Posted January 28, 2007 From GoNintendo KEN Kutaragi, the engineer known as the father of the Sony PlayStation video game console, is to split his time between Sony and a new joint venture with Japan's Namco Bandai, as Sony attempts to reinforce fraying ties with third-party game developers. The new venture, Cellius, comes as US and Japanese sales of PlayStation3 - launched in November - have slowed dramatically in the face of high prices and a shortage of "must-have" games. Mr Kutaragi will continue as chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment while serving as a part-time executive director at the new venture, 51 per cent owned by Namco and 49 per cent by Sony. Mr Kutaragi's appearance on the Cellius board comes just seven weeks after he was made chairman of SCE, a nominal promotion which removed him from the day-to-day running of the business amid signs of strained relations with Sony chief executive Sir Howard Stringer. Cellius has the task of developing games that exploit the advanced capabilities of the PS3's powerful Cell processor. The Cell chip, co-designed by Sony, Toshiba and IBM, boasts supercomputing capacity, but game studios have yet to tap its full potential, given the high cost of designing games for the PS3. Some observers speculate that by giving Namco Bandai direct access to Mr Kutaragi, Sony is hoping to ensure the loyalty of a developer whose only two PS3 games are the top and second-best selling titles for the console. Credit Suisse games analyst Jay Defibaugh said Namco Bandai had assigned Isao Nakamura, one of its foremost games developers, to run the new joint venture, even though "developing games for the PS3 carries a lot of risk". A Sony spokesman said the joint venture would not design software just for the PS3, but also for regular PCs, hand-held devices and mobile phones - all products offered by Sony. Since November, three major Japanese games developers have acted to reduce their exposure to Sony's flagship console. Square Enix said last month that Dragon Quest IX, the latest instalment in a series that racked up $US41 million ($53 million) in game sales for previous PlayStation consoles, would only be produced for Nintendo's hand-held DS machine. Koei and Sega Sammy have both said that games previously earmarked as PS3 exclusives will now also be developed for its rival platforms, Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360. Sony still hopes PS3 sales will get a lift from promised exclusive sequels later this year in Square's Final Fantasy and Konami's Metal Gear Solid series. The loss of exclusivity for the PS3 for either game would be a serious blow to the game console's short-term sales prospects, Nomura analyst Yuta Sakurai said. More good news for Wii owners then! It looks like more and more developers are now jumping on the Wii bandwagon which really is great news as I was worried about a games drought but due to the strong sales things will be picking up! : peace: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 I've always wanted to play a "proper" 3D Final Fantasy, and if they come start coming out on the 360/Wii, then I will be very happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 lolz, dis iz gud cuz sony suckz Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Exclusives are gay anyway. Nintendo exclusives are the bomb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Only a few exclusives are potential console sellers. GTA,FF,Halo,Mario,Zelda,RE. The rest are very very gay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Only a few exclusives are potential console sellers. GTA,FF,Halo,Mario,Zelda,RE. The rest are very very gay. lol, this topic is developing an obsession with the word gay. GTA isnt really an exclusive anymore. Obviously being on a Nintendo forum i find Nintendo have the best exclusives - Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Wario Ware. I do also like Kingdom Hearts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 lolz, dis iz gud cuz sony suckz Yes. Yes, they do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Its good news for the Wii if the games are created with the Wii control system in mind, otherwise we are going to be looking at scaled down ports for roughly the same price. The idea of more selection cant be a bad thing in all honesty. Staying in theme with the topic though....Torchwood is gay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Yeh I do tend to overuse the word gay. It's a bit gay really to be honest. Ah well, as for exclusives I don't see first party games to be included. As far as i'm concerned exclusives generally come from third parties who've decided to devote their game to a certain company, which to be honest I find pretty gay. The developers lose sales, and the consumers lose the chance to experience certain titles if they don't own a particular system, all at the cost of selling more of one console. So gay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 At least Sony have realised they have cocked up the PS3's design. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Only a few exclusives are potential console sellers. GTA,FF,Halo,Mario,Zelda,RE. The rest are very very gay. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 As far as i'm concerned exclusives generally come from third parties who've decided to devote their game to a certain company, which to be honest I find pretty gay. First party is exclusive, certainly more securely exclusive. First we heard raving rabbids would be wii only, then hit other systems many months later, by launch it was quickly available on all systems. Obviously second-party exclusives are rarer cos of loss of money. They usually only occur when; the the developers are paid a huge sum to stay exclusive (like how it used to be between Sony and GTA), when a franchised is loaned to a developer under strict contract (like capcom doing Minish Cap) or when the controls dont port easily (like Red Steel). EDIT: We have a thread with the word gay in it several times and no sign of Takeo?? the world has turned upside down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 well sony ar teh fucked Don't worry everyone! Captain Obvious is here to save the day! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Well it can only be good news in my opinion - anyway makes a change from ports of PS2 and PSP games. I really want to see what the Wii is capable of and I dont believe we've seen that yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Every time I see that game it looks less and less like the original IN GAME trailer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 28, 2007 Don't worry everyone! Captain Obvious is here to save the day! you can always depend on him Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 29, 2007 Well Sony's loss is Nintendo's gain. Any game is welcome on Wii no matter what its content is or where it came from. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 29, 2007 Aw at least say where its from, and what user uses that avatar lolz But yes, more fanboy delight in this thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 29, 2007 Koei is massively important in Japanese market. I can't stress enough the significance of Koei's physical presence there. I guess this is the beginning of the crunch point for sony, who shot themselves in the foot with PS3. It'll be interesting to see what the threshold of PS3 survival is. In theory PS3 will still do its business in a long run if a couple of key titles (FF, MGS) appear. Given PS3's hardware potential there will always be enough people who will buy a console for few key titles especially with future price drop, and that can drive software support later. How quickly does that have to happen for sony to live through this though? Only time will tell. If profit is not forthcoming, the expenditure may not be sustainable. How soon that point will come, I don't know. At any rate, I don't think the outcome is quite as black & white as it first seems, particularly if their venture with Namco Bandai turns out well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 29, 2007 I didn't read the thread, or understand the title but I'm satisfied. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 29, 2007 But yes, more fanboy delight in this thread. QFT. This kind of stuff happens all the time, although to be honest I'm surprised that they are going to try and get PS3 games onto the Wii. I don't see this so much as a reflection on how "bad" the PS3 is doing but more a statement of how hard it is to make money in the industry at the moment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 29, 2007 Adn the problems with PS3 exclusivity combined with their websote cock-up are really making Sony a piece of cake to break.Check out http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=156263 and see how Sony tries to convince Project Gotham Racing to come to PS3. Instead of that old, rotting Gran Tourismo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted January 29, 2007 Check out http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=156263 and see how Sony tries to convince Project Gotham Racing to come to PS3. Instead of that old, rotting Gran Tourismo. It's completely accidental. Sony hired incompetent designer to design their webpages, and he used first images that he could find out from Google's Image search. Ironically, that Project Gotham Racing screen is fourth on the list. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
