Is Sony Losing It?

Sony is a great company. No one can deny the force that they have become in the gaming industry. Anyone who thinks that Sony is on the brink of collapse is a fool.
As a brand the Sony PlayStation is here to stay. The Playstation 1&2 combined have sold 270 million units world wide. This by itself secures Sony a place in the industry for a long time yet to come. Yet if you take into account the estimated PSP Sales of 44 million world wide sales total of you come to the number 314 million PlayStation Brand units sold. (Keep in mind this number neglecting current sales of the PS3) So all Sony haters need to just let it go, Sony is not going anywhere anytime soon.

With all that aside, in Sony's third generation of life as a console manufacture life is not so great right now. The PS3's install base is estimated to be around 20 million. While this is a decent number it pales in comparison to the Wii. As for the battle for second place with the 360, Sony trails by around eight million units. On the surface these numbers don't seem to be too bad, however when you look at the bigger picture you can see that Sony is going through a very rough patch.

[oriol003]

I was a bit skeptical at first but after reading the article he proves some good points Sony has kinda screwed it up and they didn't even get the Super Bowl ad which was stupid, Microsoft spent around 10 million advertising Halo 3 which is not half as good as Killzone 2. Damn Sony.

[tnkGODimATHEIST]

agree

[PirateThom]

10?

Microsoft spent 30m advertising Halo 3, the same it cost to make the game.

I'm glad Sony don't do that, because I'd rather have another game rather than a load of ads.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Yeagh how dare MS promote a game that people will be playing on xbox-live years down the road.

[PirateThom]

Don't you think the people who will be playing it years down the line will be the same people who would have bought it anyway regardless of advertising?

[ASSASSYN 36o]

No I don't think people would have bought it regardless of advertising. You advertise for public promotion of some product or service. The business of drawing public attention to goods and services is the point.

Basics of marketing is advertising what people may want. WTF is the point if you don't advertise you would systematically eliminate potential buyers leaving you looking like a douche with a warehouse full of products.

[GWAVE]

If Sony "losing" it is simply an issue of sales, this is what I see:

PS3's first year: outsold the 360 worldwide even though "it has no gamez!" as the haters claimed...and at a $500-$600 price point.

PS3's second year: outsold/sold the same (depends on what source you cite) as the 360 at double the price; outsold the 360 for the entire year worldwide except in the last 3 months.

First two years of the PS3: 21 million units sold.

First two years of the 360 (with one year of no competition): 14 million sold.

Hmmmm.

Aside from that, who has more dev studios? Sony. Who has better-looking exclusives? Sony. Who has free online? Sony. Whose online is more stable? Sony (yes, it's true. P2P vs dedicated servers). Who has reliable hardware? Sony.

Journalists fail to look at cold, hard facts. They take a narrow snapshot of the current market and ignore the big picture. They say that the PS3 is selling horribly, yet the 360 sells less and it's selling just fine.

I understand that some people have a preference. That's fine. Some people preferred the Xbox, Dreamcast, or Gamecube instead of the more popular PS2 (I had the Xbox and Dreamcast). Yet, no journalists would fabricate facts to somehow "prove" that the Gamecube was doing better than the PS2 or to "prove" that the Dreamcast was doing better than the Xbox.

Yet today, it seems that so many journalists have an agenda. What is that agenda? It's to see Sony fail, even if Sony's "failure" is invented by half-truths and ignored facts.

[La Chance]

well , MSFT spent a whole lot of money for Halo 3 but the crazy amount of money Halo 3 brang in can get you more than ONE game more.

I think the whole team behind Halo 3 , from Bungie to the marketing team know more than you how to handle their products.I mean who are you ?
If they got the money to do that then let it be ! Considering Halo 3's out of this world sales I dont think they regret a single second

On topic : Sony simply underestimated the competition BIG TIME.
The Wii and the 360 are doing way better than anybody would have expected.I think thats the main reason.Sony built their strategy from a "we'll will anyway" perspective and they woke up to see that this gen is another story.

They can thank the power of the PS brand because I think if it were the 360 at the place they would be going the way of Sega with the dreamcast

[La Chance]

Geez , you go from controlling 80% of the gaming market to being in a position where you will probably never catch up with your direct rival ansd you think that Sony isnt "losing it" ?

Im a student in business school in and trust me in NO WAY , no matter what is that a good thing.

No business man on planet earth would be happy to go from the domination the PS2 had to the situation the PS3 is in right now even if it isnt a flop.

How you manage to see the evolution of the Playstation from last gen to this gen a positive thing is beyond business , commercial and financial logic.

The ps3 isnt a failure but is very far from being the succes Sony was expecting.

PS "First two years of the PS3: 21 million units sold.

First two years of the 360 (with one year of no competition): 14 million sold."

Let me rectify that : PS3 lifetime sales = around about 20 million

360 lifetime sales = around about 28 million.

Why do you only pick the years that suit you ? Speak in "cold hard facts" and that means taking ACTUAL numbers and NOT setting up the numbers so that they suit you.

[Mindboggle]

MS actually spent $40 million advertising Halo 3, but it was ultimately worth it, as the game has sold over 8 million. You do the math...

8 million x £30/$50 = !!!!!!!!!!!

They more than made their money back. If halo 3 was a flop, the 360 would of probably died in 2007.

[xwabbit]

I want the same people who where talking about HHG to talk trash about this article too. Lets wait and see

[Monkey521]

I'm sorry, but considering that the PS3 came after the 360 (1 year later), and the Wii magically having success, the PS3 isn't doing that bad at all. They are catching up at an extremely fast rate and are not stopping. They may not control 80% of the market, but that's because they had no real competition back then. The xbox came years after and the dreamcast died. We won't even talk about the gamecube. I'm not saying that the PS3 is doing amazing like the PS2 did, but they are in a decent position considering the circumstances.

[CrazzyMan]

they didn`t support 3rd party developers in first 2 years with help in development of multiplatform games, and because of that some multiplatform games had some problems with framerate.

All other thing Sony did right.
Of`course, it would be better, if in 2008 there were available more traditional jrpgs like Eternal Sonata or WKC, but that is just 1 year, which has ended already and we still had some great tactical jrpgs like Disgaea 3 and Valkyria Chronicles with a great traditional jrpg - Persona 4.
I hope in 2009, there will be not only WKC and TLR but also some new good jrpg games.

About losing 3rd party multiplatform exclusivity, well for now it`s not big deal, since to achieve true PS3 power for 3rd party alone would need a lot of time like atleast 3 years. The games are still coming to PS3.

About SALES, PS3 could cost 299$ in 2007, they would have sales like Wii, around 40-45 mln. today and lose maybe 1-2 bln. $.
BUT who would ignore 25-28 mln. x360 userbase vs 40-45 mln. PS3 userbase Today??? Sony would lose 2 bln. $ for what? For 2-3 exclusive games? Is this WISE???

p.s. And there are ~50 mln. PSP sold WW, don`t use VGC numbers as facts, they are just ESTIMATES.

[cayal]

"Sony has kinda screwed it up and they didn't even get the Super Bowl ad which was stupid"

$3 million on one damn ad is ludicrous. That isn't good spending and I am glad Sony wouldn't waste their money when the same amount can get you multiple ads shown multiple times.

[ultimolu]

Okaaaaay...

Press agree if you think Sony's doing a good job so far in terms of software and hardware, considering the PS3 has been on the market for only two years. Press disagree if you think they're out of their f*cking minds.

And be honest.

[green]

I don't think it's as easy as that.I believe that Sony is not advertising the PS3 enough and in "enough" i mean advertising the value of the system over it's rivals.

A consumer goes into a shop and all they see is the price and especially since Microsoft and Nintendo are very good at advertising the lower price points of their consoles .Sony's adverts should highlight the inclusion of wi-fi,web browser, blue-ray, free online gaming etc, things that it has over it's rivals that will help consumers justify spending the higher price over the 360.

As of now i don't see that and it's a shame because i believe that when taking all those things into account it makes the PS3 a valuable system.

[demonddel]

@ORIOL003 How the f@$k you know you never even play the game yet..........y'all need to quit sucking sony's d!@k and just play some games.

[Godmars290]

But they didn't do the quality control on the 360 causing RRoD, backtracked on HDMI and still use DVDs while penalizing devs who make games that need more than 2 discs.

There really needs to be articles questioning if MS knows what they're doing, if they even have "it" rather than all of these "Sony is Doomed" pieces.

[Giriath]

He isn't really "looking at the bigger picture". If he were, he'd see that the Playstation 3 was released a year after the Xbox 360, even a few more months in Europe where it has sold the most. When talking sales, that really does count. And I don't think he actually believes Microsoft aren't equally as disappointed as Sony. Neither expected Nintendo's under dog to become the wonder dog.

If Sony has so few exclusives on the Playstation 3 as he says, wouldn't Microsoft be even more disappointed and confused when the PS3 is selling just as much as the Xbox 360 despite being more expensive? Fact is that the PS3 now has at least as many good exclusives as the Xbox 360 does.

Now that Sony has started promoting their console in much the same way Microsoft does, most of the gaming press ridicule them, when they are the ones who told Sony to start doing so in the first place. Claiming that the Playstation 3 has more longetivity isn't very bold when it has new and superior tech in the CELL processor and Blu-ray drive, and Sony will support it for at least 8 years, if not the promised 10.

[xTruthx]

Sony isn't losing it.... end of discussion <8-D

[ultimolu]

I do agree with you on that green. I remembered the days where you couldn't even watch T.V without seeing some PS2/PS1 advertisement. Sony needs to move their asses in marketing the PS3 correctly.

[iHEARTboobs]

Sony would be in trouble if they were under MS's business model. The PS3 will stay on the market longer than the 360 and if anything, that's when they'll catch and surpass the 360 in sales if it isn't done by the time the next XBOX hits. But if Sony doesn't outsell the 360 by at least a million this year then they wont catch up until the next XBOX. But as a gamer as long as they keep pumping out great games i'm happy. It's a great system.

[tnkGODimATHEIST]

Sony LOST A LONG TIME AGO WITH THEIR garbage ass console.

[PirateThom]

So many tears... what's wrong? Killzowned?

[dukadork2]

yeah he sounds like he just got gang raped by a squad of angry helghasts

[oriol003]

lol wtf

[PR3DAT0R]

Yeah lots of people agree with you right?
seriously stop trolling you are really starting to annoy me, since when has the ps3 been considered garbage?

ps3's not the console you have to take out to fix on a weekly basis unlike a certain console i know that will not be mentioned.

[ultimolu]

Wow...who spit in your food today? o_0

And if the PS3 was a garbage console, it wouldn't exist today.

[Shane Kim]

Sony made the 20 million mark faster than 360.

[Gue1]

Can't do any other thing than laugh when a bot says that the PS3 is garbage when their console is getting massive failure rates around the planet... It doesn't even has any good games for 2009.

[Zool 08]

With KZ2, Heavy Rain, GOW3 & FF13(Japan) this year I think not

[Dimitri]

ahhh you see what jealousy does to people ??

[StoneySweatLeafs]

Killzone 2 is going to change everything. Developers are going to see the results that were produced from the PS3 and flock to it. Plus with all the great games coming down the pike. It's tax seasons people. Watch the Feb. numbers rise!!

[tnkGODimATHEIST]

Its just that simply Sony's marketing fails in comparison to Microsoft Game Publisher. Sony does a bad Publishing job.

[Why dis]

The 2nd coming? hahahahahaha

[ape007]

and you want n4g to ban hhg?

be happy with these articales,that'a all you want,you deserve this

ENJOY

[edhe]

4 years & Sony's financial & technical backing all games do not have.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Why do they say sony won't win against the 360 this gen. And why microsoft says they wouldn't want to trade position with sony this gen.
360 - 28m units - 39 months = 717948 units / month
PS3 - 20m units - 27 months = 740740 units / month

717948 per month*336months = 241230528 million xbox 360's sold
740740 per month*336months = 248888640 million ps3's sold

28 million xbox 360's today. + sold in 336 months =269230528
20 million ps3's today. + sold in 336 months =268888640

Even factoring a margin of error, plus or minus the numbers work in MS favor for holding 2nd. No sony will not die from this but they deffinitely loss their shine.
Even if the ps3 consistently outsells the xbox 360 world wide sony will still be in 3rd place in the console war in 336 months thats 28 years!

[PirateThom]

Assuming nothing ever changes...

But, as you know, things rarely stay the same.

[The_Zeitgeist]

Ah yes a very nice burn indeed PirateThom.

[The Fungus]

IDK wtf you're smoking, but 336 months is 28 years :/

I dont even care about the rest of your post, I just want to know why you chose 336 months lol.

Concerning the article, PirateThom is right. Things change.

[gametheory]

Assassyn "360"?

SNES was losing against Sega Genesis until Street Fighter and Zelda were released, and Sega started releasing many useless add-ons.

PS1 started slow.

Dreamcast started great.

Not saying things *will* change, saying things *can* change and that nothing is certain. After all, 360 started from horrible in Japan to below average.

Are you one of those losers that believes trends are never broken? Just asking.

[Valdass]

now please in english

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Vous parlez français?

[oriol003]

Oui!

[The_Zeitgeist]

All this sales stuff is a fun distraction. We should all agree that the PS3 is not dead right here and now!! Who cares if Sony gets 3rd. So be it. The PS3 is still an awesome system for those of us lucky enough to own one.

[Bubble Buddy]

In my opinion Sony had a minor step back with poor advertising and some minor mistakes regarding with price and games but all consoles start with mediocre games in the first year. By now, Sony regained their senses and they know to win again, they need to focus and not be ignorant.

[NobleRed]

No?

[Spike47]

Crank Dat! LOL

[dukadork2]

you've been traumatized and brutalized so now you're full of hate and you think N4G is like XBL where you can dump your racist sh!t w/o consequences.

but you gotta take it easy dude, your red ass of death is gonna heal and 1 day you'll be able to sh!t w/o pain just like everybody

[farhsa2008]

If by losing you mean outselling the competition for 10 months out of 12 with almost double the price, having better exclusives rated higher than anything the 360 has, having a hardware that is future proof and not to mention doesnt break down every 5 minutes, giving us the option to upgrade our hard drive with any third party HDD, free online play, rechargable batteries etc, then yes i think sony is losing it.

[KR3W619]

Games isn't the only thing sony has

[edhe]

yeah, they've got robots, huge tvs, overpriced phones and incumbant music players.

All of them recently upped in price due to the strengthening yen.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id...
Just proves that their other stuff isn't keeping them in the black.

[Marceles]

"however when you look at the bigger picture you can see that Sony is going through a very rough patch. "

Sony always goes through a rough patch, they've done it with every new system they've come out with and then bam...success. I think the media is just paying more attention to it this time around and making it into a HUGE overexaggeration like they always do. Dreamcast was outselling PS2, PS2 had a high price, lack of games...it's nothing we haven't seen before.

"With all that aside, in Sony’s third generation of life as a console manufacture life is not so great right now. The PS3’s install base is estimated to be around 20 million. While this is a decent number it pales in comparison to the Wii."

Same with the 360..alot of these arguments is the same for the 360 except Sony is put on a high pedestal, so if the 360 has a minor slip up, oh thats ok...the 360 isn't as big as the Playstation brand so it's fine for them to mess up. A glitch in a 360? That's ok..here, have a scratch N sniff sticker for trying...it's strawberry scent. But a Playstation brand mess up? OMG SONY IS DONE FOR, everyone box up their PS3s now and take them to Gamestop and trade them in for a 360 arcade and a Zune because the show is OVER. Here's a great PS3 game...oh wait a second, did my eyes just tell me the framerate dropped to 59fps instead of staying at 60fps the whole time???? FLOP. 6.9/10...I guess I'll go back to watching movies on my PS3.

/end extreme sarcasm

Please give me a break with the Sony losing it articles...everyone here at N4G knows what's going on with everything in the industry right now. Nothing is gonna jam anything in anyone's head about who's "losing it" and winning something. For sure, the Wii has a commanding lead. The 360 is ahead of the PS3 now...but when there's stories putting DLC over full retail games, and anti-hype stories about a game in waiting for 4 years and nitpicking over a demo, we know someone is getting scared.

[DARK WITNESS]

i thought these were meant to stop with killzone 2 ?

[edhe]

lol.

Wasn't that LBP? No wait - no.. sorry it was MGS4.

Erm.. Heavenly Sword?

No.. now it'll be god of war 3, or gt5, or maybe team ico's thing, yes they will all saved a troubled company individually. [/sarcasm]

[DARK WITNESS]

lol, glad you got it.. don't think anyone else did

[heyheyhey]

Sony is still the best provider of quality entertainment in the industry, always introducing and experimenting with different concepts, providing free applications to it's users, expanding it's robust online service free of charge... and the PS3 is selling exceptionally at the price point... when the price drops, things will change drastically

[Monkey521]

LETS BAN THIS WEBSITE!!!! OMG!!!!!! lol wow, where are the hate comments for this website?

[ultimolu]

...What did Sony lose?

And...didn't I see this article around here some time ago?

[hulud86]

Yes

[Cool Hwhip]

No.

[ApocalypseShadow]

is the only reason ps3 is third.

but the games are stellar.
the features are stellar.

sony knew that the system would sell slowly.but at the same time,sony is waiting for system manufacturing to even out.

over sell the product too fast and sony loses lots of money.every ps3 sony sells is sold at a loss.and the losses are made up by the psp,ps2 and software.

sony is only advertising enough to push the system.keep it going until ps3 makes money on it's own.then you will see sony advertise like mad.and they got 10 years to do it.

just like ps1/102 million in 10 years of production.
just like ps2/140+ million in 9 years of production.

sony knows what they are doing.it is the armchairs that aren't running the company that don't know better.you can't run a game company from a comment section.

apocalypse............

[hydro-lx]

this is trash! i already knew all this and what this is like the 3millionth story on death to sony? wow always comparing to the wii... like todd howard said, its a toy, people prefer toys over digital entertainment... toys for their children! everyone knows wii is selling best, so why state the obvious and the old?

[hulud86]

Sonys Playstation 3 suce le turd énorme comme votre visage laid vous chienne d'abruti.

[souljah]

i`m just not in the mood to comment on another "sony will die" news :| pathetic as always. hoping for more hits on their websites.

[OhMyGandhi]

realistically, sony DOES need to advertise more.
Because the way they promote games know is not good enough,
and for those of you who say "well, I want them to work on the games instead and not pour money into the advertising campaign".
yeah, I think we all want that, but in order to have good game sales, they need to put in more ads.
That's just common sense.

[heroicjanitor]

Had a lot of money spent on making the game, but Halo had so much spent on advertising which could've gone into making a better game or a new game. Reminds me of that ad for macs where pc had a stack for advertising and a stack for fix vista, and he kept putting all of his money into advertising. I feel Sony is doing the right thing by making games with their money, the wanting to see ads thing is something I find very strange... Don't you want a better game? If things keep going like this it will force Sony to make lower quality games and spend more on advertising. MS are ad whores. Who the hell advertises a game they didn't even make?

Edit: Seeing all of your comments saying you want Sony to spend more on ads rather than making games is absolutely astonishing. MS shut down so many studios and are using that money for ads and buying third party timed exclusivity(just delays the ps3 version, of no benefit to 360 fans) and even if they bought exclusivity, then it still doesn't help 360 fans since they would've got it anyway, all it does is annoy ps3 fans. All the while Sony are making games. I know which company I respect more. If it keeps going like this it will be a generation of no first party games to take advantage of the hardware, but the two will just advertise third party games all the time with their money.

[Sprudling]

Money spent on ads doesn't make a game better. Money spent on development does. And since I don't care about sales, but about the quality of the games I play, I prefer Sony's strategy.

I find it very strange that so many wants more ads. I sure as hell don't like ads, and I can't imagine why anyone would.

[Trebius]

7th post from the top is the only one to read...he's absolutely right...360's awesome though, I wont doubt that...but numbers dont lie.

[Ethreon]

Short answer: No

Long answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

[PistolPumptMonk]

Regardless of total sales or price or any of that nonsense, you would be hard pressed to find a PS3 owner who doesn't think the PS3 is the best console to game on.

The simple fact is, Sony is catering to the "true" (for lack of a better word) gamer, and those who have a PS3 know what I mean.

This is not an attack on Microsoft, simply an observation of Sony's tactics of quality over quantity.

[gamfreak]

SONY is doom, happy now.....? Hahahaha.

[Figboy]

is enough to get Sony out of their predicament. easy peasy.

i have a scenario/question for you, then.

say you own Sony, and you've just spent MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of dollars producing your next product, the Playstation 3.

UNFORTUNATELY, the console is so high tech that you have to sell it at a loss, putting you in the hole even FURTHER.

on top of that, even by pricing the console at a loss, it is still pratically TWICE the cost of the competitors console, and the benefits of that high tech gadgetry inside of your beautiful Playstation 3 won't be evident for at LEAST the first two years of it's console life, meaning the average audience, who doesn't want to wait 2 years for their investment to start returning on that investment, will just buy the cheaper, and seemingly equally powerful competition.

ADDED to the high production cost, high retail cost, and software that is on par with the competition, is the fact that the BEST avenue to spread the gospel about your product to the consumer - the gaming MEDIA - has turned on you. even when you start to deliver and do things RIGHT (dropping the price - further putting you in the hole, by the way, quality software, more free features, etc), the press has decided that you are now a pariah this generation for past crimes and arrogant statements, and there is hardly EVER a good word in edgewise for you product. and even when there IS a good word, it's immediately follow by a "but >insert negative counter to the positive here<

ON TOP of high production cost, high retail cost, software on par with the competition, a biased, jaded gaming media, is the fact that your console launched right at the beginnings of one of the worst economic crises the world (in particular the US) has seen in generations.

even when you release quality software after quality software, people AREN'T BUYING, even if the WANT TO.

do you REALLY think that throwing money into more advertising is going to help sell your console when so many factors are against you?

tell me: what do you think Sony should do to get through this? i'd like to know, because, while i think advertising the software is good, it's not doing any good in this current economic climate, and when the company is already SO FAR in the hole, and is attempting to net a PROFIT, not go in the hole AGAIN (which will just prompt that bitter, jaded, bias gaming media to paint FURTHER doom and gloom for the company, which ultimately deters potential customers who think your product is a sinking ship, despite it's excellent progress).

here is what I think Sony's only real option is at this moment:

1) continue to do what they've been doing, and leverage their software lineup. 2009's lineup is absolutely SUPERB, but by E3 this year, they should start building up NEXT years hype - ie, Twisted Metal PS3, Team Ico's games, Incognito's game, Insomniac's next game (Resistance 3, probably), Eat Sleep Play's project, Media Molecules next project (LBP2? why not? the franchise is HOT).

do this not because it improves their software library, but because it slowly erodes at that jaded, bitter gaming media that hates them and their product so much. MGS4, LBP, R2, Uncharted, and Killzone 2 have already begun to chip away at their armor. there are fewer and fewer publications snorting derisively at the PS3 NOW, than there were throughout two years of hate in 2006 and 2007. this is GOOD. those publications are now spreading the message of the PS3 FOR Sony, rendering huge advertising campaigns moot. a moderate ad campaign should do.

also, not only does it spread good word via the media, but PS3 FANS themselves are more likely to spout off about the software BETTER than the ad campaign.

how many PS3 fans that have now gotten their hands on the Killzone 2 demo will speak positively of the title when in their local game store? how much has word of mouth ALREADY helped the PS3 and titles like Little Big Planet? the more compelling software, the more word of mouth will spread about it. when the word of mouth is also taken up by the media, the results are very, VERY positive.

i mean, even with a 33% failure rate, the Xbox 360 gets CONTINUOUS positive word of mouth from the media and it's gamers.

next:

2) lower the price in April. fiscal year 2008 is almost over, and Sony has met their financial targets. no need to try and pad it with a price cut in Feb or March. they said they wanted to sell 10 million PS3's for fiscal year 2008, and they EXCEEDED that number.

start off fiscal year 2009 with a $50-$100 price cut, and, even in the economic situation, sales WILL improve. especially coupled with the enticing software lineup for the year. like i said before, a moderate, relatively inexpensive (no 3 million dollar, one off Super Bowl Ads) ad campaign should help. personally, the "Ladies and Gentleman" ads were excellent. don't be so nebulous, or afraid to cross demographics in their ads. the PS3 is a MULTI-MEDIA device. stop separating it in the ads. PROMOTE in EVERY commercial/billboard/magazine/ internet listing that the machine can do things like play Blu Ray movies, upscale DVDs, surf the net, free online play, HD gaming, etc. don't be afraid to show people of different demographics that they get more with their PS3 for the dollar.

if people see just Blu Ray commercials, they may be under the impression that it only plays Blu Ray, and at $400, it's not worth it. if they see JUST gaming commercials, they may be the impression that it's JUST a gaming machine. and at $400, there are alternatives. but as a WHOLE, combining the gaming and multi-media aspect, Sony will express the VALUE proposition in ONE sitting, and save a little money.

sure, let advertisements for games like GoW3, Uncharted 2, Ratchet and Clank Future 2, etc talk about the GAMES, but when advertising the box, advertise the WHOLE BOX.

3) this is tied to both one and two, but i feel deserves a separate category: continue to improve relations with the gaming media.

they've seen how in two years, the gaming media has done an insane amount of damage to the PS3's reputation.

Sony has been humbled already in way they handle interviews, but now it's time to get the media back on their side. no need to hand out swag bags, but continue to be this humbled entity, and focusing on the software, not the competition.

Arron Greenburg at MS is doing more damage to THEIR brand in each interview, when constantly brow-beating Sony and the PS3. DON'T follow their example.

Kaz Hirai: SHUT UP. just talk about YOUR product, and how proud you are of it, and leave the competition alone.

David Reeves: keep it up. your honest, humble attitude towards the PS3's pros and cons, and the genuinely positive influences the competition have had for the gaming industry is worthy of credit where it's due, and more gamers should follow that open-minded example.

i've seen more positive press on the Playstation 3 in the past 12 months than i saw in the two years after the launch.

Sony's "fix" isn't as simple as more advertising for their products.

they're fighting against a poor economy, a high price tag (which they financially CAN'T cut, or else they'll be in even MORE trouble), a gaming media that is against them, and a generally negative perception from the gaming community itself (exacerbated by the gaming media's constant negative view on all things Sony and PS3 related).

whether or not they have $30 million ad campaigns for Killzone 2 isn't going to help that.

let Microsoft do what Microsoft does. it works for THEM. not necessarily everybody else.

let Nintendo do what Nintendo does. it works for THEM. no necessarily everybody else.

Sony needs to find what works for them, and i think the constant barrage of new software, humble attitude, and reliable software is what helped them keep pace with the 360 for 2008, despite the outside forces working against them.

year three is looking fantastic for the Playstation 3, and eventually negative perceptions will fade, especially as the competition continues to fumble it's software lineup (you can only keep it a secret for so long before people start to smell a bluff).

it doesn't matter if some of the PS3's 2008 games slipped to 2009; there were still PLENTY exclusives in 2008 to keep PS3 owners busy (i won't bother to list them here. we should already know what they are).

2009's lineup is ALSO already revealed, whereas we know of only a small few for the 360 for this year. it's time for MS to let them out of the bag, especially if these titles are going to release THIS calendar year.

you don't want your fanbase to have to wait practically a FULL YEAR before some worthwhile titles release AGAIN this year, do you? (Gears 2 and Fable 2 were probably the best titles released on the 360, and they all released at the end of the year. Sony wasn't much better, but it still had some high profile releasing during the spring and summer months).

/armchair analysis

[KrazyFace]

Normally when I see a wall of text that size I just skip past it, but I found myself reading the whole thing! Well done, you have pretty much told it like it is and you either work in the industry or you have been watching it for a long time because the insight you have shown here is truly nothing more than spectacular!

I think Sony should employ you RIGHT NOW!

[Figboy]

i could certainly use the job!

i used to work in the gaming industry, but as a QA tester. depending on the developer/publisher you worked for, however, you often had meetings with the devs, or the owner, who discussed certain aspects of the business/project.

even so, i've been gaming since 1985, and have followed the ebbs and flows, and trends of the gaming industry since then, and eventually you just learn to take off the fanboy goggles, take a step back, and look at the bigger picture.

Sony's solution isn't just an easy fix, but it is not insurmountable. they've already got an excellent, reliable piece of consumer electronics. the game library has been top notch since 2007, and improving every year.

the biggest two hurdles for Sony are the economy, and the attitude of a bias and bitter gaming media, who can't let go of the past, and for some reason want Sony to FAIL this generation. i don't get that mentality, personally. the PS1 and PS2 were excellent consoles that DESERVED the success they got. no amount of sour grapes from bitter Nintendo and Sega fanboys can change that. the PS1 changed gaming. if Nintendo hadn't snubbed Sony back before the PS1 was a reality, it would have been the "Nintendo Play Station" and they would have ruled the roost. the PS1 was simply superior technology to the N64.

the PS2 may have been the weakest console technologically, but only because the competition launched a year later, and were able to up their specs.

unfortunately, Sony's large number of first and second party studios, and alliances with 3rd parties like Konami and Square helped keep the PS2 on top, and delivering great gaming experiences.

Sony STILL has those strong first and second party studios, and alliances with 3rd parties like Konami and Square, so i don't see why people have such doubt and disdain towards the PS3. it's not like games like GTAIV, DMC4, Final Fantasy XIII, etc are NOT coming to the PS3. it's not like the console CAN'T deliver on it's promises of power (hell, as far back as HEAVENLY SWORD we've been seeing the potential of the machine, but so many were clouded by their intense hatred and disgust for all things Sony and PS3 that quality games like HS suffered and were cast aside). so what's with all the hate?

the whole "buh buh buh, teh LIES! teh ARROGANCE! teh teh GARGH!!" excuses simply don't fly anymore.

what lies? Killzone 2 DELIVERED. Motorstorm didn't look like the CG target render, but it sure as hell PLAYED like it. MGS4 DELIVERED. Ratchet and Clank Future DELIVERED. Uncharted DELIVERED. Heavenly Sword DELIVERED. Little Big Planet DELIVERED. Resistance 2 DELIVERED. Warhawk DELIVERED. i just can't see where Sony's lies and arrogance failed to live up to their boastful expectations.

should they have been less c0cky and arrogant? of COURSE. no one likes an @sshole, but give credit where credit is due. the Playstation 3 is DELIVERING, just like it's predecessors. the wave of hate and sour grapes needs to stop. people need to let it go and get over the fact that the PS3 ISN'T an epic failure like they were so convinced it was going to be back in E3 2006, when Sony announced the $499/$500 price tag.

[dustgavin]

There is a lot of angry 360 owners. Must be upset because their console is already outdated.

[Death]

Sony has done just about everything different this gen. They launched last and they launched much higher than everyone else. They also introduced a new storage format and really promoted HD. So far they secured the next gen format with Blu-Ray and HDTV sales have ramped considerably. Both of these are a direct result of the PS3. If Sony's plan was to make their company much healthier as a result of expanding it's market in several divisions, then I would say they are doing fine.

It is assumed that the PS3's only goal was world domination in the console market. Clearly that was not their sole intention so judging them based on this factor alone is what confuses most people. Sony doesn't advetise enough? You need a budget for that. Sony hasn't posted an annual profit in the gaming division in over 3 years. Once they have a steady flow of profit they will be able to not only market the system better, but they will be able to cut the retail price to more aggressively increase sales. There is no point in spending money on advertising and pushing higher sales of a product that loses money. In due time they will make the changes needed to achieve their goals.

-Death

[kelvin22]

Give us time sony will come back;its so funny they have close to the most killzone posts ive ever seen on any site yet they can kill sony better than IGN( yes im still not over the fact they gave that game a 9.4)..

[OhMyGandhi]

in order to have quality (not saying more money means a better game, but it helps) you need funding for a game, and to get funding, you need sales.
or else you'd see mr.no name develop an absolute masterpiece in his mother's basement with a computer that sputters machine code in a dos window on windows 3.1

[Allowen]

At the beginning Sony thought that ppl would go after new jobs or what ever just to pay for an expensive PS3 ......well, Sony noticed that tatic did not work as intended.

I am sure Sony will launch an uber specification PS4 but this tiem they will be more carefull with the price they ask for the product, expecially when rivals are selling video games for almost half the price.

[SprayandPreycom]

and from what i heard its like playing a mech with good graphics rofl...
ps3 game selection at best buy was pretty sad...

[KingDragunov]

In 1 word: No.

[Sangria]

So actually this article is just about general ideas without concrete numbers or proofs? What make them think Sony did not reach their own expectations? They are doing as well as 360 in the same amount of time with a shy Japanese part and an America where 360 still dominates.

For a console that is still the most expensive of its generation with a cruel lack of certain genres of games (fighting, RPGs, racing simulation,...) and all that media FUD, that is very honorable.

This is just the same blurry arguments we see every day at every "PS3 iz doomed" article, i'm getting boring. Can't anybody imagine that there is no loser or winner in this generation, and think that the three consoles are destined to live in parallels?

[JonahFalcon]

Even I'm bored by the "Is Sony in trouble?" articles. Wake me up when Sony abandons hardware or the PS4 is announced - whichever is first.

[BMS84]

360 - 28m units - 39 months = 717948 units / month
PS3 - 20m units - 27 months = 740740 units / month

Sony wins and than you calculate 336 months...?? Are you crazy?