#1: Grrr… Look at our big hardware!
Arguably, the Playstation 2 was at the top of the previous generation console war. The Xbox was just getting into the swing of things, barely sustained by the various Halos. Microsoft’s mammoth did, however, sport some slightly more impressive hardware.
Sony must have taken this personally, because they spent all manner of time and finance on the PS3, loading it with the absolute most ritzy meats and cheeses providing a massively powerful system, well ahead of the competition.
The only problem it hasn’t been utilized. Games on the PS3 look pretty much same as games on the other systems because, especially in the case of multiple platforms, the developers aren’t going to put in an extra thousand hours to make the game look worlds better on just one system.
It’s possible in here that developers will start using the impressive pieces of hardware for some really amazing things, but by then there’s a good chance that the next generation of consoles will already be out.
#2: Lets have a big fancy home entertainment system.
The Playstation 3, the system you can watch all of your Blu-Ray movies, play all of your video games. Surf the internet, listen to music, play video files of every shape and size. You can even link it to your PSP for more of the same purposes. It’s the ultimate in household entertainment.
Great idea, in theory. The only problem is that games still haven’t really crashed mainstream media yet; most people don’t think of systems as being able to do anything else besides play games, so they aren’t going to buy something they personally won’t use. Also because they view them primarily for children, most doting parents will purchase the cheapest product for their kids (Wii?).
Sony took a risk, but the market still isn’t ready right now to see video games and thus consoles as a form of entertainment accessible by anyone save children, so even the system itself is very likely only going to be utilized by the one who owns it.
#3: Lets make games into interactive films.
Many of the launch and subsequent exclusive titles have this really weird tendency to be very cinematic in presentation. Uncharted, the martial arts drama Heavenly Sword (massively underrated), and whatever-the-crap-it-is game Lair.(not so underrated). Generally speaking, they look and feel like big budget Hollywood films, complete with bevity.
Maybe it has to do with their home entertainment vision, but it just doesn’t really work with regular gamers (despite their attempts, that remains their audience). They’re expecting something that they’re used to, and aren’t thrilled by the result.
#4: Lets fight the wrong war.
Again, probably because of their home entertainment obsession, they spent a whole lot of time and resources fighting the war with HD-DVD, promoting their own Blu-Ray system. They won, in the end and kudos to them for it. Only problem they didn’t keep an eye on those sneaky Microsoft devils, who snuck into base camp and stole all of their guns and ammunition. Which directly leads into:
#5: Exclusives? We don’t need no stinkin’ exclusives!
All of this misplaced focus made Sony lose developers. Game creators all walked off right into Microsoft’s soft, warm, huggy arms and massive budget. Sony sat there, oblivious, praying that their super-powerful home entertainment monolith succeeded, eyes shut, covering their ears while their empire crumbled.
There’s a lot of overlap in games between systems, so the only particular reason to own one over the other is the exclusive titles. Playstation 3 has a few good ones, and they’re definitely showing signs of a comeback (especially overseas), but they’re nothing if not incredibly lucky that they didn’t lose it all together. Only the slightly unsatisfying gimmicky nature of the Wii and the crippling hardware problems of the 360 kept the PS3 afloat.
Pretty much all Sony needs to do to come out of this is to remember that the Playstation has always had success as a gaming system. If they follow that formula, then there shouldn’t be any problems.
Maybe Home will be as epic as they’re hoping, and maybe they’ll actually get a lot more exclusive games to sweeten the deal. Or maybe lightening will strike and people will start to buy into the total home entertainment package. Even if, Sony’s got a long haul in front of them if they want to catch up.
Proud Member of GAIBoWS (Gamers Against Irrational Bans of Weezy & Squilliam)
