There is not much to think about when it comes to the PlayStation 3. It goes a long way of enforcing the fact that the next generation has finally arrived. Blu Ray, the powerful Cell processor, visually appetizing games, the entire machine is no less than a monstrosity waiting to be unleashed. Like it or not, this console is next generation in every sense of the word.
No matter how appetizing a delicacy may taste, its presentation holds important points to the consumer, and that is exactly where Sony faltered, it expected the console and its lineup of games to grab eyeballs the day it was released without promoting the product sufficiently.
The point I am touching across here is the fact that the company followed an absolute abysmal marketing strategy when it launched the original PlayStation 2. It had what can be best described as a below average launch lineup. They did not have a single AAA title Street Fighter Ex3 (Below Meh), a jazzed up Square beat em up called The Bouncer, the only respectable game was Ridge Racer. They lacked humility and respect for the consumer after having won a war that had always been dominated by Nintendo. When Sega went ahead with the Dreamcast in the beginning of the 2000 console wars, Sony hardly considered them as competition. They were fully convinced that whatever would happen they would always be on top and a lot of analysts also cited with their tall claims.
With Sony on top, Nintendo and Sega would scramble for second and third place respectively. When Microsoft came out with the original Xbox, Sony did feel a little worried and picked its heels and started out a strategy with which it would sustain its dominance.
They delivered their heavy hitters on time and managed to secure their bunch of exclusives (read GTA) and managed to gain a huge advantage again. They started pushing for exhaustive content and remained at the top of lists and hearts of users. They had an enormous user base post record sales of MGS2 and Grand Theft Auto III. They may have had a slow start but they managed beautifully to stay alive and beat the pulp out of competition just because Sony found themselves swimming in an empty ocean.
Sony underestimated the power of Microsoft and Nintendo at the beginning of this generation as well. They had a pre-conceived notion that the 360 with its early launch would meet the same fate as the original Dreamcast and well Nintendo was no competition. With the mixed reviews the Wii was already getting prior release they went on pompously to declare they were the winners already.
The launch day was as abysmal as the PS2, with Resistance: Fall of Man being the only respectable game. Most of the load of multiplatform titles got delayed leaving Sony with a horrible lineup of games. Their big exclusives got delayed into 2007 and these exclusives got further delayed till 2008. Microsoft went head out with Gears of War and saw a unique IP being created that was enormously successful and the Wii was embraced by so many people, that for the first time in the history of gaming a draught of console hardware appeared which is assumed to get worse this holiday season.
2007 was probably one of the most dismal years Sony’s seen in gaming all due to their incoherent and ignorant behavior. They refused to lower their prices citing they were selling an entertainment system rather than a gaming console, thus being future oriented. The games on the PS3 faced insurmountable delays one after the other, their execs could not choose a more horrid time to unleash excellent games Heavenly Sword or Warhawk, leading to less than exceptional sales of both games.
Having witnessed the delirious heights of Heavenly Sword, it almost feels I just brushed passed God of War III. But looking at the sales perspective, the game could have done a lot better a f@#$ing million, I really pity Uncharted ‘s (sales figures -117, 000) mediocre showing at the collections office. With UT III and Call of Duty 4 most gamers are broke by the end of the day, and its relative short nature of gameplay makes buyers wary of its purchase. Ratchet and Clank is another fine game in the PS3’s list of arsenal that was not commercially successful, because it was primarily labeled as the so called “Kiddie”. I actually hate that adjective in conjunction with the game. Come on Sony Insomniac did not wear diapers during the course of development!
The surprising fact is that all of these games had been well received by the press and media and the games are worth every penny. But leave it to Sony to completely forget the basic foundation of marketing and live the haughty notion that their console still exists in isolation.
Heavenly Sword released on September 12, 2007, 13 days before the release of Halo 3, which literally spells, out Ring of death for Nariko. Warhawk released on 28th August and goes head to head with BioShocK released on August 25th and Metroid Prime III which was also released roughly around the same time. Uncharted and Ratchet come hopping at the fag end of the year and go up against the likes of UT III, Guitar Hero III, Assassin’s Creed and the mother of all multiplatform shooters, Call of Duty 4. Most of these jeweled exclusive releases have actually been committing Hara-kiri, they were not substantially hyped up and it took a while for people to actually take notice of the game.
Uncharted is probably one of the most under hyped games this year around. People started talking about the game post the demo’s release on PSN, when the game was beautiful and vivid the day it was shown. It’s actually about time, the PS3 comes out of the shadow of the PS2 and basks in its glory and Metal Gear Solid 4 might just do that, unless Sony acts like a dumb blonde again and releases it close to GTA IV, for the amount of energy and potential this machine is built with is pretty much limitless.
–Neelesh Mukherjee