Wired has put up a four page article that details their thoughts on just what impact the PS3 will have on the electronics giant. We have to wonder as well, has Sony put too many eggs in one basket? In addition, have they taken the game console too far, too fast? Does anyone really need or even want, a $600 dollar gaming platform?
With the addition of the Blu-ray player to the PS3, Sony has put themselves in a very precarious position. We have to wonder what the impact will be over the next year. At any rate, with all the delays and piled on top of that, the tremendous negative press surrounding Sony of late, it will be critical for the PS3 to have a flawless launch. It also would be nice if they flew off the shelves, once they hit retail.
Below, you can read part of the setup for the article:
| Never try to introduce the same product twice. That was the lesson from the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May. A year earlier, at E3 2005 in Los Angeles, Sony had wowed the videogame industry with demonstrations of the upcoming PlayStation 3's unprecedented graphical muscle. The machine wouldn't be available until months after Microsoft's next-gen console, the Xbox 360. Yet based on the spectacular preview, many gamers had no problem waiting for the PS3. Then, early this year, Sony dropped a bombshell: The PS3 release would be pushed back until November. So when E3 came around again this spring, everyone trooped out to the retro Hollywood lotusland of the Sony Pictures lot '“ only to view the same console they'd been promised the year before. Not great. Delays are nothing new in tech, but Sony seemed intent on making the worst of it. The crowd was kept waiting nearly an hour. Then Kaz Hirai, who heads PlayStation in North America, took the stage to declare, "The next generation doesn't start until we say it does!" He meant it as a dig at Microsoft, but to gamers who'd been salivating for a year, his words were like a bitch slap. The demos that followed were no more impressive than those the year before. Finally, PlayStation chief Ken Kutaragi came forward to make the one announcement everyone wanted to hear: the price. $600 for the high-end model? The room gasped, then fell silent. Almost immediately, the blogosphere lit up with denunciations: Sony has turned its back on gamers. The PS3 will be a failure. Kutaragi and Hirai are idiots. |
Ouch! We have to admit, the longer you wait for something, the higher your expectations become! In addition, the Xbox 360 is selling one after the other during the wait. How many of these customers would have bought a PS3 had they been available? There are always those that wish to pick up a PS3 as a "cheap" way to get into Blu-ray movie playback, with the side ability to play a game. But these folks will not buy many of the subsidizing softwares! Also, we have to wonder, just how many out there have a 1080p or even a 1080i home theater display that is compliant with all the mind boggling content protections, like HDCP? Sony may may painted themselves into a corner. It has to be a nerve racking time for this company.
Source: Wired
