Expanding PlayStation Digital Platforms
by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
Cross-platform pollination seems to be what the game industry’s biggest players are chasing right now. And to an extent, this makes sense; thanks to the rise of tablets and smartphones, coupled with the average game purchaser’s age hovering around the forty-year mark, games are no longer tied to the concept of spending hours at a time in one fixed location. And, as a result, the industry is racing to adapt its business models and catch up.
Connectivity was the theme that stood out to me when I attended the Sony press conference at E3 earlier this month. Indeed, it’s why I suspect the Digital Platforms initiative was created: to interconnect all the various elements of media and gaming entertainment that Sony has at its disposal into a cohesive, seamless package that the consumer can (and will want to) take everywhere.
And look who’s running Digital Platforms: the SCEA Home team.
This makes perfect sense. If you’re Sony, and you have a group of people who spent years transforming a glorified game-launch lobby for the PS2 into a profitable game platform and social network fueled by dozens of developers and microtransactions for virtual commodities, chances are good that those are the people who best understand how to take the smorgasbord of Sony’s digital content and combine it to form Voltron.
So let’s talk about digital platforms. I have no idea what’s to come, but here are some speculative notions which personally appeal to me.
(Before we begin: some of this is going to sound very outlandish, outrageous, outside-the-box or downright unfeasible. I get that. I am by no means a tech guru. These are ideas which simply appeal to me as a consumer.)
1. Incorporate PS4 technology into select Bravia televisions.
Sony’s TV business has been unprofitable for eight years — to the point now where they’re having to team up with Panasonic to develop OLED televisions to try to compete with Samsung and LG.
There was a time when Sony televisions were the last word in quality; that said, given the stiff competition from competitor brands offering indistinguishable performance for lower cost (and, in the case of Samsung, notably superior customer service), this should come as no surprise. However, Sony does have one resource available to it which no other television manufacturer has: they’re also a gaming console manufacturer.
Yes, I realize we’re talking about separate entities under the Sony umbrella, and yes, I realize we’re talking about hardware in a Digital Platforms article. Hear me out. Neither Microsoft nor Nintendo manufacture televisions. And no TV manufacturers create game consoles. Which gives Sony a unique advantage if they are capable of exploiting it.
No one really knows what the PlayStation 4 is going to look like, or what it will be capable of. So here’s an idea that’s so insane that it’s brilliant: incorporate it into a few select models of Sony Bravia televisions.
This isn’t as crazy as you might think. Modern televisions offer internet connectivity and numerous optional services, such as streaming video. And for years, Sony’s been pushing their Bravia Sync capability as the one-setup-for-everything solution to your living room. So what if the PS4 was actually built into the television? Imagine the novelty of being able to purchase a television with a games console already built in; it’s a unique competitive advantage that no one else on the market has. How many people would be introduced to the vast world of the PlayStation Network, and thus discover all the services it had to offer above and beyond just the games? And how many families would find it to be an incredibly convenient all-in-one solution? The only hurdle would be to design a TV remote that could adequately function as a game controller as well, but aside from that, it would be an effective method of differentiating Sony televisions from the rest of the marketplace, and also introducing the PS4 as something other than just the latest iteration of the same console formula that’s been in place for more than thirty years.
All in one.
The PlayStation, for many, was their first exposure to CD-ROM gaming (unless they were PC gamers). The PS2 was, for many, their very first DVD player. The PS3 was their first Blu-Ray player. And the PS4 can be their very first all-in-one television.
If this sounds insane, remember how successful Apple was with their all-in-one iMac concept. Though it was only one portion of the Apple product lineup, the iMac has performed exceptionally well. Just as a PlayStation Television would. Obviously, the console will still need to be manufactured as a stand-alone unit for the majority of the consumer base, but this is one method of getting its content in front of people that is unique to them.
2. Sony VAIO computers should be PlayStation Certified.
Presently, the only PlayStation Certified devices are the Sony Ericsson Xperia, Sony tablets and PlayStation Vita (with HTC offering Certified devices as well). And this got me to thinking: why aren’t Sony VAIO computers capable of running the PlayStation Network, PlayStation games, and PlayStation Home?
Yes, there are technological hurdles to overcome. Really smart people are lining up to tell me why this is not presently possible. To which it must be asked: is there sufficient value in incurring the cost to make it possible?
Here’s my logic. Sony laptop computers are just like Sony televisions: competing in a densely-populated sea of sameness. So what could a Sony VAIO offer that no other laptop out there could match? Access to, in part or in whole, the world of PlayStation.
Imagine booting up your Sony laptop, and in addition to all the regular functionality of a typical Windows-equipped computer, you had the ability to, say…log into PlayStation Home. Or download a PSN title to your computer, save the file, transfer it to your PlayStation game console, and pick up right where you left off on the computer.
Right now, the Sony world is remarkably fractured; they have a wide spectrum of products, but they exist in their own independent silos. If Sony wants to really sell the dream of interconnectivity, then the hardware needs to support this. Indeed, it was three years ago that Sir Howard Stringer announced the PlayStation Network would be available on devices other than the PlayStation 3, and for exactly the same reason I’m listing here: by making the PSN an open world instead of a closed world, you increase your market share and increase your hardware sales.
Besides, XBox Live is going to be fully integrated into Windows 8. So it’s not like I’m the only person who’s thought of this…
3. A “network” is only as good as its networking.
If there’s one thing the last decade has taught us all: people love social networking. MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Classmates, LinkedIn…the list goes on. But what is notably lacking from the PlayStation Network is any sense of interconnectivity between people, beyond the current official forums.
Why is there no official site promoting social networking between users? Yes, update 3.10 allowed for Facebook connectivity with the PS3, but where is the PSN version of Facebook? You mean to tell me that a social networking site devoted to more than seventy-million users who are passionate about games wouldn’t be successful?
And, best part of all, a PSN version of Facebook would have already solved Facebook’s biggest problem: how to monetize its giant audience. With the PSN, the problem is inverted: how to take an already monetized audience and facilitate networking them.
Aside from the obvious benefit of developing games for such a social network — Zynga only exists because they filled a need that larger parties didn’t recognize needed to be filled — it creates greater brand loyalty and insulates the consumer from brand-hopping. People are remarkably fickle when it comes to brand loyalty, but they can be enticed much more easily to stick around if they feel like they belong to a larger community. Think of PlayStation as an experience — a lifestyle – not a service provider.
4. Home is not an afterthought.
Here’s the problem with PlayStation Home as Sony is presently utilizing it: it’s optional.
It is entirely feasible for a gamer to own a PS3, use it for games, enjoy the PSN store, and never touch Home. That’s a mistake. In effect, Home has little direct reason to exist; its original concept — being a social network for gamers, and a lobby for game launching — is outstanding, but only works effectively if it’s the centerpoint of the PlayStation console experience. Otherwise, it’s simply an odd curiosity that struggles to attract a gaming audience, sited on a console which does not come bundled with a keyboard. And while the business strategy of turning Home itself into a gaming platform is logical, there is simply no way that a Home game can ever hope to compete with AAA disc titles — and it will constantly be viewed as inferior as a result, struggling to be taken seriously.
Literally all of these problems evaporate if Home is the centerpiece of the PSN gamer’s console experience. If Home is the funnel through which the entire PSN must travel every time they boot up the console, it creates a much more lucrative proposal to entice significant advertising and brand presence from large developers, because Home is the perfect interactive billboard and social network for gamers. It should be the jumping-off point into game launching, and its own in-world games would now be pleasant freemium additions to enjoy rather than red-headed stepchildren.
In other words, Sony’s social network for gamers should actually feel like it’s somehow connected to the rest of the PlayStation world at large. And since it’s a virtual reality application, it lends itself perfectly to being the focal point for bringing users together.
Currently, the strategy is to try to bring Home to the PSN. This is backwards. It puts Home in competition with everything else Sony has to offer on its console. Instead of bringing Home to the PSN, the PSN should be brought Home. And thus the consumer, every time he turned on his machine, would see his avatar and feel instantly connected to a much larger world.
June 26th, 2012 by NorseGamer | 13 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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Everything you are talking about is absolutely possible. The question now becomes which will they do?
I want to add one more to the list: Cable TV. Make the PS4 your DVR and Cable TV box. Which could also be integrated into your TV. Integration means more possibilities.
My dream is to create a multiplayer game with people on different platforms playing together. It is getting closer.
Inspiring! I cannot wait for the future to get here.
I remember the Sega channel which allowed those with a Sega console (Genesis?) to play games for a monthly fee. I don’t recall whether people could play each other but perhaps this is somewhat what you’re talking about.
However, it failed miserably as I recall to lack of games. As I didn’t try it, I can’t comment on how well it worked.
Good luck on getting the cable companies allowing the PS4 to be a DVR and Cable TV box. I think SONY would have to pay big bucks.
Hey Deuce, I’m not sure if you’re aware of it but there’s a thing here in the UK for PS3 called PlayTV. It’s essentially nothing more than a set-top box that allows the PS3 to be the amp, if you will, for Freeview TV; about 150 free UK TV channels. It allows the PS3 to buff the TV stream, giving you the same options that’s something like Sky+ such as pausing, rewinding and instant recording of live TV, linking recordings of shows etc and it’s all stored on the PS3s HDD. You can even move it to the XMB and copy it across to other things to free up the HDD. Oh, and a cam-chat function too. Though why you’d wanna have a friend blah, blah, blahing in your ear-hole while trying to watch TV is beyond me lol.
I did not know about that. So now they just have to build it all into my TV. I am ready for a new one.
Love the idea of Play TV. I downloaded the client (from NA) and played around with some demo footage. It would never come to NA because we have SO many cable providers Sony would alienate a good majority of the population by only offering the service through one OR they would have to make deals with multiple providers and that just sounds like a headache.
you know what irritates me the most is the fact that I cannot look up something someone is talking about and be on PSH at the same time. If they could find a way to integrate Wikipedia and Google with PSH I would swoon… I swear.
I have a quick fix for you Riff; stick your laptop next to your PS3!
*awaits semi-swoon*
I would like to see TV evolve more like a tablet computer, no more DVR boxes no more cable boxes and defiantly no more gaming consoles. I have owned many console in the past, and it was only this current generation of consoles (PS3 Xbox360) that I have ever had break down on me. Sony and the rest of them are compacting too much hardware into a tiny box and is trying to sell it as cheaply as possible (this is when problems happen as we know) I would love to see the PS4 just be a app on my TV, computer or mobile device.
Lets examine the smart phone of today, its all apps. I have a I-phone, I do almost everything with it, including most of my gaming now. its the perfect size, and very convenient. As Im always on the go. if I want to play a new game I download the app. And lets face it Blue Ray and DVDs are fading away from the retail stores as more entertainment is now digital download or on demand( does anyone still have their old blockbuster membership card?) gaming is slowly making that turn, but i wish it would come sooner rather than later.
Also, I don’t have hours to invest into a game that runs off a console, I don’t want to be chained to a certain device to play a game I love, and I also don’t want to be stuck into buying a brand..for example If I have a Sony TV, a Samsung smart phone and then a Apple computer or tablet, I would want to have my gaming to run seamlessly between all devices. I don’t have any interest in buying more equipment, I rather just buy a app. If I am invested in a game, i want to take it with me. from TV to cell phone to PC or tablet, I don’t want to buy anymore extra hardware.. All I would be willing to buy from a store is a blue tooth controller to play my games with, one that would sink with my smart TV.
In that mindset, Home could position itself to be a future ” Playstation App” replacing the console all together. in away its already a app inside your PS3, and it houses some very cool games. Now imagine if you would Home being the platform to all Playstation titles. Home itself would be the hub for the playstation network, Social interface, entertainment on demand and Gaming. With that concept one could download the Home App and have access to 1000’s of titles to try before you buy, and play to pay models too. Most impressive would be the freedom to run this App on ANY, i repeat ANY of your devices -- no mater whom manufactured it.
Playstation Home in 3D! That has to happen sometime in the future for sure.
I completely concure with the comments above. Melding should happen sooner than later.
I think 3D is just a gimmick, its not true 3d its usually a poor simulation especially if the content is “up converted” from standard 2d. Also another sin in gaming is Playstation Move and Xbox Kinect (in my opinion ). Nintendo however got motion control as perfect and natural to gaming as one can get.although Im more of a traditionalist, I can appreciate Nintendo’s accomplishment by this example: If you ever watched a gamer play with a standard controller, watch their wrist and hand movements. They hardly ever hold the controller still, their hands are either rocking or twisting left to right and up and down with the action of the game play. nintendo captured that subtle movement and incorporated it into its game play. Making the Wii controller one of the more natural and fun gimmick controllers in the industry today.
Great read Norse. I totally agree with many of the points. I actually remember when one of the things suspected about Home was that it would, in essence, replace the XMB. At one time Sony was touting that would be able to watch the movies on your HDD, look at photos on your HDD and launch games, all from Home.
I still wonder (hope beyond hope is more like it) if PS4 might take this approach: Turn on PS4… see avatar in apartment, go to TV to watch videos/movies, go to picture frame to see pics, go to stereo to listen to music, use virtual PS4 to launch full games, leave apartment to go to Home.
Sony will never have the FULL PSN on a PC, maybe PSN connectivity, but not the ability to play Playstation games. Why would anyone buy Playstation consoles then? What’s more, why wouldn’t someone who can buy a PC that could run the PSN and Playstation games overtop windows simply buy the games on PC? If we’re talking about a laptop that would natively run PSN in lieu of windows, well then you just have a portable PlayStation 4. If we’re suggesting the laptop can run Windows also, were back to the “just buy it on PC”. Wave goodbye to those game royalties, which is the largest source of Playstation profits.
What they should have is PSN communication. Have it so you can chat with friends on PSN, browse PSN and set downloads from the PSN so they are ready to go when you get home. If they let you play any games… it would likely be limited to minis.
Sony toyed with the idea of Playstation TV hybrid a while back with the PSX. It was pretty much a PS2.5. It was a PS2 with an xmb interface that had DVR capabilities. It was never released outside of Japan and I’m actually really surprised that they haven’t done more with the Playstation brand in their other products.
To learn more about the PSX go here:
http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200310/03-1007E/
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vofHwP9J9Rw
For #2, see: http://www.playstation.com/psm/index_e.html
Interesting to re-read this in light of the PlayStation Now rollout.