The PS3 Price Cut is Not Going to Help Sony in Europe

[amirnetz]

Dodece said:
Talk about having a one track mind. There are a great many obsessive posters in this thread that are utterly enamored with the price point debate. So much so that they have completely overlooked what the original poster is postulating. The original poster is addressing public perception. More specifically an increased appreciation for the 360, or an erosion of a product bias.

Throughout this generation often argued by Sony loyalists the name recognition of Sony within Europe ensured an unfair bias against Microsoft. Let me say that again an unfair advantage. The typical European gamer was going to buy the PS3 for no other reason than brand recognition and brand loyalty.

The original poster is providing rather startling numbers of radical increases in markets where the 360 was dead due to this factor. Those numbers cannot wholly be attributed to a new lower price point. Especially since Microsoft enjoyed a lower price point all along. There must be a public perception change. Something that was not considered viable before as an entertainment device is beginning to be seen as viable by consumers. Price alone cannot do that.

In the final analysis the original poster is probably correct. Microsoft has eroded the bias levied against their console. Which was probably inevitable. You swing at a wall long enough, and eventually you are going to start knocking that wall down. Microsoft just needed to keep competing on merit until it obtained the recognition it deserved. Just like any company seeking entry into a hostile market it really is a matter of time and dedication.

What does this mean for the console war in Europe. Well the one thing that is probably true is that Sony has lost much of that unfair advantage that it was abusing. Now they are going to have more of an equitable confrontation. That means the PS3 will not just win, because it is Sony even with a lower price point. Sony will need to compete more on basis of merit.

For those mocking the original poster I ask you to rationalize how the hell can Spain be seeing a 437% year over year increase due only to a lower price point. That is an unprecedented shift, and it can only mean that the Sony loyalists were correct. The 360 was being held back from having success due to a bias. Obviously that bias must have greatly weakened for the 360 to break it out like that.

Thank you Dodece. I can see that at least one reader is actually reading the full OP and trying to actually understand what is the OP proposition before posting a response. I appreciate it. There is still hope for humanity.