Sony to cut 10,000 jobs, Playstation a "Champion"
Sony announced its intention to layoff around 10,000 worker bees, reducing their total workforce to somewhere below 150,000 humans - not including AIBO robots (who are rumored to see a bit of a cut in their R&D budget). At the moment, the executive suite of two of the top level firms - Sony and Microsoft - are undergoing changes, but for different reasons. Microsoft recently announced a reorganization, consolidating management of the Xbox and other home entertainment groups with the mobile and "embedded" platforms groups. Sony is shutting down a number of plants, laying off workers, while announcing a heightened focus on products like the Playstation (duh), Walkmans and the Brevia Bravia LCD displays.
Gamers might not usually pay attention to changes like these, but we all intuitively realize that organization structure discloses and enables a certain shift of power within these extemely large companies. While we have been playing games for years (or decades) for the fun of it, gaming platforms are now assuming positions within mega-corporations that treat our little consoles as platforms upon which new products and business units are going to emerge. For some, Fun and Games may be reduced to just Games.
