Ridley
Power Member
"We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it [the PS3], whatever it is, even if it didn't have games." David Reeves, CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
LIKE A cartoon character, my mouth fell open this morning when I read this quote from a recent interview in CVG. The words that spilled out are not fit for a family audience. In that one sentence was all the proof needed to show that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sadly though, it doesn’t make Reeves wrong, since the maths will prove him correct. We will prove him correct. When I say 'we' I’m speaking of the collective console cattle that will buy the PS3 regardless of cost, performance, delays, lack of games, etc. Not the discerning, informed, cynical, back-stabbing and frighteningly knowledgeable INQ readers.
It's just the arrogance of the statement, regardless of truth, that has a growing number of people seriously looking for any reason not to buy another Sony product. A real “love the product/hate the company” attitude is building.
I own four Sony products. I’m telling you this before some Sony groupies start flaming me as a "Sony is the Devil" advocate. It is not. Merely a minor Demon Lord with ambitions, a sharpened knife and a well-thumbed copy of Julius Caesar tucked behind its pointy tail.
Over the past five years I have bought a Sony AV home cinema receiver, a small hi-fi, a PS2 and a notebook. With regard to the first and second products, they were the best in their class according to numerous reviews in consumer electronics publications. I tend to buy according to performance, not brand. The PS2 is two years old and was bought for my son but then sneakily, er, re-acquired by me. Research, you know? The Vaio notebook was – shock, horror - good value in a Christmas sale.
Let’s look at the basis for the arrogance though because it’s all based on fact. You probably saw some of the console sales figures yesterday but, if not, here’s the shocking update. The PS2 is kicking the Xbox 360’s ass. That’s right, the six-year old console is still outselling the brand spanking new, next-gen 360 – at least in the US. But since that market is so damn big, it’s a good general indicator. Since the launch of the Xbox 360, sales have averaged 246,000 units per month. During the same period, PS2 sales have averaged more than 470,000 a month. That’s an astounding stat but the fact is that the PS2 is still the key development platform for games and will remain so for some time. It is Sony’s cash-cow, something it freely admits. And, it will have to remain so since the whopping price tag on the PS3 rules it out as a mainstream console for at least a year after launch – maybe for good?
Truth aside, back to that damned quote. It leaves a bad taste and it perfectly illustrates the kind of arrogance permeating everything that Sony has done on the consumer front in the past few years. From Blu-Ray to the PSP to the DRM scandal to the PS3, Sony has pretty much steamrolled punters. Still, most people vote with their pockets and Sony knows it. But has it stopped listening to its fans, its customers – the rabid, bleeding-edge customers that will make up a massive part of the shopping vanguard for the PS3? It certainly looks like it.
A scan of some of the leading Sony fan sites shows a dangerous level of disappointment. One of the biggest gripes is that the PS3 has lost its shine. Much of the excitement they once harboured for the PS3 has been replaced by dejection because most of the news surrounding the PS3 is bad news. From delays, changing hardware specs, dodgy public demos and a ludicrous price tag, they want to know when Sony is going to announce something good. And that’s just it. Sony is hiding in its fortress. Microsoft is having a field day comparing the PS3 to Betamax. While veracity has little to do with the ‘war of words’ the general negativity is spilling over into the ‘real’ world. Lazy tech reporters on mainstream newspapers, sites and news programmes are now airing the mistakes and lies us nerds have been tracking for years.
Sony fans are jaded while marginal gamers and potential high-definition customers are taking a wait-and-see approach. Sony’s not listening to its fans because it doesn’t have to. A large number of gamers are resigned to the fact that their PS2 will remain their platform of choice for at least another 18 months. And why not, it’s cheap as hell and the games keep on coming.
Sadly, not enough people will know or care about Sony’s indiscretions to stop good, but not great, PS3 sales. The cattle will take their wallets and kids to PC World when the new Playstation hits because that’s what they have always done. But underneath the sales, all is not well in paradise. The Sony crown has lost its shine and the company’s shoddy treatment of customers and fans, coupled with its unhealthy fascination with copyright protection technology, spells long-term trouble on way.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32413
