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Sony should sell out to Microsoft, according to rich Japanese crook photo

Crooked billionaire Takafumi Horie has made a most bold statement indeed -- the former Livedoor boss has stated that Sony's hardware division, including the PlayStation 3, should be sold onto Microsoft so that the company can concentrate on making movies.

The former funky fraudster, commonly known as Horiemon, suggested that at one time he was going to take Sony over, and also offered some advice to the company he never owned:

"What was so appealing about Sony was that it has plenty of audio and visual content. It also has mobile and music hardware technology, organic electro-luminescence technology (OLED), financial products (Sony operates a bank in Japan), and FeliCa technology (smart cards).

Just what it doesn’t need are consumer electronics like TVs, it was thinking of selling them off to Chinese consumer electronics companies.

In the console market, when the going is good, it’s really good, but when it’s bad there’s a lot of risk, so I was thinking it would be better to be done with it and sell it off to Microsoft."

We should point out that this man claims to be a big player of God of War ... on the Xbox. Perhaps not the right man to be giving out videogames industry advice. Besides which, I'd have thought Grand Theft Auto was more this guy's style.


Continue: More WHAAAAAAT? stories





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23 comments | showing # 1 to 23

Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 09/14/2008 10:12
This guy is crazy. Sony is far too proud to do something like this.
Gameboi's Avatar
Gameboi at 09/14/2008 10:17
I'd be more interested in his take on the Hell's Kitchen game.
Neonie's Avatar
Neonie at 09/14/2008 10:22
"FeliCa technology"

Theres no way I'm going to be the only person to read that wrong and take it in an entirely different context.
MrSadistic's Avatar
MrSadistic at 09/14/2008 10:45
No thanks. Microsoft is a giant bastard the way it is now.
kohelhunter's Avatar
kohelhunter at 09/14/2008 10:48
While I agree with the Billion dollar guy. I must say I dont think he is that rich, just look at the computers behind him....
Debeo Laurus's Avatar
Debeo Laurus at 09/14/2008 10:52
O those crazy Japanese
whormongr's Avatar
whormongr at 09/14/2008 10:52
I hate sony DRM schemes and their love of proprietary formats- but I have to say- I really like the PS3 and PSP and would be really pissed if they did sell to microsoft. I am a big fan of the fact that sony Devs really do believe in what they are doing with the hardware and are for the most part using the PS3 as an extension of their overall entertainment center development and not treating the PS3 as a "this gen game machine" to be replaced when their more expensive "next gen" one comes around- like microsoft is doing. MS tends to have a bottom line that equals their wallet and instead of pausing learning and developing seems to vomit whatever seems to be the most popular thing.
HikariOblivion's Avatar
HikariOblivion at 09/14/2008 11:00
whormongr: Er. You do know that as far as consoles go, Sony's DRM is the most flexible, right?

But yeah, aside from that, I agree.
Valthonis's Avatar
Valthonis at 09/14/2008 11:13
@Neonie: I heard good things about FeiCal technology, but it turns out it's utter crap.

Thank you! Try the veal!
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 09/14/2008 11:18
Way to talk out of your ass sir.
SourGr8pes's Avatar
SourGr8pes at 09/14/2008 11:26
Sony is also the company that got rid of draconian region coding on their newer consoles. +1 for them
Sam Spectre's Avatar
Sam Spectre at 09/14/2008 11:52
Who is this guy? Should I feel ashamed that I don't know of him?
Corak's Avatar
Corak at 09/14/2008 12:04
I agree I have no idea who this guy is, I'm kind of wondering why I should care?
Sam Spectre's Avatar
Sam Spectre at 09/14/2008 12:14
Yes he's obviously an idiot... Microsoft buying out Sony, that's preposterous!
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 09/14/2008 12:29
I'm sure it's worth listening to someone who looks like the Asian Keanu Reeves.
mr spooky's Avatar
mr spooky at 09/14/2008 15:07
That guy ate too many mushrooms that xbox is not doing very well in japan compared to wii and ps3. Is that Tomonobu Itagaki cousin without glass, I'm kidding.
YeagerMeister's Avatar
YeagerMeister at 09/14/2008 18:26
If he's a con man then maybe he photo shopped God of War box art on to a 360 logo to sell making his "billions" God of War for Xbox confirmed... by one dude who knows nothing.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 09/14/2008 18:58
I'm with Sam Spectre, I have no idea who this guy is.
BattyAdroit's Avatar
BattyAdroit at 09/14/2008 20:39
Who is this clown? Why is this on my front page?
capitan's Avatar
capitan at 09/14/2008 22:34
whoever thinks sony should drop out of electronics development and focus on making movies is an idiot. i mean the playstation 2 sales made xbox look like a bad joke. there's no way sony would concentrate on making movies. when was the last time sony actually made a good movie by themselves? with the release of dean takahashi's book about the 360 development, microsoft should be the ones who should really be thinking about dropping out of the console wars. xbox live was good, but that's the only thing that came out well. xbox only had the advantage because they were released first. the ps3 will probably catch up now that HD-DVD support are pretty much gone as well. the 360 is only gaining a tiny bit of ground in japan because of tales of vesperia which makes them a bit overconfident right now. once the hype dies down, the 360 sales will probably drop dramatically.
whormongr's Avatar
whormongr at 09/15/2008 00:10
@HikariOblivion I was more referring to the DRM when it comes to music and movies- let us not forget sony's rootkit or dvd protection, and as far as the proprietary formats, though you didn't mention it- I was for a long time a minidisc fan, though because they kept it proprietary it never took off, even though it had so much potential for the time- though it seems that they learned and moved on
Holiday's Avatar
Holiday at 09/15/2008 01:23
However....Sony has had a reputation for some time for putting out top quality electronics while Microsoft puts out crap and then spends the next X amount of years patching it up and convincing people how good their shit is.
Demtor's Avatar
Demtor at 09/15/2008 08:47
LoL

Is this the internet equivalent of when CNN grabs a random moron off the street for a 10 second opinion on the news?

-We come to you now, with a random Japanese man. Tom?

-Thanks Karen. Excuse me, random Japanese man. What do you think about the console industry today?

-In the console market, when the going is good, it’s really good, but when it’s bad there’s a lot of risk, so I was thinking it would be better to be done with it and sell it off to Microsoft.

-Haha! Your so right. Back to you Karen.

-Thanks Tom.
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