Hey, I was wondering what happened to him! He's seen better days though...

Hopanoe

One Console to rule them all, One Console to find them, One Console to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

That's a badass console, that is

uninterested gamer

That picture of Kaz is begging for a couple of fingers to be photoshopped out...

PhotoBoy

Considering Sony didn't once mention with PS3 in their entire keynote, yes I think posting a profit is something they want to shoot for. Least it seems Bluray has taken the lead so far at CES.

chewbenator

@Plunkett: really? hehehe

Acunia

@Plunkett: Did you snap that gem Mr. Plunkett? ;D

Witzbold

@Acunia: That is the best picture of Kaz on the planet

Plunkett

That was not a good picture of him, he looks like a special person

Acunia

@dunetiger: It took Microsoft's gaming division a little while to make a profit too dunetiger.

PwningForFun

haha, all of our posts have the same time stamp

dunetiger

Is he a vampire?

tehFluffzComeback

Oh man how Kaz has aged!

Guess cleaning up Kutaragi`s mess will do that to a guy.

Witzbold

Isn't that something they should shoot for EVERY fiscal year? Fired.

dunetiger

Crazy Ken... Kaz is not as crazy as you... but will he save the PS that you gave birth to?!

OmiCom

@Insomnia Bob:
They didn't put more effort into it because their core audience isn't as Online-orientated as Microsofts. The same applies to Nintendo... It's new for them too. And let us don't forget, Sony is a hardware company, they haven't much experience in Software and Internet as Microsoft!

Garo

2 in the Pink, 1 in the Stink...coming to Bluray?

CocaColaZero

@Sixtail: I'm not paying for live. Even the 'silver' version allows background downloading, and has a friends list that can be viewed and managed from within any game. Also, it pops up a little message when your buddies come online.

XBL just beats PSN on every level. To be honest, I don't understand why more of an effort wasn't made on making PSN more useful in the first place.

Insomnia Bob

@PwningForFun:

What's Microsoft got to do with it?

dunetiger

@Insomnia Bob: PSN is what happens when you don't have to pay, Live is what happens when you do have a service to pay for IMHO. Home for me isn't going to cut it, because i'm not interested in Habbo Hotel for the PS3 with a bastard melding of some Live hotel. Also what about past PS3 games? Live stuff is coded into every single games but how would past PS3 titles handle Home when there's nothing on the disk to deal with it?

As for making a profit on the PS3, I don't see it happening unless more features get the axe. After all it took two years for the 360 to just reach a point where it wasn't losing money didn't it?

Sixtail

@Insomnia Bob: Give 'em a ring, anyway? Might be worth a shot. Get on their case hard enough and they tend to cave in (my experience, anyway).

Captain Impulse

@Plunkett: The West Side? It's the best side.

Insomnia Bob

@tehFluffzComeback: Looks more like an inverse vampire to me...

djprozac

@Insomnia Bob: Yeah tell me about it. :x At the current state I find PSN to be a bit "user unfriendly".

Kinda like unix was to a person who just got through learning how to use windows. ;D

I really do hope that sony hires folks who try to fix all of the faults PSN has at the moment. :x Since all the friends here at Kotaku are split right down the middle between XBL and PSN.

Witzbold

@Captain Impulse: DVD drive died, not RROD. Not covered under the new 3 year warrenty. Sucks to be me.

Insomnia Bob

Sony needs to work real hard this year. They can't afford not to.

SaintAnima

@Witzbold: It's not unfixable.
But man, compare to XBL? Night and day. It's sad, but I'm going to stick with the 360 for any multiplayer game worth a crap. It's just way easier to join a game with someone you know in it.

Insomnia Bob

@Insomnia Bob: With M$oft's new warranty policy, you should be able to send it in to get it fixed. Have you tried that yet?

Captain Impulse

@Insomnia Bob: I hear you on the friends / message management thing.

Plus I myself am not too amused with PSN, and really hate the whole "Wallet" system / how the downloads are handled.

I will just keep optimistic that sony will improve on its flaws over the years.

Witzbold

Get this man some bling!

Kazzahdrane

Time to trash price drop rumors.

Frybread

This might not be the time or place, but I don't care.

I'm super pissed at the PS3. I finally put down the cash, pay through the NOSE for the damn thing, and I'm sorry, but it SUCKS.

The online offering is a joke compared to XBL. Managing friends and checking who's online is a massive pain in the ass. The game lineup bites. Only a handful of decent exclusives... I know it's only a year out, but still. If it bites, it bites. Hope fully both of those factors will be improved in '08, but for now...

And, most damning of all, my PS3 is now randomly turning itself off in the middle of a game. I finally get a copy of Warhawk, and I'm actually enjoying it, but now this crap. Hopefully I'm covered under warranty. If not, I'm out a lot of money.

And, just to put things in perspective... my 360 died on me week before last. BUT. I got a good two years out of that thing, and it didn't set me back $500-600 to replace it. ($279) The PS3? Had it less than two months.

Okay, rant over. Fanboys, feel free to tell me how I'm a M$ shill now.

Insomnia Bob

Hahahahaha. "Profitability is not a definite commitment," is probably the funniest sentence I've read this week. Damn Kaz, your stand-up act just gets better and better.

DaveKap

I thought the rhetoric was that they're backing out of the gaming business if they don't go profitable within the next year.

Not that it'll make things any more feasible than it already is...

muu

@Garo: The PS3 audience isn't "Online oriented"? I call bullshit, man.

Even if it was true, that's a pretty crappy justification. You'd have to be friggin' BLIND to not realize that online is where gaming is moving.

InsomniaBob

Maybe Kaz saw Dubya and wanted to say hi?

Just maybe...

OmiCom

@quen: You mean that PSTriple gang sign.

Draconis

Is that seriously the PS3 gang sign?

quen

Is it JUST me or does he look like a Japanese Paulie Walnuts?

Sixtail

@TheNumchucks: It's a three.

Sixtail

sorry for triple post but i jus6t had to ask. Y is he giving us miyamotos Wii hand sign?.

TheNumchucks

What are they gonna do lower the price more?. Face it sony your murdered.

TheNumchucks

My ass

TheNumchucks

Lets not forget that MS has been dicking around with online stuff since Win95. Remember that comix thing and then they also did net conference.

I actually like the PS3 navigation.

chip5541

Whats with the gang sign

Kyle81

@Garo: Actually he is right. Online gaming is the way of the future. If you think about it, they only need to find an online hook to attract casual gamers, in much the same way the Wii attracted them with a gimmicky control. Look at World of Warcraft and how all kinds of people from little kids to grannies are playing it and forking over an unbelievable amount of cash for Blizzard/Vivendi, more than Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo could hope to earn in 5 years.

Soldrak

@muu: That can't be right. Gaming is a huge industry for Sony and they're not going to just dump the whole thing because the PS3 hasn't sold as much as they'd have liked for a year and a half. They are still making money on the PS2 which is what, 7 years old?

And don't forget the implications it has in other areas of the company. A lot of their investment in the PS3 comes back in terms of increased demand for Bluray and HDTVs (although the results for TVs are much less tangible than Bluray titles)

jetsmanfoley

Xbox Live is only really better than PSN because of the friends list and recently played with gamers list, it doesn't actually host any games, so it isn't necessarily better when it comes to lag.

Soldrak

@Acunia:

The sad thing is, every picture of Reggie makes him look "Special"

ssjmichael

Hmm free online sucks? MS just announced 10mil gold subscribers. Whats it like? 3 bucks a month or something?

30 million a month. Do you pay for games on live? Do you have dedicated servers? Are there ads?

Hell for 30 mil a month, even if only 20 covers the costs, I think I could throw down a fairly complete and appealing system.

Tell us what you really think.

invictus

@InsomniaBob:

Yes the PS3s core audience that came from the PS2 isn't online orientated as the former XBox owners. How can you deny it? Was Online so important for the PS2? No, but it was for the XBox.

Is Online gaming the future? I say yes and on the other hand I say no! Do you really think the Wii and the PS2 gamers think about online gaming 24/7?

That's the reason PSN and "I don't know how it's called on the Wii" are rather poor in their implementation than XBL. Why is this so hard to understand?

Companies like Sony and Nintendo know that their core audience isn't like the MS one, and that's why they are rather cautious! Is this a excuse for the Online thirsty PS3 gamers? No. But from a business standpoint it is reasonable!

Garo

@Sixtail:

you're delusional if you think past games wont be compatable with Home. Companies have known about Home for awhile and theres bound to be lines of code hidden in there waititng to be used. If not this is the generation of DLC. It's not like they cant just throw out a patch and make it so

Sparx88

@Soldrak:
Also I wanted to point out that MS was the one that innovated Online, and yes Sony and Nintendo are lagging behind in that field...

Garo

@Soldrak:
I didn't say that he isn't right. Next generation this will be a "must have" feature, but for many people (points at Wii) this gen it isn't that important. I know, the hardcore can't live without it, but hey not all gamers are hardcore!

I really doubt that Blizzard/Vivendi earn more money with World of Warcraf than Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo with their gaming business!

Garo

Am I the only one who read "portable" in the headline?

kNZA

Kaz is starting to look like the Marlboro Man now, all old(er) and weathered like. I wouldn't want to be Microsoft in a dark ally when I crossed paths with that bad dude.

Destrudo

@Sixtail: "PSN is what happens when you don't have to pay, Live is what happens when you do have a service to pay for IMHO."

Durr.. No. That happens when software giant has years to hone their service, and hardware giant hacks theirs together in too tight schedule. It's sure to even up in the future, but the current situation is more than expected.

ara

Alright, Kaz has gotten serious, he's throwing up gang signs. He's talking about shooting too? I'll agree to whatever nonsense he says.

Trowble

His hands are boney.

Sailorcancer

He is such a gangster holding up that gang sign like that. Too bad the RRoD gang is roughing them up.

ballaboy311

@ara: @Garo:

Uh, Sony is not a noob to the field of online gaming. Everquest for PS2? SOCOM 1 and 2? FFXI? While they may not have had the server farms and robust setup Microsoft had, Sony is not new to the online gaming biz, they were just lazy and didn't want to sink the millions into online like Microsoft did years ago.

Sixtail

I can play games online for FREE, that's all I need. I don't need any of that message friend bullshit. Of course this is my own preference. When a game says on the back that you can play online, I don't expect to pay extra for that if it's a feature that's included with the game you purchase.

thegunshow

I think it'll become profitable and hit its stride... they've certainly lost this race, but like the PSP, they can at least beat MS in Japan and make a decent profit with it.

Go ahead and talk some smack, Kaz... it'll make it sell better if you're confident, and with all the other things Sony has said, you can't really dig yourselves any deeper, haha.

fuchikoma

@Garo: The reason PS2 owners aren't used to online play is because they didn't have it. I fail to understand how this is a justification for the PS3 being a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to online gaming, as you yourself have admitted.

That's like saying "Well, we don't put antilock brakes on our cars because our customers have suffered without them for years, and they don't expect them in our cars. See how good we are to our customers?"

It's a silly argument. PS3's online support sucks, and Sony better do anything and everything they can THIS GENERATION to remedy that before they find themselves solidly in the backseat.

Being an apologist for them isn't going to make your PS3 better. Holding them accountable for what's wrong with your PS3 will. Get it?

aphex242

I think 2008 will be a great year for Sony, but I don't expect the profit for PS3 to really kick in until 2009. Takes time to recover costs.

But I would predict smooth sailing from fiscal 2009 and on on with the system.

sascha23

Well, if that's the case, then the XboX and 360 never cut it, except for the three weeks that Halo 3 pulled the XboX out of the fire; other than that, Microsoft's gaming division NEVER made a profit.

pixelsword

Kaz is so dreamy! I want a cool bracelet like that to be cool like Kaz! ;)

@Insomnia Bob:

You might want to read your manual. If it's turning it off it might be saving itself from overheating. If you can hear the fans above a whisper that's a warning sign -- it's not a jet engine sound like the 360. Do you keep it inside a little entertainment center?

@Garo:

Innovated not having working service for about two weeks? XBL is just an extention of old PC services, but centralized auth with peer based gaming is often the worst tradeoff. If you'd stick to the topic you won't get a troll slap down as often.

Mongoosekun

@tehFluffzComeback:

LOLWWWHAHAHA!

In other news, you know what this means?

NO 2008 PS3 PRICE CUT!!!

DARTH_TIGRIS

@Sixtail: "were just lazy and didn't want to sink the millions into online like Microsoft did"

I think the problems that were mentioned were the lack of friends list and recently played games... or is it more than that? I find it terribly easy to play online. Anyway, this is more of an example of cosmetic information that only experience can provide. (patch on the way)

@aphex242:
I think you may be off track here, Sony's mainstays on the ps2 were RPG's, Adventure games, fighters, and single player games. most of the time i just went to my friend's houses to play, online just keeps people from human interaction IMHO.
@muu: LOL no way would they pull out of gaming. They've hit 100 million twice with a lifetime 2-3 years longer than any console gen they were in.
@Sixtail: I think he looks more like the Japanese Arnold Shwarzenegger.
@Insomnia Bob: maybe you're an ms shill, maybe not, but as far as I can tell. Ratchet&Clank, Resistance, bladestorm, Gundam Musau, Uncharted, Heavenly sword, gaiden sigma, MH3, Folksoul, and many more to come this year... it doesn't bite, maybe you just don't realize how different the games are for ps gamers.
To me your only beef is the online and your ps3 turning off in mid game.
2. Send it back
1. Give it some time, ms had since the xbox to work on Live tweaks, and then plenty of years with internet explorer.

theprof00

HAHA!! Hey Kotaku! You should put a talk bubble next to Kaz's mouth that says "I'm 'bout dat PSTriple son!" lol!

Knoxximus

That picture would be way better if he was throwing up The Shocker.

StrangeLove

That pic is almost exactly the same type of pose that Gob had in Arrested Development when he married that chick on a dare. Seeing it in that light cracks me up.

phinehas

what kaz is saying in this pic: PS-triple bitches...I run this shit!!!

robinhood1013

man oh man..Kaz looks fugly in this ...wow..crap....

robinhood1013

Good luck with that whole profitability thing Kaz. I just hope you guys don't release yet another retarded post-60 gb SKU that takes out features for no good reason.

Gagamus

@ Trowble: @ Destrudo: He does look like he's ready to pop a cap in someones ass o_O

kavits001

I think the problem with PSN is that Sony let the devs have too much freedom and didn't force them to adopt certain features for all online games.

All Sony first party games have in-game friend list and messaging. Most third party games don't.

Also, Voice chat but in Sony games but NOT across different games.

If Sony had "forced devs" to do this for all online-enabled games, we would have more consistency and less confusion about the PSN's features.

The XMB also has a "Players Met" category that shows recent online people met. I have only seen first party games show up on here and maybe Cod4 (not sure) but definitely not all games show up.

Ningen

@Garo: Well, Blizzard alone was responsible for bringing Vivendi back into the black from the loss-hole it was in. They have 8 million customer paying about $15 a month. Microsoft has had what.. Halo 3 selling well into the millions territory and a few other games barely breaking 1 million units sold. And they continue to bleed money with each Xbox 360 hardware unit sold. So yes, I do in fact think that Blizzard is making a hell of a lot more money than Microsoft has in the same time period.

Soldrak

@InsomniaBob:
Its not that complicated to tell who is online.
you just go to the friends tab and look at their name and picture.
If there is a blue dot next to their name; it means that they are online.
If there is a red dot with an x through it; it means that they are offline.
You get a notification when any of your friends come online or go offline in the top right hand corner.

If your PS3 is randomly shutting down; either
A. exchange it or B. get it repaired. The system is launch was little more that a year ago and it comes with a one yeah warranty. I'm pretty sure you're covered.

It may just be over heating. The PS3 shuts down when it gets too hot rather than burning up like the 360.
If you have it a case style entertainment center try opening the doors when using it.

VishusBurn

@Insomnia Bob: It makes sense that going from XBOX Live to PSN would feel like a step down. Based on everything I've read, XBOX Live is a superior online experience.

However, for me, the PSN is my first and only online experience on a console and frankly it seems okay to me. I wasn't expecting that much, just the ability to play online and I've had no problem figuring out how to get online to play Resistance, Warhawk, COD4 and the Burnout Paradise Demo.

True, I don't know what I'm missing on XBOX Live but I guess that's my point. I'm not disappointed with my experience at all. A lot of people (and there are a lot) have never experienced how good XBOX Live is and to them the PSN works just fine.

Also, I'm glad that XBOX Live has set the bar so high since hopefully it means PSN can only improve over time.

rawg

I was very confused here; I thought the headline read "portable" and not "profitable".

Solidius