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EU 'Happy' To Wait For PS3
Eurogamer reports on comments by SCE Worldwide Europe VP Jamie MacDonald almost designed to irk anyone left frustrated by Sony's delay of the PS3 in Europe. According to Mr. MacDonald, Europe has always waited before, so why should this time be any different? From the article: "In Europe, it doesn't seem that the release of our platforms after the US and Japan - in the long run - affects how consumers feel ... If we were sitting here in five years' time, I don't think we'd really think about or notice that PlayStation 3 was four or five months later in Europe. I think in the long run, PlayStation 3 will succeed because of the great product it is and the great software we make for it."
It might not matter once it's released, but being 5 months late to the party just might help the Wii gain even more marketshare, combined with the fed up people who might just go out and buy an Xbox 360 instead.
Instead, I'd try to explain why it's gonna take 5 months to release the PS3 in europe.
I'm interested, did the PS2 have this sort of competition when it was released in Europe? By my reckoning the last console releases for Sony in Europe went something like this:
Playstation: September 1995.
Competition: Sega Saturn (July 1995). The Nintendo 64 was not released for another 2 years.
Playstation 2: November 2000.
Competition: Sega Dreamcast (October 1999). The Nintendo GameCube was not released for another 12 months, the XBOX another 4 months after that.
Playstation 3: March 2007.
Competition: Nintendo Wii (November 2006), XBOX 360 (November 2005).
Sony is walking into a whole world of hurt in Europe. By March 2006 there may not be much of a market left for them. They've faced nothing like this sort of competition in the past.
People that believe in their opinions don't post AC.
The division of Sony that makes em broke off and formed their own company. Its Corporate forcing the games division on what hardware must be put in. They are still living in the past trying to make money off the consoles on other technology what the PSO did for DVDs in Japan.
Back in the 90's before the PSO came out DVDs were not very popular in japan. but they had a strong foothold in the states, with a lot of content already out in the format. They included a DVD player with the PSO. and soon after people in Japan started trying DVDs and DVD sale then went up in Japan. But since the format already took off in the US and there were plenty of content (although different region) The existing manufacturers could cheaply put stuff out for the different region.
So when the Games division wanted do put a hard drive in the PSP, the higher ups wanted to promote the UMD format so they forced them to use that instead. And the UMD has failed, and there isn't much good content for the PSP.
Now when they come out with PS3, the other divisions had Blu-Ray, and so corporate force the games folx to include that hardware.
Sony forgot although they made DVD format popular in Japan with the PSO, there were large libraries of content already out for it in the rest of the world.
It IS a big deal - at least it should be to Sony.
/2 cents
What they need to be worrying about is the market saturation potential over in Europe. I'm sure plenty of gamers that held off from the 360 and were planning to hold off on the Wii did so because they figured, "Hey, it'll be in November, no problem - I can wait."
Now they hear, "Oops... it's gonna be another half year, sorry" - except that the Sorry wasn't even included! It was more like, "You've waited before, we know you'll wait again, deal with it." They're relying on purchases of the hardcore gamers who've been waiting for a PS3 and alienating them at the same time.
And, while Sony will surely be improving and tweaking the PS3 during those 5 months, don't assume that MS and Nintendo are just going to sit there twiddling their thumbs waiting for Sony to play catch-up. I'm sure that the 360 and the Wii will also get worked on during that time frame by their respective parent companies.
What it comes down to is that MS and Nintendo have now got 5 more months to steal away as many PS3 loyalists as possible, and with the SLEW of bad news that has been coming out about the PS3 and Sony in general, I wouldn't be surprised to see some loyalists start dropping off the bandwagon as they reach their boiling point and decide that they're not waiting any longer for a system that has really failed to distinguish itself to the point that it's worth waiting for.
Also, don't write this off as a fanboi response, which most PS3 lovers will. I have the PS, PS2, Xbox, GC, and 360. I'm planning on getting a Wii and WAS planning on getting a PS3. I probly still will get the PS3, but it has something to prove to me now, whereas 8 months ago I trusted in Sony's past performance.
-TheBaron2