23rd / March / 2007
This
date may mean absolute zilch for most but for those with a decent
enough memory. This was the day Sony's "Next gen doesn't start till we
say so" PS3 was launched in the land of the long white cloud.
With
only 2 games really worth a mention on release, the PS3 fast became the
laughing stock of the gaming industry. Media and fanboys alike all
jumped on the awfully over crowed bandwagon of bashing Sony and its new
offspring at every chance. A pixel out of place in a side by side
comparison spelt DOOM! for the PS3. A developer comes out and says "its
difficult architecture makes it hard to work with" and now the wheels
are falling of the multi billion yen powerhouse.
While some
criticisms were unjustified and petty, some were very clear that no
matter what stance you held, you had to agree with. On launch Sony's
new black beast would hurt your wallet to the tune of $1,200. (NZD)
While you received all the perks that goes with purchasing a PS3.
Multimedia features, Blue Ray player and the like. But no matter which
way you looked at it, the PS3 was primarily a games console, and at
that price most would shy away and turn too cheaper alternative's ala
Microsoft's X-Box 360 and Nintendo's Wii.
And shy away they did.
With sales figures struggling to get that worm moving up the chart and
the competition laughing, Sony were left in a position where options
were few and humble pie was on the menu. Heads had to roll, compromise
had to be made and risk's had to be taken.
Cue the stereotypical Eye of the Tiger music in the background.
"The
Father of PlayStation" Ken Kutaragi was seemingly made to look like the
scapegoat and gone were the "no matter what our price is people will
buy our products" statements and income the less headline grabbing
words of assurance.
It was about this time that some of Sony's first party developers got to work. We saw Lair which pretty much went down the slide of sh*t via motion control albeit. But then came Ratchet & Clank which never seems to disappoint and the bull's ass tight Warhawk. But Absolutely, Astonishingly, Amazing games these were not.
Then
came the day so many had hoped for, yes the PS3 had finally cut its
price. Despite this move possibly crippling Sony's game division, it
simply had to be done. And in retrospect it might have well of been the
all or nothing card Sony had up their sleeve. This generated a huge
sales boost which had them at level pegging with the 360 on a yearly
basis. As for the Wii, well I think we all know what happened there.
But still we hadn't seen those AAA games that had been spoken off since E3 05. Introducing Uncharted Drakes Fortune.
This was the work of the masterminds at Naughty Dog and it had jaws
hitting the ground all around the world. But all good things come in
pairs right. BAM! I present to you Metal Gear Solid 4.
The master piece that was put together by legendary game developer
Hideo Kojima. But why have two when three's a crowd. Say hello to Little Big Planet
the the creation of Game 2.0 and finally we saw the Playstation doing
what it does best, producing the best games in the business.
Enter 2009. The year of the Snake. And we are still seeing the PS3 produce bench mark setting titles with the likes of Killzone 2 and Infamous.
And we even saw the Wii getting knocked of its perch for a while there
in Japan. And as for the PSP, well the line up for that piece of black
plastic would make most dribble like Kobe Bryant. And how bout the PS2?
Well like a well oiled machine that just keeps on keeping on really.
But now with the price drop buzz over and out for the PS3, and not to
mention the competition pulling all the right strings. We see the PS3
is in the sticky situation of whether its going to sink or swim.
So that's the past, now how bout the future. Grabs magic 8 ball.
With
the sales numbers back to normal for the black beauty and the 360 at a
very inviting price not to mention having a line up that you would
swear was a Playstation's with all the former exclusives. The ball now
appears to be firmly in Sony's court. And this is were the magic 8 ball
comes into play.
As a gamer myself I'm in it for the games. And
that is where the PlayStation exceeds in. With the likes of Uncharted
2, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, and Gran Turismo 5 baking in the oven,
there's plenty there to fulfil the apatite of everyone in the coming
months. But that's not the problem. The problem is $800 that's the
problem. It's just to much for Joe Blog's. Its just two much for Tommy
One Shoes mother. And in cases its still to expensive for HaXor69, the
local gaming geek.
Just to further make the point of a much
needed price drop. Activision has threatened to stop developing games
on the PS3. I mourn the day I see my PS3 without the likes of Call of
Duty and Guitar Hero. Surly a price cut is coming, it has to right? I
mean they just cant sit there with the ball in there court and not even
look at it. It doesn't matter what your selling, but every price drop
is going to not only generate big numbers but some great publicity
which seems alienated when it comes to Sony.
Its no secret the
Wii has dominated this gen. And that's all thanks to the mass market of
the "casual gamer". It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Sony
and Microsoft also want to eat of the same plate. Cue E3 09. Project
Natal was displayed along with Sony's new sex device.......I mean
Motion wand. The former being controlled with the whole body and the
latter with body and buttons. As a more mature gamer per say I cant
really see these things in my lounge but if this is what it takes for
Sony to entice this new market then so be it.
Another new device
that was brought up at E3 was the super sexy looking PSP GO. And like
many, I scratched my head and asked Why? instead of me ranting, I'll
hand you over to Oliver.
I can think of so many things to spend those millions of yen that went
into developing and resourcing this. I mean the PSP finally has a
killer line-up so why the need for a new and more expensive model? Why
not use that sh*t load of yen on producing more first party titles or
even saving it to make the inevitable price drop a little less hurtful
for the bottom line?
So lets summarise. Everyone's favourite
part of nonsense blah blah blah blog such as this. The PS3 had a rough
start to life but then in a Rocky like turn around it came the full 180
and things were looking bright. But the competition weren't having a
bar of it and upped there game and so now we are here.
If we are ever to see the PS3 replicate its younger brother we need to see a few things.
1. A price cut.
2. Further develop 1st party titles.
3. Improve marketing.
4. Take all this motion crap to the "next level".
5. Improve relations with 3rd parties.
6. Keep improving the PSN and OS with firmware updates.
But
hey I'm Just like you, sharing my opinion on the internetz. So some of
the blabba may have Sony execs laughing till they have stomach cramp at
my naivety, or the share stupidity of the words I just typed. But hey.
Who cares. Because at the end of the day I have a PS3 and have enjoyed
many hours of entertainment. I just want this to be the case for so
many more.
Happy Gaming.
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nearly 100% very well writen post.
dude i agree i want a price drop so other people can play and better games keep on rolling good post
well written balanced article.
I would like to point out a few things though
PS Slim is coming (rumors at this time) along with a much anticipated price cut ($100)
Sony has excellent diversity of games ranging from titles for the casual to the hardcore. 360 is as most ppl put it "an fps magnet" and the Wii is still a kids console (Mario is a kids game). This diversity + the fact that is a bundle of features is why its still alive
i think the main problem is marketing, sonys games have no real push behind them, i mean where were all the huge killzone 2 adverts in shop windows, nd where were all the mgs4 adverts, the games just seem to appear on the shelves with no umph behind em
I think sony needs to release firmware 3.00 very soon, this fw needs a new xmb; trophy level displayed by name; universal game invites and chat; avatars as same as home characters and somthing that no other console has. maybe playstion cloud is the answer to this. some people say that ps cloud will be like and intergrated facebook that shows what game your playing, trophies, pics, blogs, comments ect. if fw 3.00 has these features then there will be no need for a price cut because i know alot of people that would pay £300 to upgrade from a xbox or wii to another superior system