CCN, a financial news site with a focus on gaming, posted an op-ed in response to this article from the WSJ, in which Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida has revealed that the company will position the PlayStation as a niche product aimed at serious gamers. Yoshida also stated that "details when making games have become more important than ever", and to that end talked up the need for high-end hardware that allows for ray tracing and faster graphics rendering.
Here are some quotes from the op-ed:
It then went on to mention how Sony's rivals such as Microsoft is embracing and doubling down on cloud tech and playing games on multiple devices, which will be a big component of Microsoft's strategy moving forward. The article doesn't mention Google Stadia, but they too obviously, are focused on a similar trajectory.
It concludes by saying:
More at the link: https://www.ccn.com/news/sonys-playstation-5-dead-on-arrival-sony-hardcore-gamer/2019/07/09/
Here are some quotes from the op-ed:
Restricting the PS5 to a niche audience could be a big problem. Video games research provider Newzoo has classified gamers into eight categories. A bird's eye view of those categories indicates that the majority of gamers don't fall in the hardcore category that Sony is targeting.
Just over a third of the gamers belong to the hardcore category according to Newzoo's classification. These include those types of gamers who will spend money on hardware, though to varying degrees. For example, only 9% of the gamers are hardware enthusiast who will keep up with the latest machines, while 13% belong to the "ultimate gamer" category that spends all of their money on games.
On the other hand, 46% of gamers belong to the "time filler" and "cloud gamer" category. The time filler plays a game only when he or she has to kill time, while the cloud gamer inclines toward streaming services and doesn't believe in spending a ton on hardware.
It then went on to mention how Sony's rivals such as Microsoft is embracing and doubling down on cloud tech and playing games on multiple devices, which will be a big component of Microsoft's strategy moving forward. The article doesn't mention Google Stadia, but they too obviously, are focused on a similar trajectory.
It concludes by saying:
Sony's competition is looking to tap into a much wider universe of gamers by supporting more than just big-budget tiles that requires premium hardware. This could pose a problem as focusing on the premium end of the market with a costly console and pricey games could price out a big chunk of gamers and dent sales of the PlayStation 5.
More at the link: https://www.ccn.com/news/sonys-playstation-5-dead-on-arrival-sony-hardcore-gamer/2019/07/09/