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Soundwave on 17 March 2015
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Shadow1980 said:
Soundwave said:


We had the market referendum on what people want between a console that is more like a consumer electronics device with multiple functionality, versus one that is deeply rooted in being "only" a game platform. 

That was what the whole PS2-GameCube era was about. And people voted, and Sony won by a landslide. 

Sony's approach won out. Arguing about it now doesn't make much sense IMO.

Uh, no, it wasn't. DVD players were already dirt cheap by time the PS2 came out. You could buy one from Wal-Mart for $100. Gamers didn't prefer the PS2 because it had DVD functionality. They preferred it because it was well-marketed and PlayStation was perceived as a superb brand, because it had the most games (GTA being especially huge), and because it had a reasonable price, which was slashed to only $200 in May 2001. That its only competition for its first six months was the Dreamcast and it had no "official" competition for its second six months probably provided a bit of an assist as well. PlayStation was huge, period, with the PS1 selling over 7 million in the U.S. in its peak year (1998) and the PS2 selling over 8.5M in its peak year (2002). The PS2 succeeded for the same reasons its predecessor did, not because of its non-gaming features. Nuvendil went over a lot of the other things that needed to be said regarding the sixth generation and the PS2 vs. GC contest, so I'll refer you to his post instead of repeating everything.


Actually I know a lot of people that wouldn't budge on buying a GameCube even at $99.99 because they saw the extra value in DVD playback, so he explained to me that even though the PS2 was more expensive it was simply more "worth it" in his eyes to pay the extra $70 to get the PS2. And he liked Ninetndo, but he switched over to Sony that gen. 

Yes many households did have one standard DVD player, but in 2000s a lot of the DVD players in dorm rooms and bedrooms were indeed the PS2. 

$99 DVD players from Wal-Mart in fall of 2000? I think you might be exagerrating that point too. Maybe the absolute crap brands, but at that Sony as an electronics brand still had catchet.