Sony Readies For 'Metaverse Revolution' With Cross-Platform Push (reuters.com) 32
Japanese conglomerate Sony said it is well-positioned to play a leading role in the metaverse, or immersive virtual worlds, which commentators speculate will massively disrupt industries and establish new powerhouses. From a report: "The metaverse is at the same time a social space and live network space where games, music, movies and anime intersect," Chief Executive Kenichiro Yoshida said at a strategy briefing on Wednesday, pointing to the use of free-to-play battle royale title Fortnite from Epic Games as an online social space. Sony's game, music and movie units contributed two-thirds of operating income in the year ended March, underscoring the group's transformation from consumer electronics maker into a metaverse-ready entertainment juggernaut under Yoshida and predecessor Kazuo Hirai. The firm is a gaming gatekeeper with its PlayStation 5 console, however observers point to the risk presented by the growth of cross-platform, cloud-based titles and their potential to reduce the influence of proprietary platforms. Sony has been adjusting its approach, enabling cross-play in Fortnite in 2018.
an MMO by any other name (Score:4, Insightful)
What's the Metaverse? (Score:3)
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In the book Snow Crash, where Stephenson coined the term, the internet was basically owned by one company. That company also controlled the Metaverse, in that they owned the dominant VR network. So the actual vision was that one tech company's software had dominated. The same software was used on people's own private spaces.
Assuming society doesn't collapse first odds are good that corporate consolidation will continue apace and this is actually how things will eventually wind up.
By the same token if you th
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Assuming society doesn't collapse first odds are good that corporate consolidation will continue apace and this is actually how things will eventually wind up.
Not sure if it's a good thing, but I'm pretty sure certain national governments will still want to "protect" their people from the influence of such corporate monopoly/ies. Ideology and religion aren't going to go away soon.
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Well if my sig didn't give it away, I am a bit of a Stepehenson fan, and while I don't think it's going to work out exactly like his books I do think that we're going to see an escalation of corporate authoritarianism in much of the world that very well might lead to multinational corporations acting as de facto governments (again.) Greed is the dominant ideology.
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So, no different than the predictable Greed that splintered a cable bill into a dozen streaming services, each contributing to humans shoving their faces into screens for hours at a time instead of IRL.
That's quite the flavored outrage you've got there. Wonder where it was a decade ago.
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Completely agree, its time may come but for now it it all hype. We hardly have any VR games. The metaverse is pants.
may I be the first to say, "yawn" (Score:2)
Metaverse? Really? I mean, I know Zuckerberg has immense personal magnetism (negative) but, seriously? You're arguing that we should all strap 3D goggles to our heads and do our shopping in World of Warcraft? This is exquisitely divorced from reality.
Sony does have a long, long reputation of screwing up and, at this point, I'd get a kick out of watching them do it again. This one looks to be a doozy.
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A lot of people don't want this at any price, but a lot of other people do want it very much. They are called introverts :)
Seriously though, lots of people want this. And more of them since Covid.
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Point me to anyone that's not poised to create personal profit from "metaverse" that has any interest at all in it. I have yet to meet anyone that thinks it's even a vaguely worthwhile idea outside of pie-in-the-sky daydreamers that think it's their next opportunity to get rich by doing nothing. Where's the masses clamoring for the metaverse?
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Point me to anyone that's not poised to create personal profit from "metaverse" that has any interest at all in it.
*points* [morningconsult.com]
I have yet to meet anyone that thinks it's even a vaguely worthwhile idea outside of pie-in-the-sky daydreamers that think it's their next opportunity to get rich by doing nothing.
It's an enormously worthwhile idea, even if only because it is a whole new venue for siphoning money out of the wallets of fools.
Where's the masses clamoring for the metaverse?
There are no masses clamoring for it. That doesn't mean the masses won't spend money on it if it shows up. They certainly aren't going to spend shit on Meta's pathetic no-legs shit show, though. We're talking about tech and the internet, if you can't [virtually] fuck on it, it's worthless.
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Where's the masses clamoring for the metaverse?
To be fair no one was clamoring for the internet in the late 80's and early 90's but now it's a staple part of most first worlder's lives. Shit, I even remember my Dad calling it a fad during said period only to do a 180 and end up an avid user of multiple internet services a decade later.
Granted there are significant differences between the internet and what a Metaverse might end up as in terms of implementation but there's a long history of products that no one asked for that have become absolute staples.
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This is a corporate-driven fantasy land that no consumers seem to be asking for. I have no idea what the draw is supposed to be for normal people. Having giant mega-corporations controlling everything you see and do inside the Metaverse sounds pretty dystopian to me, and I'm usually not one to go on anti-corporate rants.
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Metaverse? Really? I mean, I know Zuckerberg has immense personal magnetism (negative) but, seriously?
Scew-up speedbumps be damned, these companies has made billions off peddling virtual entertainment, selling you forms of it in pretty much every physical dimension you live in. And they likely know more about the reality of peddling you as the product, than even you do. So they certainly know your buying habits, and can even model your future ones.
...You're arguing that we should all strap 3D goggles to our heads and do our shopping in World of Warcraft? This is exquisitely divorced from reality.
You're arguing that we should all strap a cable modem to our homes and do all our movie watching, over the interne, oh wait. That's right. Amazing how Greed p
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I think you're giving these companies far too much credit. Tell me, how did the 3D TV craze go again? They were pushing that pretty hard a few years ago, and very few consumers were interested.
For every hit product they produce, there are plenty of flops. Remember, a lot of big corporations actually once believed the CueCat could make money.
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Remember, a lot of big corporations actually once believed the CueCat could make money.
Did they, though? A lot of big corporations paid a pittance to have their products advertised through CueCat. They tried it, it didn't work out, it was a minuscule item on their ad budget and it was no big deal to drop it. It was only really a big failure for CueCat and maybe Rat Shack.
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From Wikipedia:
Belo Corporation, parent company of the Dallas Morning News and owner of many TV stations, invested US$37.5 million in Digital Convergence, RadioShack $30 million, Young & Rubicam $28 million and Coca-Cola $10 million.[10] Other investors included General Electric, and E. W. Scripps Company.[11] The total amount invested was $185 million.[12]
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I'm not at all sure why you think what you're describing is something no one wants. What you describe sounds great to me if it actually came together.
As big lebowsky once said (Score:2)
Really? (Score:1)
A Sony metaverse? You think that's gunna bring people in? "With a cross-platform push? Really? Sony, the company that *refused* to allow cross-platform for the longest time? The company that let Nintendo beat them to cross-platform compatibility.
Sony is a shit company with no redeemable markets or products. Their gaming division sucks. Their TVs suck. Their earbuds suck. Their cameras suck. They make nothing of value.
Is it just me? (Score:2)
...or are these sorts of companies the most gullible fuckers on the planet?
Weren't they all insisting we were going to use 3d tvs?
It's like whatever comes down the pike, they swallow it hook, line, and sinker. They are ALL IN adopters of the latest fads.
How much do they waste chasing these ephemera?
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I was also going to make a pessimistic post about hype and fads, then I remembered all the people saying the exact same thing in the late 80's and early 90's about the internet. Sometimes these things do actually pan out.
Yes, please! (Score:2)
I remember Playstation Home (Score:4, Informative)
PS Home was supposed to be the Second Life alternative, which was the thing at the time.
With Sony money behind it, and PS3 hardware under it, it couldn't lose.
It shipped late. Was a pit of harassment; boys playing girls hitting on boys playing girls.
Marketing weasels made it branding hell with tie-ins to other PS3 titles.
You couldn't build, you could just furnish your "apartment", for real money,
with costly content supplied only by Sony. Avatars and their clothes were strictly
off-the-rack. Sony movies in the theater. Sony music as background tracks.
It was not a metaverse, it was just a village of suck that was left to die a quiet death.
And now, Facebook is pretty much doing the same thing, with even less content.
Except this time, you have to wear a face hugger to participate.
It too will die a merciful death.
This post is probably too late (Score:2)
Now I'm past the arguing phase and on to thinking about who is actually going to dominate the metaverse and the short answer is whoever doesn't tighten their grasp too much. You need to give away the razor so you can sell the blades. They need to give away the client for all popular platforms, and also give away a certain amount or level of access to all if they want it to take off. And it will look suspiciously like burning money for years.
Consequently there is sadly only really one company I can think of
it sounds absolutely wonderful (Score:1)