There’s too much doom-, gloom- and hate- mongering over Sony at the moment.
I don’t have any axe to grind or flag to wave for Sony, but as a long-time Wii owner I know what that feels like – so let’s redress the balance a bit. Sony did a lot of things right, both for itself and for the gamers. And it isn’t doomed.
First, the early hype and arrogance around launch. For all that it looks hubristic in hindsight, Sony had to do it to win the format war – and that has always been a big driver for them in the console stakes. They had to win the press and the war of words early on and they did it, did it well, and won their battle. So that’s not a mistake.
Second, console design and engineering. Top notch. It is a marvellous machine.
Third, games. They’ve done OK- a bit light in the early days maybe, but coming on nicely. Sony, like Nintendo and unlike Microsoft, understands the broader gaming market and can expand their portfolio – LBP, Flower, Aquanaut’s Holiday show the way. They just need to not be in denial about it like they seemed to be in the early days.
Fourth, sales. Much better than they appear to be. PS3 is tracking almost identically to X360 from launch. In fact, now that Xbox 360 is essentially two different consoles (high-end v. PS3 and Arcade v. Wii), PS3 is consistently doing better than the high-end X360s. In fact MS is losing on both battlefronts.
So where does it seem to have gone wrong? Just two things I think:
Marketing is the first one. And I’m talking marketing here not price, because until MS dropped the price and refocused on the Arcade price was really not the issue between the HD consoles. Trouble is, Sony let MS set the agenda on price comparisons despite the extras needed to match the PS3 specs. Bad error. Either they believed their own hype or they believed that potential customers could work out the price comparisons for themselves. They need a better spin machine.
And the second is dropping backwards compatibility. The way I see it Sony has two big advantages, the technology and the existing install base. Taking out BC was like chopping one leg off and still hoping to win the race.
Both of these can be fixed. Not really quickly, but there’s time. Sony can weather this holiday, but perhaps not so easily the next one.
Good luck to them.
