By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
d21lewis on 21 December 2012
Edit Thread

My opinion:

  • Polygon Man:  Back in 1995 or something, Sony came out with a series of ads for the PS1 that gave the game somewhat of a hardcore image.  The "E-Nos lives" ads (Sony spelled backwards), the "UR NOT E (The e was red so it was translated "You are not ready") ads were great.  Then, they came out with Polygon Man.  Goddam, I hated this guy.  He was actually kinda off-putting to look at.  It was something like a drawing you'd find in an eight grade kid's notebook.  Luckily, Sony wised up and retired him.  I think it was kind of awesome to bring him back in PSASBR, though.
  • PS1 IPs:  During the time, Sony actually made some pretty unique IPs.  For some reason, the either lost them (because they didn't own them) or they just forgot about them.  How hard was it to create something like Crash Bandicoot?  He was basically a rat in a pair of pants.  Sony took this mascot, put so much behind it, made something of it, and then lost it.  Stupid move, not even owning the face of your company.  Other titles like Warkhawk, Twisted Metal, Syphon Filter, Ape Escape, and other PS1 IPs that resonated with gamers and have Playstation lineage either went downhill, went the the Bandicoot route, or became totally ignored.  They should have had Mario level franchises by now.  If Mario could be THE game by the time SMB3 hit, and Sonic could be THE game by the time Sonic 2 hit, Sony should have a first party IP that "gets asses in seats".  -man, I love that quote.
  • Crazy quotes:  Not really a mistake.  I just wanted to point out how baffling it was at the time when Sony would say things (I'm paraphrasing) like "It will take PC's YEARS to catch up to the PS2" or "PS2 will have Toy Story level graphics" or "The PS2 will be the equivalent to a super computer"--the last one prompted news stories of how the PS2 couldn't even be sold to certain countries because they could use it to launch missles.  I'm not even kidding. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s119754.htm
  • Marcus PSP:  "Step ya game up!" ads caused me to throw my PSP in disgust, wishing for a nut I could play outside.
  • Losing Kevin Butler:  This guy came out of nowhere to become the face of the Playstation brand (amongst the hardcore, at least).  Every time we saw him, we jizzed a little bit.  He was smug, charismatic, and ultimately likeable.  Even many fans of other consoles admitted that the guy was pretty cool.  Fast forward to the present, and "Kevin Butler" is engaged in a legal battle with Sony because he appeared on TV with the Nintendo Wii console.
  • Advertising:  Advertising is a bizarre beast.  It's hard to figure out what will work and what won't.  People are hard to predict.  It seems like the competition does it well, more consistently, while Sony just can't seem to get a bead on the target.  Sony goes hardcore when casual/funny ads are en vogue.  Sony goes funny when people want to see gameplay.  Sony goes batshit crazy when people just want to see what their console looks like.  Sony just can't seem to catch a break.
  • Let the competition get the advantage:  "Pride comes before the fall".  Sony had the gaming world eating out of their hand for over a decade.  Sony WAS gaming.  Nintendo and Microsoft were left fighting for scraps that fell from Sony's table.  So, what the hell happened?  Microsoft still maintains a (slight) lead over Sony and pretty much dominate the world's biggest market.  Nintendo went from last place by a mile with their worst selling home console, ever, to being the sales darling of the 7th generation.  What went wrong for Sony?  I could give you five hundred and ninety-nine reasons.  The biggest reason?  They started to believe they were invincible.  Reality is a motherfucker.
  • The Playstation Vita:  The Vita is actually an eloquent device.  I would go as far as to say it's near perfection.  Everything from the power to the feel to the look just screams quality.  And yet, it's doing horribly.  Why?  Because Sony just doesn't seem to know how to market it or what they want it to be.  The games are there.  The price will get there.  Sony just needs to figure out how to make people stand up and take notice.
  • Not taking advantage of a good thing:  Kinect?  Some people will say that Sony has been there and done that almost ten years ago.  Wii Remote styled motion controls?  Stolen from Sony, too.  They showed a demo for it back at 1977.  Wii U second screen?  Have you ever heard of Remote Play?  And yet, despite all of this, it's Kinect, the Wii Remote, the Wii U, etc. that steal headlines while Eyetoy, Playstation Move, and PS Vita capabilities linger on obscurity.  Sony needs to know when they have a good idea and they need to be unafraid to get 100% behind it and MAKE the consumer take notice.

I could think of more but I think this is good for now.  Family calls.