Even the most jaded Sony fan has to recognize that the current state of the PS3 is less than ideal. Sony and the PS3 couldn’t have had a worse year in 2006, whether it was exploding batteries in laptops, missed deadlines, very poor public relations, a format war, poor initial Blu-Ray comparisons versus HD-DVD, missing sales targets, an uphill battle against the 360, no scaling hardware, broken backwards compatibility, the unexpected demand for the Nintendo Wii, production issues, losing exclusive titles, delayed titles or slipping demand.
Searching gaming forums across the internet shows an anecdotal up-surge in the number of posters complaining that the PS3 is dead, and analysts are noting a softening demand. While it is easy to declare the PS3 the early loser, it is both far too early to tell and it is obviously much harder to take a constructive look at what the PS3 needs to do in order to make a dramatic early comeback.
While there are certainly a number of areas where the PS3 could improve, the key area that needs to be fixed is that of cost.
The PS3 is expensive, very expensive. Despite former Playstation head honcho Ken Kutaragi’s statements that the PS3 is “too cheap”, it appears that consumers do indeed care about the cost. Many felt the 360 was extremely high-priced at $300-$400, but the jump to $500-$600 for the PS3 brought back images of the 3DO.
This is the point where “fan boys” like to introduce the “feature-for-feature” cost analysis. The argument is that in order to create a system comparable to a PS3, specifically by including the HD-DVD drive and the 360 wireless adapter, an Xbox 360 actually costs $100 more than its PS3 counterpart. While this argument may be technically accurate, the simple fact of the matter is that this is generally not how the public sees the issue.
After the “first adopters” (those with bleeding edge HD systems and a need for the latest technology) have purchased their systems, mainstream consumers see only a system with similar graphics, a smaller library and a $200 price difference. Whether it was a smart move or not, Microsoft chose to make HD-DVD and wireless networking optional accessories, meaning many consumers will need little more from their 360 in this generation than the 360 core unit at $300. Unfortunately for Sony, it is a lot easier to justify $300 on a “game machine” than $500.
The solution is to cut out everything that isn’t vital and throw it overboard.
Sony needs to get at least one version of the PS3 in line with the 360. Given that Microsoft is in a better position than Sony right now for a price drop, Sony is going to need a bold move. A $50 price drop isn’t going to help, as Microsoft would still have a cheaper console and could conceivably match the move. More importantly, Sony is not in a financial position to afford to take a bigger loss on each system.
What gets cut? Unfortunately, given that there isn’t much “extra” on the console to eliminate, a couple of very difficult decisions need to be made.
We’ll start with the easier one to swallow; Cut or reduce the hard drive size. It may be too late to cut the drive altogether, as developers are utilizing and counting on the feature, but Sony needs to drop the size down to the bare minimum that the console needs to operate for caching and streaming. Offer this new version of the PS3 at a reduced cost alongside the existing version, and you're more in line with the Xbox 360 in terms of affordability.
Unfortunately, and not a lot of people are going to like this, the Blu-Ray drive, being one of the most expensive components, needs to go. It is the only area of the console where Sony can cut costs. Unfortunately, given the rumored desire to push Blu-Ray through the Trojan horse that is PS3, the current games on Blu-Ray and the fact that companies such as Square and Konami have shown interest in the larger format, this would be a very brave, very difficult and very necessary move for Sony.
The latter two points are easy to reconcile, Blu-Ray games need to be phased out and potentially recalled and re-released on DVD. A few games, such as Resistance, will unfortunately need some retooling given the size of the game, but don’t fall for the Blu-Ray “necessity” hype. Developers on the 360 and PC create enormous, graphically compelling games like Oblivion on good-old DVD media and will continue to release games on this format for the foreseeable future.
Larger games could be released on multiple DVDs, of course. Sony would eat crow on this move, both internally and externally, but certainly no more than it is eating right now, and the move might even receive good press as Sony would lose the stubborn façade and show that it does in fact listen to consumers. If Blu-Ray inclusion means the death of the PS3, then Sony needs to make Blu-ray fight for its own survival to ensure that Sony’s vital game division can remain dominant and profitable.
As strange as it may sound for a long-time market leader, Sony needs to copy Microsoft in a lot of areas. This generation Microsoft has really done a lot right, and Sony has really done a lot wrong. The PS3 still obviously needs differentiators from the 360 beyond Blu-Ray, and in many areas one can see the potential. While it certainly doesn’t yet match Xbox Live in terms of a unified online experience, Sony has free online gaming. Sony has some interesting ideas with the PSP/PS3 crossover, large downloadable content and a potentially great set of system exclusives. The eye-toy interactivity in Eye of Judgement far exceeds the meager gaming interactivity given thus far using Microsoft’s camera. Most importantly, Sony still has important exclusives in Metal Gear and Final Fantasy, assuming they stay exclusive. A price drop and a resulting sales boost will go a long way towards ensuring that exclusivity is profitable.
Before it can capitalize on its differences, Sony first must at least repair its deficiencies to be on even footing with Microsoft’s console. And unfortunately for Blu-Ray, the key area that Sony must first match Microsoft on is price. While Blu-Ray might not be able to beat HD-DVD without the Playstation 3, the Playstation 3 has no chance of surviving while the dead weight that is the costly Blu-Ray drive brings it down. Sony is going to have to make a decision on which product is more vital, because if things stay as they are, both products could lose.
Article by Adam Urbano.
Source:gwn
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/760/760663p1.html
Searching gaming forums across the internet shows an anecdotal up-surge in the number of posters complaining that the PS3 is dead, and analysts are noting a softening demand. While it is easy to declare the PS3 the early loser, it is both far too early to tell and it is obviously much harder to take a constructive look at what the PS3 needs to do in order to make a dramatic early comeback.
While there are certainly a number of areas where the PS3 could improve, the key area that needs to be fixed is that of cost.
The PS3 is expensive, very expensive. Despite former Playstation head honcho Ken Kutaragi’s statements that the PS3 is “too cheap”, it appears that consumers do indeed care about the cost. Many felt the 360 was extremely high-priced at $300-$400, but the jump to $500-$600 for the PS3 brought back images of the 3DO.
This is the point where “fan boys” like to introduce the “feature-for-feature” cost analysis. The argument is that in order to create a system comparable to a PS3, specifically by including the HD-DVD drive and the 360 wireless adapter, an Xbox 360 actually costs $100 more than its PS3 counterpart. While this argument may be technically accurate, the simple fact of the matter is that this is generally not how the public sees the issue.
After the “first adopters” (those with bleeding edge HD systems and a need for the latest technology) have purchased their systems, mainstream consumers see only a system with similar graphics, a smaller library and a $200 price difference. Whether it was a smart move or not, Microsoft chose to make HD-DVD and wireless networking optional accessories, meaning many consumers will need little more from their 360 in this generation than the 360 core unit at $300. Unfortunately for Sony, it is a lot easier to justify $300 on a “game machine” than $500.
The solution is to cut out everything that isn’t vital and throw it overboard.
Sony needs to get at least one version of the PS3 in line with the 360. Given that Microsoft is in a better position than Sony right now for a price drop, Sony is going to need a bold move. A $50 price drop isn’t going to help, as Microsoft would still have a cheaper console and could conceivably match the move. More importantly, Sony is not in a financial position to afford to take a bigger loss on each system.
What gets cut? Unfortunately, given that there isn’t much “extra” on the console to eliminate, a couple of very difficult decisions need to be made.
We’ll start with the easier one to swallow; Cut or reduce the hard drive size. It may be too late to cut the drive altogether, as developers are utilizing and counting on the feature, but Sony needs to drop the size down to the bare minimum that the console needs to operate for caching and streaming. Offer this new version of the PS3 at a reduced cost alongside the existing version, and you're more in line with the Xbox 360 in terms of affordability.
Unfortunately, and not a lot of people are going to like this, the Blu-Ray drive, being one of the most expensive components, needs to go. It is the only area of the console where Sony can cut costs. Unfortunately, given the rumored desire to push Blu-Ray through the Trojan horse that is PS3, the current games on Blu-Ray and the fact that companies such as Square and Konami have shown interest in the larger format, this would be a very brave, very difficult and very necessary move for Sony.
The latter two points are easy to reconcile, Blu-Ray games need to be phased out and potentially recalled and re-released on DVD. A few games, such as Resistance, will unfortunately need some retooling given the size of the game, but don’t fall for the Blu-Ray “necessity” hype. Developers on the 360 and PC create enormous, graphically compelling games like Oblivion on good-old DVD media and will continue to release games on this format for the foreseeable future.
Larger games could be released on multiple DVDs, of course. Sony would eat crow on this move, both internally and externally, but certainly no more than it is eating right now, and the move might even receive good press as Sony would lose the stubborn façade and show that it does in fact listen to consumers. If Blu-Ray inclusion means the death of the PS3, then Sony needs to make Blu-ray fight for its own survival to ensure that Sony’s vital game division can remain dominant and profitable.
As strange as it may sound for a long-time market leader, Sony needs to copy Microsoft in a lot of areas. This generation Microsoft has really done a lot right, and Sony has really done a lot wrong. The PS3 still obviously needs differentiators from the 360 beyond Blu-Ray, and in many areas one can see the potential. While it certainly doesn’t yet match Xbox Live in terms of a unified online experience, Sony has free online gaming. Sony has some interesting ideas with the PSP/PS3 crossover, large downloadable content and a potentially great set of system exclusives. The eye-toy interactivity in Eye of Judgement far exceeds the meager gaming interactivity given thus far using Microsoft’s camera. Most importantly, Sony still has important exclusives in Metal Gear and Final Fantasy, assuming they stay exclusive. A price drop and a resulting sales boost will go a long way towards ensuring that exclusivity is profitable.
Before it can capitalize on its differences, Sony first must at least repair its deficiencies to be on even footing with Microsoft’s console. And unfortunately for Blu-Ray, the key area that Sony must first match Microsoft on is price. While Blu-Ray might not be able to beat HD-DVD without the Playstation 3, the Playstation 3 has no chance of surviving while the dead weight that is the costly Blu-Ray drive brings it down. Sony is going to have to make a decision on which product is more vital, because if things stay as they are, both products could lose.
Article by Adam Urbano.
Source:gwn
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/760/760663p1.html
