Sony - The Confusion

[SlorgNet]

(Yawn). Another day, another episode of Sony-bashing. Sony is doing just fine. It really couldn't have gone any better for them, thanks to Nintendo's focus on the blue ocean, and Microsoft's hardware debacle. Here's a bit of the article:

>> Instead, the likes of God of War, WipEout Pulse and Pursuit
>> Force were given short shrift in favour of new "services" for the system
>> - non-games software which Sony hopes will push the console out into
>> new markets.

The GC is a huge consumer convention in the middle of the European Union, one of the biggest game markets in the world, and Europe is all about connectivity. The region has excellent cellphone networks, fast broadband, high density wifi, etc. Totally new kinds of games and media services are going to be created for these networks, so Sony is making sure they're players in the biz.

>> However, the focus in Leipzig zoomed in tightly on this announcement -
>> and, curiously, on social gaming, with strong focus on next-gen iterations
>> of Singstar and Buzz. Both of those are fantastic franchises, but it's
>> not apparent where Sony thinks they're going on the PlayStation 3.

Um, towards a mass market, where else? You start with the expensive niche markets, then grow those into mass markets. Social gaming is a key element of the next-gen systems - one of the reasons the Wii is so successful is because it's so much darn fun in a social setting.

>> actually neglected, those people certainly feel unloved right now, and
>> worse, they feel that they're being asked to pay above the odds
>> for non-gaming functions when they just want a games console.

They can always buy a PS2 and access one of the world's greatest software libraries. The price of a PS3 should come down to 499 EUR later this year, and to 399 EUR by late 2008.

>> gained from the early adopter market in the last couple of generations
>> - indeed, it is actually generating negative word of mouth, which is
>> damaging its prospects immensely.

I see no evidence of this. Sony's brand is immensely powerful in Europe, so is Nintendo's. It's not blind infatuation, it's because they delivered what they promised. Microsoft, by contrast, is viewed with deep skepticism thanks to the Red Rings debacle.