Sony's Online Strategy ...

3/13/2006 by Mutsch

OK, let's say it very clear: Sony's online strategy has been mediocre so far to say at least. Compared to Microsofts's Xbox Live, which is a comprehensive, central online service, Sony's approach has been to just provide the technical capabilities in terms of the hardware and the software.

Decentral Approach

Each publisher is in charge to provide the appropriate online service individually. To make things even Sony could not even decide on a global online platform, which lead to the situation that each regions, US, Europe and Japan had their own online platform. To make things even worse, even with the PSP things did not change dramatically.

Welcome to the World of Sony

As one can imagine, that's not longer enough to compete in the NextGen war. As Microsoft is bringing Xbox Live to the next level with the XBOX 360, Sony is even more under pressure to get things right this time. So let's look at the situation right now and let's see what Sony might be able to do this time.

1. The Hardware is there from Day One

One of the big issues on the PS2 from day one was the hardware. When the PS2 came out in 2000, online connectivity wasn't available. Even though Sony was preparing the hardware right from the start to support extensions like Ethernet or the HDD, it was basically an addon to the unit which is always an issue for console gamers. As history shows it is always difficult to add newer features  to a gaming platform after the start of a console. Microsoft did here a much better job of integrating online capabilities right from day one.

With the PlayStation 3 things will be different. Not only does the PS3 does have build in online connectivity, you even have the choice of how you actually wanna connect the PS3 to the Internet. First of all, there are build in Ethernet connectors that even support Gigabit networks. As this is a requirement for future on demand content, the majority of gamers will definitly prefer to connect to the Internet via an home access point. So, there is actually no reason for anybody to equiped with a broadband connection not to connect their PS3 to the Internet.

2. One Unit in Charge

As already mentioned in the beginning, Sony was not clear on who is going to be in charge for all the online activities. That was part of their decentral online strategy and maybe to some extend to internal organizational difficulties. As it looks right now, things have changed here dramatically. From all that's been leaked so far, Sony Online Entertainment is now in charge of building up the common online platform for the PS3 and even the PSP as we will see later. SoE is the company that powers one of the most successful MMORPG Everquest.

SoE is obviously leveraging this know-how in order to do it right from day one. If this really means we will gonna see one platform worldwide or 3 different ones for each region but based on the same software is up to be seen. Nevertheless, this is one of the major decisions that must have been taken in order to make things better in the future.

Other sources mention that the functionality of the future online platform are very similar to Xbox Live next generation in some areas even ahead of it as we will see later. Currently, rumours have it that the new platform is called PlayStation Hub. Even though I am not sure about the name right now, we will definitly see a new brand name here that is different from what we have seen in the past like Central Station or PlayStation BB.

3. Content is King

One of the things where Sony has a unique position compared to Microsoft is the content area. As Sony is one of the big shots in the entertainment business owning major music and movie labels it is more then likely that Sony is leveraging these assets. Let's looks at the various bits and pieces.

	Games There is no question about that Sony Computer Entertainment is well positioned here. With a portfolio of several studios like Guerrilla Games Sony consolidated its development activities into one unit called Sony Computer Entertainment World Wide Studios (SCE WWS) under the lead of Phil Harrison. With the combined power of those excellent studios, Sony can now easily combine the expertise available within this organization with a streamlined strategy for instance in the area of online gaming.
	Movies To make it very clear Sony is not focusing on the gaming market only with its next PlayStation. With a vault that is packed with block busters movies and brands it whould be a waste if not being used on the PlayStation platform. With it's broadband functionality, Blu-ray and the later mentioned LocationFree technology you gonna see the movies as the second major content form on the PlayStation.
	Music With Sony BMG records as part of the Sony family it is more then obvious that Sony is adding this to their online strategy via its global Music Portal Sony Connect. Even though Sony Connect is not yet as successful compared to Apples ITMS (iTunes Music Store), it is there and ready to be integrated. Microsoft is laking here behind and still did't announce anything similar. Nevertheless, one can be sure that Microsoft is going to do something here in this arena.
	Pictures Ok, that's nothing sophisticated anymore but think about it. Where are you going to watch your digital pictures in the future? On your PC? We don't think so. Your TV set is more then likely the place. The PS3 is capable of displaying 1080p on an appropriate TV set which is more then enough to display you 6 mega pixel images. Have me mentioned USB connectivity and MemoryStick? Also Sony could take things to the next level and allow connectivity to their ImageStation digital imaging store to allow PlayStation 3 users to share and print photos online. Have we mentioned that Sony also produces excellent digital cameras?
	LocationFree So far nothing special, but here might be the killer app for the PS3. LocationFree is a new technology that allows you to broadcast media from a media server to clients within your house but even more important even on the Internet. With the PSP supporting LocationFree since firmware 2.5 users can now watch all kinds of media all while on the move with the only requirement that there is a WiFi connection available.
	Looking at Microsofts Media Center and it's integration into the XBOX 360 this is like comparing apples with oranges. Rather then making the XBOX 360 the media center itself it still requires a PC as the server. For the PS3 it will be actually just the other way round: the PS3 can become the LocationFree server, with all kinds of clients including the PSP being able to access it.
	WWW Ups, we almost forgot one little piece here. Of course the PS3 will surf the world-wide web. Not being very useful in the past due to the limited TV set resolution, browsing the Internet on your couch is most probably the second most convenient place to do so in the future. Not that this is a major topic here but this basically comes for free in the future.

So, having all the stuff that is necessary it is more than obvious that we are going to see some online content on the PS3 near you. That could be everything from movies, music up to games.

It's not Rocket Science at All

Sure Sony is not a software company like Microsoft at all, but Sony is a hardware manufacturer with a lot of content and some strong game studios. If Microsoft thinks that XBox Live is rocket science and whould be impossible for anybody else to repeat, then they are wrong.

There is nothing inside XBox Live that can not be done or topped by others. Sony just has to get their act together and finally leverage the various assets they already have. Which is most probably the most difficult thing in the whole scenario. If Sony can successfully overcome their internal boundaries, the next generation online experience on the PS3 will be amazing.

Major decisions have obviously been taken, as the platform implementation obviously is now in one hand and the world-wide software activities within SCE are now under one responsibility, but the rest is still to be seen. Time will tell what's being implemented from all of the above.

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