Sony agressively pursuing online strategy
by VGLN Staff

Monday, March 11, 2002

With Microsoft and Sony officially announcing online plans, Nintendo remains sole company without an online strategy.

From Game Daily:

Earlier this morning Sony Computer Entertainment America announced that their long-awaited online strategy would be unveiled this August. Consumers will need to own Sony's network adapter ($39.99) and have their own Internet service, as the company is wisely not venturing into the ISP business, though they will include a start-up disk with many a strategic alliance bundled-in.

The 10/100 Base T ethernet adapter works in tandem with the 56k modem, allowing online game play, but not at broadband speeds - a vision that rival Microsoft has been planning for with their Xbox for some time. Sony's approach is mass-market, so their strategy is only to reach and cater to as large an audience as possible, sacrificing speed and graphics processing time in favor of potentially larger audiences... a risky gamble, but one that has paid-off in parallel industries in the recent past.

As retailers heard last week, the new PS2 online-enabled games will not carry a different SRP than off-line only games, alieviating a potential merchandising nightmare.

"After leading this industry for many years, we know our market and understand our core competencies are consumer-based hardware and in-home entertainment," said Kaz Hirai, president and chief operating officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "The world of online gaming and broadband-based network services, as it currently stands, is not a one-stop experience. Any company entering this space needs strong partners in various business areas to succeed. With the help and support of our partners, whether on the content or technology side, we will be able to offer online console gaming through PlayStation 2 that is consumer friendly, and most important, fun."

--- VGLN Staff