The PS3, how can it win this gen?

[JMan]

First, let's define the players. There are only two players in this generation: 360 and PS3. Nintendo has always stated that the Wii was in a different market, and I totally agree with them. The wii is in the budget conscious, casual gamers market, which also happens to be the demographic I'm in and the demographic that xBox and PS2 are currently in. The wii appealed to me because it could play gamecube games (which I missed out on because I bought the PS2 last generation and couldn't justify buying another console), older VC games (which I grew up with) and of course, the novelty wiimote factor. The games for the Wii will be on par with last and prior generations. With Nintendo finally getting online, it's like they finally are catching up to what the XBox and PS2 could do last gen. Nintendo is still competing in that generation. The wiimote is their delayed answer to the eyetoy (something else I bought). But the wiimote is definitely better and should be a carryforward technology to the next generation, mainly for it's pointing capability, a much needed capability in the Media Center audience (although the motion sensing is nice is SOME games, it doesn't apply in many of the standard type of games and that novelty factor will wear off.) The 360 and PS3 are in the hardcore gamers market, which is the gamers that were driving the market at the height of the last generation (hence why the two big boys increased power & performance). I do think this market can bear the burden of a higher cost machine and games. That's the market this generation of consoles is currently in. Of the two players in this generation, the PS3 will sell the most machines in the end. XBox 360 is too focused on the NA market and the technology will quickly get outdated, replaced in two to three years by the next generation XBox...about the same time as the height of the PS3 movement. PS3 has a broader base, a better machine, and the longer lasting technology. They are just too far ahead of times, so people like me aren't buying them yet because people don't need what the PS3 has to offer. But as the HD technology becomes more mainstream, the price of the PS3 will drop and the PS3 will begin to appeal to the same demographic that I'm in. It took a year for that to happen to the PS2 (not necessarily the price drop, but the move to my demographic), but I predict it'll take two years for that to happen to the PS3. So what does Sony have to do? Absolutely nothing. It's the right machine, just the wrong time. But it will eventually be the right time. Just because developers are moving away from the PS3 now doesn't mean that they can't come back in the future when the time is right. Sony just has to survive (financially) long enough, and they have that capability. But...what they could do to increase appeal is to offer a handheld pointer type remote (a wiimote minus the accelerometers but with BR specific controls) for controlling the media center, internet, and BR player. That would help secure it's rightful place in the living room instead of being relegated to the kid's room. Nobody is going to want to use a two handed controller to watch a BR disc. I don't watch DVDs on the PS2 because of the remote. But I surf the internet and play streaming videos on my Wii because the remote is convenient enough to use (although it could use some improvement). If the Wii played DVDs, it would secure its current location in my living room for a couple of years until living room media controllers become mainstream.