Is Sony failing to capitalize? A question of momentum.

[ZenfoldorVGI]

Ok, in the videogame industry, a lot of stuff moves consoles, but a major factor in continued hardware sales is momentum. My thoughts on momentum say that if you have it, don't let it go, it's elusive. In my experience, bandwagon jumpers, following trends, generate far more sales for a console than do the actual events that got the momentum going in the first place.

Last month, PS3 had momentum. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thought 09 wasn't a great year for the PS3 and sales showed it.

Problem is, the competition is also trying to build momentum, and it appears to be working, if January NPD is any indication.

Microsoft is looking to have a killer year this year. We've all seen this article:

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http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=101081&page=1#

Microsoft's robust X10 video game showcase this week in San Francisco was just the tip of the iceberg for the Xbox 360's 2010 offerings, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg told Kotaku.

"To be this early in the year and able to have an E3-quality line-up with triple-A blockbuster titles, that really speaks to how big a year this will be for us," said Greenberg, director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE. "This is just a glimpse of the quality of products we're going to bring throughout the full year."

The day-long X10 event included a chance to talk to the people behind a laundry list of big games including Alan Wake, Halo: Reach, Fable III, Splinter Cell Conviction, Dead Rising 2, Lost Planet 2, Crackdown 2 and new content for Left 4 Dead 2.

"If you're a core gamer we've never ever had a line-up like this all in one year, plus [motion control add-on Project] Natal, plus everything we're doing around [online service] Xbox Live innovation," he said. "Last year we saved a lot of our big news for E3. This year we absolutely have a lot of big news for E3, but we have so much that we are starting early.

"It's going to be a big year... it's going to be the biggest year in the history of Xbox."

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We've also seen NPD, which indicated that in the month of January, in the US at least, PS3 lost some of that momentum and Microsoft gained it.

But wait.....here's the kicker.

Sony is to blame for this momentum loss.

They didn't produce enough consoles to meet demand, so demand went elsewhere. Unfortunately, this was during a very crucial time. A time when their momentum was at its height.

Furthermore, from another article:

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http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=101062&page=1#

Sony's senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold issued a statement after last night's NPD numbers for January, explaining that the company's flagship console may be a bit difficult to find at retail over the next few months. "We're working very hard with our retail partners to meet consumer interest, but the demand is tremendously high for the PS3 and we expect tight inventory in the coming months," Seybold notes in the statement.

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Meaning, that Sony will continue to lose momentum due to these shortages over the coming months, when MS has arguably its biggest lineup of any year since the launch of the original Xbox, along with the launch of project Natal.

Now, we've seen a turnaround for the PS3 lately, but at the very least, with Reach, Natal, Fable, and all kinds of other stuff hitting the 360 over the next few months, can Sony afford shortages, without losing even more momentum?

The first price cut was hugely anticipated. While I think that momentum could be regained with another significant price cut, I highly doubt they would be able to produce enough consoles to meet the demand for such a spike in the near future, and while this is certainly a marathon, this if the first time since the pricecut that I've ever doubted Sony's ability to come in second this genration when the smoke has cleared. That second price cut was supposed to be the knockdown blow, not a grasp to stay in the race.

Perhaps Sony underestimated demand when initially producing the slim, but pulling a Wii might not have the same effect it did on demand, for the PS3 due to several differences..

Agree or disagree, and why?