Sony's Big Mistake: Launching PS3 One Year Too Early

Maybe they realize it by now, and maybe they don't, but Sony has managed to play right into Microsoft's hands. When you look at the PlayStation 3, it's hard to tell what is wrong. Microsoft's early success caused Sony to get trigger happy. The PS3 was ready from a hardware design standpoint, but there was one problem. It has become glaringly obvious over the course of the last year that the PlayStation 3 was rushed to market when it was nowhere even near ready.

Sony did everything right with one exception…timing.

[nasim]

a 399$ ps3 would be launching in about a week from today.

even diehard MS and NINTENDO guys know that old ps2 owners would be purchasing the ps3 once the price hits 399$.all of them are waiting for a price cut.

FOLKLORE has got 9/10 an AAA from IGN and RATCHET is due this October as well.

ps3 steams off within a few days from now.

just another crap viral marketing. HALO 2 sold more than HALO 3 on launch day . It had 0 effect on PS2 HW sales. HALO 3 itself couldnt move more than 20% of x360s.

damn ...when would this viral marketing campaign end?

[ip-student]

Sure - there is the basic issue that hardware doesn't magically get cheaper by itself. So Sony would probably have trouble launching at $399 - but some of the things would have gotten cheaper (bluray - HDD - cell) so the cost would have been lower. And the PS2 is still doing great so there would have been little reason to push to the next generation quite yet. Plus the GPU could have been tweaked a little so Sony had an advantage rather than a disadvantage. The idea being that the developers would continue to develop for the PS2 and the XBOX 360 would see less of an advantage because most users still have SD tvs. So the the author has a point - but it is hard to see how well the PS3 would have done in view of a 11 million console lead - so I think waiting would have been a problem unless the PS3 could seriously blow the XBOX 360 out of the water (maybe an additional year would be enough - not sure).

But the author is ignoring something huge. Sony wants Bluray to win the format war. Without the PS3, Bluray dies. So Sony was not only concerned about the console sales but also wanted to own the next format. That is the real reason for the Bluray drive (as every PS3 has a HDD you could easily store 2 gigs of info in the cache and everyone would have great games even with a DVD drive). So I think Sony had to launch when it did. Interesting thoughts though. And this article isn't hating on the PS3 - it is questioning the strategy of Sony. You can love the PS3 and still think Sony screwed up from a strategy standpoint.

[agent864]

One of the observations from the failures of last gen launches were that launch systems were priced too cheaply thus massive shortages ensue making it difficult to obtain a console at launch. Everyone suggested that consoles should launch at a higher price point to let early adopters subsidize costs and minimize shortages -- which Sony was more or less successful in doing. Now, within a year of its launch -- less in Europe -- a significant price drop is occurring. The quality of the machine is absoulutely stunning, from that aspect alone it lives up to its price.

Granted games were slow but not entirely non existent and i think a lot of the first party launch games like Genjii and Untold were underrated, even Resistance -- which is a million + seller -- was underrated. Springtime should have seen the launch of games that were delayed until now.

Sony's mistake is that they protrayed what the machine was capable of 2 - 4 years down the road rather than what the system was going to be at launch. I think MS was smarter in that they limited previews to launch titles and didn't show fantastic target renders of games 2 - 3 years out.

This holiday / winter / spring tho we'll see a juggernaut of games and hopefully all the promised features of the PSN / Home realized I think that will put to rest all but the most ardent of fanboys. Sony still commands more development resources than the other 2 combined and is using those resources innovately and creatively. Hopefully the PS3 wont end up just being a cult classic and will gain the true mass market audience i believe it deserves.

[jackfatal]

if they waited most probably 360 will have even sell more!! by introducing a new machine it shifts demand from a system to another!! and because 360 had a year start they managed to sell that much in 1 year!! since the ps3 and wii is out the 360 is selling very bad except in the USA!
and most probably the ps3 price wont be as cheap to produce as now(because when the factories start rolling out machine after a while it becomes cheaper)!
also Mr writer dont forget about the blue ray campaign!! if they didnt sell ps3 last year then HD DVD would have over taken the blue ray!!

so Mr writer thing at least twice before u say!! sony has people with brains working for them!!

[spammy_nooo]

What's done is done. PS3 is doing decent and it has plenty of games coming out really soon, and many potentially AAA ones at that.

Running out of things to trash the PS3 with? Well, why not go back a year and bash how they launched TOO EARLY?!? I've had a very enjoyable time with my ps3 over the last few months and I won't let anybody tell me different.

I'm not sure what the total ps3 sales are, but if they waited to launch in november they wouldn't have those sales. Neither would they have ANY install base in order for third party developers to justifiably develop EXPENSIVE and exlcusive games. As of now we still have those games coming out AND the ps3 is still(most likely) going to hit the $400 dollar price point we've all gotten our hopes up for this Chrismas.

Going by this logic, a company shouldn't release a console 'til the second/third generation games get going. stupid.

[MrTangent]

Agreed.

The linked article's author apparently does not understand the concept of "economies of scale".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

He thinks that magically the PS3 would have arrived at a price much lower than it was released at if Sony had only waited. The only way Sony was able to pass on to the consumer a lower price was by making LOTS of units, thereby the economies of scale kicked in and made it cheaper to manufacture. Time is not what makes technology cheap, it's mass manufacturing. Waiting a year won't magically allow a price to necessarily come down.

The article was also disingenuous in other areas and ill-informed. With that said, it's an opinion piece and he's free to write whatever he wants. However, we are free to disagree.

I think that Sony needed to launch when they did, if not sooner. Waiting a year allowed them to have a technological advantage over the Xbox 360 (like how the original Xbox had one over the PS2 due to launching later) but if they had waited much longer then there was a very real possibility that they would lose the war. Same thing with the Wii.

[C_SoL]

i agree, too early.

[BaMYouRDeaD]

One year early? I think that would have been slightly too late. Yes, there are numerous advantages to having released this year, but then Sony wouldn't have 5 million units sold, and would thus be 5 million behind. And at the rate the PS3 is selling now, 5 million is ALOT!

Sony had the timing right. They just need games and a price drop.

P.S. About the games....I guess that problem is starting to go away, but there's still the obstacle of the price.

[kalel114]

And the price obsatcle seems to be getting fixed next week. I laugh when people say the PS3 was rushed out early, when Microsoft rushed theirs to beat it. Proof is in the build and subsequent failure rate. Enough said.

[Snukadaman]

Imagine the hype....the anticipation..for a year older ps3..yea as everyone should agree...the ps3 is slowly catching up with the xbox in the graphics department..almost after their first year...exactly the point this article is stating...there could of been some revisions with the graphics card...blowing away the xbox 360...who knows...I think games were just a afterthought with bluray being the number one reason the ps3 came out when it did. hell imagine a ps3 with no blu ray...you think they would be third?

[TheFatOne]

I don't agree 11mil consoles is a lot to make up 5 would be more manageable.

[INehalemEXI]

If your trying to get your price down. Having your units ship and make some money back is the way to go.

History and economics show the longer a system has been on the market the more likely it will recieve a price cut.

sitting on what you got for another year is just going to get you further in debt. Not to mention developers like to develop for a system that has an audience and that waiting another year logic doesnt help that either.

[toughNAME]

but the timing definitly wasn't in Sonys favour

Now Sony has to play catch up...and with no AAA titles one year in...things aren't lookin too good

How much longer will they rely on brainless loyalty and terrible money management?

Sure the PS3 has some potential AAA games, but weren't Warhawk, Lair, HS, Motorstorm, Resistance (etc.) supposed to be AAA?

Proven franchises like Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid should help...but chances are they wont be released until Fall 08

[felman87]

Define AAA

[GIJeff]

All of those games are amazing in my opinion, and the opinion of everyone who has actually played them. Warhawk is the only game since the launch of BF1942 to ever take me away from the series. Lair(while everyone doesnt agree with the controls) is still a window into an amazing future. Where games are breathtakingly beautiful and filled with hundreds of enemies, nonstop action, and ear pleasing sounds. Motorstorm, well, everyone who plays it thinks its a blast. Smashing things has never been so fun. Heavenly sword, OMFG. Blurring the lines between hollywood and gaming. RFOM, proving that hosting a lag-free 40 player shooter on a console is acheivable; and whats better, this is possible with a launch title. I must say, I have never been so impressed by a first year of a console's life...ever.

Except pong, pong rules.

[boodybandit]

TSIA

[SRuN4]

people look at price first. it STILL would of have been $600. this holiday season they have a chance to have a $400 and $500 SKU if they also come out with a true price cut.

[MK_Red]

If I'm not mistaken, everyone (Analyst, fan and non fan) was talking about PS3 being one year late not too early. Personally, I believe it came a bit late but not one year late and absolutly not early.

[wageslave]

Its not a matter of opinion about "a year early" or a "year late". The Playstation 3 missed it original shipping announcment by a year (roughly).

One interesting thing to note, the Developers have had the dev kits on the original shipping time line -- the Dev Kits shipped on time, but not the console.

[ShiftyLookingCow]

I think the article actually has some merit. It isn't bashing the PS3 at all. Just lamenting the quick death of PS2. Sony is probably going to regret coming a little early, and killing the PS2(after PS3 was released, PS2 became "last gen" and its appeal was significantly eroded). I hope that PS3 lasts longer and devs actually get to exploit its hardware fully.

[Lumbo]

What are you talking about ?

Sony did not "kill" the PS2 on the PS3 launch, i guess you mixed up X-Box with Playstation here. Sony is still developing and releasing 1st party titles for the PS2 wich still sell great. Even 3rd party devs are still on PS2 games (wich is a bit bad for the Wii, cause devs atm make new PS2/Wii games as they are roughly on the same graphical level)

[ShiftyLookingCow]

certainly not like xbox I agree, but you got to admit PS2' appeal was permanently decreased when PS3 was released

[WafflesID]

???

I've seen a lot of valid points brought up in this discussion, but ... this is hardly one of them.

PS2 is STILL outselling the hell out of EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING.

PS2 is still a VERY valid option, and you better believe that nobody knows this more than sony.

The problem is that sony hasn't made the PS3 a MUST HAVE over the PS2. Sony would love it if all those people still buying a PS2 had a good enough reason (read: an incredible game that you absolutely must have) to NOT buy a PS2 and instead spend more and buy a PS3.

[Says you]

So why are they talking about a article saying that they rushed when everybody know's that the other companie rushed theirs and I'm beginning to suspect the more their console breaks alot the more people will keep rebuying its pretty obvious thats how there winning and didnt one of the companie employee say that they have a meltdown mechanism in every of those console that they made?.

[pwnsause]

if you think about it they did rushed it, not hardware though (except for the SixAxis) the OS software and the PSN was rushed. thats all I can think of. I have my PS3 right beside my computer and its great, it will sell, not as much this year though.

[joydestroy]

this is true and false from different standpoints.
if it had been released at the end of this year instead though, where would that have left the devs?

[chrisin3]

These types of articles are just getting old.

[tplarkin7]

Sony has made mistakes since E3 2005. Delaying the launch wouldn't necessarily prevent Sony from making mistakes during that time. The real problem was that Sony overestimated the popularity of the PlayStation brand and became complacent.

[Loudninja]

It did not help the 360 to launch early at all, the system was full of erros, and the had start did not help.SO can we stop this launch early BS?

[ceedubya9]

The 360 had to launch early. It was the only way that would have gotten any type of advantage. The 360 would not have been able to compete with a Sony console if they both came out at the same time. The Playstation brand name is too strong in gaming. Sure, its possible that the 360 MAY have had a slight lead over the PS3 (maybe by a million units or so) due to price, but that's still a long shot. Sony would probably still be raking in all of the games just like they did with the PS2. And before long Microsoft would have been playing catch up instead. The early lead has given the 360 more games, including games that have never left a Sony console before, which makes it a legitimate threat to Sony. Tell me, how this did not help Microsoft again?

[synce]

MS sold the same amount of 360's during its second year as they did during its first year. That is NOT good. PS1 showed an increase in sales over each year. PS2 followed this trend, as will PS3. Once the price drops a bit, Blu-ray becomes better recognized, and games like MGS4 and GT5 release, it's on.

And let's not forget DMC4, Assassin's Creed, SC4... These are multi games, but do you think people would rather play them on the red ring riddled 360, or the Blu-ray capable, completely reliable PS3? I choose the latter, and I own BOTH.

[WafflesID]

Not if it plays worse on the PS3 than the 360 (and vice versa).

If you own both systems, which version of Madden do you get right now? 360 has smoother gameplay.

Now which version of Rainbow Six? PS3 version has better graphics.

IF both versions are completely identical in every possible way (which just isn't the case with multiplatform games RIGHT NOW) then that is the best case scenario for MS. First, it doesn't give people an excuse to jump ship, because the grass is the same shade of green on the other side of the fence. Second, there are twice as many 360s out there than PS3s, so twice as many possible buyers for that title.

The only way PS3 wins the multiplatform situation now is if their version looks better and has more features. Which just isn't the case most of the time.

As much as some of you like to make it an issue, the RROD hasn't really affected the 360 as much as it should have. I'm personally dumbfounded by it. Only sony fanboys seem to care about it, while people who love their 360s will keep on sending them in to get fixed (which is no longer an issue with the revised hardware). You assume that everyone on the planet reads gaming forums and news sites and even knows about the RROD.

[chester]

and every cross-platform game that comes out that i've wanted i've gotten for the 360 for my own reasons.

[jackdoe]

This is true. Sony did launch too early but if they launched later then they would truly have no chance in sales so it was a lose lose situation for Sony. I'm not really complaining though. There are good games coming out on the PS3 this year and next so I'm satsified.

[Mars Attacker]

Sony's product cycle is too long. The PS3 will gather dust for two years, be in it's prime for three years and then be obsolete for two years. I'd rather have a console that hits the ground running and gets replaced every 4-5 years.

[DEADEND]

They launched at the right time if you ask me, the only problem is the fact that their launch titles weren't that great except R:FOM. And other factor is the PS3 launching at $600 if they had it at $500 that would have been alot better for them and everyone else. Right now SONY will do great this holiday session when they launch the 40Gb PS3, plus there's a ton of AAA titles (R&C, FOLKLORE, UT3, HAZE, SINGSTAR and more)coming out in this month and following months to come. But next year is when SONY makes their real move and win this gen console war.

[wageslave]

Folklore has a 9, 8, 6.9, 6.6 and a 5 for reviews on Metacritic:

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

[Covenant]

Five reviews are hardly a definitive sample. Wait until it has fifteen to twenty reviews before passing judgment. That will be the best way to determine if it stinks or not.

[TruthBTold]

This is just a sad attempt of putting an article together at the last minute. Make your mind up already, what is it going to be, do you hate it because it came out early or late, come on, give us your Oh so wise opinion. Writers seem to have an easy job now when they know they can bash at any console for dumb reasons and people will read it. But hey, maybe since they seem to know so much I wonder why they never started a company or at least know where to invest their money. They would not have to write lame articles anymore because they know a lot about how businesses can succeed and so they can invest in profitable stocks, right. This is what turns gamers into fanboys, because they get offended with comments like these that kind of are telling them you are dumb because your purchased X product and so the consumer might feel the need to defend their decision. I love video games but all this crap we get now is just taking the fun out of what everyone used to enjoy so much.

[Fux4Bux]

Yeah I agree completely. A PS3 launching this holiday would just blow the other 2 away completely. I can't even imagine how crazy people would go if Resistance, Motorstorm (both with more dev time), Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, Rachet and Clank, were all launch exclusives with a $399 price point. Probably could've added more RAM and an upgraded GPU too to give it a definite edge over 360. Would've been #1 within a year even after being 2 years behind. At this point Sony is playing catch up badly and has to gain momentum. They would've had PLENTY launching this holiday and kept it going with KZ2, MGS4, FFXIII, LBP, and other games next year.

[Lumbo]

The thing that you conveniently forget is that it would NOT launch for $399 now, it would launch for the same price it did last year. 3rd party devs would be nowhere in developement, as they would look at a Wii:12 million, Xbox360: 11 million, PS3 zero console distribution.

Especially the Wii success would already have moved developers completely off the HD scene into the Wii thing.

From a business point its also garbage, you do not sit on a huge pile of brand new hardware for a year to wait for time to pass, new hardware is old hardware faster than you can imagine. So when you are done developing and into manufacturing you release the thing.

[gerrard]

One year early? It would have been suicide. Had Sony waited until this time it would have been too late and Microsoft and/or Nintendo would have had the console market sewn up. People with short memory should remember the time the 360 was released and the PS3 was delayed the last time, people got impatient with Sony and they were losing their customers to Nintendo and Microsoft, so it's not that they played into Microsoft's hands as this article suggest, the truth is Sony had no choice but to release it as soon as possible, because if they waited to release the PS3 at this time with games like Bioshock and Halo3 out for 360 then Sony would be finished simple as that.

[Shaka2K6]

Nah the PS3 launch was perfect the x360 launch on the other hand?

[wageslave]

I guess you didnt get a launch PS2 then. One thing to note when the motherboard on my first PS2 fried, Sony didnt pony up for a free repair. I paid for it.

When the drive in the second unit failed, I had to pay to have that fixed.

Now, my second PS2 has been dead for about 12 months, I suspect a PSU circuit (magic smoke came out).

So, dont bother about the failure nonsense. The drives on the PS2 were an insult and a tragedy, they failed left and right. Did Sony send everyone free drives?

Hell, cottage industries popped up in every city with "Fix PS2" signs in the windows for F-sakes.

[SlaughterMeister]

I've had my PS2 for six years, and I don't even think it's ever frozen on me once.

You probably just had a run of bad luck, and considering all the issues people have with the 360, I'd choose a Sony product over a Microsoft product anyday.

[gololo]

@wageslave
sucks for you dude...i had mine from launch date, and it still works!!!

[ThaGeNeCySt]

Gotta agree with wageslave... i went through 3 PS2's... all due 2 faulty lasers... ironically... my original xbox still works that i got a month from launch, and my launch day xbox360 still works.... very odd i know.

[ManOnFire]

Too late, Too early ? The original xbox was a year late to the race and I remember reading articles stating that Microsoft was sure that the reason thier console lagged behind was because of it. Were they right ? One thing is for sure it did'nt help them. Microsoft could hardly wait to launch thier next console so they could have an advantage so they killed off the original xbox to release the 360. No doubt it was rushed but it had no " Next gen " competition at the time.
If Sony would have been able to launch along side the 360 I think things would be much more equal between the two right now.

The big question for me is what will happen at the end of the 360's life cycle ? Will Microsoft push another console out the door in the next three years ? What would that mean to Sony and the overall life cycle of the PS3 ?

I like the idea of long cycles because its seems that toward the end is when you see some of the most amazing games.

[cmrbe]

1. If Sony Release it late alot of developers would have move on to x360 and wii.
2. Games like MGS and FF will not be relesae in 2008 because of the small installbase in 2008 or even worse go mulit-plat and be released on x360 in 2008.
3. The gap between wii360 and PS3 would be so huge that it will take forever for PS3 to catch up which means it will loose more developer support.

And for his comment about capcom. I just read today that Capcom will finally focus more on PS3 than PS2. The developers know Sony is a safe bet cause they built a rock solid technological beast with the most varied franchise and loyal 100 million plus fanbase from previous generation.

[gano]

Who don't have the system, don't know what their talking about. And to those who do, know that it was delayed for a yr damn near. This story has no merit, sorry. Sumtin did come out rushing and it has probs, sony said it was delayed because of the br diode or whatever. Damn... this is ridiculous i never seen so much hate for sumtin that's quality and works
but so much love for sumtin that breaks. Shows why america is the last to get anything right.

[ALMIGHTYPS3]

PS3 has a FUTURE>fact.And Xbox360?Who knows?right now it looks like ps3 has more exclusives on the way than the xbox360.

[Proxy]

The main argument seems to be that the PS3 would have done well to sell for $400 in Nov 2007, and the killer games that would shortly come would really seal the deal. Apparently in this scenerio the PS3 sales boom and it's a huge hit.

Turns out, the PS3 is going to be selling for $400 in Nov 2007, and the killer games are already out, with more coming. Will it still be a booming success?

Another thing, the PS3 isn't that much better than a 360 (I own and love my PS3), their both great systems and this "Hey, were releasing something only slightly better than a 360 two years later and for same price you could have bought a 360 two years ago!" strategy wouldn't fare very well. I would probably think "well then why the hell didn't I just buy a 360 two years ago? All I'm doing is joining the next gen for the same price everyone else did, and two years late." Whatever the case this later release would hardly put the PS3 in any better position.

[PimpHandHappy]

Gano is one of the few ppl with a long term memory! The PS3 was delayed a year.

If it was rushed out they would have failure issues along with not having games for it. Both are not true of the PS3.

Its not like the 360 was pouring out games in its first year but it did have problems with its design. OH WAIT SORRY "still does have problems with its design"

ADD ON: Wageslave

MS also told you the 360 had a 3% fail rate! They havent annonced the fix because they know it will bring light on that number 33% and if it doesnt fix the problem then they just have a fundamental problem with the parts they used. Dont tell me what MS has announced till its been proven and i just seen a RROD halo360! I will give it 6 more months b4 i buy one and that should be for around 300bucks for the elite. Lets see a stress test like they did with the PS3

[wageslave]

Read this:

"Having identified a number of factors which can cause general hardware failures indicated by three red flashing lights on the console, Microsoft has made improvements to the console and is enhancing its Xbox 360 warranty policy for existing and new customers."

(from http://www.microsoft.com/Pr...

Also, read this loud and clear; Microsoft said at the Tokyo Game Show:

"We have made all the improvements in our manufacturing process, All the consoles on the market have those improvements.

http://www.gamepro.com/news...

The Xbox 360 heat issues have already been fixed, and we already were told. And we've been seeing the improved hardware for months now.

Every Xbox 360 with a HDMI port (probably even the Core, just without the HDMI header on the pins) has Motherboard Version 1.1. This Motherboard has fewer components, smaller components, new layout, and a new CPU/GPU mounting methodology.

Look at this: http://www.mainstageclothin...

--

Besides, is the best thing you can say about the Playstation 3 that some early Xbox 360's were replaced for free by Microsoft? Did Sony pony up to fix my broken PS2? Replace all the failed drives?

Do you want to talk about the Playstation 3 being delayed a year? The joke that is PSN? BluRay being about DRM movies for Sony Picture Studios? The feature poor firmware? The developer complaints? Lack of rumble? Poor downloadable arcade options? How about Internet TV? You guys got that?

The real tragedy is that even at a lower price, the Xbox 360 is still a far more compelling entertainment center and game machine. Dont think that MS is going to stand still.

Who knows what wonderful things will come in things are going to be in the fall update to sadden Playstation 3 owners.

[andy001]

It is interesting that some are stating that Blu Ray is just a way of pushing DRM to the masses, but I disagree. Sony have always been an engineering company, and it seems to me are always trying to push the boundaries when it comes to technology. Obviously they have other departments/businesses which have other motives, such as protecting their intellectual property and this is why you get things like DRM and rootkits etc.

But the engineers, they just want to build great stuff. I see the Blue Ray disc as a way of producing really high quality movies with lossless audio, which can help customers like me create a home theatre experience which rivals the cinema. I am not going to download a 50GB file over the web and then pay per view, which is the MS version of HD. In all the stuff that Sony do, you could argue that they appear to be a bit stubborn and want to go their own way (SACD, UMD for example) but I firmly believe that is because they are just technology geeks and are doing it as much for themselves as they are to answer some perceived customer need. We need a bit more of that rather than pandering to the marketing department and ending up with failing hardware, dissatisfied developers, and locked in platforms.

Microsoft? Well, they are really a marketing company, indeed Steve Ballmer sees the future of Microsoft in advertising. The 360 is a platform designed to deliver advertising into your home. It is completely locked down and no-one can do anything on that platform without MS getting a slice, or giving permission (no home brew, no linux, no unrestricted web browsing, no third party accessories) They have done deals with in game advertising, they are doing deals with internet TV type companies,and if you look at how they have integrated the advertising (or ability to buy) Halo related products within the actual game, this is what the Microsoft future looks like. It doesn not look attractive to me.

I own both consoles and enjoy them both immensely, but for me the Sony machine seems more suited to what I want out of my home gaming/entertainment device, the 360 is a not so subtle way of getting spam into my life. Hopefully the PS3 will continue its success before we end up with a monopoly which would bombard me with advertising. Despite all the PR blunders by Sony (reacting to FUD spread by MS) I still believe that Sony is the more honest of the two suppliers.

[hardcorehippiez]

my 360 has red ringed now after just a year and a half. i will not be replacing it any time soon tho until they get this problem sorted out. would rather spend my money on games for ps3

[DJ]

I'm sure Spring 2007 would've gone over easier, but they really did try their best to have a proper launch for Holiday 06; unfortunately, a lot of things held them back. At the moment though, they've sold close to 6 million consoles and while it's not a very good number, it is a solid starting point.

The great thing is that Sony is taking a lot of initiative by putting out a huge array of exclusive titles and proving to the public that their system is not only the most powerful console on the market, but also the most feature-packed. Now that their software lineup for 2007 and 2008 is looking promising, it's up to pricing and marketing to do their thing.

[sak500]

"Now that their software lineup for 2007 and 2008 is looking promising"

Dude what are you smoking? 2007 is 2 months away from over, almost all ps3 games have been delayed to 2008. What games did u get this year which made it worth spending $600 and waiting 6 months for any decent games. Devs must be really cursing their luck to develop games for cell processor. NOthing gr8 has yet come on ps3 which justify buying it. I see 08 xmas and price tag of $250 to propel me to buy it unless BD is dead then i woudn't buy it at all maybe ps4 then.

[Daytona]

www.nexgenwars.com

Xbox 360
29% pick 360 (229,209 votes)consoles sold
11,728,336

PS3
20% pick PS3 (158,171 votes)consoles sold
4,732,049

Wii
51% pick Wii (402,537 votes)consoles sold
11,411,680

NOT EVEN CLOSE TO 6 MILLION.

I can't wait until all the holidays numbers are added including consoles sold based on just Halo 3 for the Xbox 360.

[Double-Edged]

either way...It's a good thing I didnt buy my future PS3 early.

[Genki]

I think it would have served them, and us, better to have released the PS3 this fall as opposed to last year. In retrospect, the 360 was quite literally competing with the PS2. HW sales for the PS2 really were strong, and titles like FFXII, GoW 2, and Rogue Galaxy just continued to bolster what was already an all-star lineup for the ages. Hell, I was still enjoying Tales of the Abyss myself.

Personally, I think it not only would have cut costs, but everything we've seen in the firmware updates may have already been implemented and then some. I would have liked the system to launch with more RAM, but that's more wishful thinking than anything else, as the HW specs were already finalized.

From a games standpoint, I'm still having the most fun with Resistance to be honest. That's not to say that other games are bad, as I don't own Motorstorm or Heavenly Sword(played them though), so I'm strictly speaking from my PERSONAL experience.

I'm satisfied with my purchase, but from Sony's standpoint, it would have served them better to launch this year I think. Otherwise though, I'm happy. Lots to look forward to in the coming months.

[gerrard]

Ps3 doesn't need anymore RAM thats lazy Dev talk (its already proven itself with KZ2 for example), what it needed was developers to take time to work on it. As a result the second gen games look superior to any 360 games at the moment. What the likes of people like EA for example want to do is to live of their franchises of the Megadrive/Snes haydays, buy license, and make poor relation to a certain pro game without putting any work and little money as possible to their games. And if Sony did add more RAM to PS3 it would push the price up further and the graphics would be probably inferior because those lazy Devs would only be using the PPE part of the cell processor and woudn't bother touching any of the SPE's (lazy ports have shown an example of this). So we only want proper Devs like Konami, Naughty Dogs and Insomiac who actually do the hard work and rather than those who make excuses.

[Marceles]

Early? You gotta be kidding...

[Torch]

all of these contorted, misguided, unsubstantiated anti-PS3 perceptions.

"Too early." Sometimes you just can't win, can you? The PS3 was the same product that was initially heavily-criticized for shipping too late as a result of development delays. And now it's too early...Just plain dumb.

The PS3's timeline-based sales trend is currently on-par, if not superior to, that of the 360.

Before you say "so what", just stop and THINK for a second on what an incredible feat that is:

For no less than a full year following its launch point, the 360 had Zero (zilch, "0", nada, NOTHING!!!) current-gen competition to contend with, while the PS3 is burdened with not only a somewhat-established 360 market, but also with a thunderously-momentous Wii fad, whose insanely successful launch had coincided smack-dab alongside Sony's ill-criticized product.

Saying that the PS3 is in trouble and the 360 is successful is one Hell of a paradox, considering that the market-crowded PS3 is currently pushing the same number of units that it's arch rival was approximately one year ago.

Taking all of the above into account, I'm confident to declare that the PS3 market is performing PHENOMENALLY superior to that of the 360.

And for God's sake, the desperate "no games" scapegoat is getting way, way, WAY too stale. How much spare time do you friggin' people have, to declare that the PS3 has "no good games"??? Obviously, the above critics either haven't spent any time with the impressive number of stellar, readily available games, or they had already biasly based their opinion a long time ago, and will continue to remain in denial.

So be it; It's your loss.

Riddle me this: How many true system sellers (i.e., "killer app") did the 360 have at this very same point in it's product life cycle???

Stop. Wrong: Don't count Gears of War, since it was launched in November, and we ain't even there yet.

Here we now sit, barely in October, and just look at the decent number of amazing PS3-only titles we've already been subject to - only TEN MONTHS proceeding launch. And come next month and onward, things are gonna REALLY start cooking and ain't gonna stop.

But I really don't care whether you like the PS3 or not, although I do unfortunately have a low-tolerance point for mass-induced stupidity.

Run along now and proceed to mindlessly bash the PS3...or 360, or wii, or your head (I dare to dream). I, as well an exceedingly growing-millions of others will continue to enjoy the PS3's myriad and absolutely amazing capabilities for many, many years to come.

Play B3yond indeed.

[aiphanes]

Sony has microsoft beat...no doubt...$399 PS3 next week....then some awesome games comming this year...Haze, Ratchet, Uncharted, Singstar, GT5 prologue....then in early 2008, Ut3, Killzone 2, MGS4, burnout paradise, little big planet, HOME...then in late 2008 Final Fantasy 13, God of War 2, Resistance 2, GTA4, La nore, wardevil, infamous, fallout 3....

Show me one good xbox 360 game next year besides GTA4, burnout, and fallout 3...we all know these games will be better on the PS3, since by the time they come out...the devs will know the PS3 by the back of their hands....plus they have up to 50 GB of space to work with...

[power of Green]

Why would anybody show you a list?, whats the point(*my games are good but not yours* Sony fanboy reasoning is pointless why post a list?).

Don't forget about the 360 launch supply problems that lasted untill the following Apirl.

Don't forget about the millions that waited for PS3 to launch before they purchased a Next-gen console.

Puts Sony right on par with 360 right now in two years with your numbers ofcourse price drops known and unknown titles will mix it up. Sony not only has to match the 360 in sales every month its has to beat it by alot to ever pass it.

[Bathyj]

Geeze what a wank. I had to stop reading.

More like Xbox released a year early, not the other way around.

Who abandoned 20 million customers, Who released hardware obviously not test properly and STILL not reliable nearly 2 YEARS down the track.

Wait a year for the price to drop before releasing so you could have got it for the price it will be this Christmas, Great idea, just so you can say your launch price was cheaper but miss out on a years sales and give a futher lead to Xbox. And has for all those games he mentioned that will be out by christmas, if they all came a month with in launch then there would be TOO MANY games. Sounds silly but chances are out of 20 games only the top 5 would have sold if the market is flooded. What a clown.

[wageslave]

Consider yourself informed now Bathyj. You were ignorant and incorrect, now you have been informed. Read on...

Start here:

"Having identified a number of factors which can cause general hardware failures indicated by three red flashing lights on the console, Microsoft has made improvements to the console and is enhancing its Xbox 360 warranty policy for existing and new customers."

(from http://www.microsoft.com/Pr...

Every Xbox 360 with a HDMI port (probably even the Core, just without the HDMI header on the pins) has Motherboard Version 1.1. This Motherboard has fewer components, smaller components, new layout, and a new CPU/GPU mounting methodology.

Look at this: http://www.mainstageclothin...

Also, read this loud and clear; Microsoft said at the Tokyo Game Show:

"We have made all the improvements in our manufacturing process, All the consoles on the market have those improvements.

http://www.gamepro.com/news...

[Bathyj]

So you're saying Xbox is now reliable, is that right?

Thats yet to be proved Dude, theres a reason there's a 3 year warranty. It needs it. Lets wait and see if the changes work. Yes even Xbox owners have to wait sometimes.

I take it everything else I said remains uncontested fact since you never mentioned it.

And Dude, dont lump me it with SDF or them other lame sites, I dont even know what they mean or stand for as I've never visited them. I'm just a guy who knows what he likes having been a gamer for nearly 30 years.

[xc7x]

period.

[demolitionX]

i would say, sony should have rushed with dev. tools to help game studios develop for PS3, and give them a hand on how to take advantage of the SPUs, as it looks like everybody is 6s and 7s when it comes to prgramming the SPUs.

[PimpHandHappy]

You want to tell us all "read this loud and clear" that MS has fixed the problem!

They also told us all "read this loud and clear" we only have a 3% fail rate! Then they also said "things break"

well my slim PS2 has a crazy amount of hours on it and it has never broke. My fat PS2 had the disk read error but i fixed that myself in 10min.

my PS3 is on all day when im home and still hasnt broke

so guess what

things dont break and the average fail rate on consumer eltronics is 3-5%!

[Fan Tastic]

You know how much better every single 360 game would be on the PS3 or even Wii.

It is so disgusting that people got suckered into buying such horrible hardware from MS. They've really put a bad light on gamers as being idiots and people with zero standards or morals.

What does MS do to you that treat them so well by giving them your hard earned money. They lie to you about the failure rates. They lie to you about pricing. $49 for every M$ game. What happens they extort another $10 but you are all ready to forget and forgive and continue to be the slaves in their communist empire.

Sony and Nintendo haven't been perfect but they did the right thing and actually released the products when the hardware was ready. Not early just to suck every last $$$ out of the people that made them what they were.

[ProjectX]

MS intention was to turn 360 degree around to meet with the original xbox. GeoW was at 180 degree mark and Halo 3 is at 220 degree. Get it?

[kiikoooo]

thing is, metal gear solid and FF will be released in 08. and if the ps3 still has no fanbase then why the hell would they release it for the ps3 only. and then if sony loses them then id think that sony would be in soooo much trouble.

i love my ps3 and i am glad they released it last year.

[MikeGdaGod]

i don't agree but at least he attempted to explain his reasoning.

i will say this, launching too early means your console having a failure rate of 33%.

hint: its not sony

[Salvadore]

I would say the 360 was released to early.

[Dogswithguns]

someone has to release earlier than the others. cant just be on the exact sametime.

[SlaughterMeister]

I say the Wii was released too early.

My reasoning?

I DON'T NEED REASONS!

I, as a gamer and user of N4G, make stupid comments and convoluted responses to everything that I ever read.

So I say the Wii was released too early, if they only had released it next year, they would have a Wii in every home, and through the magic that is the Wii-mote, they would have aligned the planets, effectively eliminating poverty and achieving world peace!

Oh, Nintendo be praised! Hallelujah!

[anh_duong]

people who write articles like this are so stupid it defies belief.

if the ps3 was delayed for another year then sony should have just shut up shop and closed down it's gaming business.

this is what would have happened:

1. a considerable number of ps3 buyers out of the 5.5 million would have bought xbox and wii instead.

2.many games developers would have given up on the ps3 and just gone xbox 360/wii exclusive. (15mio xbox 360 and 15 mio wiis if the ps3 was delayed - that is a big head start).

3.game developers would be on first their gen experience for writing games for ps3 whilst on their 3rd generation of game experience for xbox 360.

4. many more exclusives would have been lost. why wait producing games?? how is your software firm going to pay the staff?

5. Blu-Ray would have also been hugely disadvantage and with that the studio support behind it. the ps3 is the single reason why the blu-ray format is gaining the upper hand. So one of the main ps3 selling point (blu-ray) would have been hobbled.

THE KEY thing here is the developers. the writer knows nothing about the developers when he writes articles like this. this delay talk is so stupid i can't understand why it still gets discussed. anyone who agrees with this article knows absolutely jack about the computer games business. Ask any gaming executive what the key factors that kill consoles and developers and they will tell you it is DELAYS. DELAYS kills.

STUPID

[Prismo_Fillusion]

I don't think Sony released the PS3 a year early.
I think the developers started working the PS3 games a year late!

[Gina-get-u]

I think the author is a nitwit and his article is nothing more than warm piss in a mountain dew bottle. Here's why:

1. You can't bring down manufacturing costs until you are actually manufacturing. Economies of scale aren't achieved on paper. The assembly line needs to be set up and moving before you can train production workers, identify bottlenecks, tighten up the raw material delivery scheduling and sourcing, refine testing and quality control, improve yields, etc. That's why it takes new factories a few months to ramp up to full production capacity.

2. There wasn't anything major Sony could have done to improve the PS3 by keeping it in development for an extra year. As it is, the PS3 already boasts more features than the competition (maybe more than it needs, in fact), and on launch it was better put together and designed than the 360. The only real hardware problem PS3 had, and still does, is that it costs too damned much. I want one too but I'm not stupid.

3. The late arrival of killer apps is a problem, but I don't see how delaying launch for a year would have solved that. If anything, taking more development time would have delayed the PS3's final product specs even further, which in turn would have delayed final development kits, which would then have held back game development even further.

4. Releasing the PS3 later would actually have reduced its technological advantage. Technology starts getting old even before a product gets to the market, so the sooner you crank something out the better off you will be. A late PS3 would have an even shorter time in the spotlight as the latest and greatest before the Xbox 720 shows up.

[mishmosh]

PS3 is the reason Blueray is now dominant. With the PS3, there would not be the commanding lead in BR movie sales that there is today. The article brings up good points when it comes to games though. There is currently no system seller for PS3 although Warhawk comes close.

[Bullseye]

Wasn't Sony's launch date largely dictated by component supply problems(Blu ray).They launched when they were able to launch.Few games and high cost at launch didn't help.And despite the idea of superior technology,the reality is very different.Sony is only now beginning to get off the ground with comparable graphics and software to the 360 .Also sales of PS3 appear decent and consistent, but is it too little too late?

[wil4hire]

PS3 has sold what? 4-5 million units(depending on source) While the 360 has 8-10 million units sold..(Including its largest game release in history Halo3. Ps3 is right behind it in sales, and this is without any system sellers.

Why does no one speculate on what will happen come system seller time, just like the ps2 and SSX?

Its cute that everyone is on the anti-ps3 bandwagon, but it really makes no sense. The only "promise." Sony as an evil corporation didn't come through on was certain game titles that will be delayed until the beginning of next year, but knowing exactly what happened with the PS2... I'm not expecting anything in a consoles life to happen until the end of the year.

Few reasons Sony is still king in my book:
1. It didn't ship out \continue to ship out faulty hardware.
2. It didn't ship out \continue to ship out faulty physical media.
3. It didn't let developers lie straight out to its customers by telling them games would be in HD, when they weren't.
4. It didn't charge $ for Peer to Peer gameplay.
5. It didn't replace faulty hardware with brand new faulty hardware.

Everyone that actually owns a ps3 has complaints about the ports of the games. We complain about the lack of features with the PSN.. Thats it. All of those issues are slowly getting resolved as developers get used to the ps3, just like it took them time to get used to the ps2. We all know HOME is going to correct the PSN issues, we all know that true next generation mind blowing amazing games are headed our way.

Stories like these just show the glaring ignorance of so called "Authors." Out there.

[TheMART]

The guy is right on, only one flaw in his story:

"That's still a lot, but apparently Xbox 360 owners were perfectly happy with that price in 2005 and its weak launch lineup."

One small difference there. It was the only next gen machine out there and had better scoring launch titles then the PS3:

COD2 is average reviewed at 90%
PGR3 is average reviewed at 88%

Resistance scored 86% and had graphics on par of COD2, almost 1.5 year later...

Motorstorm scored 82% average.

And it had competition of the 360 that had Gears of War around PS3 launch and a Wii into the party also.

Thus: the 360 on 399 Euro/Dollar had worked, the PS3 at a wopping 599 Dollar/Euro couldn't work.

They just started on a too high price. Had the PS3 started on 399 Euro/Dollar last year @ launch, the 360 would have been beaten in sales, even without the real system sellers probably.

And now it's a bit too late. Starting to sell in 2008? When the 360 will be around 20 mln. units out the PS3 will be on what, not even half of that... Sony thinks to get on about 10 mln. at the end of this year. So have to sell 5.35 mln. in the remaining 3 months, when they sold 4.65 mln. in 11 months. Impossible.

360 is in the position the PS2 was last gen. First out, most support, largest installed base, will have the positive spiral of getting the snowball effect in support, games, users

PS3 is in the position of the XBOX 1 was last gen. A year later, smaller installed base, getting ports, less support, less users, a negative spiral.

[anh_duong]

mart, don't worry too much about the ps3.

since you are so positive that the ps3 will lose then why don't you just relax i.e. there is absolutely no need to go into every single post about the ps3. i understand it obviously isn't paranoia, insecurity nor compulsive behaviour tendencies that makes you go into umpteenth posts about ps3. yes the xbox 360 will convincingly win like you say so - so why bother wasting so much time talking down the ps3. so relax and let ps3 owners enjoy their ps3. you enjoy your xbox 360 too -it has a lot of AAA games you keep mentioning - so enjoy those games especially since you already know that you have nothing to fear from sony.

only rather sad paranoid, insecure and screwed up obssessive compulsives spend so much of their lives devoted to an harmless inanimate product - especially if it is a product they don't own. of course you aren't one of those persons - you are far too normal and balanced to be that sort of person - aren't you?

[SL1M DADDY]

The PS3 was released at a time when Sony needed to get BD players into the hands of those who wanted it and it was released in a time when gamers who are Sony loyal wanted their next iteration of gaming goodness. For BD they were greatly successful and for gaming they were mediocre. However, as with all other Sony consoles, the devs eventually come on board and get up to speed and start producing excellent games. The games were going to come but if Sony were to have waited another year, they may have lost too much ground in the HD Video market. It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard spot and Sony did what it could to pick the lesser of two evils upon release dates. They did what worked in their favor knowing that the games would come. And look what is happening now, games are coming and they have secured over 60 percent of the HD market. Good for Sony and bad for this poor sap that wrote this article...

[Silver360]

What stupidity!!!! That would mean that MS would have had 2005, 2006, 2007 pretty much all to themselves. That would make MS synonymous with next gen platforms. Remember how long it took the supernintendo to break the genesis hold? Nintendo is just now recovering. In the video games industry you have your product out there ASAP or we gamers will leave you behind. And developers follow us because they want our money.

[BigBadPolo]

I don't understand how Sony could have afforded to launch a year later? It seems to me they took the extra year they needed and launched at the right time. They would have crashed and burned if they would have given 2007 to MS. That would have been a difficult bridge to cross. Yes they didn't launch with a stellar catalog but I'd have to argue that R:FOM was indeed a AAA title. It may not have been by namesake, as it's obviously a new title but gameplay wise it was definitely AAA. 360's launch titles weren't spectacular in there own right. CoD2 may have really been the only title worth paying money for. PS3 has a loyal fan base and obviously has some big titles coming. The only problem I see is at it's current price point its quite difficult to bring in non-Sony branded joe six pack buyers. A parent that is not in the know about things is not going to walk in to a store and drop $500 on a PS3 with they can get a 360 or a Wii(Good luck) and a game for less. Either way the PS3 is doing fine, it's existence is good for competition and the only thing I see is that there will not be a free and clear dominant console this generation. They both have fans, they both have exclusives and they both will have to live with each other for years to come.

[feejo]

Ya great the article speak about the x360 hadware failure, I guess sony was thinking he his been beyond the competitors with PS2, but did not think they have to reinvent themselve, I can tell by the controler: did not get the rumble, that was a new coll feature with PS1. So it is clear the PS3 was not ready on controler side. I still don't get it why they went with another manifacturer for making PS3 then went back to the PS2 manifacturer.

The developpers problems: Phil Harrison said: "It is a system that more expensive to develop, I mean more time to develop" lol. He add too that PS3 did not build a PS3 OS like PS1, cause developpers wanted to have more power over the hardware, that is what they did with PS3 => no OS. But they don't know yet how to program it well.

But Phil Harrison said the the PS3 launch more games than it launch more game than ps2 and ps1 did.

It is FALSE that Capcom is leaving PS3, new new's about it here.
http://www.boomtown.net/en_...

At least with that, I hope they will learn from thir mistakes.

And please stop talking about Halo, Bungie said they are tired to do Halo.

[codeazrael]

Alot of people don't know that development of the ps3 started before the xbox 360. But the problem came when Sony burned a year trying to get the cell processor to play games properly (according to Bill Gates) But first to understand why Sony launched when they did, even if they shouldnt have, you gotta look at Sony's strategy. Sony was trying to kill two birds with one stone with the release of the PS3 as well as the integration of BluRay into the console. You see, when Microsoft launched its next gen console Sony went into panic mode, and even though they said "the next generation doesnt begin until we say so", when the 360 launched you had Sony execs running around doing backflips not believing that Microsost began the next generation, and they didnt believe Microsoft would pull a sneek tactic and cut the life of its first console short in favor of its successor. But you also have bluray to consider. Now please understand that Sony execs would sell their firstborn and halt production on all ps3s if it meant that Bluray would become the standard that would replace DVDs. Bluray is the real money maker, and that is why Sony figured that if they got a huge installed base on the ps3, that would make bluray the decisive victor over hd dvd. And this would've all been fine and dandy, and may have even worked IF...............even though Sony was losing their shirts on each console at launch even with the high price tag, if they would've launched one sku at $399 that wouldve made all the difference...even if the damn system had few games, because the fact is that by time the ps3 launched, those guys had ports of some good games we had to wait for already ready for them. But this guy was right in saying Sony shouldve just arrived late with a killer launch lineup as well as a cheaper ps3 that they would not be losing everything on.

[Jinxstar]

Flamebait article.... All systems are good and have games and are fun. If you dont want to spend the money buy a 360. If you want the tech and BR player buy a PS3.... I hate articles like this. People make the same points over and over again even if they have been proven dead wrong...

[moolox]

What utter rubbish!! They had no choice as they were not only pushing the playstation brand but were also pushing bluray.

If only 10% adopted the PS3 as a Bluray player as well as a console this was key to the lead bluray now has.

[Rooftrellen]

I believe the number is 20%. Only 40% of PS3 owners know they have a bluray player, too, and only half of them use it.

Assuming half of them got it for a bluray player only, not for the games...they would have gotten a standalone bluray player if the PS3 hadn't been out. The PS3 might be the cheapest bluray player out there, but when you're talking about $500-$600, a little more money is nothing. If you have the money to buy a PS3 for bluray, chances are you have so much money you wouldn't mind buying a higher price standalone player.

[gnothe1]

one thing that bothers me about the future of this FUTURE proof PS3 is that we all know that MS is hard at work on its next box!! do you guys think sony is gonna let MS get this advantage over them again!! because this is an uphill battle an sony just dont seem to be gaining any ground. (higher price an less games!!) I think its safe to say that the next box will be here around 2010-2011 putting the 360 at 5-6 years old!! so what do you guys think sony is gonna do HONESTLY!! put you love for sony aside an think . do you really think sony is gonna wait to do the next playstation.an dont say the PS3 an cell can match up because you know it wont. or are they gonna cut the PS3 life a little short to push the next system along with MS!

[moolox]

Have you heard of the playstation 2. outsold the xbox 5 -1 and was half as powerful. Its all down to how many boxes are out there.

If there are 40 million xbox360's out there is five years time and 40millions PS3 sony know developers will want to bleed this market for a while. The next gen will hit movie style developent cost and most developer will hold off. Thats why exclusives are dying because they need both and a lot of consoles.

[HarryEtTubMan]

I can't wait for the price cut so I can get my PS3! fanboys are trying to declare winners hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa a. Funny stuff.

[mcy_999]

Sony's biggest mistake is that they are launching PS3 one year too late. It gives xbox 360 one year head start. Now though PS3 is behind xbox 360 in gaming but at least it has put Blu-ray on the map and beats HD DVD good. If it is launched one year later, Sony will lose in both the gameing console and the BD player format war. What is the writer thinking, really? It is ridiculous observation.

[saltinekracka20]

I think they did release it too early, because if they would've held off longer, there would be more games available to it--not the dry spell its been experiencing since its launch. I know they rushed it out to counter the fact that MS and Nintendo were getting a foothold on the market. They were between a rock and a hard place. Guess they did what they had to.

[jahosive]

I am just curious to find more early adopters who are completely frustrated by the crap that Sony has sent our way. I bought a PS3 on launch, with promise of games and great movies. I have waited close to a year for any of these promises to come true, and now it just seems like my whole year was in vain. I bought the PS3 in hopes of supposed launch game Lair and 4 month away Heavenly Sword, as well as the advertisements showing Spiderman 1 & 2 on BD. I soon found out that HD-DVD LOOKED BETTER ON MY 133" SCREEN, due to Sony using the ancient Mpeg formatting, and when the games I wanted so badly were finally released in Sept, they were so disappointing (12 hrs of gameplay for H.S. and Lair - meh) that I have yet to own a single game. Now Sony continues to screw the early adopter, both on stand alones and on the PS3. Two price drops in one year? I owned a first gen LD, first gen DVD as well as a first gen SVHS and I have never felt so violated for being that support out of the gate. The early stand alones can't work with BD-J, firmware updates are lacking on anything other than PS3s and the latest debacle has only the PS3 able to handle yet another sony propietary BD+ security encryption mechanism for anti-piracy. This means the people who spent 1000+ are now sitting on drink coasters instead of BD players, as they won't even play BD+. This is nuts, but I would like to get an email chain started, hopefully followed by a website and maybe even some paid advertising against all this forceful, decietful propaganda that has left so many of us out to dry. You can email me at [email protected]. I will send out weekly updates letting people know how many have signed up, and actions that can be taken. I would also like to find others that are willing to help (my main reason for not already setting up a website). I am sick and tired of being lied to, and hopefully some others are too.

[kornbeaner]

I too bought my PS3 @ launch, but how do you feel screwed. At launch I had Resistance, Need for speed Carbon, and NBA 2K7. Few months later I had Motorstorm and MLB 07 the Show. After that there was a big drought, and now I have warhawk and Heavenly sword is on the waiting list, much like uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Rock Band and other games that will come out in 08, Mainly (for me anyway) MGS4 and Killzone 2. All the problems you seem to have with Blu-ray are nobodies fault but your own. You should have done research to better gauge the performance of the Movie format and see if that fit your needs at the time. "Oh but they lied" will guess what, ALL companies lie. MS has lied so many times this generation as well. "HDMI is not needed", "20gig HDD is enough space", "An HDD is not required", "720p is the sweet spot for gaming". All of these statements have been retracted or dealt with in some way (New Sku's, adding HDMI to the excisting SKU's, in the case of 720p their biggest game to date and possibly ever failed to achieve that resolution and instead diplays itself only in 640p, yes its upsclaed to fit but nothing changes the fact the it's only 640p). lets not even mention how many times they tried to sweep the RROD problem under the rug until they acutally did something about it (Some 33%precent failure rate later). All companies lie to get your money, if you feel screwed then you have nobody to blame but yourself cause you didn't put in your time in research before wasting $600 on a system you knew very little about.

[lwsbrck]

Just a thought, but if PS3 launched later, then perhaps they could have done a proper global release, as opposed to releasing in Japan and America, then Europe at a (much) later date. If Sony could have achieved the Global launch, perhaps European Gamers wouldn't feel so screwed over by Sony, and be less begrudging of the PS3.

[Rammstien_DuHast]

You know what this is funny B/c they talk about Gaylo 3 and Blah Blah Blah u know what come nov - spring of 08 all u gonna he is damn i should of gotten a PS3 look at all those games MGS4, Uncharted, KZ2 , UT3etc.. then when ps3 is sold out all over the country and people still have the Gaybox 360 & Gaylo 3 which is all they have and the greatest thing ever seen the RROD which for microsoft is called Take The Money and Run ps Bungie will make a game for PS3 after they leave Craposoft

[mcgrawgamer]

This was a pretty decent forum untill you came in Gaylo this and Gaylo that. Your a moron. Yes the guy who wrote this article is focusing on a certain aspect of the PS3, personally I feel it was not timing it was consistency. The one thing you could always count on from Sony was consistency. When the original xbox came about I applauded Sony they did not waiver, they did not trash talk xbox, their actions spoke louder than words, Yes the xbox was more powerful, but devs knew how to use the PS2 tools and made games look great. They have always been consistent from ps1 to ps2, but with the ps3 let's look at some inconsistencies.... We don't need rumble (rumble is coming) Msoft is confusing the consumer with so many sku's (if the 40gb version is true Sony will have marketed a total of 4 sku's!) Price is not an issue with the PS3 (at TGS they Kaz admits price is a major factor in the struggling sales of the ps3) I could go on, but I won't. The problem is not timing. It's consistency, and with this change in focus it looks like Sony has lost confidence as well. That's why so many gamers like me are waiting to see if Sony can pull out this slump and get back to being successfull. But Halo or Gaylo as you put it has nothing to do with this forum, so why bring it up? DUMMY!!!!

[stuntman_mike]

timing, yeah some one pressed x button to quickly during the sony QTE game making machine process.

[Adamalicious]

I think the PS3 was more "ready" than the PS2 was - and we all know how that turned out. I mean, PS3 had Resistance, a totally great game, day one. The best the PS2 had to offer at launch was SSX and I'll take Resistance any day.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

This gaming market is unpredictable and those who think they can just need to look to the past and look at all those hopefulls that failed (even mighty ones like Sega and Atari) MS didn't do it, third party didn't do it, Nintendo didn't do it and the media didn't do it to Sony, Sony did it to themselves.

[UltramanJ]

I don't think Sony had a choice as allowing Microsoft to go unchallenged for a second sraight Christmas would've been a foolish mistake. I'm guessing many of you aren't familiar with the N64? Nintendo was the king and one of the errors they commited was taking their old sweet time to release their system, which in turn allowed Sony to grab everyone's attention with Playstation. There was no comeback for Nintendo.
The same thing would've happened to Sony, only with M$ stealing the gamers. Sony's only downfall this gen is really with public perception, as they took a lashing from the media at the PS3 launch, and deservedly so. It's going to take some time for Sony to really get back on their feet, but I think they can do it thanks to their strong internal development studios, because that's what's going to make the big difference for them versus Microsoft.

[skynidas]

mistake? yeah right

[DFresh]

I got to admit as a Sony fan this topic would be correct but even so they're still making great timing right now with tons of exclusives, online networking, online play, and so on. The titles will only get better as it grows. I know they won't make the same mistake with the PS4 which comes out in 2016.
People you got to believe that games like Killzone 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Project Offset, Eight Days, Ratchet & Clank Future, Heavenly Sword, Tekken 6, etc. look good and this technology is only possible on PS3.
Blu-ray technology has the things they need to make better games they just need timing and they have that now.
The only thing I think Sony messed up on the most was price point more than anything. From the PS2($300) to the PS3($600) is a really big jump that's 2 PS2's combined for one console.
PSN is growing really well and even more organized than XBL from what I can see. Not to mention Home will steal the competition.
Then again Microsoft wasn't really that much better with the major overheating and hardware issues 30% of the consoles being produced compared to only 1% to the PS3.
Microsoft didn't even really have that much better of a line up now or then it wasn't until Halo 3 that the 360 got its publicity.
Nintendo started off the best compared to the 3 just look at the sells.
There's still hope for all of these consoles they just need to worry about making a good product first.

[Dannagar]

It's true, Sony made one mistake but that mistake wasn't timing, it was the price point. If they had just released it with a DVD drive instead of the Blu-Ray drive, it would have likely been price originally at $299 to $399 and Sony would be Market Leader.

[stuntman_mike]

i'd rather have blu-ray all day long much better picture and better sound.