Sony widens PlayStation 3 marketing

Sony is reaching out to Mom, Dad and the kids in a bid to widen the appeal of its PlayStation 3.

Facing stiff competition from Nintendo's family-friendly Wii, Sony will be heavily campaigning around the upcoming release of several all-ages games, most notably karaoke title SingStar and community building title LittleBigPlanet, streeting this fall and early 2008, respectively. Both are exclusive to the PlayStation platform, with earlier SingStar titles already available for the PS2.

Also, Sony is preparing to hype the PS3 as the most comprehensive Blu-ray Disc player available on the market. Currently, PS3 is the only device that features a Web-enabled Blu-ray player, although no studio has released a Blu-ray title boasting Web-based content.

[consolecrusader]

Sony cut people recently for a reason, and that was because they weren't doing their job. They thought just because the name Sony was there, they were gonna make it all happen. I am happy being a top Sony fan. We need to hit the entire demographic of parents and children.

[lil bush]

agreed we need to proden the market to all people of all ages, so that good to see sony trying to make things work..........

[drtysouf21]

It'll be good to see some more advertising that should really help PS3 sales!

[CyberSentinel]

How about drop the price by $100.00 , and get some installed base increases. The 2% increase is most likely from income tax refunds here in the states. I don't care if you market it as an "American Idol Simulator", casual gaming Adults aren't paying $600.00 for a "Toy". And, they sure aren't going to increase the attach rate. (thats what game developers care about)

Talk about being out of touch with your target audience. There's a reason your in 3rd place Sony.(130,000-March) Give back to your loyal Lemmings.

Blind Lemmings, Sony Loves You.

@6 TheDynamo: I couldn't have said it better myself. Bubble for you sir.

[23478ueyur_938223]

Even though you're clearly a Microsoft fanboy,

I agree with the first thing you said.

I dunno if a $600 system will get much family appeal.

Oh well, the user base will grow in time.

[kamakazi]

hey the monkey is back from scratching his @SS and eating bananas to post, i wonder if cyber monkey uses both hands and both feet to type. obviously the monkey isnt smart and will never evolve since he can only still repeat the word lemming, :( someone take curious george out back and put one in his head.

silly stupid monkey we LEMMINGS love you.

[ben hates you]

and i argue about whats going to win, they always say ps3 has most range of audiance but they have the least appiling price i agree with cyber sentinal, and satanas. a few of my friends arent gamers their kids wanted the ps3 but they're not rich were all upper-middle class, and they don't feel like spending 600 dollars, when they won't even use it, even as blu-ray player

[TheDynamo]

How about lessening the price? How about putting out great titles? You know what I've been thinking, fellas? Sony took an extra year making sure that the PS3 was "ready" for launch. Am I the only one surprised that they STILL aren't ready for launch? NO quality games. NO quality online experience. NO aggressive marketing campaign. NO damage control statements ready-made for in case this disaster DID happen. For a multi-million dollar conglomerate, I am SHOCKED that they are performing as elementary as they are. People keep talking about a year headstart for Microsoft, but if you think about it, Sony had an additional year to plan! And they STILL are falling on their faces? You mean to tell me that they didn't pre-discuss with the developers on how difficult it would be to develop software on the PS3? They didn't pre-discuss with the developers on whether going multi-platform was a possibility due to market share? What gives? Who in the heck is in charge down there? Blu-Ray? You're kidding! THEY are the licensors of the platform! What if Blu-Ray falls short? Sony is in trouble. THEY know it. WE know it. But you know what? If I spent $600.00 on a console, I'd be fighting for its relevance too. You can't blame the Sony Fanboys on this site. Good luck. I'm just going to keep playing my XBOX360 and watch the decay of a once-great franchise.

[snoop_dizzle]

first off.

Even if bluray fails, it wouldn't kill the PS3. Look at the PSP, while its really not doing that good, the games are still selling on a UMD format.

Now in a way it would hurt the PS3, if people wanted to buy it for movies, but from a gaming aspect, it wouldn't really hurt them.

The same would hold true if the 360 games were on HD-DVD. Movies would do badly, but as for games, the format wouldn't be useless.

Next, Sony is having a slow start. So did the 360.

BUT, Msoft had the advantage of the PS2 last generation cycle. Meaning they had a slow start, one could argue a bad lineup of launch games, and many bugs. Very reminiscent of the PS2.

Unfortunetly sony, like any company hyped their console, but beyond over hyped. I can just remember some of the claims. Much like the PS2 having "Toy Story graphics"

So basically sony might of thought they could roll in like last time casually, but unlike last time, they weren't the first ones out.

Now don't get me wrong, Sony is coming back, but if they launched a little better, the 360 would be less of as threat.

Thats why im getting a PS3.

But the they aren't going to come back easily. Msoft has a pretty strong defense. 1, they have a lot of money at their disposal, and 2. they have a great lineup of games.

As for buggy consoles, ok. The PS2 had as many or even more than the 360 and it still was a great console.

So basically the PS3 in a historical sense is like the xbox, and the 360 is like the PS2.

Sony can break being the most powerful, but less sold console, but Msoft is going to give them a challenge.

[RedSeven]

I think it's a good idea to widen the marketing campaign. Obviousley the PS3 is not targeted to low income, young children. The console is like a Porsche in the game industry. So if they haven't decided to lower the price yet, it would be good marketing to target an audience that has $600+ to throw down. (You wouldn't market a 2007 BMW to an 18 year old kid.) Same for the PS3.

[cdawson]

It's not going to work sony, PEOPLE CANNOT AFFORD an $800 (after taxes) gaming machine in this day and age.
Everyone I know that has wanted one has settled for either a Wii or 360 simply because the PS3 is too expensive for what they give you.
Widening your marketing isn't going to change things.
Polls have shown, people want the PS3 they just can't afford it.

[btkadams]

thank god they're finally gonna market the ps3, i feel like no one even knows about it. or when i talk about it they jsut say, "omg u have one?! how did you afford it?" which brings me to my next point. lower the price.

My tips for my fav, Sony:
Lower the price
Market the ps3
Put out games

[Jamaicangmr]

@ posts 1 & 2, Did you guys say we need to reach? Wow!!! Thats some real brand loyalty right there. lol! But yeah We (Sony) need to reach a wider audience lol! Good to see them not givin up and takin the typical we're Playstation apporach. Good to hear.