Sony swaps perspectives with Microsoft - Editorial

PSU.com writer Eric Blattberg gives us a deep look at the current "console war" between Microsoft and Sony. He also explains why Nintendo should not be singled out. Big thanks to Eric for allowing VGOA.com to publish his article.

[consolecrusader]

good article Eric, I would never count Nintendo out anywhere in world.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

I have to give the writer credit, it was well balanced. Couple points I disagree with but for the most part nice read.

[DrRage77]

same here, i thought it was a well-written article with good points. it didn't scream of any biased towards one console or the other which is nice reading for a change :)

[BrotherSic]

The editorial is disappointingly biased whilst only giving one side of the discussion.

Eternal Sonata is still an xbox exclusive, i will admit that it will probably come out on PS3 but there has been no official announcement.

Kane & Lynch was never announced as an exclusive, they just never said it was coming to the PS3 until recently.

also his recommendations do not take into account any responses from Microsoft. i.e. If the PS3 has a price drop earlier than Sony would like, MS will definitely drop their own prices as they are in a better business position.

When discussing a topic such as this, the author must consider both sides of the discussion instead of focusing on their console of choice.

[calderra]

Also- looking at the consoles in their current state, maybe you can draw parallels... if you don't have any broader perspective whatsoever. When Xbox launched, NOBODY expected it would actually look like a leader in only its second iteration. Sony, on the absolutely opposite end, has virtually fallen off the face of the earth.

Oh, but just give PS3 more time.
Ten or twelve years from now, it's so going to dominate.

[Silver360]

It seems that everyone assumes that the 360. Will never have a game that will blow people away again. That it is just a matter of time before the PS3 passes it and leaves it in the dust. I guess if you are the market leader you just get overlooked. And why does everyone assume that it is easy to roll out an online network? With all the cross game attributes that live has. People make a lot of assumptions.

[RedSeven]

All I know is that for the consumer, a price drop anywhere would be nice and the competition is great. I get amazing new updates and amazing new games across all platforms.

[closedxxx]

A price drop is much more feasable for Microsoft, we all know that, and Nintendo is already making a profit on the Wii hardware, but they have no reason to drop their price regardless of what MS or SONY do. So let's say SONY feels pressured into a price drop by declining sales. This would most certainly help sales of the console, but it may have a negative impact on developer cooperation. You don't want SONY to make a move that it cannot financially afford. Money is the driving force here, and if SONY is going broke, regardless of how great a deal we are all getting on the PS3, it's not good news for the future of the console.

[sumfood4u]

I guess disc read problems happen on all systems!

[carlman23]

The author mentions a lot of 'AAA' exclusive titles for PS3, but as a reader of PSM, I've pretty much been hearing about the same exclusives for about a year and a half now. The price drop is a given (but a $100 may still not be enough), but what Sony really needs to do is announce some new big exclusives, if only to offset the massive loss of exclusives that the company has suffered in the last 6 months.

Ditto above. The only reason that MS keeps the core unit around is that they want to be able to hit that sweet $199 price point ASAP. The hardcore gamers like you and I will buy whatever we want, but when mom and dad walk into GameStop, the $199 - $249 Core 360 is going to look a lot sweeter than good ol' $499 PlayStation 3.

Sony has put themselves into a position where they're competing with MS directly on MS's own turf and they've given all their casual gamers to Nintendo. Now they have to offer up compelling reasons why we shouldn't just go to less expensive, better online service, more exclusives Xbox...

[calderra]

Speaking of which... what good do price drops really do for Sony? They're still losing a ton of money per console, and if they drop $100, they'd probably be back to losing $200/console. They're currently running a game attach rate that at last glace was just topping 2 games/console. Even assuming they get 100% of that money (which they absoltuely don't), they're still losing quite a bit for every console sold. Faster sales would just mean they'd be losing money even faster. And Sony corp is having some money issue- see the recent news about a $2billion loss.

Investor hope is the only thing keeping the stock prices afloat, and if PS3 can't pull off this holiday season with a bang, even that might dry up before that list of exclusives finally hits in 2008 and 2009 (MGS4, FF13...), and the console's going to be really shaky at that point.

[carlman23]

If console sales stay low then developers get skittish. What happens when Squenix realizes that they've blown 20 million dollars on FFXIII only to sell it to a console with a small installed user base? They go multiplatform in order to recoup expenses is what they do.

This could create a snowball because less exclusives means less sales, which means less exclusives, and so on.

Last I heard, Squenix hadn't yet confirmed PS3 exclusivity on FFXIII (they're still in negotiations). From all the developer comments we've been hearing lately, I don't think they're alone in being worried about dollars and cents when it comes to PS3 exclusivity.

[THE TRUTH]

One interesting fact that some gamers have failed to point out about MS/360 price drop.

As we all know the 360 has a bit of a faliure rate that MS has addressed by extending the warrenties. Now I don't have actual numbers (as MS hasn't released any) but it does add to the cost of the 360 to fix/repair any consoles for free. That fact alone is enough to start to conclude that MS isn't exactly making a profit off each 360 sold and is probably still in the red.

Furthermore to address your statement "They're still losing a ton of money per console, and if they drop $100, they'd probably be back to losing $200/console."

Actually know one really knows exactly how much Sony is losing per console at this moment but Sony does have two things to make up that cost. PS2 and PSP which are both STILL selling at phenomenal rates and every PS2 sold is a huge profit along with games that cost next to nothing to make. So while Sony "may" be "losing" money on PS3, Sony knows (and now you know) that they easily make that money back through the strong sales of there other products. Buisness 101.

----------------------------- ------------------------------- -------

This statement is exactly why Nintendo is in the driving seat this generation

"but when mom and dad walk into GameStop, the $199 - $249 Core 360 is going to look a lot sweeter than good ol' $499 PlayStation 3."

When Mom and Dad (seriously though who's mom and dad buys consoles for there age 15+ kids anymore without asking which one they prefer) go into a store to buy a console the numbers have proven that Mom and Dad will choose the Wii over both PS3 and 360 EVEN WITH NO GAMES. Thats the problem with the 360 going into the Wii's price range because it may just fall flat on its face standing next to Nintendo's Wii. I actually like Sony's high price point due to this because it seperates High End Technology value/price, with Family Fun Entertainment Low price.

Just my opinion

[carlman23]

I just get the impression that there really are a lot of non-gamers who've got Wii's. I know people with Wii's, but none of my gamer friends have it (yet).

The Wii may trump all, but I certainly hope not, I lived through the months between interesting releases on the GameCube... And I do really like what Sony (in the past) and MS (now) bring to the table. To many WWII shooters, but just enough solid action games and RPGs.

[Dareaver1]

At it's current price point, and the fact that AAA titles are still coming out for it, sony is in essence competing with itself. Why buy a 600 dollar machine when AAA titles are still coming to the far less expensive one. That's why MS unfortunately had to kill the xbox. They did not want to compete with themselves. Until sony starts pumping out AAA titles for the ps3, the ps2 will still be a major threat. And developers do want to move on to the newer hardware. So that's causing a problem there.

[_insane_cobra]

It's a fine article, but I have something to add. Sony indeed needs to do all those things, but what happens if Microsoft does them as well? The article seems to presume Microsoft will sit twiddling its thumbs while Sony takes over the lead, but that's very unlikely to happen. Impressive exclusives are coming to the Xbox 360 as well, Live will undoubtedly continue to improve and a price drop - for which Microsoft is currently much, much better positioned - is also inevitable. So while I agree that Sony needs to make all those changes, it's imperative for them to make them not to swap positions with Microsoft, but to stay in the game at all.

[Saint Sony]

Hmm.. yet another PS3 in "trouble" article. Seems like gaming industry wriggles in distress. Are people bored to wait? We all know waiting is expensive.

People say give Sony some time, but I'm sorry to say there is not much time today, even PS3 gets old soon.. things are happening a lot faster now compared to past years. Every new console launched has a shorter life span compared to its predecessor. Technology evolves faster and faster, there is no time to wait, Sony has to get its act together pretty much NOW. If Sony's strategy is "lets give PS3 some time, lets wait a bit" it will fail, why?...When PS3 starts to sell really well, it may be already too late for Sony. MS/Nintendo will launch their next console.

[nix]

... and they will. they need to catch up with PS3. q:

[RedSeven]

I understand what you are saying but the install base of the PS3 is still low and a lot of people do not even own one yet. The devlopers are still in the early stages of the console, and new PS3 updates are breathing strong life into the console. I agree that it needs to pick up the pace, but the PS2 is still alive and kicking. I would welcome Nintendos new console with open arms, but to be honest, the only *new* console I see around the corner could be an upgraded 360.

[candystop]

My question is what happens when's the price of 360 drop's and services like IPTV arrive? Also is the PS3 more powerful than 360 which will be a big debate in 2 years i'm pretty sure or is 360 more powerful? When Xbox launched people new right away that it blew the socks off of PS2 but now PS3 has nothing that shine's superiority over 360! IPtv is going to be big and hopefully MS does a promotion that will put 360's in households for signing on for a couple of years!

[ps3gogetitt]

Sony definitely needs to drop the price and I think they will but the new IPS have to be compelling, a 8.0 average in reviews are not compelling so these games have to be 8.5 and up caliber games to even intrigue people to spend that kind of money, i know everyone gets hype about game previews even reviewers like ign and gamespot and then the game comes out and it's like 6/10 or even 4/10, i was soooo exciting for untold legends and genji and even rfom after reading previews and then it comes out and the reviews say it's not that good......

[ps3gogetitt]

I think IPTV will suck and suck big time i don't think it will move consoles, however if it turns out to be good i will get a 360 just for it, if turns out to be better than apple tv....

[Amplifier]

I am going to play some more great games from whatever system I can get these great games on that also includes PCs

@mp

[Chemical]

My PS3 has blu-ray

[GameJunkieJim]

Sony has to be nervous, since the PS3 still isn't profitable by itself.

Both sides are waiting for the other to drop first I think, Sony wanting to hold out until they begin to garner profit from the machine, and Microsoft trying to extend the profit it makes on the 360 for as long as possible.

Two scenarios:

The PS3 drops first when it becomes profitable, causing a rush of sales (I know I'll get one if the price drops) and causing Microsoft to counter with it's own price drop, surring a wider margin of lead for the 360. This is the best scenario for Sony.

The 360 drops first, either to help push a game or seasonal sales, the PS3 either stays where it is, which would be suicide, or it drops before it's profitable, which will hurt the company a lot, but at least they may be able to recoup some losses with increased software sales. This would be very bad for Sony, but Microsoft is pretty greedy, so they may be willing to wait for Sony to initiate the drops.

[troylazlow]

as always sony will feel the're "name" will get them through the hard times. this will lead to the end of sony and no "ps4"

[troylazlow]

next next-gen will be xbox, nintendo and apple yes i said apple just wait!