Tag - sony

 
 

SONY

Japan might have created the PlayStation brand, but the cost of the latest generation of the console will exclude all but the most hardcore fans.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2024
PS5 Pro price is a sticker shock for the country that made the PlayStation
With even an entry-level PS5 now costing some ¥72,980 following the latest hike last month, an entire generation of Japanese could be cut off.
Sony last month officially unveiled a digital ledger, Soneium, while other Japanese firms like Toyota explore various blockchain-related initiatives.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024
Sony joins a crypto push in Japan as calls grow for looser rules
The question for the government is whether to heed requests from the crypto industry for less onerous rules to lower costs and spur growth.
Intel in 2022 lost out on a contract to design and fabricate the chip for Sony’s next-generation PlayStation 6.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 17, 2024
How Intel lost the Sony PlayStation business
A dispute over how much profit Intel stood to take from each chip sold to the electronics giant for the PlayStation 6 gave a leg-up to AMD, which clinched the deal.
The PlayStation 5 Pro gaming console is priced at $699.99 in the United States, and ¥119,980 in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 11, 2024
Sony prices PlayStation 5 Pro game console at a hefty $699.99
In Japan, the midgeneration console is priced at ¥119,980, compared with the standard PlayStation 5 digital model's ¥72,980 price tag.
The surprise 19% price increase comes even as PlayStation 5 sales have slowed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2024
Sony hikes PlayStation 5 price in Japan citing cost volatility
The surprise move comes even as PS5 sales have slowed and Sony is widely expected to refresh its offering with a revamp of the console in coming months.
Turbines at a wind farm in Suttsu, Hokkaido. A renewable energy initiative called on Japan to triple its capacity of clean electricity.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 25, 2024
Japan urged to triple renewables capacity by 2035
The world's fourth-largest economy is heavily reliant on fossil fuels
Sony Group Chairman Kenichiro Yoshida says the group wants to contribute to anime through creation.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 23, 2024
Sony Group to strengthen anime business
The group will consider establishing an organization to train foreign anime creators.
Sony Group is missing analyst expectations for sales as demand for its PlayStation 5 hardware wanes.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024
Sony sales outlook misses estimates on waning demand for PS5s
Shares in Sony have been under pressure this month amid mounting speculation about the terms of its potential $26 billion bid for Paramount Global.
Sony’s shares have dropped more than 5% this year, compared with a 16% gain in the Topix index, amid a global electronics slump.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2024
Sony shares fall as offer for Paramount spurs financing concerns
Investors are worried because the $26 billion proposal is larger than the Japanese electronics company's cash holdings.
A customer walks past a display for Nintendo's Super Mario at an electronics store in Tokyo on Jan. 12. Last year, Nintendo increased salaries, in part to be competitive with other studios.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2024
Japan’s game industry weathers the storm amid layoffs worldwide
The country's studios are actually scrambling to attract and retain talent — a state of affairs that is symptomatic of the nation’s demographic challenges.
Sony's move to cut costs and Microsoft's decision to release titles on rival platforms reflect uncertainty in the gaming industry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 8, 2024
Looks like we're nearing peak PlayStation
The gaming industry as a whole is struggling with ballooning development costs and longer production cycles, leading to fewer and risk-averse titles.
Sony trimmed its revenue forecast after sales of its flagship PlayStation 5 in the December quarter came in roughly a million units lower than analysts’ estimates.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024
Sony dives most in two years after cutting PS5 sales outlook
Shares fell as much as 8.4% in early Tokyo trading, the biggest intraday fall since February 2022.
Michael Jackson performs in Vienna in 1997. Jackson, one of the top selling artists in pop music, died in 2009, leaving an estate worth hundreds of millions of dollars but large debts to work out.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2024
Sony to buy 50% stake in Michael Jackson music for $600 million
The agreement may also include songs from other artists that are part of the Mijac publishing catalog in what would be the largest such deal ever.
Sony terminated merger plans with Zee on Monday after more than two years of negotiations, citing alleged breaches of the terms of their agreement.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 25, 2024
India's Zee asks Sony to honor merger obligations and approaches tribunal
Zee denies Sony's claims that it had breached the terms of their agreement, which the Japanese company cited as the reason it called off the deal.
Sony had been expected to benefit from Zee’s deep library of content in regional Indian languages and its dozens of local television channels.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2024
Sony sends termination letter to Zee over India merger
The entertainment giant cited conditions of the merger agreement not being met as the reason for ending the deal with the Indian media network.
Sony plans to file the termination notice before a Jan. 20 extended deadline for closing the deal with Zee.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2024
Sony plans to call off $10 billion merger with India’s Zee
The plan to cancel the deal is due to a standoff over whether Zee CEO Punit Goenka would lead the merged entity amid a regulatory probe.
Attendees play the Fate/Samurai Remnant video game on PlayStation 5 video game consoles at the Tokyo Game Show in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2023
Sony highlights PS5 momentum as hardware sales top 50 million
Sony is seeing strong momentum for its PlayStation 5 console, a senior games executive has said, with lifetime sales exceeding 50 million units and the company recording its best-ever Black Friday period sales for the device.
Sony Group has raised its full-year outlook after its media divisions outperformed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023
Sony raises sales and profit outlook as media helps offset mobile
The adjustments suggest resilient consumer spending and a weaker yen are stabilizing the business.
Nintendo has announced it is developing a live-action movie adaptation of its The Legend of Zelda video game series.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 8, 2023
Zelda the movie shows Nintendo has learned its lesson
The live-action Zelda movie is still shrouded in mystery, but one thing is certain: Nintendo will want loyal sidekicks to embark on this adventure.
Bungie, the Sony-owned game studio behind Destiny 2, has cut an undisclosed number of staffers amid restructuring of Sony's video game operations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023
Sony’s Bungie game unit cuts staff following delayed titles
Sony, which purchased Bungie in early 2022 for $3.6 billion, has been cutting staff across its PlayStation division this year, in part due to delays.

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Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan