Sony - We lead, not follow, we don’t want senior citizen gamers, Wii is fad

[Jordahn]

HappySqurriel said:

Jordahn said:
And respectfully Grampy, NOT all products are targeted to all demographics at all give times. There is nothing wrong or uncommon with this. In the console industry (like any other), you appeal to gamers, and when you when you try to reach outside of the market of gamer, you have to do something different/new to appeal to them get their business. Nintendo is reaching out to outside of the stereo-typical gaming community while both SONY and Microsoft not so much. This doesn't mean that SONY cannot benefit from the "senior citizens" market. But for now, they are targeting the gamer. Because the PS2 was the most successful console as of date with the largest userbase, conventional wisdom only dictates that gaining that market from last gen to this gen should be a major priority. In fact, this speaks volumes that SONY need to work in order to get those customers. It really is sad that the state of console gaming has gotten from the point of leisure to the point of politics. I person shouldn't have to walk on eggshells to make a legit statement.

 

The odd thing is that the major driver in the sales of the PS2 was the gamers which Sony has worked so hard to ignore ...

There has always (and probably always will be) a fairly even split between the dedicated gamers who own one system and those that own another; the main exception I can think of is this generation where the dedicated gamers are (roughly) split between the Wii and the HD consoles. Why the PS2 was so dominant was it was the system of choice for gamers who only bought a couple of games a year, and gamers who had unusual tastes in games. The reason these gamers (who would probably be refered to as "Casual" gamers now) bought the PS2 was that its popularity gave it a massive reputation for being the most enjoyable system, led to it having the largest and most diverse line-up, and it was very affordable for most gamers through most of its lifespan.

The PS3's high price, low sales, and expensive (and long) game development will effectively shut out these gamers for the entire generation.

 

I see where you are coming from because I do see a little irony here.  One of my very first posts here is that I voiced that the price of the PS3 has been a turn-off for most potential buyers.  And we all know why because of the PS3's high production costs.  That and because of limited funds, I think this forces SONY to more focus on the hardcore/casual gamer.  Otherwise, I see them reaching out more as Nintendo has done.  I'm not quite as pessimistic as you thinking that the PS3 will not be able to sucessfully penetrate what I call the "non-gamer," but as long as there is something called the Nintendo Wii, SONY is going to gave a very hard time doing so.  That's why I think that their target market should be the hardcore and casual market until thing significantly changes.