I've uncovered it.
Most of you may wonder, how come Spain has retained such Playstation dominance after the Ps2 era? (Because Ps2 dominated everywhere, it doesn't really count. But places, such as UK, USA and others managed to grab a big percentage of Playstation marketshare during 360/Ps3 era). 360 is getting outsold by Vita's, and Wii's don't have the momentum they used to. Yet Playstation keeps going strong here.
What, might you ask, is what keeps moving forward such strong numbers? Is it brand loyalty? Is it price? (Despite being totally overpriced, Ps3's first model, priced after 600 euros, was out of stock) Is it the colour? Is it the name?
Nope. Brace yourselves: it is the way Playstation is advertised here. The marketing.
Silly you, of course it is marketing! What else?
Sure, sure. Marketing is important everywhere. But I'm not talking about adverts with the logo at the end (which there are plenty, mind you). I'm talking about presence. About public interaction with the media, with the products. Why would someone buy a Playstation product here in Spain? Why,
because they can't find a better product than Playstation's.
Now, don't take wrong these words. I'm not implying Playstation is a bad product. Hell, I've probably enjoyed more a Ps3 than some Ps3's owners here. But people won't see better. Playstation is king, and that's thanks to marketing. That's how they have marketed it.
Let me show you with examples, to get what I'm trying to say.
The biggest supermarket from where I live has a dedicated section for gaming. You see, there are always two consoles for you to try: a Ps3 and a 360. And, no matter when I go, 360 always has Fable 2 as the game you can play. More especifically, the childhood section of the game.
Now, right next to it, you have the Ps3. And trust me, I've seen such a display of games arranged there that I might as well go to the supermarket whenever I need to satisfy myself with some Playstation love. God of War 3, Uncharted 2 & 3, Dead Nation, The Last of Us, Heavy Rain, Demon's Souls, hell, even Beyond: Two Souls and Gran Turismo 6 were there once.
So, in case you people don't know, the childhood section of Fable 2 is great. Thing is, if you're trying to show how great RPG it is, you can't. You're locked into making five boring errands for people of your town. So, I don't need to tell you how people goes there, smash two or three buttons trying to kill or smash or break something and get bored pretty quickly. "What the hell, man? THIS IS A BORING GAME" is the most typical comment you can hear. Of course, you quickly switch to Ps3. There's some guy running to save his life while a mansion is crumbling down (Uncharted 3), OF COURSE YOU WANT TO PLAY THAT. Or, or, being a big, bald dude who can smash everything in his path to revenge, OF COURSE YOU WANT THAT. YOU DON'T WANT TO BE FORCED MAKING ERRANDS TO PEOPLE!
So, for the lulz, I once stood on the 360 and beated the childhood section. People is clueless, but given the fact that I've beaten Fable 2 four times, I knew how to beat the section quickly. So, I get to when you become an adult. You then have a sword. You can freely explore the world. Slain enemies. Talk to NPCs. "Great" I thought. People may compare the joyness of the game better now. Maybe Fable 2 can't compare to Uncharted, but hey, it is a great game on its own. And so I left.
I came back to the supermarket the next day because I had to purchase several things. I went to the gaming department and, guess what?
The employers had reset the game.
You were back with the childhood section, while Uncharted 3 run rampant through some archeological explorations being chased by pesting spiders. You know, "what the fuck?".
And what does this translate to? Of course, the general consensus will be that "holy crap the 360 is boring" and "holy crap PLAYSTATION FTW". Guess which one of those two products is getting bought on Christmas.
Oh, and regarding the gaming deparment itself? 360's has: Halo, Morphx, Far Cry 3, Fifa and some Sherlock Holmes games. Playstation 3's has an impressive arrange of games, all correctly taged and priced.
(Come to think of it, you can't even purchase Fable 2 on that section)
You might say "this is nothing but an isolated case". Okay, let's move back to 2011. Uncharted 3 and Gears of War 3 had released. I was walking around some big stores in a different place from where I usually go. So, there they are. Ps3 and 360 for people to try. A face-to-face. One displays Uncharted 3, and the other, Gears of War 3.
But, and of course but, there is a very noticeable difference. See, Uncharted 3 looks beautiful. HD glory, especially the boat section (for those who have played it, you know what I'm talking about). What about Gears?
I mean, wtf. The game looks painfully SD. What the hell? Oh, and by the way, they had the balls to put a very spoilerish part of the game, which actually ruined it for me. (Fortunately, no, it wasn't THAT part). So, me thinks, they used the VGA cable instead of the HD one, because that's exactly how the game looks with the VGA. (I don't know if that's the right acronym in English, but that's how we call it in Spain).
So, look, obviously, you are going to choose Uncharted merely because of the graphics. It's not like the graphics themselves sell, but judging that 360, damn, their graphics are horrible. Might as well pick up Playstation because, you see, it has awesome graphics and the game looks interesting enough. There you have: marketing.
Try going to a GAME store here and ask for which console should you buy. No! Try going to a GAME store and ask for which handheld should you buy!
"Well, you see, 3DS has Mario. Oh! Some Layton games as well".
"Vita has an impressive amount of games. I was playing the other day, man was I amazed. It was called...uhh... Grabyti Rushh"
Consumers in Spain are bombarded with positive marketing regarding the Playstation brand, yet everything else is negative marketing. That applies to Xbox, Nintendo Wii/WiiU and Nintendo DS/3DS. (Though, no one can't stop DS/3DS from selling like cupcakes). Hell, there was a general consensus among non-gamer consumers looking for a brand new gaming console that Assassin's Creed was exclusive to Playstation. And I can't blame them, there was an era on which you could hardly -hardly- spot a 360 advert on TV, whereas everything had Playstation logo at the end.
People will choose the one they're more confortable with. The one they had positive feedback with. It doesn't matter if it costs more, because they know they're making a great purchase. Every single feature or game of any Playstation console is hailed as incredible. It doesn't matter what it is. Blu-ray? AWESOME. Call of duty? AWESOME. The console is black? AWESOME. You don't pay for online play? AWESOME.
"But hey, mister, you don't pay for online play on the Wii either"
"URR DURRR WHO CARES I'M NOT GOING TO PLAY FIFA BY SHAKING A CONTROLLER"
"But hey, mister, 360 has Call of Duty too!"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT TV SAID!!!!"
Playstation 4 numbers are nothing but an impressive marketing campaing that has been around 2006, followed by Ps3's huge success here. There's more presence of Xbox and Nintendo marketing nowadays, but I'm afraid that it is too late.
People in Spain know no better than Playstation. Hell, Vita's are out of stock in some GAME stores. That's the truth. Their purchase decision has already been made before opening the wallet. And wherever they look, it only reasserts that they are making the correct choice. Hell, even a Madrid-Barcelona (Football) is sponsored by Sony and Playstation. You watch the match and then can't wait to go play it with your friends on your Fifa Ps3 version.
EDIT: Further proof provided by Player2!
