Spring Break
Sony should quit when they are (not) ahead
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 2/10/09 Section: Focus
The year of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) has been moved to 2009, says analyst Piers Harding-Rolls from Screen Digest, so plan your calendars accordingly. Wait. This is the same company that predicted that the Wii would end up in third place in the current console wars.
An analyst from Silicon Alley had this to say about the PS3: "It is the most expensive console on the market no one seems to care about hi-def DVDs [and] The PS3 just doesn't have any must-have exclusive to the console." All this speculation leads the analyst to tell PS3 owners to "[t]ell yourself the PS3 has superior graphics if it makes you feel better, but a $400 console with a mediocre game library simply cannot compete against an Xbox 360 priced at $200 in this economy."
As if this wasn't enough for the PS3, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article shortly afterward titled, "Hope fades for PS3 as a Comeback Player." The PS3 was being depended upon by Sony to make a return as other departments were hit by the recent economic downturn. Though the PS3 was slowly gaining momentum throughout the year, the holiday sales were a blight to this optimism. This led the WSJ to assert that "If Sony doesn't close the gap with its rivals, it could risk making the PS3 an afterthought to game publishers, who focus most of their resources on the machines with the most users." The article then goes on to enumerate the same reasons used by Silicon Alley. This leads the WSJ to conclude that Sony might not reach their goal of selling 10 million consoles by March.
Yahoo jumped in as well, though they directed Sony's quandaries to the PlayStation Portable (PSP), which did not have a good year in 2008. Many of the points were valid, saying that there were only a handful of significant titles released for the handheld, and that the Nintendo DS has more titles over 80% on rating-aggregate sites. Yahoo points out that people have stopped producing games for the PSP since no one is buying them, which will worsen the PSP's offerings for 2009. The idea that the iPhone and iPod Touch are faring as more successful portable gaming devices comes as a surprise-though it shouldn't, since Apple has such a large amount and hold of the mainstream market.
An analyst from Silicon Alley had this to say about the PS3: "It is the most expensive console on the market no one seems to care about hi-def DVDs [and] The PS3 just doesn't have any must-have exclusive to the console." All this speculation leads the analyst to tell PS3 owners to "[t]ell yourself the PS3 has superior graphics if it makes you feel better, but a $400 console with a mediocre game library simply cannot compete against an Xbox 360 priced at $200 in this economy."
As if this wasn't enough for the PS3, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article shortly afterward titled, "Hope fades for PS3 as a Comeback Player." The PS3 was being depended upon by Sony to make a return as other departments were hit by the recent economic downturn. Though the PS3 was slowly gaining momentum throughout the year, the holiday sales were a blight to this optimism. This led the WSJ to assert that "If Sony doesn't close the gap with its rivals, it could risk making the PS3 an afterthought to game publishers, who focus most of their resources on the machines with the most users." The article then goes on to enumerate the same reasons used by Silicon Alley. This leads the WSJ to conclude that Sony might not reach their goal of selling 10 million consoles by March.
Yahoo jumped in as well, though they directed Sony's quandaries to the PlayStation Portable (PSP), which did not have a good year in 2008. Many of the points were valid, saying that there were only a handful of significant titles released for the handheld, and that the Nintendo DS has more titles over 80% on rating-aggregate sites. Yahoo points out that people have stopped producing games for the PSP since no one is buying them, which will worsen the PSP's offerings for 2009. The idea that the iPhone and iPod Touch are faring as more successful portable gaming devices comes as a surprise-though it shouldn't, since Apple has such a large amount and hold of the mainstream market.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 8
aaa
posted 2/10/09 @ 10:48 AM EST
lol @ this dumb article
It would have been more justified if the damn 360 had any good games for 09.
DLC after DLC after DLC and bunch of halo spin offs . (Continued…)
?
posted 2/10/09 @ 11:34 AM EST
what a stupid article.iv had an xbox 360 since launch (now on my 2nd since the 1st died after the first month..... pathetic) and got a ps3 like 6 months back. (Continued…)
lol
posted 2/10/09 @ 11:59 AM EST
Another ignorant dumbass hopping on the sony hating bandwagon. Get your facts straight cause all your not looking at the whole picture. All these American "journalists" really want their 360 so desperately to make a mark in gaming history when the only thing they mark is bad hardware. (Continued…)
FanboyAlert
posted 2/10/09 @ 12:06 PM EST
Oh dear, this article is flawed on so many levels it's laugable! Not least for quoting Silicon Alley - publisher of some of the most biased anti-Sony garbage ever to pollute the internet! How long did it take you to find a fellow 360 Fanboy to quote from to try and give your article merit? No doubt your 360 is out for repair of it's RROD or E75 error and you've got nothing else to do but post crap. (Continued…)
clever person
posted 2/10/09 @ 12:11 PM EST
no one obviously cares about "hi-def DVDs", despite these "hi-def DVDs" eating more into the *normal" DVD sales every week.
And you obviously somehow managed to miss an ENTIRE years of quality PS3 exclusives that didn't exist. (Continued…)
Thomas
posted 2/10/09 @ 2:50 PM EST
Anyone can see this is a hugely flawed article both sytems have sold in the 20s the PS3 has sold 21million the 360 is around 29million the gap is closing but i own both so unlike the comments here im not a fanboy. (Continued…)
Jay
posted 2/11/09 @ 9:30 PM EST
Sony is running on fumes because the 12 year old gamer plays the 360. The whole video game business turns on these new gamers. if you dont own the well spring your fan base is shrinking. (Continued…)
Triaxx2
posted 2/12/09 @ 7:55 AM EST
Really people? Sony hate? I remember a few years ago when Nintendo was told they should just drop out of the market completely. And now they have the top selling console. (Continued…)
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