First and foremost, I've been a huge fan of the Playstation brand for many years. I believe that in the last two iterations of their hardware they did everything just about right. Great games. Great Graphics. Great Brand Recognition. The Playstation and the PS2 have been home to many great games -- back when titles were completely exclusive to certain hardware.
With the impending Playstation 3 launch drawing closer and closer I've begun to wonder just what is Sony thinking? First off the price. I do understand that this has probably been discussed over and over, but $599.99 for a media machine just sounds outrageous. Second, do you really think that Blu-ray is going to take off like Sony is wanting it to?
When it comes to Blu-ray I think the mainstream audience still doesn't know what it is. Sure there are technophiles that understand resolution difference and capacity issues, but when a mass consumer is faced with the choice of buying a Blu-ray movie or an HD-DVD movie what do you think they will go with? I firmly believe that a movie user would buy the HD-DVD copy of the film simply because DVD is in the name. It's a name they recognize and one they trust. Unless Sony starts educating the public about Blu-ray (Big posters in Wal-Mart's across the country would be a good start) I don't think they will buy into it.
Third comes the launch of the actual system. Historically video game consoles have never met the huge demand straight out of the gate. But think about all the folks who have been waiting for a Playstation 3. All these people with $600 in their pockets and nothing to buy because of shortages. But hey, there this new Nintendo Wii, and of course the 360. If Nintendo and Microsoft were smart they'd pump up the marketing big time and push their systems out in places where people will be disappointed because of Sony's shortages.
To summarize I'd say Sony is making several huge mistakes -- getting too ambitious in future technology and out pricing the market are just a couple. Also Sony can't rely on exclusive games anymore, I believe those days are merely a mirage of the past. Sure they have Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, and Gran Turismo to name a few. But how long will that last? As I mentioned at the beginning I've been a fan of Sony's little Playstation's for quite sometime. I just think I'm on the fence and would like anothers opinion on the matter to see if I'm thinking in line with most people or just radically.
As much as I would like to see Sony win three generations in a row I just don't think it will happen this time around. I believe Sony has gotten way in over it's head and I think Microsoft may take it and run. If anything the competition between the two giants will be something that will be talked about for quite awhile and could possibly rival that of the Genesis and SNES era.
Respond with any thoughts you have about the issue?
[Note: This post was written with the regard that I don't have anybody to talk to about video games anymore and I wanted to get other people's opinion on the matter. FANBOYS, please don't turn this into a huge argument over which console is WAY better than the other. If I wanted to join that type of message board I would go an post over at Gamespot.com]
With the impending Playstation 3 launch drawing closer and closer I've begun to wonder just what is Sony thinking? First off the price. I do understand that this has probably been discussed over and over, but $599.99 for a media machine just sounds outrageous. Second, do you really think that Blu-ray is going to take off like Sony is wanting it to?
When it comes to Blu-ray I think the mainstream audience still doesn't know what it is. Sure there are technophiles that understand resolution difference and capacity issues, but when a mass consumer is faced with the choice of buying a Blu-ray movie or an HD-DVD movie what do you think they will go with? I firmly believe that a movie user would buy the HD-DVD copy of the film simply because DVD is in the name. It's a name they recognize and one they trust. Unless Sony starts educating the public about Blu-ray (Big posters in Wal-Mart's across the country would be a good start) I don't think they will buy into it.
Third comes the launch of the actual system. Historically video game consoles have never met the huge demand straight out of the gate. But think about all the folks who have been waiting for a Playstation 3. All these people with $600 in their pockets and nothing to buy because of shortages. But hey, there this new Nintendo Wii, and of course the 360. If Nintendo and Microsoft were smart they'd pump up the marketing big time and push their systems out in places where people will be disappointed because of Sony's shortages.
To summarize I'd say Sony is making several huge mistakes -- getting too ambitious in future technology and out pricing the market are just a couple. Also Sony can't rely on exclusive games anymore, I believe those days are merely a mirage of the past. Sure they have Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, and Gran Turismo to name a few. But how long will that last? As I mentioned at the beginning I've been a fan of Sony's little Playstation's for quite sometime. I just think I'm on the fence and would like anothers opinion on the matter to see if I'm thinking in line with most people or just radically.
As much as I would like to see Sony win three generations in a row I just don't think it will happen this time around. I believe Sony has gotten way in over it's head and I think Microsoft may take it and run. If anything the competition between the two giants will be something that will be talked about for quite awhile and could possibly rival that of the Genesis and SNES era.
Respond with any thoughts you have about the issue?
[Note: This post was written with the regard that I don't have anybody to talk to about video games anymore and I wanted to get other people's opinion on the matter. FANBOYS, please don't turn this into a huge argument over which console is WAY better than the other. If I wanted to join that type of message board I would go an post over at Gamespot.com]
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