Muhammad Ali - floats like a butterfly, stings like a PS3.
David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, has made a startlingly comparison of Sony to boxing great Muhammad Ali.
Speaking in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Reeves said of Sony's recent poor financials, "We simply have to suffer a little, go down in market share and mind-share. It's like Ali v Foreman - go eight or nine rounds and let him punch himself out."
He's referring to Rumble in the Jungle, the now legendary Heavyweight Championship boxing match held on 30 October, 1974, in which Muhammad Ali, not being able to make much of an impact against George Foreman, hung back on the ropes, taking his licks until Foreman got knackered and Ali was able to knock him out. It's a great tactic, if you're the most revered boxer in history... and Nintendo and Microsoft are George Foreman.
Reeves then became a little more modest, adding, “We're still standing, we're still profitable and there's a lot of fight in us. I don't say we will land a knockout blow, but we're there and we're fighting." Sony's the scrappy underdog, see?
Taking what looks suspiciously like a jab at Microsoft, Reeves first reiterated the 'on track for 10 million PS3s sold' line, then said, “If we'd cut the price, lost another billion dollars, we might have had a huge Christmas but it would have been followed by a huge loss.”
Going on to further discuss the price, he again went back to a tried and tested Sony corporate line - “How do I justify it? Look at the capability of the machines...” You can probably guess what followed but, needless to say, it involved the phrases “online for free”, “Blu-ray”, “Home” and photo storage. He also said, “it's got all the games you want”, a statement that Xbox 360 owners might argue with.
But then – an admission! "Admittedly, in the current climate, more people will go for the lower price, but we still make a profit and that is our objective."
Reeves pointed out that the PS3 was launched as a multimedia device and that, finally, “you're going to see non-game apps appear: video downloads, music”.
Then another one! "We've learned from Nintendo how to grow the market and move from handheld device to device - they've done it brilliantly. And we've learned an enormous amount from Microsoft, too. Overall, the market has sharpened up individual competitors to do better - we should celebrate the industry and how we've collectively grown it beyond all recognition."
Reeves also had a few words to say about reducing the size of the Cell chip and cost reduction.
Source: The Guardian
Speaking in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Reeves said of Sony's recent poor financials, "We simply have to suffer a little, go down in market share and mind-share. It's like Ali v Foreman - go eight or nine rounds and let him punch himself out."
He's referring to Rumble in the Jungle, the now legendary Heavyweight Championship boxing match held on 30 October, 1974, in which Muhammad Ali, not being able to make much of an impact against George Foreman, hung back on the ropes, taking his licks until Foreman got knackered and Ali was able to knock him out. It's a great tactic, if you're the most revered boxer in history... and Nintendo and Microsoft are George Foreman.
Reeves then became a little more modest, adding, “We're still standing, we're still profitable and there's a lot of fight in us. I don't say we will land a knockout blow, but we're there and we're fighting." Sony's the scrappy underdog, see?
Taking what looks suspiciously like a jab at Microsoft, Reeves first reiterated the 'on track for 10 million PS3s sold' line, then said, “If we'd cut the price, lost another billion dollars, we might have had a huge Christmas but it would have been followed by a huge loss.”
Going on to further discuss the price, he again went back to a tried and tested Sony corporate line - “How do I justify it? Look at the capability of the machines...” You can probably guess what followed but, needless to say, it involved the phrases “online for free”, “Blu-ray”, “Home” and photo storage. He also said, “it's got all the games you want”, a statement that Xbox 360 owners might argue with.
But then – an admission! "Admittedly, in the current climate, more people will go for the lower price, but we still make a profit and that is our objective."
Reeves pointed out that the PS3 was launched as a multimedia device and that, finally, “you're going to see non-game apps appear: video downloads, music”.
Then another one! "We've learned from Nintendo how to grow the market and move from handheld device to device - they've done it brilliantly. And we've learned an enormous amount from Microsoft, too. Overall, the market has sharpened up individual competitors to do better - we should celebrate the industry and how we've collectively grown it beyond all recognition."
Reeves also had a few words to say about reducing the size of the Cell chip and cost reduction.
Source: The Guardian
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Comments
SuperSaiyan4 5 Feb 2009 12:46
1/4
I read David's comments over at MCV and have to say its things like this which gets respect. Other Sony reps seem to be on high horses and on crack with the same garbage coming out of their mouths.
I like the honesty David has put across I wish other companies would do the same instead of fighting at each other with words.
The problem with this gen now is that PS3 and 360 seem to have less exclusives with Sony having lost many titles that were once exclusive to their system.
If Sony can boost its exclusives with newer fresher titles that look and play good I think that way there will be an even more reason to get a PS3.
With Microsoft it seems the only way to increase sales is make their console very cheap making it almost worthless in some ways.
Microsoft needs more in-house exclusives but unfortunatly their games seem to have bugs and glitches i.e. Fable 2 or are rushed i.e. Halo 3.
Oh and I dont even think MGS makes any games themselves.
I like the honesty David has put across I wish other companies would do the same instead of fighting at each other with words.
The problem with this gen now is that PS3 and 360 seem to have less exclusives with Sony having lost many titles that were once exclusive to their system.
If Sony can boost its exclusives with newer fresher titles that look and play good I think that way there will be an even more reason to get a PS3.
With Microsoft it seems the only way to increase sales is make their console very cheap making it almost worthless in some ways.
Microsoft needs more in-house exclusives but unfortunatly their games seem to have bugs and glitches i.e. Fable 2 or are rushed i.e. Halo 3.
Oh and I dont even think MGS makes any games themselves.
DoctorDee 5 Feb 2009 14:28
2/4
I'm actualy using my PS3 as a home media hub now, and it's adequate, but nowhere near as good as the iMac I used to use. Web browsing is not good enough, it needs to have tabs, or easier new window creation. And the ability to keep more windows open.
But the real kiler is the music player - it is absolutely useless at handling large libraries of songs. I have 58,000 songs, and it takes absolutely ages to scroll through to the one I want. On-the-fly playlist generation, search and browse features need improving greatly or adding. It needs to keep playing when you switch to other applications, or search for another track.
They've made a halfway decent job of improving the photo applciation, but I don't really give a toss about that. But the music player realy needs some attention.
But the real kiler is the music player - it is absolutely useless at handling large libraries of songs. I have 58,000 songs, and it takes absolutely ages to scroll through to the one I want. On-the-fly playlist generation, search and browse features need improving greatly or adding. It needs to keep playing when you switch to other applications, or search for another track.
They've made a halfway decent job of improving the photo applciation, but I don't really give a toss about that. But the music player realy needs some attention.
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Jim 7 Feb 2009 18:13
3/4
I would like to see my online storage provider, http://www.MyOtherDrive.com allow me to reach them via my PS3. Then I could store my songs on their site, and surf them from my PS3. Now that would be cool.
Was p 8 Feb 2009 00:04
4/4
I'd like to not just be able to read Spong on my PS3, but also post to it. It's worked sometimes but usually I get a nice blue screen saying "So that's what that button does".