Talk:Strategy for Information Markets/Sony PlayStation 3

getting started
As of this version, there's a little background on the PS3, it's history and competition. Now, where do you intend to go with it? If there's one particular area you wish to focus on, that could be good, and should be made clear. Otherwise, this could be a good general case-study chapter, since the PS3 can help illustrate a lot of general points.

Some thoughts:
 * See my earlier notes on Talk:Strategy_for_Information_Markets
 * Does Sony charge developers to develop for the PS3? If so, how does that work?
 * What exclusive games are there for the PS3 and does that matter?
 * How does online play work? Is it subscription or free? Are there games where the PS3 is compatible with other systems?
 * How do deals (such as with Netflix) matter?
 * Is the PS3 backward-compatible?
 * How did Sony decide on Blu-Ray and how much did the PS3 help Blu-Ray win the standards war?
 * How much 1-sided network externalities are there? TDang (talk) 12:46, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

ECON 452 first midterm class reviews
Please put your reviews for the class assignment here. you may make your review into a sub-section of this section, or just a paragraph. Make sure the reader can identify your review, and make sure to include your signature. TDang (talk) 00:33, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

There are good explanations and examples however it needs a solid proof read. For example, in the second paragraph of History it states that PS3 will compete with Microsoft when it releases PlayStation Move, when it should say compete with Nintendo. Also sections of the writing do not flow perfectly, most likely caused by multiple authors. Again, some things that can be fixed after some proof reading, are repetitions and contradictions. Try to word everything in the same time frame, so either Play Station Move has come out or is going to. If it is already available I would change any mentioning of it to refer to it being in use as opposed to it soon to come out. Renard86 (talk) 08:43, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

This is a good start. I believe your team did a good job overall but i think you can expand a little more. Below are some ideas that might be helpful for your project. History: You did a really good job by mention when it first launched and who are the competitors. However, since you mention the Nintendo maybe you should go some years back and write the history of competitiveness that this two had. PS1 it was suppose to be Nintendo play station but Nintendo decide to go with another company and they did not tell Sony. Then you might talk how they prove that PS1 or Nintendo was better than Atari. Also you can say how the little competition of PS1 and N64 develop to a much bigger competition. PS3 Capabilities: Here, you might want to mention the NVIDIA (graphic processing unit) graphics card, Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) network card and the installation of Linux. Competition:You can mention that while the online communities are growing, it turns an increase in the number of cross - platform potential competitors. For example, Final fantasy XI was the most successful game that used cross - platform servers. Market sales: Distinguish how games affect their popularity and sales and vice versa. Some other topics that can help you expand you project are: 1) talk about their risk and how it affects their strategies. 2) talk about their contracts. Overall i think you are approaching your goals.

(Nesxes (talk) 07:43, 19 October 2010 (UTC))

My Review
Your team did a good job. I like your analysis and you explain the market competition very well. There are couple of things I would like to suggest you to do: you introduced that PS3 was launched in different international markets including Japan, Europe and U.S but it seems that you did not explain what's going on in different markets or networks. Instead of putting all the features in one paragraph, you should have a breakdown of your "Online Playstation 3 Network Current/New Features". The same problem happened with your "Competition and Competitive Advantages". You need some sub-sections to explain various topics. Except the limit of age, you can give more examples about "Open and Closed". Keep your reference in a consistent format.--Renyuc (talk) 03:09, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

TDang review
I'm reviewing this version:


 * There's a fairly recent article on the computer game market which looks like a great source:
 * Related to the above, it would be good to know how many games are exclusively on the PS3, or exclusively on competitor's systems, versus being available on multiple platforms.
 * " this appears to be "penetration pricing" for the Playstation Network..." This implies that Sony intends to start charging a price once the network is built up. (There are in-between ways to think about this, though. Since Playstation Network and the PS3 are such strong complements, it often makes sense to subsidize one of the complements to make the other more appealing.)
 * "The Playstation Network also sells movies, music, wallpapers, themes, and avatars. With the backward capability function, any PS1 and PS2 games purchased can not only be played on your PS3 system, but as well as your PSP." This is interesting, but awkwardly placed. It may be worthwhile to offset as its own item. (For instance, how does that work, do you load the game from the PS3 onto your PSP?)
 * The "Open/Closed" section needs to be reconsidered. It's an important part of the analysis to think about it being open or closed, but I don't think what's currently there captures it. For instance, if PlayStation Network was open, then I would be able to connect to it from my PC if I wanted to, and Microsoft or Nintendo would be able to make it so their machines could connect to it. I expect that's not true (although I could be mistaken). Likewise, it would be available to have access without permission from Sony. If the PlayStation is open, that means that any programmer can make and distribute software for it. I don't know if that's true, but it's important to know.
 * Generally, an important piece which is missing is the way Sony deals with developers for the PS3. Are they charged a licensing fee (or something similar) to develop for the PS3? One business model which has been used for console games in the past was for the machine to be subsidized to the users, and then the profit came from charging developers. Is Sony following this route, or making all its money off users, or something in-between?

General comments: This is a very good core of a case study. It hits on most of the important points, covers the features, competition history, etc. I mention a few issues above which would be good additions. Probably the most important is how Sony deals with developers. Otherwise, the article needs polish, and some re-writing. It would be good to have the important points well-highlighted. Possibly one way to do that would be a table, similar to what you might see in a product review, where you list features "Backward compatibility"; "Hard drive capacity"; "Motion sensing"; etc. and then fill in the table for the XBox360, PS3, and Wii, either with "Yes/No" or some more detailed information "Backward compatible with PS1, PS2, partly with PSP", or whatever. This could stand beside the text as a summary. A graph of market shares would also be a good addition to the "Market sales" section. TDang (talk) 18:41, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

Oops, additional point. You have a lot of detailed information in the text, and a list of references. Please try to use the tags to put in footnotes connecting the information with its reference(s). TDang (talk) 18:43, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

ECON 452 second midterm class reviews
Please put your reviews for the class assignment here. You may make your review into a sub-section of this section, or just a paragraph. Make sure the reader can identify your review, and make sure to include your signature TDang (talk) 17:28, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

I really enjoyed the group’s article. I liked the layout, it was clear and well descriptive. I liked that the group compared all aspects of the PS3 to those of their competition. The article does a good job at using everything that we have learned so far in the class. The paragraphs were chocked full of useful information and theory, that was also backed up by facts and figures with respective references. I’m not a hundred percent, but I don’t think I saw anything about the PS3 “Home” network. That is something that definitely sets it apart from Xbox 360 and from the Wii. What would also may be cool is just to kind of mention the PS3 exclusive games and game content that set it apart from its competition. I know people who only bought a PS3 for God of War and other exclusive games. I think Kill Zone and Resistance fall of man are also PS3 exclusives. I don’t know if it is of any importance, but the first generation of the PS3 were backwards compatible with PS2 and maybe even PS1(I could be wrong about that one), but being backwards compatible allowed for people to switch over instead of being locked-in. Later generations of the PS3 got rid of the backwards compatibility feature. Overall I liked the article and I think the group is doing a good job showcasing the PS3 and its features. Liquid brown (talk) 18:50, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

Overall the article was good. The Market and Advantages sections were very well set up and gave a lot of in depth information into economics as well as the actual gaming market for the PS3. The PS3 section of the project was good as well, but could probably be consoildated into just a history and PS3 features/capabilites. I would suggest just going through the capabilites, like how many players can play, controllers (wireless or plug in), how it connects to the internet (wireless or ethernet), memory space, blu-ray, and others, explaining them as you go through. And the same with the features like netflix and online play, web browsing. Other than that I think the article is a good addition to our awesome class internet book/thing. Cooldude1 (talk) 07:29, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

This article is very well scripted and put together. The use of different sections seems to flow well and it makes reading an article this complex and lengthy easier to understand and follow. The section that goes into specific detail about networks is very well written and it helped to clarify for me exactly how the playstation network is compared and used on a public scale. The only change it would be nice to see is a restructuring or editing of the market competition section of the article. It seems to be a standout and does not exactly follow the clear cut and concise length and structure of the previous sections of the article. There is a sentence about the reverse compatibility of the ps3 and then you jump to the differences in cost of the PS3 and xbox live networks. I understand that all of that information is pertinent to market competition, but perhaps a separation of paragraphs would help. Your use of sources and citations is admirable and a wonderful addition. Overall the article is great and makes me want to run home and get black ops which came out today! Riorugby99 (talk) 17:38, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

I think there is some room for expansion on a few topics, but the one that caught my eye most is the open/closed section which I think could also use a little reevaluation and clarity as well. I question whether PS3 is mostly open as opposed to being mostly closed. The professor defined a close network as a network in which restrictions can be made, how strict or how numerous those restrictions are do not matter. As you mentioned the game ratings system provide some level of restrictions as well as Sony's ability to block certain users, so with that being said wouldn't that make this network mostly closed? That aside, this is a interesting section that can be better if the game ratings system can be explored in a bit more detail and also rather the system hurts or helps the network as a whole. The same thing can be done for the "booting" that Sony does; what is the strategic purpose of this booting? If you guys can find a couple of solid references to add to this section, the argument will start to make itself. Overall however the page has taken shape, the organization is there as well as the content. Awdsawds (talk) 18:06, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

My review
You group did a good job on analyzing market competition. As far as I can see, the only part needs to improve is your "Open/Close" section. I would suggest you to analyze this topic other than talking about "limiting age". Can we can connect playstation to our pc or if there are any other device can connect to playstation? To analyze "Open and close", you should tell if Microsoft and Nintendo give permissions to all programmers or not. Also, the format of your reference needs to be fixed.--Renyuc (talk) 06:03, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

TDang review

 * "Current/New Features" Features should be framed in terms of something relevant to the course. A summary product comparison would be good for a case study like this (such as the table idea I mentioned in the first review), but just listing features isn't very helpful. For instance, by partnering with NIVDIA, is Sony hoping to develop 3D which won't be available to their competitors, or to develop a standard which their competitors will also use?
 * It's good that you're cleaning up the text, but it appears there has been little change since the first midterm review. So, most of that still stands. TDang (talk) 18:40, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

My Review
Overall, this section reads very well and has great information. I am not sure if it is intended but the first paragraph of the whole section is used twice. Personally, I would come up with a different paragraph that introduces the subject more generally to use at the beginning of the section. The paragraph that is now used twice is better used as the first paragraph of the history section only. I would also include more information in the “PS3 Capabilities”. Though I do not know much about gaming systems I am rather confident the PS3 does more than just play Netflix. It later claims that PlayStation tried to market the product as an all-in-one system so the section about capabilities must tell the audience why they feel they would be able to do so. The last paragraph in this section also needs just a few technical fixes and perhaps more information. Lmdoyle (discuss • contribs) 02:20, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

TDang review April 2012
I'm reviewing this version. I'll likely be more critical than complimentary, because (a) that's the way I am and (b) that's what will help improve things. Please don't take the criticism-over-compliments to mean I have a wholly negative view.

Make sure to check the all-purpose review thoughts as well.

TDang (discuss • contribs) 02:35, 2 May 2012 (UTC)
 * It got bigger! That was probably moving the wrong direction. This should be a case study, limited to some few things which illustrate ideas for the course. So--improvement at this point would probably mean cutting out stuff and making it more focused.
 * There's redundancy between the introduction and the History section.
 * "Sony, however, was not satisfied with being just another video game console and dedicated themselves to being the best multi-media console on the market. [1]"--If there's any idea what that [1] refers to, please make a link?
 * Some of the tone of the page is Sony cheerleading, which should be made neutral or removed entirely. For instance, "Sony, however, was not satisfied with being just another video game console and dedicated themselves to being the best multi-media console on the market."
 * "The intention is that customers would buy each of the three required units separately"--Did Sony explicitly say that was their intention?
 * "Ultimately, what seems to be a convenient option for the consumer is really a strategy to increase profits"--we're economists, so we assume just about everything is a strategy to increse profits, but how do you know Sony's intentions?
 * Also, how does the motion-controller pricing work when either (1) the consumer will be deciding which game system to buy, so thinking about the price of the motion controller, game system, and games, or (2) already have a game system and want the motion controller for the console they already have. Are consumers really doing price-comparisons on Move vs. Kinect?
 * "The new style of “motion gameplay” is the new edge in the video gaming technological frontier. With each of the three dominant systems having a version of motion gameplay, expect to see some competitive moves from each firm to encourage new users to choose their system over the others. Now that consumers looking to purchase an entertainment system can choose any of the leading three and have motion control gameplay, Sony strongly believes the Move has put the Playstation 3 on equal grounds with competing Nintendo and Xbox 360."--This reads as business-news. It's too timely, and won't make sense 5 years from now, which means it's not really appropriate for a book.
 * "At its current state, it is still too new of a product to completely label the Vita as successful or unsuccessful. However, at the current time, it is at the front line of technological innovation from any vide game console producer."--Similarly, too timely.
 * "In making the Sony Playstation 3 the ultimate entertainment system for every home"--cheerleading
 * "these savvy consumers"--again, reads like Sony cheerleading.
 * "Currently, and mostly due to the success of the PS3 as a Blu-ray player, competing generic brands of Blu-ray players sell for just under or over the $100 mark."--This will need a reference to someone making the connection between the PS3 and low Blu-Ray player prices.
 * "taken the high definition experience to the next level"--cheerleading
 * "With the simplicity of putting in credit card information, users are able to have access to virtually thousands of add ons to their system."--cheerleading
 * "As of today Sony no longer supports Linux on the PS3 system, but the feature may still be available in older versions of the device firmware or in a homebrew system."--This should either be left out, or developed a lot. It's an interesting issue with a console game system whether it could support an alternative operating system, and what that would mean for the manufacturer's strategy.
 * Competition and Competitive Advantages--There's a great deal of redundancy between what's down here and what's above.
 * A good addition, if you can find the information: Sony charges developers to develop for the PS3, so they are potentially receiving profit from both sides of the two-sided platform, but they may be receiving more profit from one side or even accepting a loss on one side to make the network more valuable and gain on the other. Finding out what Sony did in that regard, what kind of contracts it has with game developers would be worthwhile as an addition.
 * References
 * about.com is not a good reference.
 * Eaton, Jeremy. "Xbox Versus Playstation 3 Versus the Nintendo Wii and Which is Better."--This goes to voices.yahoo.com which isn't a good reference.
 * http://www.ps3-consoles.co.uk is not a good reference.
 * Wikipedia is not a good reference
 * http://www.wuup.co.uk/ looks like a personal blog, and is not a good reference.
 * If you could make the references inline links, that would help a lot. There are many things I see which I think need references throughout the page, and I don't know if they are referenced to one of the things at the end.