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Sony's Future Analyzed - PSX, PSP, PS3?

Posted by simoniker on from the pcp-rsvp-csi-svu dept.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to Gamesindustry.biz's analysis of Sony's game console brands, called 'Playstation: Evolve, Multiply, Conquer'. The article starts with the statement that "Sony clearly sees the games market as a stepping stone to dominance of the home entertainment sector", and goes on to look at the 'Playstation 2 Plus' PSX device unveiled this week, as well as the newly announced PSP portable. The piece concludes by looking at what the Playstation 3 might be, suggesting a family of complementary games consoles may be Sony's eventual goal - "..in an ideal world for Sony executives, the question asked when you go to buy a new piece of consumer electronics will not be whether you want a PlayStation, but which PlayStation you want."

1 of 19 comments (clear)

  1. Keep dreaming... by Guppy06 · · Score: 3, Informative

    "..in an ideal world for Sony executives, the question asked when you go to buy a new piece of consumer electronics will not be whether you want a PlayStation, but which PlayStation you want."

    That one over there that has the word "Nintendo" written on it. But that's just me, the die-hard fan. (I swear, after figuring out that it's my middle fingers that belong on the L & R triggers, the GameCube controller is even more comfortable than the N64 one!)

    In any event, it would seem that Sony is dangerously close to seriously confusing the customer. "This PlayStation plays games and DVD movies. And this PlayStation plays DVD movies and doubles as a satellite TV tuner. And this $1500 model over here does all three. But this $2000 package over here does all three but includes expansion bays for future capabilities." They're aiming for market dominance, sure, but neither they nor their potential customers seem to know which market they're aiming for.

    And even then I'm not sure how well all these boxen will sell as real audiophiles seem to rather have different components made by different companies than to rely on a one-size-fits-all solution. And I don't think the general market is interested in paying hundreds of dollars for features they don't intend to use (ignoring its first month or so in Japan for the moment, how many people bought a PlayStation 2 just as a DVD player?).

    The article starts with mention of the death of the SNES CD concept without quite understanding why it died.