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[Takao]

This is probably the kind of support Sony will give this thing in terms of games.

 

[Commanche Raisin Toast]

It doesn't have the word "PlayStation" on the physical device anywhere. It won't be sold in gaming stores. It won't be marketed by carriers using the "PlayStation" branding. It won't be advertised on TV in a way that aligns it with the PlayStation products. It will probably receive zero coverage from any video game media sources post-release. Pretty much the entirety of the product's association with PlayStation in practice is a result of details leaking and being elaborated on by people who made false assumptions about the product's purpose, and those elaborations being debated by fairly dedicated gaming fans (i.e. the people who will also have the information needed to understand what the product actually is now.) I don't see how any average mass-market consumer is going to get confused or think this is "a PlayStation" in the sense that PS3 and PSP are, and it'll only be less confusing once this product is actually being marketed under its own name.

/end of playstation phone bullshit

'playstation phone' = wishful thinking = unprove-able/un-debunkable presently = clicks = ad revenue.

 

[jonnybryce]

I never thought this would be the PSP2 or play PSP2 games, but I hoped it would be an additional pillar...a phone that plays mobile games but has some major Sony releases once every month or two (like the LBP and GOW rumors). Just being a SE phone with PS buttons has saddened me.

Even worse that it seems the design has been finalized and those nasty silver buttons remain.

/caring

 

[charlequin]

Why didn't they just copy Apple's idea, and create one platform, two devices: one with phone functions, one without (both PSP2)?

Well, for one thing, because Apple's business model is completely different and the qualities that make the iOS a success are a) currently being successfully executed by the iOS devices which doesn't leave a lot of room for yet another challenger to that space and b) largely incompatible with delivering a gaming-oriented device with high-priced, high-quality gaming software from a wide range of third-party developers.

I think you view people's brand associations too simplistically.

And I think 99% of potential consumers for this phone in every territory it will be sold in don't care about Sony as an entity or "PlayStation" as a brand except inasmuch as there's some specific device they want that's identified under those names and these people aren't going to be forming opinions of the PS4 or PSP2 based on anything except whether the actual predecessors to those devices were something they felt good about owning or not.

Essentially:

But this is will be like their Walkman and Cybershot phones of few years ago.

Literally nobody made a decision or formed an opinion about Sony's digital cameras or digital audio players based on the phones that parasitically borrowed their branding and (now that the near-complete lack of overlapping functionality or content between this and the actual PlayStations is quite clear to anyone following the story) I doubt this case will be any different.

 

[gofreak]

And I think 99% of potential consumers for this phone in every territory it will be sold in don't care about Sony as an entity or "PlayStation" as a brand except inasmuch as there's some specific device they want that's identified under those names and these people aren't going to be forming opinions of the PS4 or PSP2 based on anything except whether the actual predecessors to those devices were something they felt good about owning or not.

Essentially:


Literally nobody made a decision or formed an opinion about Sony's digital cameras or digital audio players based on the phones that parasitically borrowed their branding and (now that the near-complete lack of overlapping functionality or content between this and the actual PlayStations is quite clear to anyone following the story) I doubt this case will be any different.

My point was most strongly about association vs risk to the brand, but on the latter:

I don't know if those comparisons are exactly equivalent. With a cybershot or bravia camera, your relationship with the brand more or less begins and ends with the logo on the device. And there is, I think, a completely different set of expectations there. 'Everybody knows' that a mobile phone is not going to give you a 'primary' Bravia TV or a high end camera experience. Importantly, SE's competitors weren't conditioning expectations any differently either.

Here, pending confirmation of rumours, the relationship won't begin or end with a logo but may go much deeper - be one of content consumer/content seller under the explicit 'playstation' name. Secondly, the competitive landscape has IMO conditioned users to expect mobile devices in mobile content space to - potentially at least - be the platform holder's single primary platform.

I think given Hirai's comments and Jack Tretton's comments, their goals are not served by taking a hands-off approach and letting SE throw the Playstation name and iconography around on their devices in a licensee kind of way, and build their own separate content producer/consumer relationship with customers. Whatever the risk is, I don't think that's a no-risk situation. SCE should be 'third-pillar-ing' it. They should be taking ownership of it and providing a well defined position for whatever this platform is in the Playstation family. People should know what it means when they see that little logo on a device, and what it means relative to core Playstation products. SCE won't promote that situation by turning a blind eye to it. If they do, they promote confusion. There is a position for this in the family IMO, but who knows if they can see it.

* Walkman is a more interesting situation than cybershot/bravia - but I do in fact think, anecdotally, there's some confusion around it. My less than techy brother remarked to me in a store about SE's walkman phone, saying 'I guess they don't make the old ones anymore'. He thought walkman was just something being built into phones now - which was a reasonable assumption given the convergence going on with these kind of functions.

 

[Stumpokapow]

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

Anyone know what kind of hardware this thing will pack? I'm wanting a dual core one myself, hopefully not the snapdragon processor. then I'll get one. I want a phone where games control without the touchscreen

 

[red shoe paul]

Anyone know what kind of hardware this thing will pack? I'm wanting a dual core one myself, hopefully not the snapdragon processor. then I'll get one. I want a phone where games control without the touchscreen

I think it is the snapdragon.. :<

 

[°°ToMmY°°]

i'm more interested in the sidekick version of this phone (the one leaked at about the same time without game controls, but still the same spec). if it's not that pricey obviously...

EDIT: this one, looks purdy:

 

[GQman2121]

I will buy this phone, if it provides me with the ability to play Lumines....

What networks support this phone anyway?

 

[jonnybryce]

I will buy this phone, if it provides me with the ability to play Lumines....

What networks support this phone anyway?

US? AT&T is the likely choice.

 

[Deleted member 284]

Shit dude, you owe me a new monitor.

 

[GQman2121]

US? AT&T is the likely choice.

Yes, US. And it figures AT&T would be the likely choice. :|

 

[Raistlin]

Yes, US. And it figures AT&T would be the likely choice. :|

Well it's pretty much AT&T and/or T-mobile for most international companies. Blame Verizon/Sprint for use CDMA. GSM has over 80% of the worldwide subscriptions.

 

[patsu]

I think one of the execs mentioned that the Walkman phones sold quite well (They look sexy).

For Xperia Play to take off, it needs something special, or a good deal. The ability to play music and video is ok, but we need to know what the programming is like.

 

[jonnybryce]

Well it's pretty much AT&T and/or T-mobile for most international companies. Blame Verizon/Sprint for use CDMA. GSM has over 80% of the worldwide subscriptions.

We've all been down this road and some people like CDMA. Plenty of manufacturers find some secret that allows them the miracle of making both GSM and CDMA handsets so the "blame" shouldn't go to Verizon for being the most reliable and popular network in the nation.