i've been watching the console wars like everyone else. i usually try to stay away from the hype and hoopla the fanboys throw around. but after checking the NPD numbers this month and reading most of the responses to them, it pretty clear even to me.
the PS3 is over in the US.
now, hear me out. like most people do when subjects like this pop up, i'll qualify my statement by saying that yes, i do have a PS3 and no, i don't have a 360. my kid has a Wii that i don't play.
the problem isn't with the system itself. the PS3 is a solid system. dare i say the most solid of the three out now. wi-fi built in the system is something that shouldn't be taken for granted when the other major system wireless adapter is $100 still after three going on four years out. blu-ray, for all the belly aching about how much it is or isn't failing, it helps pack more features into the blu-ray movies and gets the best picture you can get for you're HDTV that you WILL have to have at some point around February. the downloadable games are very interesting and different then your generic shooter/arcade/student made games on the other system. online is free. the disc games are very good. what else could sony do?
everything about the PS3 is generally positive. so why is the PS3 selling less then last year? (depending on what sites you read and/or believe) the reason that the PS3 is failing to destroy the competition this time around doesn't have anything to do with weak games or exclusive games and DLC going to the 360 or PSN not being on par with XBL or home or any of that. why is the PS3 failing........
because the perception of the general public is that the PS3 has already failed.
think about it. with all the positive things about that PS3, (and unless you are a hopeless 360 fanboy, you have to admit that there are at the very LEAST some cool content on the big black box) the general consensus is that you are wasting you're money if you get a PS3. from all the internet memes about the PS3 sucking ass or not having any games or 4D graphics or the whole Lair fiasco....and Haze......and the orange box......and SOCOM......and (sigh) Home. see what i'm saying? just listing SOME of the missteps of the PS3 doesn't make people want to jump on board.
people have that that "biggest and best" mentality. we want the best of everything if we can possibly get it. and that goes for our video gaming system as well. you want the biggest and the best. the most badass, graphic blowing your mind, your friends are pissed that you have one and they don't killing machine in your living room. and that's the 360.
and it seeps in to every aspect of the PS3. console sales are down despite the great games that came out this holiday season. littlebigplanet not selling as well as it should despite the critical acclaim it got eclipsing other games. including gears of war 2, which most reviews basically saying "the story sucks, but shooting shit in horde is SO fun." the fact that no games on PS3 are selling a million in a week isn't that there aren't games that don't warrant that kind of buying craziness. LBP is a fun-loving, creative game that could have changed things for sony. MSG4 should have set the world on fire, but most people just said "it'll come to the 360 if it so great" sure, the price doesn't help when the other gaming consoles are hundreds of dollars less, but again, if there was the fervor over the PS3 was like the PS2, price wouldn't be a factor. people would be "working longer hours" to get one.
so there it is. PS3 is over this generation. that doesn't mean that the PS3 will dry up and blow away. gamecube lasted a LONG time and had some great games. the Dreamcast comparison is out there and people still love it to this day. it's not like the PS3 can't still produce awesome games. Killzone 2, Heavy Rain and the next Uncharted are proof of that. it's just as far as a "win" in console sales.....it's over. the best thing that sony can hope for is to make some money on the their current-gen entry and pump out more AAA games and support the PSN with interesting games that don't look like any games on XBLA.
that said, i'm likely getting a 360 soon.
J.
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2 comments:
Obviously, we have a ps3, although, I haven't played anything on it but Pain.
It's not a bad console.
Personally, I think that it was hard for Sony to get back in the fray because of the Xbox being so widely available for son long before the ps3 came out.
Of course, some might blame the Wii's success on the hard time Sony is having, but I don't really see it that way. The Wii, and really Nintendo as a whole, is a completely different style than the ps3 and 360.
Maybe it's just me, but I have found that most people only own 1 console. And with the economic situation these days, perhaps it is hard for people with a 360 to justify the purchase of a ps3. Not to mention, if they had been a ps2 owner before getting a 360, the constant console deaths of the ps2 probably left a lot of consumers with a bad taste in their mouths.
By no stretch of the imagination am I saying that the 360 doesn;t have it's problems, because we've all read about it and/or experienced the red rings.
Microsoft is just a baby in the console wars, so really I'm suprised to see these problems with the 360. Sony, though, at this point is a seasoned veteren, and I think that the ps3 is doing poorly also because a lot of consumers expected so much more from them.
I honestly think it will get back on track. Sony needs to stop reacting and start DOING. They can win back their original share of fans and they will.
Microsoft is just a baby in the console wars, so really I'm suprised to see these problems with the 360.
**I meant NOT suprised**
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