We have become conditioned to accept something that should be surprising and in some ways worrisome. When you recall the expectations and original perceptions the world has been turned upside down. Going in, the Wii (or Revolution) was going to be “Nintendo’s Last Condole. When it came out without even HD, expectations sank even lower.
This generation was Sony’s to lose and coming off the overwhelming success of the PS2 noone expected anything but continued dominance. But damned it they didn’t through a combination of some very bad judgment and hubris to make a magnificent console…which had almost no market. Or at least almost no market at any price where they could make money.
Personally, I love the Wii and I admit that I didn’t mind Sony getting the arrogance knocked down a peg. But it has reached a point when I really am concerned that Sony and the PS3 are in some danger. I’m not trolling and I’m not starting another the PS3 is dead discussion but sometimes it’s good to step back and really look at what’s happening this holiday.
I seem to have been in and out of Costco, this year since before Black Friday. They started out with huge pallets of each console and each portable. Everything with Nintendo flew out the door, was replenished and flew out the door again. The 360 stack shrank at a steady if not spectacular rate was replenished and is a little over one half gone. The huge stack of PS3s has been essentially untouched. Everytime I came in it was pristine. Wondering if they were restocking aggressively I turned one of the units on the top, upside down. This was two weeks ago. As of last night it was still there and a quick count indicated that a grand total of 2 units had sold.
I thought it might be a local fluke so I called a friend that works at a Costco a city at the other end of the state and he reported the same thing. I did and there it was. He said his manager was at a recent sales conference where it was being seriously discussed whether sale of the PS justified the floor space. The he said “look at the website.” I did and it showed the same thing.
This has ceased to be a fanboy joke. Holiday sales are, to be blunt, in the toilet on a unit selling at a loss in a company desperately looking to slash “unprofitable’ ventures. It means they are not going able to afford to get at a competitive price point. Future development is or will be restrained and it things get much worse for Sony… they’ll have to be looking at the black hole for money that it has become.
I don’t want to see this happen. It would be a huge loss to the industry. History shows that it’s not a good idea to have Microsoft in an unchallenged dominant position and they would be in several genre’s of games. It was once kind of fun to enjoy their comeuppance but frankly I amtruly concerned. If a major console ever gets the smell of death. Developer support, costumer confidence can start a death spiral. You may laugh at me if you want but I could see Sony dropping out and if they do, they may not have the resources, the will, or the stockholder support to try for a comeback next gen.
