every year they lose money, they are still paying interest on this investment... if one year they come out of the red... they still have multiple years of interest payments to make up for in order to break even, in addition to whatever losses they suffered. So they cant just become profitable in a single fiscal year... they need to be profitable enough to repay their interest loans over the entire period. If they are just managing to break even at the end of their console's lifespan.... they arent proving themselves a viable business unit.... probably not even able to pay off their borrowing interest rate.

markinthedark

You know what?

All this theoretical talk is nonsense, on both our parts. We could do this all day, but its pointless.

I prefer to talk about what's here right in front of us, and that is, PSN is free, works well, and Sony's not going to charge to use the service this entire generation.

Those are facts I can get down with.

I disagree with TC. MGS4 isn't a game, it is a movie. Miroku32

I disagree with you.

You see...METAL GEAR SOLID 4 isn't a Movie, rather, it's GAME OF THE YEAR.

Just a friendly reminder. ;)

I can't help but laugh when I see that by default, PC is totally shut out of the picture .

Poor Hermits. :lol:

they arent happy with it. And they are going to have a hard time justifying the pricing model to their overlords come next gen. Sony operates in the red... all their dollars spent cant just break even, they need to cover the interest costs of their borrowing and make profit on top of that. PSN is an unsustainable model in its curent form.

markinthedark

I don't think so.

I don't think you're seeing the big picture.....

let me help you:

Qriocity, Sony's Music Streaming Service, Launches

Sony Corp. on Wednesday launched a music streaming service in a bid to boost sales of its consumer electronics and break Apple's dominance of the online music business.......

While it remains to be seen whether consumers will embrace the new services, Sony is starting off with a substantial user base through the PlayStation 3. The video game console has more than 60 million users worldwide, and about 80 percent of PS3s are connected to the Web.

That's just an exerpt, but as you can see, long story short, Sony's plans with PSN extend further than just a trivial $50 year subscription to just play games.

They aren't charging, because they've got bigger plans, and there's more ways to make money than just yearly fees for online gaming....and with Sony's Media catalog, they are just the ones that can do it.

Sony turn back on a promise? I don't think it will harm there image any more than removing BC support, no 4d, not having a standard 1080p 60fps games, basically there are a lot of things sony shot for and didn't really work out so well, and their service while nice that is free, still falls short in ways. I don't think they'd charge for it though, they really don't have anything worth charging for. M$ decided to implement most of the network in their os for use in games, so dev's don't have to worry to much about supporting online on xbox, most of whats needed to get it running is already there, and since its not part of the game M$ can upgrade things that will effect online play wihout needing to directly patch each game. Sony would have to make a completely new online structure before they can really justify charging for it.savagetwinkie

Sony's not charging for this generation...period.

PS3's online and XbOX 360's gameplaying online are exactly the same.....XBOX has better chat features.

But now, what's interesting, is PS3 has more total online services and features than XBOX 360/LIVE now

[QUOTE="Unnatural101"]

[QUOTE="chase_arizona"]

You know that PSN is only free so it can be used as a selling point right. And also they can't justify charching for it at this point.

markinthedark

Sure they can.....in fact, some people pay for the optional PSN+ right now.

PSN is free because Sony wants people to get full value out of the games you buy, instead of ripping people off like Microsoft does with XBOX LIVE....Like Microsoft has done this entire generation.

thats BS. First of all Sony electronics... outside of gaming are some of the most overpriced pieces of garbage on the market.... hows that bravia tv working out for you... could have has a better quality samsung for half the price. How bout that sony receiver.. oh, could have had a better onyko for half the price. Sony loves charging premiums for their brand name... they have been the leader in overpriced electronics for a long time now... they didnt all of a sudden get humble with the PS3. They dont care about your enjoyment, they just know they cant realistically charge for PSN when XBL is blowing them out of the water.

First of all, I don't care about Sony TV's and recievers and Walkman and Car stereos....I care about the PS3.

Second, regarding the bolded part:

Sony's optionally charging people now, and people seem to be quite happy with it. So apparently your info is a bit misinformed.

You're reasons behind everything are completely wrong.

chase_arizona

Oh...your on the Shareholders board I take it.

I mean, you seem so sure while telling me I'm completely wrong, so it must be assumed you work for Sony or are part of their chain of command, right?

Can you get me a free tour of the corp office....I'd like that. :)

[QUOTE="Unnatural101"]

[QUOTE="chase_arizona"]

You know that PSN is only free so it can be used as a selling point right. And also they can't justify charching for it at this point.

chase_arizona

Sure they can.....in fact, some people pay for the optional PSN+ right now.

PSN is free because Sony wants people to get full value out of the games you buy, instead of ripping people off like Microsoft does with XBOX LIVE.

Once again, you're wrong.

Nope, I'm right.

-PSN is free, and people choose to pay for optional services.

-I pay for my games which has online code built in on the disk.

-Microsoft makes you pay, effectivly twice.

Sorry...I can't be more right.....unless I said Microsoft rips people off. lol

You know that PSN is only free so it can be used as a selling point right. And also they can't justify charching for it at this point.

chase_arizona

Sure they can.....in fact, some people pay for the optional PSN+ right now.

PSN is free because Sony wants people to get full value out of the games you buy, instead of ripping people off like Microsoft does with XBOX LIVE....Like Microsoft has done this entire generation.

It still happended though.

chase_arizona

At the risk of sounding ridiculous,

I do see a trend though....

Back in 2006 and 2007, Sony was willing to take a loss for its loyal customers.

Now in 2011 (a week away), Sony's still willing to take a loss for its loyal customers via its online network.

If anyone deserves my loyalty, I'd say Sony has earned it many times over.

Microsoft...pft..not so much (RROD, Charging to play online, losing good developers left and right, and now Pushing Kinect as its primary).

Microsoft hardly at all, in fact.