18. Impacts-Improves dexterity and computer literacy
19. Impacts-Some studies show violent games lead to an increased level of aggression
20. Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)- Self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings by enforcing guidelines and ensures online privacy principles Source: pamf.org venturebeat.com 8
21.
22. Exists to empower Americans to take action against threats to the video game entertainment medium
29. Has the right to conduct random, annual audits of retailersSource: digitaltrends.com 9
30.
31.
32. Create Avatar character and live a second life in the social game platformSource: timesofindia.indiatimes.com 10
33.
34.
35. Massive Network enables marketers to reach and engage the millions of young adult males playing games everyday
36. Advertisers can utilize a broad range of ad units available across titles in the Massive Network
37. Ad campaigns can be targeted to meet specific geographic needs and timing needs
38. The dynamic technology allows for creative to be updated and changed as neededHow Video Gamers exposed to In-game Advertising respond: Nielsen Entertainment executed study for Massive in January 2007. Data from surveys with 600+ gamers in North America who played Need For Speed Carbon on Xbox 360 & PC platforms. Game published by Electronic Arts. Source: massiveincorporated.com 11
40. SONY INDUSTRY TRENDS: Seasonal Sales of videogame software and consoles rose 1% year-over-year to $1.28 Billion in September, the monthly rise was the first since February The sales growth, which met expectations, came amid price cuts on the three major videogame consoles--Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s Wii The stronger numbers suggest consumer spending on home entertainment is picking up in time for the crucial holiday shopping season "There's a dark cloud hanging over the industry because of the recession, and people wonder if consumers are going to be there this holiday season," Jesse Divnich, an analyst with research group EEDAR, told Reuters, adding that software holiday sales in the US from October through December could be down 1% compared to last year’s sales. Source: online.wsj.com redorbit.com 13
49. SONY INDUSTRY COMPETITION: Market Shares & Sales PS3 sales fell back 13% this week after the increase last week that was presumably attributable to Uncharted 2. But the big news is that finally the PS3 is able to show a year on year - year to date increase when compared to 2008 for the first time in 2009. Again this week we see a slight increase in Wii sales, but they are still down to the comparable period in 2008. The Wii still dominates the home console market and indeed this week it outsold the 360 and PS3 combined. The 360 continues to undersell corresponding 2008 weekly sales by quite a margin and it may fall below the 2008 number soon unless something significant happens to reverse the trend. Source: news.vgchartz.com 17
55. SONY INTERNAL COMPANY TRENDS: PlayStation History 1988: In the early years of video games, Nintendo owned the market and had a over-whelming market share. Sony first entered the market in 1988 with a business deal between Nintendo and Sony, where Sony would develop a CD-ROM drive for the Super Nintendo. Through this business deal, Sony acquired the rights to start developing the originally Playstation, called at that time Super Disc. The Super Disc would be able to play both Super Nintendo cartridges, as well as, games developed as CD-ROMS. 1991: Sony and Nintendo’s partnership continued to grow, in fact, one of the original “could-be” names for the Playstation was “Nintendo Play Station”. It was during that 1991 that relationships between the two companies began to deteriorate. Nintendo started to resent having to rely on Sony and Sony’s money in order to produce audio chips needed for the Super Nintendo. Sony, however, was drawing on support from their many company affiliates, such as Sony Music and Columbia Pictures to develop new software (other than video games) for the Playstation. Nintendo eventually broke their alliance completed with Sony during 1991 and announced that their company would begin partnering with Phillips (and American company) and Sony’s largest rivals. 1992: The first proto-type of the Playstation was dumped after the production of just over 200 consoles. Sony has never given a reason as to why they started production over. 1994: December 3, 1994, Sony launched the sales of their first Playstation in Japan, priced at $387 and sold closed to 300,000 units within the first 30 days. 1995: September 9, 1995, Sony launched the sale of their Playstation in the United States, priced at $299. There were only 17 games available at this time for the Playstation first generation console. 1996: Over 200 games were produced to be played on the Playstation, Sony began the market share holder in the video game industry. 1999: Sony made public that they were developing the second generation of the PlayStation, to be called PS2. The newer console would stand upright, have backwards compatibility to play the older games of Playstation, produce better graphics, and play video games in a DVD format. 2000: The PS2 was released for sale in Japan, the United States, and Europe at the price of $299. During the opening weekend around the world, the PS2 sold 1 million units. 2003: Sony began production on the PS3. 2006: The PS3 was released on November 16th with two different models, one model was priced at $500 and the other was priced at $600. 2009: Sony announces the release of the new PS3 slim priced at $349; a smaller model of the original PS3. Source: psx.ign.com 20
56.
57.
58. Backwards Compatibility: Does not play Playstation 2 games, however, will still play the original Playstation titles.
67. Backwards Compatibility: Does not play Playstation 2 games, however, will still play the original Playstation titles. Source: playstation.com 21
68. INTERNAL COMPANY TRENDS: Brand Positioning SONY “Nearly three years after the device launched and quickly fell behind its two major competitors, Sony is attempting to reposition its Playstation 3 video game console as an all-in-one entertainment device.” Sony’s new advertisement campaign for the PS3 will focus directly on the blue-ray capabilities of the device, as well as, the capabilities of downloading movies directly off the internet onto the PS3.” Late in August of 2009, consumers noticed a vast price cut in the PS3 pricing structure. For the first time in the history of the existence of the PS3, Sony priced the PS3 (not as prestigious pricing) but as competitive pricing. At $299 the PS3 is now in direct competition with the price range of the XBOX 360 and the Nintendo Wii. (The XBOX 360 cost, depending on which make or model of the product, cost anywhere from $199-$299. The Nintendo Wii, on the other hand, is priced at $249.) "We have been a game company for years and we would never walk away from that, but research confirmed there is a larger proposition under our nose," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America. "We wanted to reposition as a total entertainment solution. We felt like we can really own entertainment.“ Sony’s repositioning strategy will now focus on moms and families, an area in the gaming industry that the Nintendo Wii has excelled in gaining a large market share. Sony’s goal is to promote in all-in-one access hub to all entertainment. For instance, Sony is still the only large console on the market that can play blue-ray DVDs, stream live videos over the internet, have a free wireless online network to every consumer who purchases a PS3, and have video game playing capabilities. "A year or two ago, the idea of an all-in-one media hub was kind of a foreign idea among the mass market," Divnich noted. "Today thanks to new technologies like the iPhone, we've warmed up to the idea of products that meet all our multimedia needs." Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com 22
69. SONY INTERNAL COMPANY TRENDS: Repositioning Fall 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyuqFTrkrQw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyuqFTrkrQw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyuqFTrkrQw&feature=related Source: youtube.com 23
70. INTERNAL COMPANY TRENDS: Exchange Rates SONY It is imperative for one to understand the exchange rates between countries! Due to the fact that Sony is not an American country, you must take note that all monetary value that we discuss during the internal company will be in the form of the YEN and not the DOLLAR. 1 USD=90.025 JPY 1 JPY= 0.010990 USD Source: finance.yahoo.com 24
72. INTERNAL COMPANY TRENDS: Sales SONY A decline in sales is expected due to the negative impact from the appreciation of the yen and a decrease in sales for the PS2 business. We anticipate that the Game business will continue to record a loss due to the negative impact from the appreciation of the yen and a further decrease in sales of PS2 business despite our expectation that the profitability of the PS3 business will improve due to hardware cost reductions and an enhanced line-up of software titles. Source: sony.net 26
74. INTERNAL COMPANY TRENDS: Forecasting for Fiscal Yr. SONY This graph shows that during the fiscal year of 2008, 10.06 million PS3s were sold, this results in a 10% increase of sales from the previous fiscal year when only 9.12 million PS3s were sold. Sony forecasted that they would sale a total of 250 million software units in the fiscal year of 2008, however, in reality Sony only managed to sale 103.7 software in the PS3 division, 50.3 software in the PSP division, and 83.5 software in the PS2 division for a total of 237.5 million software units sold. Sony This means that Sony missed their forecasted sales by 6%. For the fiscal year of 2009 Sony has forecasted that the Sony company will sale 13 million PS3 consoles, 15 PSP hand-held consoles, and 5 PS2 consoles. Similarly Sony has predicted that the Sony company will sale 240 million pieces of software for the fiscal year of 2009. Source: sony.net 28
92. The target market is college students who could enjoy the consoles or the portable mini game piecesSource: news.cnet.com 31
93.
94. Women are generally viewed as casual gamersGames like Nintendo’s Wii Fitness, Guitar Hero and Pac-Man have been huge hits with the female demographic Source: cnn.com 32
95.
96. The video game industry is leaning towards that image of not having a stereotypical gamer of being a male in their late teen years
97. According to researcher in the industry, James Weaver suggests that women who play video games show signs of depression and poor eating habits in comparison to women who don’t game
98. Women who were surveyed reported that they play video games to get to relieve stress and tension Source: articles.latimes.com reuters.com 33
101. It is reported according to studies put together by a team at Stanford University, that males picked up on the rules of the video game worked quicker than females
102. Males in college play violent video games more than any other genre of game
103. Young males are two to three times more likely to become addicted to playing video games than females
104. Males have a reputation of being known as “hardcore” gamersSource: arstechnica.com 34
107. The NEW potential average age of gamers is 29Source: Peter Lewis. (2005, June). Not just playing around. Review of medium_being_reviewedtitle_of_work_reviewed_in_italics. Fortune, 151(12), 126-128. Retrieved November 1, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 850863851). 35
114. There is a mini-site for almost every exclusive PS3 game released or set to be released
115. In 2008, Sony offered a PlayStation-branded credit card for opportunities of financing. There was a $150 off your PS3 purchase if you signed up for the credit card before the end of December that year
118. Sony's response to complaints about the $600 price tag? "It's probably too cheap. As with the PS and PS2, we believe people who like games will, without question, purchase it.” Ken Kutaragi, Sony Computer Entertainment chief, 2006
119. Sony is working their way up considering they did not live up to the hype on launch. It was not as “revolutionary” and did not give the “4-d experience” Kataragi promised it would in 2005, leaving them with broken promises Source: blog.us.playstation.com gamesradar.com tbwa-london.com 37
120.
121. A console would “offer an incentive to a user of a software product when this user shares the product with others, or when the user plays the product.” It is a method of attracting buyers to future games.
125. Leaked game specs, new and upcoming buzz about the PS3 causes a frenzy among bloggers in forums and review sites.Source: boardsus.playstation.com kokugamer.com macnn.com 38
126.
127. Give PS3 users early access to game related content at a level of quality, interactivity and depth, such as exclusive news, developer interviews, in-depth game previews and behind-the-scenes looks at PlayStation games, special access to game demos, special beta invitations, game add-ons and other downloadable game-related content
129. According to bloggers, they feel magazines are most effective because “you can actually see a main theme in a picture rather than a 30 second advertisementSource: blog.us.playstation.com 39
130.
131. PS3 needs to spend money on marketing games rather than just the system. Microsoft spent nearly a half billion dollars to create a big enough hype and quantify sales for Halo 3Source: boardsus.playstation.com 40
132.
133. Mimic the Iphone campaign Apple used. Show how this product can be used, the many different functions, rather than just stating the facts
134. Use the national press. Networks like CNN and the New York Times breaking news to any new products and software by Sony will grab attention to the many viewers and readersSource: iphonehacks.com 41
141. Sales of PlayStation 3 hardware have grown during the second quarter for 2009 to 3.2 Million, compared to 2.4 Million in the previous year.
142. Sony also sold 23.9 Million PlayStation 3 games during the period, up from the 21.2 Million in 2008
143. Nintendo posted a major 52% slip in fiscal first-half of 2009 profit, partly due to the competitive price cuts of the Xbox 360 and the PS3
144. Synergy opportunities are causing first party developers to excel and third party to keep in pace and increase game productivity
145. First party studios such as Insomniac, Naughty Dog and Guerilla Games are starting to form close-knit relationships and offer each other advice and tech tips with their ongoing projects
146. Third party developers are finding it easier to first develop on the PS3 and then bringing it together to port over to the Xbox 360 rather than trying to split up Xbox 360 code to port over to the PS3
148. Sony is beefing up PlayStation Network’s offerings of games, movies, music, comics, TV shows, social networking, and other online services.
149. With Xbox 360 the only system offering Netflix, Sony reached a deal with Netflix, offering unlimited streaming videos and movies to the estimated 9 Million PS3 users
150. The company is looking to take advantage of the high storage capacity of the media in Blu-ray and put both a full length high definition film and a PS3 game on the same disc by the time 2010 rings in
151. On October 28, 2009, it was announced that the demo for the PS3 game, God of War III, will be included with the Blu-ray of District 9 on the same disc
153. The announcement of a motion controller set to be released in Spring 2010 provides competition for Nintendo’s motion controlled Wii. It was also announced that it will not be a peripheral but instead a standalone hardware platform compatible with the PS3Source: businessweek.comgamasutra.comgamer.blorge.comgamesindustry.bizps3news.ca 46
159. "Sony first unveiled the PS3 as a mighty home electronics product. Then, after some badgering from game companies, it shifted the position of the console closer to a game machine. (The future of the PS3) would be tough if its marketing strategy is not straightened up.” -Square Enix President Yoichi Wada, 2007
160. With the release of the slim version, Sony repositioned the PS3 as an all-purpose entertainment system once againSource: latimesblogs.latimes.com 49
161.
162. According to NPD group, consumers in the U.S. have bought just over 8 Million PS3s through the end of July, compared with more than 15 Million Xbox 360s
163. Xbox is clearly capturing the core gamer audience with their high-end games such as Halo and Gears of War
164. Wii is capturing the family-oriented audience with their interactive system
165. Sony does not need to reposition their market campaign, but it does need to stick with their main focus and that is to make it an all-in-one entertainment systemSource: gamedaily.com 50
