Sony在美国时间2月20日发表该公司最新游戏机 PlayStation 4 (虽然只有手柄亮相)，并投下一大震撼弹──该产品将采用 x86 架构处理器；而 PS4 的发表或许意味着，这家日本消费性电子大厂终于从罹患了几十年的NIH (not invented here)症候群中痊愈。
你可能记得，Sony对独家 Memory Stick 数字相机记忆卡规格的 坚持，以及对命运多舛之 Mini Disc 规格的积极推广；还有该公司在发展内建闪存Walkman系列的早期，对ATRAC音频压缩格式的固执(就是不想用MP3)。在更早之前，Sony 则是强迫消费性电子领域接受 DAT (Digital Audio Tape)卡带格式，并力图让Betamax录像带格式苟延残喘。
多年来，Sony对独家技术(规格)的坚定信念已经深深烙印在该公司的DNA；他们就是认为，与众不同是赢得全世界的唯一途径。
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你可以称之为“Sony的傲慢”，或只是方向错误的公司管理策略；不过Sony还把那种信念化成“like.no.other”的市场营销口号，并以此保持着源自于该公司共同创办人井深大(Masaru Ibuka)所提倡的开创精神。
有以上的企业文化背景，Sony在 PS4 采用x86的架构的决定──可能让年事已高的这家日本公司面临高风险──确实让笔者以及许多产业观察家瞠目结舌。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：PS4将会是游戏领域的“权威”
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根 据Sony的PS4首席系统架构工程师Mark Cerny说法，他们要在一个“动力增强版PC架构(supercharged PC architecture)”上打造此新一代游戏主机；这在Ken Kutaragi (编按：已离开Sony并自创新公司)执掌Sony计算机娱乐事业群期间，是难以想象的。
当然，市场与消费者行为已经今非昔比。首先，线上游戏(相对于独立游戏软件或是专属游戏主机)打破了硬件差异化的壁垒，为游戏玩家、游戏软件开发商以及游戏机设计业者创造了一个地位平等的市场。
其次，游戏主机已经不再是游戏玩家玩游戏的唯一媒介；虽然Sony坚称PS4将会是游戏领域的“权威(leading authority)”，现今的消费者其实是生活在一个有多种装置可供选择的世界──包括智能手机与平板电脑；任何只有单一用途的装置终将被淘汰。
第三，消费者渴望拥有更简单、流畅的“连网”体验；举例来说，他们想要将在客厅透过游戏主机玩的游戏，顺畅切换到行动装置上继续，并同时能与朋友线上对话、或是在Facebook上与同好分享游戏秘诀，甚至透过线上广播观赏顶级玩家的游戏过程。
Sony PS4游戏主机硬件规格
Source:SinahsBesmc
如 果Sony在新产品发表会上所言属实，当PS4在今年底上市，意味着该公司将往正确的方向迈进，符合上述大多数游戏玩家的需求。而最重要的是，让笔者对 Sony的PS4与这家公司抱持希望的主要原因，是这家日本公司在这么长时间以来，第一次不再坚持用完全独家的平台打造PS4、不再只为了与众不同而不 同。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：PS3游戏内容缺乏，让PS4转向采用x86架构
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产业顾问机构Sierra Media 创办人Brian Dipert表示：“PS3的价位以及热门游戏内容的缺乏，从该产品一上市以来就是致命打击。”他认为，新一代PS4转向采用x86架构：“就是考量到以上两个缺点。”
游戏软件开发商向来是任何游戏平台成功的关键，Sony显然听取了他们的看法，并把它们的意见铭记于心。
市 场研究机构Envisioneering Group总监Rick Doherty回忆，当他在Sony发表 PS3 后看到Kutaragi：“我忍不住告诉Kutaragi，他需要成为PS3的“教授”；”因为学习在PS3平台上写程序就像是得重回学校上课，在软件开 发领域几乎没人真的了解该如何为该平台写程序。
最新亮相的Sony PS4游戏机手柄
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本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：这不就是配备专属GPU的高级PC吗？
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• 索尼你不懂营销！Sony Style不如电商供应链
• 四种AMOLED电视技术同台竞技，谁能笑到最后？hsBesmc
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不 过Sony在PS4发表会上所透露的讯息，也不能完全证明该公司已经克服所有挑战；其中一个症结点在于Sony将如何维持新平台对PS2与PS3所有经典 游戏的向后兼容性。藉由云端技术以及PS4的串流功能，是可以做到对PlayStation游戏链接库的仿真，但不确定那何时成真。
更重要的是，Sony已经感觉到微软(Microsoft)紧追在后──微软打算在短期之内推出新一代Xbox 360游戏机，业界传言该公司也将舍弃原有的Power PC架构、改抱x86。若真是如此，我们将会有一场好戏可看。
Sierra Media的Dipert 还提出了一个杀手级疑问──如果以硬件的角度来看，PS4基本上就是目前市场上配备专属GPU的中高级PC：“那PS4将如何与今年内或是几年内即将推出的、硬件规格必然会更好的其它PC产品竞争？”
与其生态系统良好搭配是一个重要条件，但要与其它配备类似硬件规格的产品竞争，会是个前所未有的艰难任务…到底Sony该怎么做？
Dipert表示：“独家内容是唯一的答案。”而笔者认为，那不会是比较节省成本或是简单的策略；也许对Sony来说，真正的答案是设计出易用、简洁的系统(以及软件)，而且能与其它装置无缝连结。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
编译：Judith Cheng
参考英文原文：Yoshida in NY: Sony overcomes not invented here syndrome，by Junko Yoshida
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Yoshida in NY: Sony overcomes not invented here syndrome
Junko Yoshida
· Sony, for years, believed in its own myth that the instinct to develop proprietary technologies (or formats) is deeply ingrained in the company’s DNA. NEW YORK--If the PlayStation 4 announcement on Wednesday is any indication, Sony may finally--and bravely walking away from the NIH (not invented here) syndrome that has characterized the Japanese consumer electronics giant for decades.
Remember Sony’s insistence on the use of Memory Stick (which nobody else used) in digital still cameras? Its promotion of the ill-fated Mini Disc? Its adamant push for the ATRAC audio compression format (instead of MP3) in the early days of the solid-state Walkman? Its attempt to shove Digital Audio Tape (DAT) in consumer down the throat, and how Sony stuck with Betamax well beyond its expiration date?
Sony, for years, believed in its own mythology that proprietary technologies (or formats) are deeply ingrained in the company’s DNA, and to be completely different from others is the only way for Sony to win the world.
Call it Sony arrogance, or just a misguided management principle.
But that attitude–which morphed into a marketing tagline, “Sony like no other”–also encouraged keeping Sony’s rich “pioneering” spirit, which originated in co-founder Masaru Ibuka.
With that backdrop, Sony’s decision to go with X86 architecture in its PS4—which carries high stakes for the ailing Japanese company—was jaw-dropping to me and many other industry watchers. To build PS4 on a “supercharged PC architecture” as described by Mark Cerny, Sony’s lead system architect of PS4, would have been unimaginable during Ken Kutaragi’s reign over Sony’s computer entertainment group.
Changing behavior
Of course, a lot has happened between now and then, in the market and in consumer behavior.
First, game play over the network (vs. playing packaged games on a proprietary gaming console) shattered the wall [in hardware differentiation], creating a level playing field for gamers, game developers and console designers.
Second, the game console is no longer the only place gamers play games. While Sony insists that its PS4 console box will be the “leading authority” in game play, consumers today live in a world of multiple devices–including smartphones and tablets. Any single-purpose device is definitely passé.
Third, consumers crave a much simpler, fluid “connected” experience. They want a smooth transition, for example, when switching between playing a games on a console in the living room and resuming play on a mobile device, while also talking to friends online, sharing tips with other gamers on Facebook, or even “spectating” on broadcasts of celebrity gamers.
If all the talk at the company’s press event is to be believed, when PS4 finally rolls out later this year, Sony will be taking steps in the right direction, meeting most of the gamer needs noted above.
But more than anything else, what gives me hope for Sony’s PS4 and Sony, for the first time in ages, is that the Japanese company is no longer hung up on developing a totally unique platform for PS4–just for the sake of being different.
How will PS4 compete with constantly evolving PC?
Brian Dipert, founder and principal at Sierra Media, said, “The price tag of the PS3, combined with the dearth of compelling gaming content, not only at intro but also for a long time afterward were a one-two knockdown punch.” He believes the migration to x86 “addresses both of these concerns.”
The key to success for any gaming platform is game developers. Sony clearly listened to them, and took to heart what they had to say.
Rick Doherty, research director at Envisioneering Group, recalled when he saw Kutaragi after Sony’s PS3 roll-out. “I had to tell Kutaragi that he needs to become a ‘professor’ of PS3,” because learning how to program on PS3 was like going back to college. Nobody in the development world really understood how to program on that platform.
All the talk about Sony’s PS4 announcement this week, however, doesn’t necessarily prove that Sony has solved all its challenges. One sticking point is how Sony plans to maintain backward compatibility for all the classic games developed on PS2 and PS3.
By using the cloud and PS4’s streaming capabilities, the emulation of PlayStation’s library of games is a possibility; and yet, we don’t know when that will become a reality.
Competing with other X86 architecture systems
More important, Sony’s already hearing the footsteps of Microsoft, which plans soon to launch the next-generation Xbox 360. Rumor has it that Microsoft (its current system is on Power PC architecture) might be also opting for X86.
If true, we’re in for an interesting battle.
Then, here’s the killer question posed by Dipert. If we see PS4 as essentially one of today’s mid-range to high-end PCs with a dedicated GPU from a hardware standpoint, “how will PS4 be able to compete with PCs in a year or a few years down the road, with inevitably better hardware specs?”
Playing nice with the ecosystem is one thing, but competing with others armed with similar hardware specs becomes a much tougher task than ever before.
The answer?
“Content exclusivity is the only answer,” said Dipert. But that won't come either cheap or easy in my opinion. The real answer may be in designing a simple and elegant system (and software) that connects intuitively with others.
责编：Quentin
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