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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"

7 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. So very tired of this... by Fr05t · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seriously... come on guys. I personally plan to wait until all 3 consoles are out for a while, then see if one (or maybe more) have the games, and features I want. Maybe Sony will give me what I want, and I'll be willing to pay them for it - maybe they won't.

    MS has failed to impress me with the 360 and their game line up thus far. To be honest though I am hopeful / excited about the Wii, but you never know it might turn out to be a turd. Point is there is so much smoke and mirrors, and hype around console launches it's stupid to speculate and get all worked up about every half baked press release and "insider speculation".

  2. 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.

  3. But you've missed something... by ScislaC · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yeah, some people want PlayStations, others want games only available on the PS2 (Square-Enix games for example), and some others also have an investment that's worthless without replacing their PS2... It seems that the PS2 sales numbers are quite misleading due to the fact that so many current PS2 purchases are people replacing their broken PS2s, not "new" users. If you've invested a few hundred (or thousand) dollars in your PS2 and it doesn't work anymore, as much as you may not want to purchase a same name replacement due to your experience, you've already spent so much on the games and peripherals that it's not worth it to switch. Of the 11 people I know who purchased a PS2 at launch, 8 of them have had to replace their systems over the past 3 years. For the average consumer there is definitely a good amount of brand purchasing though, look at the iPod or RAZR (or an ungodly number of other products). I definitely agree there. But, for every PS2 owner I know, I also know an XBOX owner... and to tell you the truth a good number of those people own both actually. ;)

    --
    ART on dA
  4. Re:Enough, Zonk. Enough. by Milktoast · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you look on the games section, Zonk has 3 stories about the PS3, two of them are positive about the console. But yes the PS3 has gotten some negative press lately, and not just here at /. It's not his fault that general reaction around the PS3 has been negative as hell lately. Not everyone has your fanboy-colored glasses on.

    Personally I'll wait to see if the PS3 is going to have some decent games into buying-into the system as you seem to have already.

  5. Re:We know too much... by MMaestro · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Woah! I gotta get that!" he says...

    And then he sees the price tag...

    "Woah! I can't afford that!"

  6. Re:They are starting to. by Salamande · · Score: 4, Informative

    Historically you're correct, but I have to say, the Xbox 360 kinda changes that dynamic. You can take it home without 1 game and, as long as you have an internet connection, you can download demos all day and night without paying a cent through Xbox Live Silver. And I'm talking really nice demos like the ones for Lost Planet and Dead Rising. That's one thing MS did absolutely right.