Rumble My Joystick: What Does the Playstation 3 Really Need?

Back at E3 of 2005, Sony made grand promises for the Playstation 3. Jack Tretton himself said they were to "Under promise and over deliver". I look back at that and think, "What a crock". Xbox Live is no doubt ahead of the Playstation Network, no matter how many people wish to fight it. It's a very integrated service that's easy to use, and boasts features that the Playstation 3, frankly should have had from the start. Sony has been playing catch up since the release of the PS3 and it's beginning to really bother me.

[chaosatom]

It was price cut, then games, new ps store, video store, then in game messaging, then home, then price cut.

I am sure sony is working on all the things and some new things too. They know people wanted communication from games but I guess they are still busy with home.

[Sarcasm]

The PS3 could do everything and beyond and people will still hate it.

Yet the company that offers one of the worst hardware in console history gets free passes like Britney Spears.

[Captain Tuttle]

That "free pass" cost them more than a billion dollars.

[MNicholas]

are coming out of the closet. It's an embarrassing sight, to say the least. Bitter about Dreamcast, bitter about HD-DVD and therefore staunchly anti-sony, these people come and go as the news changes.

Here's the reality:

The "magic" $199 pricepoint is the last chance Microsoft had to take over the market once and for all. $199 is said to be the price at which a product goes from being an exclusive niche item to a mass market product that almost anyone can afford. Perhaps the Wii has shown that nowadays that magic price is $249. Still, Microsoft not only undercut the Mii in price, they even copied the Mii concept, yet the Wii, which has had no price-cut since launch is outselling it 2:1. In otherwords, the 360 has already failed. If it cannot take over the market at $199, it's not going to do it $179, $149, $129 or $99.

We saw what happened with the GameCube and Dreamcast. If it doesnt sell well at $199, it won't sell well when you drop the price further.

For car buffs, think of Wii vs 360 as a Toyota Prius (Wii) outselling a cheaper but faster car (Ford Mustang) but where Ford is trying to sell the Mustang as both as sports car and an eco mobile. Microsoft's got to get their head out of their own asses. They are panicking and have no clue what to do next so they are trying everything in a half-hearted way. The netflix integration sucks. The Mii-copys suck. There is no genuine high-bitrate HD video playback (HD-DVD is extinct). They've run out of options and they know it.

As for the PS3, no one expects the $399 console to sell like hotcakes. The much cheaper Ford Mustang (360) sells far more than the more costly Nissan GT-R (PS3) despite the fact that the GT-R has all the bells and whistles. However, if the GT-R was the same price as the Mustang, is there any doubt that it would sell more? Let's keep things in perspective.

The PS3 is doing fine. At $399 it would be shocking if it had higher sales than what it does. Still it managed to do much better than last year.

The only console in trouble is the 360. Despite massive price-cuts and a complete redesign of the interface it's still way behind in average annual sales compared to the other two consoles.

For those knee-jerk disagrees, here are the average annual sales:

Wii: 21M (astonishing!)
PS3: 9M (excellent considering the premium price!)
360: 8.3M

Despite having one full year to itself with no competitors, despite being much cheaper than the PS3, and now, much cheaper than the Wii (once you get to mass-market prices even $20, let alone $50, is a lot), the 360 is dead last. By the end of 2009, given the $199 price, it should be able to claw it's way past the PS3 in average annual sales as long as the PS3 doesn't get any major price-cuts which would, of course, boost PS3 sales. The 360 might even cross 10M/year by the end of 2009. That's still far behind the Wii which will have sold over 60M by the end of the 2009.

[ChampIDC]

How does MS get a free pass for making crappy hardware? It gets bashed for the RRoD all the time.

[hfaze]

Couldn't have said it better myself... +bubbles

[evrfighter]

Nicholas, a well thought out comment. However that argument would have had more weight if the arcade bundle had been out longer than a few months.

Your writing as if the 360 has been on sale at the $199 price point for awhile. it's only been a couple of months dude. You weren't expecting an overnight shift of console dominance were you?

[aiphanes]

I know there are hate xbox 360 articles....but the depths that fanboys go to try and hate the awesomeness that is playstation it beyond me...little do they know they are only hyping the PS3 even more.

[Whoa Its Wes]

How is it a hate article?

It's stating the obvious and things that could be improved upon

[Captain Tuttle]

Don't let it get to you...the majority of posters on N4G are particularly sensitive these days.
Have a bubble.

[Whoa Its Wes]

Thanks for the bubble, here's one for you too.

[Cyber Gamer]

nothing in this world is perfect not even your xbox 360 or even when xbox 720 comes out and no one is perfect and never will be and why do we allway's see these stupid article am a gamer and i come to n4g for news about games not this crap lol and if your a true gamer u will no what am talking about and to the rest psn is free stop complaining and move along lol

[Stereojet]

Here we go again....

The fanboys in this generation of games are a joke!

[Captain Tuttle]

It needs a price cut. That's about it.

[ChampIDC]

I think that would do the most for the console sales. The sooner Sony can afford the price cut, the better.

[evrfighter]

well damn, I'd buy one if there were a ps3 arcade bundle for around $200ish

The economy is only going to get worse before it gets better. I sure hope Sony realizes this. 2009 might be a really bad year for them sales wise if they stay with the $400 price point.

[farhsa2008]

It needs for people like this author to shut the hell up and buy the console and experience games like MGS4, Uncharted, LBP, Resistance, Motorstorm etc.

[SGT Nathan Fail]

The PS3 needs: Less intrusive ads, in game messaging, basically a better online experience overall! a good buddy of mine who used to work at gamestop (meaning he knows what's what about consoles and games.) told me the PS3 doesn't have achievements, and because it's free, you get bombarded with ads! I'm really glad he told me the truth and pointed me in the right direction. He's a really good friend.

[Magic_The_Celt]

um...

Your being sarcastic right? yeah i think you are.

Because the PS3 has ingame messaging

The PS3 has NO ads, the only things close to ads you see are IN the PSN store advertisisng what games are for sale, on the Xbox 360 all you have to do is sign in and theres ads everywhere

And the PS3 has Trophys, which are the same concept of achievments

[Jager]

LMAO...

Ps3 has ingame msging... i do it all the time with friends while playing CoD4 (Im deaf so thats how we communicate)

PS3 has achievements, its called trophies.

Only ads on the PSN are in the PS store.

[karlostomy]

The ps3 needs:

1. DRASTIC production cost reductions
2. DRASTIC return to profits
3. DRASTIC Retail Pricecuts.

If they can't improve their sku sales, then it's game over.

[karlostomy]

-------------
@ doshey.
Sorry to have to educate you so, my friend, but you are basking in ignorance. http://www.efluxmedia.com/n... And what's more, the ps3 losses have INCREASED since then!
:(

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@ magic.

The avatar is a parody of ken kutaragi. (Look closely.)
It's funny as hell, even if i do say so myself...

The avatar will never change. It is better to have a controversial avatar than one that says nothing, IMO.

And, when people 'get it' and/or comment on it, it makes me quite the satisfied little camper.

[demolitionX]

PS3 needs all xbots to STFUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuP!

[karlostomy]

Good Idea!

That will definitely sell more consoles and recover Sony's PS3 losses:
http://www.n4g.com/industry...

[doshey]

wow ur sad, getting an story almost a half a year old, come on, and yet also its from a stupid kotaku

[karlostomy]

@ doshey.

Yeh...uh sorry to break it to you, but those are Sony's own financial figures. :(

hmmm the losses are probably closer to $4 billion by now, considering Sony is still losing $50 per console.
http://n4g.com/ps3/NewsCom-...

Is NOT looking good for the ps3 gaming division... i can see why you are getting a bit irritated.

[doshey]

oh how sad sonys gaming division is losing money, ps2 makes up for the loss so does the psp, its not as bad as two years ago, and really i could care less if sony loss money in there gaming division because sony make money in movies,music,tvs,and whatever else they make, and what does that article prove, that the cost is going down and sony would rather make a profit before dropping its because its only into its 3rd year of its ten year plan

[Magic_The_Celt]

@Karlostomy

I would probably like you if it wasnt for that goddamn avatar

seriously dude, joke or not all you are doing is carrying on the name and face of one of the most evil bastard to have ever lived, an entire generation fought in wars to try and stop him and now look, people use his image as a joke

get rid of the hitler avatar dude.

[Stereojet]

It needs to keep doing what it's doing: pissing off the Americans.

[hfaze]

Not this yank... PS3 owner/supporter since Dec. 2006!!

[anubis12]

id needs a friend setup like xbox live

[felidae]

there are some good games on the PS3 but overall it's really sad.

the PS3 needs

1. a better controller (ok, leave the D-Pad)

2. a better online service

3. private voice chat / voice messaging

4. a headset included (it's so quiet when you play online on the PS3)

5. some big blockbuster games like GeOW, Halo, Mass Effect, PGR, Forza ... graphics don't matter most.

6. a smaller or less bulkier version of the PS3

[locos85]

I really don't see a difference between them. I have both consoles and I don't notice any more lag on one than the other. I don't think it's worth the 50 bucks a year when PSN does the same thing for free.

[doshey]

there are some good games on the PS3 but overall it's really sad.

the PS3 needs

1. a better controller (ok, leave the D-Pad)
Controller has worked for 2 gens its fine

2. a better online service
there nothing wrong with psn

3. private voice chat / voice messaging
ya that would be nice to have

4. a headset included (it's so quiet when you play online on the PS3)
a lot of people are starting to get headsets but including thems not the best thing cuz u then get all the kids that love to yell in the mic and say dumb stuff and annoy everyone

5. some big blockbuster games like GeOW, Halo, Mass Effect, PGR, Forza ... graphics don't matter most.
wrong there, pgr,forza dont come close to GT, and besides there are plenty of great games for the ps3

6. a smaller or less bulkier version of the PS3
ps3 is perfect, ya maybe it can be lighter but its size is what prevents it from overheating

[Raoh]

i love my ps3 but there are a few things.

price being #1.

having both the 360 and ps3 i can see flaws in both controllers. recently i was playing on the ps2 and had the logitech wireless controller. now that controller is perfect. it doesnt have the indent in the back of the controller like the ps3 controller making it easier to hold if you have big hands. also while the triggers on the 360 are better than the ps3 ones the logitech has 2 shoulder buttons next to each other. with the grip design i find this controller to be better than both the 360 and ps3. i wont get one though until they include sixaxis to it.
http://www.logitech.com/ind...

one big issue for me is one of the ps3's best features. Linux. the problem with linux is the ps3 only allows a 10gb maximum for the second partition. this needs to be increased to at least 40gb minimum.

including a cheap headset would go a long way for online gaming.

including a composite cable is also must in my book.

blockbuster titles i have. i like ps3 exclusives more than i do 360 ones. i didnt like gears 2 or fable or last remnant. left 4 dead is like crack though.

which leads to another ps3 issue. it's nice that insomniac is available to help developers but instead of hoping developers come to them they need to send people to companies like EA and Valve. for instance a great job was done with bioshock for ps3. but sony should have had an advisor on hand to help with the learning curve.

other than that sony is on track and while many will disagree i feel i have the best all in one console available today by way of the ps3.

[thewhoopimen]

My opin is it just needs a pricecut at this point. PS3 already has comparable online offerings to the 360. A drop in price and people will stop their whining and start buying.

[Knightofelemia]

The only thing I want is for Sony to hurry up with the PSN cards it sucks when my PS3 won't even reconize my credit card. Also some PS2 games should be braught to the PSN and FF7

[FatManJersey]

ok well here it goes first of all to all who think my friend here is an MS fanboy well your wrong. i know him personally i can say that he supports PS3 quite a bit. now his points were vaild PSN needs an overhaul a lot has been promised but look still no full Home and the beta is well dissappointing. the voice chat and/or messaging needs to be put in. i think a lot of you will agree that on screen keyboard gets really troublesome and without voice messaging or even an included headset it does take you out of the emersing feeling online gaming is supposed to deliever. this doesnt make him a MS fanboy he makes him a person with an opinion. obivously no one can take a sugguestion ingaming these days.

[ambientFLIER]

It needs:

- A better organized store.

- More demos.

- A more comfortable controller with good triggers and analog sticks.

- A more involved online community with actual headsets.

- MUCH faster download speeds.

- Better update handling.

Those are a few things that are bugging me so far about my 160gb console.

[Greedy Genius]

the game invites and parties he covers is spot on. i do believe that home is juts a big chat room as of right now, and that's part of the reason why i don't use it much.

to me i just think that Sony needs a good marketing plan, a nice price cut, and a more user friendly psn like xbox live, which will give the ps3 an upper hand on the xbox.