Sony Eco-Innovation

The “Sonyverse” as I describe it touches so much in the electronic, film and tech world. But what you might find surprising is just how green a corporation Sony truly is.

For over 50 years, Sony has been developing cutting edge products and services that enrich and bring excitement to consumers around the world. As committed to innovation as Sony is, they are also committed to building a sustainable future. Sony’s goal is to create a cradle-to-cradle product life cycle.

By using recycled materials in production, building products that are energy efficient, and being a herald of product recycling, Sony recognizes the importance of showing consideration for our environment.

To achieve this, Sony has what it defines as Eco-Pillars. The three Eco-Pillars their environmental commitment is built on are as follows:

1. Products: Energy efficiency is the key element to Sony’s product line with eco-innovative features found in our products from televisions all the way to our mobile phones.
2. Process: How we make products is just as important as the products themselves. Sony is a strong participant in the EPEAT program™ and RoHS. We even use recycled material in both our packaging and printed marketing communications.
3. People: We are making it easier than ever for people to recycle their electronic devices with national initiatives such as the Rechargeable battery recycling program, Take Back Recycling program, and GreenFill.

Technological advancement is important to consumers. Newer technology at cheaper prices, that provides more functionality is a major consideration of the dollar conscious shopper. Consumers also challenge companies to be more aware of  how corporations affect the environment they live in. They want businesses to take an active role in reducing the impact that have on the environment as they continue to drive product research and development. Sony is doing it’s best accept this challenge, not only by being eco-friendly, but by setting the corporate example.

By being aggressive to lower energy consumption of it’s products, reducing energy use and waste in daily operations and being holding themselves accountable to protecting the environment, Sony take’s it’s position on being green very seriously. Sony Electronics headquarters in San Diego, CA is LEED certified, which is a recognized standard for measuring the building sustainability of high performing “green” buildings. The headquarters features solar panels, has achieved a 48% reduction in typical water usage, and has a Green Housekeeping program.

Here are a few of the Sony’s Green Milestones:

1992
Sony is the first consumer electronics company to use post-consumer plastics in mass production of products. We are currently using in excess of 2 million pounds of post-consumer plastics a year.

1993
Sony is the first company to operate a product-refurbishing center.

1999
Sony becomes a charter member of the EPA’s ENERGY STAR^® program for energy-efficient consumer electronics and wins Home Electronics Partner of the Year award.

2002
Sony establishes the Green Partner Environmental Quality Approval Program that eliminates harmful chemical substances from raw materials and components worldwide.

2008
Sony launches partnership with Waste Management, Inc for electronics recycling events and national collection depots throughout the US. As of December 2008, Sony has collected over 6,500 tons of consumer electronics through dedicated consumer collection events.

Creating cutting edge products, doesn’t mean they have to be cutting edge when it comes to energy consumption. For example the Bravia VE5 Series exceeds  ENERGY STAR^® 3.0 requirements by at least 50%, the majority of VAIO computer models are ENERGY STAR^® 5.0 compliant and have received either EPEAT Gold or Silver rankings, and as of 2008 Sony Blu-ray disc players have achieved 21% less power consumption in playback mode and 43% reduced power consumption in standby mode.

Sony has a clearly defined process that outlines how they are able to determine if they initiatives to be green are meeting with success. They focus on three separate and distinct areas as I will outline below.

Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) is a system that helps consumers select products based upon their impact on the environment.  Sony is a committed partner of this program with over 254 EPEAT registered products.

Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) is an important compliancy. The RoHS directive restricts the amount of certain materials such as lead and mercury used in electronic products All Sony VAIO computers have PVC-free exterior product casings and packaging.

Established in 2002 to encourage suppliers to produce components with minimal environmental impact, the Sony Green Partner certification, referred to as “upstream management,” is accomplished through complete traceability of all steps in the manufacturing process, from raw material procurement to finished goods delivery.

Sony has also set a goal to maintain product safety in shipping, yet at the same reduce the overall size of packaging. 80% – 90% post-consumer recycled content is used in packaging for products produced in Japan or China and 30% post-consumer recycled content packaging is used in packaging produced in San Diego, CA. We also use non-VOC vegetable oil-based ink in all Japanese made units. On the inside of the box, all Sony-created documentation uses 85% post-consumer recycled content.

An an industry leading move, Sony started the first ever national recycling program entitled the “Take Bake Recycling Program”. At no charge, consumers are allowed to recycle electronic products as well as packaging at over 270 drop off centers cross the US. Since 2007, over 17 million pounds of electronics have been collected. To find a drop off center in your area, click here. To go along with the Take Bake program, Sony also started the Green Fill recycling service. It’s the first in store style drop box solution. If your looking to recycle cameras, alarm clocks, navigation systems, or any other smaller electronics, this is the the location for you. Look for the kiosk above at your local electronic store.

And if you have Sony batteries, drop them in a box at any Sony Style store and they will do the rest.

The commitment to go green is a directive that comes from the top and is here to stay. At CES 2009, CEO Sir Howard Stringer spoke about seven imperatives for creating the ultimate user experience. At the end of the speech, Sir Howard’s concluded with his 7th imperative, his commitment to go green.

In this article I only scratched the surface of everything Sony is doing to be green. To find out more head over to www.sony.com/green.

So the next time you think of Sony, along with thinking of things like the PS3, Blu-ray or 3D TV, hopefully you will think of Eco-Innovation as well.

Metal Gear Solid RISING Coming to PS3

Shigenobu Matsuyama spoke with Game Trailers and gave some details on his new entry in to the Metal Gear Solid Universe.

The game centers on Raiden, and takes place between Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4 and it won’t explore what happens beyond Metal GearlSolid 4.The story begins with Raiden has already have assumed his cyborg form and should provide details on exactly how he arrived at the point he is in. This is only the first step in his evolution as Matsuyama-san stated the Raiden we see in Rising will completely different than the one we saw in Metal Gear Solid 4. This is an ambitious project but something we can look forward to as a series over time.  Matsuyama-san stated:

What we are planning as Kojima Productions is to have this Raiden Rising as almost as a standard

One of the key game elements is going to be a concept called “Zan-Datsu” when translated literally means cut and take.

Zan-Datsu

Raiden is going to be able to cut through almost anything at will and then take what he needs. As eluded to in the trailer, Raiden, as a cyborg, requires energy. He cuts open a robotic enemy, takes his power source and then absorbs it. There will be some limits as to what he can cut however. Matsuyama-san stated they are still evaluating this because “If we cut everything it won’t be good as a game”. He also  had this to say about cutting overall in the game:

Not going to praise people or say to people slicing in pieces is an incentive. You will not get rewarded for that.

The goal will be to use angles, and cut in the appropriate way so that you accomplish the Zan-Datsu concept. Matsuyama-san further stated, that the cutting shown was a demo of the cutting mechanic, and doesn’t define the entire focus of the game. That fall is in line with the focus of the series. He went on to add that this will be different than a typical Hideo Kojima game of MGS. Whereas Hideo Kojima games had humor, and were more story driven, the story for Rising is going to be more of a back story to the game. The game is going to be “more about having  pure fun in the action” as Matsuyama-san describes it.

The Metal Gear Solid he went on to say is geared more towards the core audience, who is familiar with Snake, and has played through the series. His game, while existing in the same universe,  is geared more towards those he described as being “reluctant to buy” MGS. He went on to mention it could be because stealth did not appeal to them, or they only had a 360. So he wants to target the “potential MGS user”. He highlighted that to enjoy the game, it isn’t required for you to have played through any other games in the series, and that you can have just as much enjoyment as long time fans of the series. It’s also designed to be more of an action based game and that is reflected in the tagline change from “Tactical Espionage Action” to “Lightning Bolt Action” as Raiden means thunder and lightning in Japanese (if you have ever played Mortal Kombat, you so just rolled your eyes).

Raiden looked very intense and focused in the trailer, and this was by design. Matsuyama-san wanted to elude to to the fact, as he puts it, that “Maybe he (Raiden) will be insane” giving us a hint at perhaps a story element that is as of yet un-revealed.

When asked about a the game’s progress, he stated it’s “proceeding very well” but that it is still very much in the development. The good news is that he lets everyone know that he won’t be shy about providing details about the game at upcoming gaming conventions as it progresses. With the Tokyo Game Show right around the corner, let’s hope we get more exciting details.

No release date set.

One on One with Patrick Seybold

Patrick Seybold, Sony’s Senior Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media was kind enough to allow me to chat with him after Sony’s excellent showing at E3. Mr. Seybold and I discuss PlayStation Move, PSP, the impact of social media, and Kevin Butler.

Sony had an excellent showing at E3 and redefined what the PlayStation brand is all about. What are your thoughts on the incredible reaction those in attendance at the Shrine Auditorium had to those announcements?

We saw an incredibly strong reaction from attendees at the PlayStation Press Conference and I think it’s in large part due to the diverse and new content that we were able to share with the audience. Topping the charts was the upcoming PlayStation Move motion controller and an in-depth look into how we are leading the 3D race, with demos on the show floor that ranged from Killzone 3 in 3D to Gran Turismo 5 in 3D. And on the PS3 platform we started the year with huge releases such as MAG, Heavy Rain, God of War III, MLB 10: The Show, and ModNation Racers. The momentum will carry through as we have an extremely strong back half of the year line-up from both our first party studios and our publishing partners. Our digital entertainment offerings, which comes packed today with premium original content from HBO, and 23,000 movies and TV shows from all of the major networks and studios, was met with more good news with the announcement of PlayStation Network’s new subscription based offering, PlayStation Plus. All in all, it was a great show and I think everyone was really excited by the volume and quality of great new games and hardware brought to the forefront at E3.

The PlayStation Move could almost be likened to t he launch of an entirely new console, and so many more A list titles will be coming out before the holiday season across the product line. What are some of the challenges in gearing up for what is going to be quite a busy year in the coming months?

Yes, exciting times are ahead of us as we look towards the arrival of the PlayStation Move. When PlayStation Move launches on September 19^th in the US, consumers will have access to a compelling line-up of motion-control titles that will appeal to both the casual and core gamers. We also have an incredibly deep line-up coming to PS3 and PSP, so the PlayStation brand will be broadly represented at retail and in consumer’s homes this holiday season.

As E3 demonstrated, the media and fans really identify with Kevin Butler, and those ad campaigns have really reached a whole new audience. What were your thoughts when you saw Kevin Butler make his appearance?

It was a great reaction and the crowd went wild when Kevin Butler appeared. Since launching the “It Only Does Everything” campaign last September, the public has really resonated with the messaging. The next few months it will be interesting to see how our core gamers take to the new advertising campaign “Step Your Game Up” for PSP and PSPgo. The focus is all about providing a deeper look into what makes a PlayStation Portable gaming experience more complete and enjoyable than anything else you’ll find on the market.

I couldn’t attend E3 this year due to scheduling issues, and a lot of people could not either, yet when you visit the E3 site in PS Home, you really get the sense of being there. Do you think this is something we can see moving forward? Might we see more virtual spaces in PS Home, like FEVA Stadium that really leverages the power of the PS3 against its competitors?

I am glad you liked the experience in PlayStation Home. It was very well received and with 250,000 visitors to the booth, it proved that people really utilize the PlayStation Home 3D virtual environment to connect with their fellow PS3 owners. You can expect us to do more of this in the future and while I can’t provide specifics on new spaces to be introduced in Home, you should keep watch because there will be more exciting spaces revealed throughout the remainder of this year.

Early on there was a lot of criticism against the PS3 for being too expensive, and for including technology that, at the time, appeared over-specced. Now all those early decisions are allowing the PS3 to offer experiences that aren’t possible on other consoles. Can you talk about what riding that wave was like, and how it feels to be where Sony is now?

We’ve always said that we are building a product that is future proof. We’ve been able to impress upon both our fan base and potential new customers that we not only have a serious gaming device, but we also have a powerful and unparalleled entertainment device that offers a wide variety of options for everyone – downloading content, photo storage, streaming music, sports, Blu-ray player, and now 3D. Consumers are responding and the PS3 has just surpassed ten consecutive months of double-digit year over year growth.

There were rumors swirling around about a PSP 2, yet Sony showed just how viable the current PSP is by having it take center stage and highlighting excellent titles on the way with a whole new ad campaign. Do you think this deep into the PSP life cycle it’s time for a refresh or does it have a few years left?

PSP is still going strong and has an incredibly deep pipeline of products in development. We already covered a bit about our new advertising campaign “Step Your Game Up” which shows our commitment to the product and to those fans that crave real full-length games. With big franchises like Metal Gear Solid, God of War coming to the platform this year, and new IP such as Invisimals showing off new augmented reality, PSP is still the best portable gaming device on the market.

Social media is a big part of how this generation gets its news and communicates. Your team has done an excellent job with this type of communication by having such an active community on the blog, the forums, twitter and is head and shoulders above what others are doing in the same space. What are the challenges in balancing so many different forms of communication and getting so many different people within Sony to participate?

Our PlayStation blog, the forums and Twitter have all helped us to get closer to our fans/customers. We have a constant interest to be able to utilize these social media tools to engage with the core user base, solicit opinions, provide intel and to course correct as needed based upon their input and feedback. Another good example of this is the PlayStation Share. We want to engage with those that use our products and know their likes/dislikes because that can only help us make a more targeted product. When you arrive at the homepage for Share it says:

Share is a place to formally submit your best ideas on how we can improve all PlayStation products. It’s also a place where you can discover and vote on other people’s ideas, as well as communicate with us and other PlayStation fans about how to bring great ideas to life.

We want to create the best products available and our customers and fans are a great source of ensuring we continue to have the best in class products available.

I want to give a humble thanks to Mr. Seybold  for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with us and Mrs. von Esmarch for her assistance in coordinating the interview.

The Karate Kid Is A Huge Success

The combination of Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson and Harold Zwart proves to be a winner for Sony. With the The Karate Kid having made it’s way through the theaters, initial estimates show the film doing exceptionally well at the box office. According to reports the overall production budget for the film was in the neighborhood of $40 million dollars. Compare that to the total gross for the film, combining both foreign and domestic receipts, and the grand total is a little over $188 million dollars. Not bad considering additional revenue will still arrive from disc sales, and various digital distribution channels.

Given those numbers, it’s no wonder that thoughts of a sequel are already floating around. MTV talked with Harold Zwart about the possibility of a sequel and where he saw things going and he had this to say:

I personally think it’s now so much on its own two feet, given the success, that it would be interesting to see where we could take it without ever thinking about the old ones

He also commented on his dealings with Sony, thoughts on Will Smith’s production company Overbrook, and his desire to return:

I think Sony has been fantastic for me. They’re the best studio to work for. They’re such a filmmaker-friendly studio. And] Overbrook, in my opinion, is by far the coolest company. So, yes, I would love to work with them again

He may be busy with his next film Rollercoaster Tycoon in the coming months, but let’s hope he can indeed return for another film.

43rd Sony Aquarium Event Starts July 19th

The inhabitants of the Churaumi Sea are back again at Sony’s annual event that runs from July 19 – August 31 in Ginza.

The Sony themed event takes place at the OPUS Communication Zone  on the 8th floor at their building in Ginza. Inside the hall Sony has 4K SXRD projector, [SXRD-R110], and a 200 inch (Blue Ocean) Screen. The presentation will be presented in 3D.

The focus of the event will be the amazing inhabitants of the Churaumi Sea and the Okinawan marine ecosystem. To allow for a presentation of the Kuroshio Sea, Sony will be employing the use of 3D cable free underwater camera systems.

Attendance has been as high as 600,000 in recent years so if your in the area, definitely stop by. Admission is free.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta Wins Game Critics Award

God of War: Ghost of Sparta receives awarded Best Handheld game of E3 2010.

Game Critics has announced it’s awards for E3 2010.

The group made up of 21 independent media outlets ranging USA Today, to MTV awarded God of War: Ghost of Sparta the best handheld title of E3 2010.

Other notable mentions available for PS3 were:

Best Console Game, Best Action Game, and Special Commendation for Graphics

Rage

Best Action Adventure Game

Portal 2

Best Fighting Game

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Best Racing Game

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit

Best Social/Casual Game

Rock Band 3

Best Online Multiplayer

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

No matter your genre of choice, this holiday season is going to keep you busy.

Sony PS3 Surround System Dated

After previously being mentioned for a fall release, the PS3 sound system gets a firm date.

On September 30th in Japan, The PS3 Soundbar CECH-ZVS1 will be released.  No changes have been made since the initial announcement, so expect the same support for Dolby digital, DTS, MPEG-2 AAC, Linear PCM, but no DTS-MA or Dolby TrueHD as your connecting through digital optical to the PS3.

If your looking for an officially licensed product, and your layout doesn’t allow for a traditional home theater system, this might just be for you.

DC Comics Arrive on the PSP

DC Comics goes digital and the Digital Comics Service for PlayStation is one of it’s destinations.

Marvel, Image, and Darkhorse to name a few all offer digital comics in some form and for the longest time, it didn’t seem like DC had any plans to move in that to space.

But suddenly all that changed.

DC announced that, not only were they getting into digital comics, but they would launch across multiple platforms including the PSP. And they did so in grand fashion with wide range of comics being made available on day one.  With previews of the new story arc written by J. Michael Straczynski in Superman #700 and Wonder Woman’s new look  and origin in #600 potentials readers get a good look at what’s new in the DC world.

This is good move for both DC and Sony as it expands comics to a larger audience, and really opens the door for digital comics to grow and expand now that the major publishers will be in competition to deliver the best autoflow style experience.

Being the geek I am, I can’t help but make one recommendation. If your going to read a DC comic series to start off with, check out Batman: Hush. With a story by Jeph Loeb and art by Jim Lee you can’t go wrong. And the first (from what I can remember) in continuity fight between Superman and Batman in #612 is quite the story.

With over 1600 comics available for PSP, it turns out to be yet another value add for the platform. If you haven’t yet, head over to the Digital Comics site where you can view the entire catalog of what’s available.

Releases are not quite day and date yet, but give it time.

Sony PS3 Firmware 3.40 Available

Sony continues to enhance the capabilities of the PS3 by adding several innovative features in firmware 3.40.

As of yesterday, firmware 3.40 is available for the the PS3. It adds the following to an already impressive feature set:

• • Photo Gallery: [PlayStation®Network Area] has been added under [Photo Gallery]. You can now use Photo Gallery to browse photos from Facebook® or Picasa™ Web Albums. You can also share photos from Photo Gallery with your Friends on PlayStation Network. You can also now print or delete a photo in the photo gallery.

• Video Editor & Uploader: Video Editor and Uploader is a new function found on the XrossMediaBar (XMB), which enables you to edit, save and upload video files stored on the PS3 system to sites such as Facebook or YouTube.

• PlayStation Store Five Star Rating Support: Users can now rate PlayStation Store content they have purchased with one to five star ratings.

• Power Save Settings: The default setting for PS3 System Auto-Off will be set at 2 hours, providing you with additional power save options and further improving power save features on the PS3 system.

• Settings:
  • [Deep Color Output (HDMI)] has been added as an option under [Display Settings].
  • The default setting for [System Auto-Off] under [Power Save Settings] has been changed to [After 2 Hours].

PlayStation Plus was also added as well, but this will be detailed in an upcoming post.

After upgrading yesterday, playing a few games, and watching a movie I haven’t experienced any problems with what I would say are some nice additions. So download it, and then sound off in the comments about your impressions. And as a side note, does that dog in the picture look like Mr. Muggles to you? Just curious…

Marvel VS. Capcom 3 Coming Spring 2011

After a 10 year hiatus, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of two Worlds is moving towards release early next year on PS3.

Initially, there wasn’t much known about the gameplay mechanics or how it would look. We were then treated to a gorgeous CGI trailer showing us what the style of the game would look like:

The Marvel Vs. Capcom series puts the best in the Marvel Universe, squarely against the best in the Capcom universe in a hyperfighting melee style of combat. In a 3 on 3 combat style, players can tag in and out with their team, perform super combos (which are quite impressive to watch) and vicious air combos. The game employs a new X Factor system so if when your down to your last player, you go into a power up mode, and cancel out of whatever your currently doing.

The final roster of characters hasn’t been revealed, but this is what we know thus far:

MARVEL

Wolverine

Iron Man

Captain America

Hulk

Deadpool

CAPCOM

Dante

Felicia

Chris Redfield

Morrigan Aensland

Ryu

No firm date yet beyond Spring 2011.In the meantime Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes is available on the PlayStation Network to tide us over until release. From what I have been hearing, the fans who stood in line at E3 say it was worth the wait: