Lets face it PS3 fans out there, the PS3 is not going to win this generation. The king has been dethroned by the combined effort of Microsoft and Nintendo. The new casual market, third-party developers going multi-platform, the slow start to the PSN, lack of promised features… all these things have hurt PlayStation 3. But nothing has hurt it like its price.
Of course there is more value in a PS3 than any other console. The future proof approach Sony took has really paid off for PS3 gamers, but no so much for Sony. The PlayStation 3 launched with a price well above what the average gamer is used to paying for console. The main reason behind this, especially at the beginning of the PS3 life-cycle, is due to the addition of Blu-Ray.
Because of Blu-Ray, Sony had to drop BC, as well as USB ports, and card readers, to make their console more affordable to the dwindling world economy. Even now, the PlayStation 3 is priced higher than the PSOne and PS2 were at their launch.
Most people thought that once the PS3 got its triple A games, the PS3 would finally start selling. Well unfortunately this isn’t true. It’s not that the PS3 isn’t selling, it’s selling just fine. Just not as much as the other console manufacturers, even with the better exclusive line-up of games. The gaming market has become large enough to fully support 3 consoles.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my PS3, I love good ol’ Ken Kutaragi for his “Future Proof” vision. I just upgraded to a 500GB HDD (where I thought I had lost all my trophies), so I take full advantage of it being “future proof”. The only thing that Ken didn’t predict in this future was a recession.
Blu-Ray is yet another amazing product, much like the PS3 itself, it’s just priced too high for the average consumer. Average Blu-Ray disc prices are still at an expensive $20-39, that’s just too much after two years. I for one have enjoyed the fact my PS3 plays Blu-Ray discs. I own a decent library of movies, and the quality is just amazing. The PlayStation 3 and Blu-Ray help me get the most out of my HDTV.
All of these things lead to my main point.
Will Sony take the risk again?
Will Sony include all the bells and whistles, going beyond what the gaming industry was ready for? Will Sony strike first in this next generation? Learning that playing catch up is a lot harder to do. Will Sony wait for all the future proof tech, the next time around?
What do PlayStation fans want?
Will you pay the high price again for the amazing value that Sony is known for?
I am launch PS3 owner, I wanted BC, Blu-Ray, the Cell, USb Ports, card readers, even at the cost of being an early adopter, and risking Blu-Ray losing the format war. I am sure there are plenty of others who wanted that too, just couldn’t afford it. Or just can’t justify buying it when there is a competitor out there offering a similar experience for less money. Maybe people just can’t see the value.
So… What do you want Sony to do next gen? Will Sony go Future Proof again?
