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Can Sony Convince the World?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-me dept.

Gamasutra's regular feature asking a question of the game development community is back. This week's question cuts to the heart of the reporting from the Tokyo Game Show: Can Sony Convince Us it is Still Dominant?. From the article: "All that Sony needs to do is stop acting so arrogant. People can forgive any number of faults if the company generally acts responsible for their mistakes. When the PSP came out and people complained about the square buttons getting stuck and not being as responsive as the other buttons, Sony said 'There may be people that complain about its usability, but that's something which users and game software developers will have to adapt to.' We have to adapt to their broken button... Comedic at best. When everyone said the price of the PS3 was rather high, Sony told everyone that 'people will buy it no matter what.' What do they say about PCs? 'The PlayStation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC.' - Dave Fried, The Collective"

2 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. I have to go against the grain here... by Rifter13 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People want Playstations. That is it. Look at the sales number difference between the Ps2, and the Xbox. The Xbox is superior to the PS2 in every way, but it still sells FAR less than the PS2. People buy brands, and I think that is far more true today, than it was in the past. The PS3 could still be screwed up, but I don't ever want to underestimate the stupidity of the average consumer.

    1. Re:I have to go against the grain here... by RyoShin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The PS2 had a lot of things going for it, though, than just the Playstation brand when compared to the XBox.

      -the PS2 had a DVD player in a time when DVD players were all the rage, but still expensive.
      -the PS2 could play PS1 games, so there was more of an incentive for PS1 owners to upgrade.
      -the PS2 had a full year head start

      On the other hand, Microsoft was an unknown as far as gaming had gone, so people were wary to pick up their console (especially in Japan). The PS2 was as or less expensive than the XBox when the XBox came out, as well, I believe.

      Now the positions are somewhat reversed. Microsoft's console has a year's head start, will be the cheaper of the two, and has proved slight dominance over Nintendo (at least in America). Now Sony just has the BluRay and backwards compatibility going for it.

      Frankly, I think it's going to be anyone's game this time around.