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Uraeus on 21 August 2008
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I feel a lot of posters are in some sense missing the point. I would assume that the primary goal for both Microsoft and Sony at this point is to present something that appeals to those who haven't both any of the two consoles. While of course neither party would mind converting the owners of the other console, I doubt it is their main competitive goal, for that the market segment is to small. So people who use arguments like 'why would I get a PS3 when I can play DMC4 or GTA4 on my Xbox360' are probably representing the part of the market Sony cares the least about atm. Maybe in 2-3 years when the console market is more saturated the focus will switch to converting people, but at the moment its all about the late adopters still on their PS2 or who haven't had a console before at all (and to a lesser degree Wii owners).

And for this market I do think the PS3 got some major selling points. First of all is that Sony still has a very strong first party lineup with established franchises. Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Socom, Wipeout, Singstar, Buzz!, Gran Tourismo to name a few are titles which should help endeare Sony to this audience. Major 3rd party titles are almost all going cross platform, which will over time grow the importance of Sony's strong lineup of 1st party titles.

Also for a new customer I think that while the PS3 is more expensive there is a good chance they will feel that the value add Sony offer in form of Blu-Ray support and media center functionality adds more value than the current price difference. Sony's other advantages like built in wi-fi, easy (and cheap) hard disk upgrades and support for standardized accessories like blutooth headsets and usb devices might also play in, but I think for the causal crows such 'technical' items might not be part of their initial buying decision (although I am sure they will ponder the question if they go the xbox route and at a later point realize Microsoft is charging them through the nose for a bigger HD ).