Sony PS3 in big trouble?

I wrote the article below for the magazine and submitted it on June 19th. I thought I reprint it here today and then in my next blogs talk about any progress Sony has made.

Sony was unprepared for the competition this E3. Both Nintendo and Microsoft have their sights set on the leader and can claim a victory in the prominent E3 public relations war. To recover from the E3 fiasco, Sony is going to need to address a few issues.

Issue #1 - Sony needs an “Extreme Image Makeover!” Today, I asked on the forums (http://www.2old2play.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=15429), “What do you think of Sony?” Most of the answers were quite negative. If you were to compare these answers to a year ago or in the pre X-Box days at the height of the Playstation 2, the answers would be quite different. Sony has an image problem. Whether Sony believes it or not, they are being perceived as the giant corporation that thinks they can drive the marketplace. Lately, this has been evident with Sony’s rootkit copy protection scheme. Rootkits permanently alter your computer’s operating system and are difficult if not impossible to remove without wiping and reinstalling. Sony released Audio CD’s that, without your permission, install a rootkit copy protection program. This has been shown to cause problems in other areas on your PC. Sony’s insistence on proprietary hardware, although a nuisance at first, has become increasing displeasing to consumers. If you buy a Sony product, you need to use their memory stick format or their UMD disk for your PSP. Likewise, marrying the PS3 to the Blu Ray HDDVD system will further divide the gaming community. Is the PS3 being made to push the Blu ray format? Ultimately if Blu Ray wins the fight for HD DVD, Sony will make more off players than they will on Playstations. Sony’s products are traditionally priced high. The expected costs of the PS3 ($499 for a 20 gig Hard Drive or $599 for a 60 Gig hard Drive) are significantly higher than their competitors. Sony needs to hire a good public relations firm and launch an advertising campaign to reconstruct their image. I truly believe that Sony does not grasp the size of this problem.

Issue #2 – Nintendo. Nintendo is on a roll. It started when “Nintendogs” came out for the DS and rolled into E3 with their spectacular demonstrations of the new Wii system. Nintendo targeted their device for the casual gamer on an average budget but with enough guts to please the hardcore gamers. The image they portrayed and conveyed at E3 is that Nintendo is about having fun in new and creative ways. Sony’s PS3 was touted as a game machine with superior processing capabilities that also does HD DVD and has media capabilities. They failed to show any creativity in the way you play the PS3 games. They look nicer but in essence they play the same as your PS2 games would. Nintendo’s wand will make their system unique. How do you rebound from this dilemma? Is it time to go back to the drawing board and rethink the user interface? The PS3 controller can sense motion but doesn’t allow you to point and aim at the TV like Nintendo’s wand does. Perhaps an innovative add on controller could be released later but marketed at launch. By touting the high end processing and graphics of the PS3, Sony seems to be targeting the hardcore gamer. Nintendo is targeting new, casual and hardcore gamers. This is a tough issue for Sony. In fact both they and Microsoft have said that they would be the second console in each household after Nintendo.

Issue #3 – Microsoft. Microsoft has a master plan to grab the market from Sony. The earlier release date of the X-Box 360 was timed to get a jump on the next generation console market. Sony responded by putting together a more powerful machine but with each day, especially here in the US, Sony is slowly loosing the battle. Sony’s advantage with exclusive titles is slowly being eaten away by Microsoft. Most notably Rockstar’s Grand Theft series has now jumped ship to Microsoft. Although Microsoft has a somewhat dubious image, they have worked hard to gain the respect of gamers. Sony will be hard pressed to put together anything close to Microsoft’s X-Box Live. Microsoft unveiled their “X-Box Live Anywhere” plan at E3 where you would have one gamer tag across Windows Vista, X-Box and Windows mobile. It will be possible to start a game on the X-Box, play it on your phone on the way to work and then on your Office PC. Microsoft’s OS advantage is huge! To rebound from this position Sony needs to get their PS3 out as soon as possible. If they miss the Christmas season this year and Nintendo goes ahead with their launch as scheduled Sony will be in trouble. The PS3 has to come out by Christmas for them to have a chance of catching Microsoft. Sony may have to lower their price to be competitive.

Issue#4 – Where is the WOW factor? WOW factor is what I call seeing something and you think “WOW I gotta have that”. Nintendo’s Wii has WOW factor with its wand. Microsoft’s X-Box 360 has already given gamers the WOW factor graphically and with its seamless integration into X-Box Live. So far I have seen no WOW from Sony. Even the PS3’s interface is much the same as the PSP’s. I have no doubt Sony’s hype machine will crank up full speed as they near launch but what will they tout to give them the WOW factor! Sony needs to find something to generate that “I gotta have it” mentality in gamers.

Sony is in a tight spot. They only have 5 months to fix their image, combat Nintendo and Microsoft’s superior position, and get that “WOW factor”. If Blu Ray catches on and becomes the dominate format then many may buy the PS3 just to watch movies. Even though the Blu Ray has more storage, history has shown us that superior technology doesn’t always win. Sony should know this from their Beta - VHS format war. Perhaps Sony and Microsoft concentrated on each other and forgot about Nintendo. Although Nintendo’s E3 strong showing has damaged both companies position in the gaming market, Sony is going to be hurt the most since they have no product on the shelves. As gamers, we consistently reap the benefits of the three way competition for our dollars. If Sony fails, then perhaps the next generation of consoles will not be as imaginative, innovative, and exciting.