Is the PS3 in a race against time?

[BrewCityUpstart]

In all fairness, if you're racing against time, you can't possible expect to win. How can you beat time? It's already where you're trying to go, because when you get there, it's... whatever. Time is a silly concept. Over at Reuters, a lengthy topic was posted regarding the future of the PlayStation 3. We'll outline the main points of argument they make and you can make your own arguments afterwards!


To succeed, the PS3 needs to hold onto third-party titles. (We may add... timed exclusives would be best)
The demand for HDTV's is skyrocketing -- that will hold a major advantage over, say, the Wii in the living room of the future.
The PS3 launch almost mirrors the PS2 launch -- initial supply troubles, lack of impressive titles, complaints about the difficulty to program for... but look at how the PS2 turned out.

Cut the PS3's price!
Have a strong, stable series of games!
That about covers their main points. Feel free to read the whole article more in-depth and drop a comment about your thoughts. Is this a race that the PS3 can win, or will time inevitably cause the decay of what is an otherwise beautiful console?



super long version

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by BrewCityUpstart

The PS3 launch almost mirrors the PS2 launch -- initial supply troubles, lack of impressive titles, complaints about the difficulty to program for... but look at how the PS2 turned out.

I think the big difference is the competition is tougher this time around. I also believe another big difference is that the PS2 was a gamers machine. The PS3 is a hybrid trying to be a home theater device as well as play games. While I think that's cool what do the 10-16 olds out there care about home theater. You have taken the devices out of the kids play room on thier handydown TV and now they have to fight dad to play it on the big screen. I think the PS3 will be successful in the long long run but it will never be what the PS2 was they killed that dream.

[CamDawg]

DMiller,
This is a good point you make. It's been a long time since I've last been in an EB for more than about 2 minutes until today (probably October). Up until today, I've thought the PS3 has been the greatest hybrid device I've seen. It plays BlueRays at least as good as all of the stand alones, it has awesome gaming features -- to me, it seems like a bargain, but then (between my wife and me) we have a nice middle class disposable income. Not many 16 year olds (still the main market for this stuff) have that kind of disposable income.

At EB today, I heard a bunch of high school kids going on about how much the PS3 is a waste of money -- the hardware costs too much, you have to buy all of the extra cables and remotes, games are too expensive and none are ever marked down, etc. I tried to engage them about it actually being a great value (high quality BD player, good gaming machine, and top notch scaling DVD player when that update is released). None of them could care less about any of these factors except gaming. Not one of them thought BD was worthwhile; they all thought it was only a little better than regular DVDs and couldn't see spending "3x as much for a BD disk". Those who had PS3s had them hooked up to TVs 27" or less; a few had HDTVs in their living room, but their mom or dad won't let them hook their consoles up to them. One had his hooked up to a 23" HD LCD and one to a 26" Samsung widescreen CRT HDTV. They said that the feeling is pretty widespread among their friends; in the current gen their order of best systems goes like this: 1. Wii, 2. Xbox 360, 3. PS3. They said that on their TVs, the Wii looks almost as good as the PS3 and 360, and the games are just so much fun. They rated the 360 as second because of online. The PS3 was far down the list according to them. I'm wondering how closely their thoughts resemble mainstream. I have been basing my ranking on my limited perspective: 1. Xbox 360 and PS3 tied -- Xbox 360 has it for games, but the PS3 is a much better HT hybrid device; 3. Wii - lack of HD graphics kills it for me.

It was really interesting hearing this perspective -- if this is the prevailing mindset among the majority of the market, the PS3 needs to make some hay quickly or they risk problems. I think the whole home thing will help, but based on what these kids said, they need to get some games to market and get online fixed for games pretty quickly.

[dmiller68]

I have been watching this post for additional comments. It is amazing that your query was the same that I had with some 14-16 year olds at Target. They where looking for a Wii. They stated why buy the PS3 when there PS2 works just fine and can be replaced very cheaply and games are still being produced at a steady pace. I think PS3 has a tougher hill to climb then the 360 did. The xbox was a step child at best of the PS2. Where as the 360 was a huge improvement in the community. It is going to be an interesting holiday season. I think if the Wii can get supply out there they could crush sales records. After playing one for the last couple days I'm kicking myself that I didn't get one sooner. The kids LOVE this device.

[MadBryan]

Sony needs to start slowing down the PS2 games. It's just good business. Real good points CamDawg I have heard the same thing about BluRay (and HD-DVD) not being that much better. I've said it before that we are not the average gamers. I am the only one in my circle of friends/ family/ and coworkers that cares about audio and video quality. If its watchable most consumers are satisfied

[Calypsi]

Whats funny about this is people will go buy an xbox360 and the HD-DVD player, and the wireless add-on and then call the PS3 a rip-off. But guess what, you just payed 700 bucks for for what the ps3 has for 600, with a smaller HD. The online functionality at the moment is better with the 360 by far but everything else hardware wise is just the same. The games will come for the PS3, they were slow at first for the 360 if you dont remember with a ton of them being delayed from launch or canceled all together(frame city killer).

What really is killing Blue-Ray at the moment I think at least is the price of the movies. For it to succeed the movies need to be the same price as regular dvds not $35. The new releases need to be 15 bucks at Best Buy the first week ect ect.

[BrewCityUpstart]

Originally Posted by Calypsi

Whats funny about this is people will go buy an xbox360 and the HD-DVD player, and the wireless add-on and then call the PS3 a rip-off. But guess what, you just payed 700 bucks for for what the ps3 has for 600, with a smaller HD. The online functionality at the moment is better with the 360 by far but everything else hardware wise is just the same. The games will come for the PS3, they were slow at first for the 360 if you dont remember with a ton of them being delayed from launch or canceled all together(frame city killer).

What really is killing Blue-Ray at the moment I think at least is the price of the movies. For it to succeed the movies need to be the same price as regular dvds not $35. The new releases need to be 15 bucks at Best Buy the first week ect ect.

My sentiments exactly. The only extra thing you have to buy with the PS3 is a $15 HDMI cable.

[Gordon]

I wrote something a bit different on the Mania website. http://www.mania.com/53670.html?page=2

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by Calypsi

Whats funny about this is people will go buy an xbox360 and the HD-DVD player, and the wireless add-on and then call the PS3 a rip-off. But guess what, you just payed 700 bucks for for what the ps3 has for 600, with a smaller HD. The online functionality at the moment is better with the 360 by far but everything else hardware wise is just the same. The games will come for the PS3, they were slow at first for the 360 if you dont remember with a ton of them being delayed from launch or canceled all together(frame city killer).

What really is killing Blue-Ray at the moment I think at least is the price of the movies. For it to succeed the movies need to be the same price as regular dvds not $35. The new releases need to be 15 bucks at Best Buy the first week ect ect.

I think you are missing the point the gamer kids don't buy HD-DVD add-ons either. They are looking for a game machine, not a home theater all in one device. How does $199 and $399 add up to $700... I think you need to check you math and it comes with component cables and a remote. I'm not arguing which is the best home theater value. I don't care. For the 12-18 year olds out there still the biggest gamer group the PS3 is a over inflated game machine with no titles. Period. That group doesn't buy blu-rays they don't care. Sony built this machine for 30% or less of the gamer world, it well hurt them in the long run until the price comes down.

[MadBryan]

Originally Posted by dmiller68

How does $199 and $399 add up to $700. .

he was including the wireless add-on. other than that I agree with you DMILLER. Guys, think about it. If you wanna play games and run a wired network (I think most do) and you don't care about HD movies, your paying a couple hundred (alter thinks its 10 cents for bluray) more for tech you don't need. Why aren't you guys pissed its been 6 months and still no games (worth mentioning)

[GoatMother]

Originally Posted by MadBryan

Why aren't you guys pissed its been 6 months and still no games (worth mentioning)

Because it has been no different than the last 3 consoles I've bought (360, xbox, cube) in terms of not having many titles this early on. That said there are indeed games that I enjoy. Of course everybody has different tastes though and I don't discredit games simply for being on console that carries the Sony label.

[dmiller68]

Originally Posted by GoatMother

Because it has been no different than the last 3 consoles I've bought (360, xbox, cube) in terms of not having many titles this early on. That said there are indeed games that I enjoy. Of course everybody has different tastes though and I don't discredit games simply for being on console that carries the Sony label.

I don't care if it says Sony... The point of my original comment was that Sony didn't build a console for gamers that want to replace there PS2 at some point. This device was built to cater to a small population of gamers, those with disposable incomes. I will most likely buy a PS3 for the Blu-ray player but my 18 year old cousin decided to buy a 360 as the PS3 was too expensive.

[GoatMother]

Originally Posted by dmiller68

I don't care if it says Sony... The point of my original comment was that Sony didn't build a console for gamers that want to replace there PS2 at some point. This device was built to cater to a small population of gamers, those with disposable incomes. I will most likely buy a PS3 for the Blu-ray player but my 18 year old cousin decided to buy a 360 as the PS3 was too expensive.

I agree dmiller, it is priced well above an acceptable amount for most gamers. They definitely didn't build something targeted for the same audience as the PS2 and many are displeased. A few price drops can change things but I think it will take at least a few and not just one or two.

The Sony comment wasn't directed at anybody in particular. I was merely speaking for myself, though from reading and playing games online with some there are definitely people who feel differently and are all about brand loyalty or brand hatred.

[Calypsi]

I paid close to $1500 for the last PC I built, and all I do is game on it (well email and surf a little but 90% game). $600 bucks is the same as a high end video card in a computer. I really don't think its that expensive.

[Swasagon]

it may not be expensive to you, but Dmiller has a point, to many people (12 - 18) that is a huge amount of money and comparing the price of the PS3 to the other consoles, the high price point will be a serious factor affecting the success of the PS3

[Calypsi]

Its not so much that I think $600 is not alot of money. But in the world of gaming I think that it is comparable if not cheaper to other forms of it. Even if you look at the Xbox360 at $400 + wireless adapter for $99 its only less then 2 game prices cheaper then the PS3. If you compare the elite 360 that is going to come out with a wireless adapter its total will be $579 a whole 20 bucks less then the PS3 and I wouldn't be suprised if the PS3 drops a little in price to match it. Effectively giving you a free Blue-Ray dvd player.