While I put unity over my own opinions, I do have opinions. Very strong ones. For example, I hate Sony. It wasn't always this way; I've hated Sony for only about a year now. It all started at last year's E3, when Sony announced that the PS3 controller would have motion-sensing. This announcement generated tons of backlash for Sony, because it was a clear rip-off of Nintendo's Wii Remote. Then came the comments about how you're not a true gamer if you don't work a second job to afford a PS3 and that people would buy it even without any launch games. People do not like being taken advantage of, as the negative response to these comments showed.
It's all gone downhill from there, with racist billboards and bloody sheep carcasses, among many other things. It was enough to stop me and many other people from purchasing a PS3; while I wanted one pre-E3, I wanted a 360 post-E3 (I wanted a Wii from the beginning, and it was the first of the three that I got; I got a 360 later). Sony needs to remember that a high price point and lack of games will stop someone from buying your console at first, but bad PR will stop people like me from buying your console at all.
Friday, July 13, 2007
(Price) cut, that's not a wrap
It was a shock to some when Sony cut the price of the PS3; others expected it. It certainly drove up sales...at first. But Sony made two crucial errors and two non-crucial error in the price cut that I predict will keep it from making a long-term impact.
The first crucial error was that they only cut the price to 500 dollars. 500 dollars is still 100 dollars more than the Xbox 360 Premium, and with Blu-ray players becoming cheaper, that angle won't convince people much longer. It's also double the price of Wii, which is still killing the PS3 in sales and gaining on the 360. Also, the 360 and Wii are likely to get price cuts in the near future as well, so this may not make a whole lot of difference for long.
Second, they released the 80 gigabyte version at the original price of 600 bucks. That means the now-500 dollar unit has become the "gimped" version, and that may push it in the direction of the version that originally cost 500. Furthermore, Kaz Hirai said they're going to phase out the 60 GB version. If that's the case, people will once again have to pay 600 bucks for a PS3.
The first non-crucial error was bundling a game with the 80 GB version. The biggest reason why this is a problem is that Nintendo already did it; copying Nintendo the first time around made Sony look really bad. That's one aspect. The other is that looking at game sales in Japan will tell you that bundling Wii Sports with Wii probably didn't make a huge difference; they didn't bundle it in Japan and it's been one of the top selling games over there since launch.
The second non-crucial error was not extending this price cut to Europe. I say it's a non-crucial error because North America and Japan (which got a price cut right at the beginning) are bigger markets (especially combined) than Europe. That said, bundling a game with the system in Europe will not boost sales as much as a price cut would, and that was a mistake.
I say this not to incite a flame war; that's the LAST thing I want to do. I say it because I want to quell the flame wars that the price cut no doubt started; this post doesn't say that the PS3 is doomed, only that I don't believe it's in a significantly better place than it was before.
What value do my predictions hold, you ask? After last year's E3 I predicted that the high price, Sony's PR (see my last post), and focus on Blu-ray over games would hurt the PS3's sales. Now that it's out, it's trailing far behind its competitors. True, that was an obvious prediction, but not so obvious that a lot of people didn't disagree with me.
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The first crucial error was that they only cut the price to 500 dollars. 500 dollars is still 100 dollars more than the Xbox 360 Premium, and with Blu-ray players becoming cheaper, that angle won't convince people much longer. It's also double the price of Wii, which is still killing the PS3 in sales and gaining on the 360. Also, the 360 and Wii are likely to get price cuts in the near future as well, so this may not make a whole lot of difference for long.
Second, they released the 80 gigabyte version at the original price of 600 bucks. That means the now-500 dollar unit has become the "gimped" version, and that may push it in the direction of the version that originally cost 500. Furthermore, Kaz Hirai said they're going to phase out the 60 GB version. If that's the case, people will once again have to pay 600 bucks for a PS3.
The first non-crucial error was bundling a game with the 80 GB version. The biggest reason why this is a problem is that Nintendo already did it; copying Nintendo the first time around made Sony look really bad. That's one aspect. The other is that looking at game sales in Japan will tell you that bundling Wii Sports with Wii probably didn't make a huge difference; they didn't bundle it in Japan and it's been one of the top selling games over there since launch.
The second non-crucial error was not extending this price cut to Europe. I say it's a non-crucial error because North America and Japan (which got a price cut right at the beginning) are bigger markets (especially combined) than Europe. That said, bundling a game with the system in Europe will not boost sales as much as a price cut would, and that was a mistake.
I say this not to incite a flame war; that's the LAST thing I want to do. I say it because I want to quell the flame wars that the price cut no doubt started; this post doesn't say that the PS3 is doomed, only that I don't believe it's in a significantly better place than it was before.
What value do my predictions hold, you ask? After last year's E3 I predicted that the high price, Sony's PR (see my last post), and focus on Blu-ray over games would hurt the PS3's sales. Now that it's out, it's trailing far behind its competitors. True, that was an obvious prediction, but not so obvious that a lot of people didn't disagree with me.
(
Thursday, July 5, 2007
DarkDiamond
If you like my stuff, you might be interested to know that I am now blogging on darkdiamond.com, a video game and anime blog. The content will mostly be the same stuff I post here, but I will no longer be updating my 1up.com blog because 2 is enough.
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