PlayStation 3 - A Losing Battle for Sony?

I think Sony screwed up by insisting on harping on about the Blu Ray. We don't care. Just show us the games that we're going to be paying $600 to play. Where was Killzone? Where was Motorstorm? Where was Devil May Cry 4? Where was Resident Evil 5? Where was Gran Turismo 5? Where was the new Ratchet & Clank? Where was Grand Theft Auto? The one saving grace was Metal Gear Solid 4, then they cut Kojima's masterpiece down to a crappy 3 minute video, instead favouring showing the developer of Genji 2 struggling to play his own game and kill a historical fuedal Japanese giant crab; and some crappy EyeToy game which nobody outside of Japan is remotely interested in.

I think Sony will lose because they have banked their entire corporate future on the PS3. They have taken a calculated gamble that doesn't appear to be paying off. There is an element of greed and arrogance in their outlook by assuming that we will all pay whatever they ask for whatever they want to sell us as long as it has Playstation in the name somewhere. But the way PS3 is turning out appears to be largely due to classic mismanagement and poor decision making at the top. Somebody saw a way of resurrecting Sony's other (failing) businesses on the back of the PS3 so the blame must surely lie with that person or persons.

The sensible option would have been to release a small, quiet, powerful games console for a decent price (less than £250) and they would have had no trouble selling these to an eager audience.

You can't blame them for being greedy but you can for being stupid.

Blu-ray? I've just bought my whole video collection on DVD. I'm not about to start buying them all over again on Blu-ray. ¬_¬

I'm sure Sony must have something going for PS3 other than Blu-ray. If not, then they lose for me. XP

I'm gonna find the the guy that started this meme and kill him. I'm also gonna slap Svend next time he visits the SPOnG office.

Nobody, anywhere, ever, will force you to re-buy your DVDs. Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD players will also play DVDs and up-sample them to whatever resolution you want to view them at.

You should only re-buy your DVDs on a high-def format if you want to based on resolution, features, pretty cover art or whatever makes you want them.

I think Sony screwed up by insisting on harping on about the Blu Ray. We don't care.

Agreed. There is no killer ap for Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD for that matter) at this point in time. Remember the big DVD seller? The Matrix. That's what is needed in order to get people to convert to HDTV sets and next gen media.

Microsoft has already proven on both the Xbox and 360 that you can deliver HD games on DVD discs. You don't need next gen media to make that happen.

Sony's problem is pushing the same IP that failed to move any UMD movies at a fraction of the price on the PSP. People aren't going to blow $600 or more to watch Underworld Evolution, Resident Evil 1 and 2 and Hitch.

Oooh, fruity, I'll be looking forward to that. ;) Only a week or so left to go.

You're right though, obviously. I don't need to replace my whole set. It's just with new technologies such as these - even though you don't have to re-buy your DVD collection and you shouldn't feel pressured by the advertising to do so - it just seems strange for me to have a piece of kit that can do ultimate picture quality and yadda yadda yadda but I'm not taking advantage of it.

I'd only buy a blu-ray player if I intend to buy blu-ray discs for it. And I don't plan to any time soon. So by that same token, if I had to consider a PS3 solely because it can play blue-ray movies on it, I wouldn't buy one. I'd buy a PS3 for the games, obviously. But if we're merely talking about the blu-ray capabilities of it then I'm not fussed any.

Considering the original topic was to share your opinion on whether you'd get a PS3 if the blu-ray drive was basically the deciding factor (read: the only factor, leaving games and all other aspects of it to one side), saying I wouldn't because I'd have no need for one (due to me not replacing my DVDs) is a fair comment I'd have thought.

Losing battle? Not sure. All I know is that I'm not buying a PS3 in November.

I'm not gonna have Blu Ray pushed on me because that's what Sony want. I know what you uys are saying about being able to use previous norma dvds on Blu Ray, but I like, own and enjoy a lot of U.S import dvds, and with the region coding again changing for Blu Ray, there's no guarantee I'll be able to watch my collection.

Sony can still fix their PS3s problems but they'd better move fast.

if you look at the history of sony the have brout out new idears tat have worked but have allso brout out thing that have floped for intens Betamax films wich came out about the same time as vhs
the picker was better the sound was better and you could hold more infomation on the tape that vhs
sony brout out md players wich went agents mp3 players
hard media mp3 players wone
umd filmsare getting faszd out
blue ray is going agent dvd and hd dvd wich is a lot cheaper and the all redy got the stong hold coz people understane the media i think that sony are doing a sega saturn and trying to be snk with prices

The old Betamax v VHS argument... PORN, PORN, PORN.



Errrr. I think you're 6 or 7 years out. The first MD players were released early 1990s (I think, config will probably correct me) and then they were re-released by Sony a few years later, with more success.

I think (again, open for correction) that MD players got pretty good popularity in Japan.



Actually, for a new format, I'm rather impressed with UMD. It's stocked by almost all games shops, a lot of online shops here in the UK. For a brand new format, supported by one piece of hardware, that's pretty impressive.



We've had this argument before, and I think the outcome was that there is an expectation Sony's Bluray will win this. Too early to list the arguments now.



Maybe. I can't comment here. I don't think the PS3 will do well at the moment, but then again, I don't think the Xbox360 will do too well and I'm still not convinced on the Wii. If anything MS has the most reliable potential.

I think a lot of people will be buying towards the middle of the generation or skipping it all together, because I certainly couldn't buy a console now; too many unknowns. (And I'll have better things to do at Uni :p ).

I think the financial clout and the globally revered brand that is playstation will carry sony through this generation without them completely dying on their arse, though i also really reckon theyll relinquish a relatively large piece of its current home console market share this time around due to self-created disadvantages like price and some really good competition from MS and Nintendo

I have to agree with you there, I think it'll be a lot closer to a three-way split this time, but I think Sony will just win out. Maybe a 40/30/30% split?

Of course, there could be a killer app type game in 2007 that just s**ts all over the 360 and sell consoles like nobody's business. However I think that game would have to come from within Sony since there are going to be relatively few 3rd party exclusives this generation. Maybe a follow up to Primal or Shadow of the Colossus? Or a new IP with widespread appeal?

i remember when 3rd party developers started to abandon Sega & Sega couldn't compete with the new & fresh idea that 3rd party games developers where creating on reival console, consequently Sega’s console dried up & died..... Is history about to repeat itself?...we hope so.

I hope it doesn't. I don't want a dominant Microsoft in the console business. We need Sony there to keep them in check.

Have to agree with you there!

In fact, I don't want MS in the games industry full stop. Given the way they took over and then held back the PC operating system market, I don't want that happening to the games market.

yeah 40/30/30 sounds spot on. as you said, this prediction cant take into account things like super duper killer apps that make you sell your house to get a ps3, but if things stay like they are, all consoles will have strengths and weaknesses, and the playing field will be much more level by the end of this generation i should dare say.