Zack Stromberg

From the very beginning I have found SONY's approach to the PS3 platform a bit surprising. I don't think it takes a marketing genius to know that placing a 600.00 price tag on a gaming system, when your competition is only charging 400.00, is a bit of a gamble. Using an unproven technology like Blu-Ray as an excuse for the higher price tag was yet another gamble. Since the war between Blu-Ray and HD DVD has not been decided, SONY may have really jumped the gun.

Their argument that 600.00 is a reasonable price for a Blu-Ray player is becoming less and less valid as prices for Blu-Ray players fall. I think that SONY is now realizing that they may have been a little too confident in their name carrying their product. The fact that sales are not as good as they had hoped, coupled with the fact that there are many game development companies that are no longer offering franchise exclusivity to SONY (Devil May Cry 4, Virtua Fighter 5, GTA IV) may serve as an important lesson to the executives in charge of PS3 development. Ultimately, the few properties that are still exclusive to SONY do not have the same draw that the properties that they have lost have.

As a consumer, and a gamer, I was actually a little offended at SONY's approach. I feel that SONY has always been a little overly arrogant about their brand. The fact that they would make the marketing decisions that they have indicates a lack of awareness of their target market, and an unrealistic view of how good their product actually is. I think that unless SONY makes some very serious changes to their marketing approach, they may actually lose this round of the console race.

Michael Harris

I think that Sony’s philosophy has been consistent from the beginning. They released PS3 with no illusions about how they would do in the short term. This system is technologically sound and “future proof.” By that I mean that PS3 will still have strong legs for some time to come. Microsoft jumped out of the gates quickly and has been sprinting at a world class pace with superior software such as Gears of War, GRAW as well as a heavy hitting lineup due out this fall. The problem with Microsoft is that their hardware is not only limited in CPU power, the units have a terrifying failure rate, which as one Electronic Arts rep revealed could be in the 30-40% range. I personally believe that Sony is only one exclusive away from selling large numbers of consoles. You can be certain that a price drop will come at some point and that will be a tremendous boost to hardware sales. Don’t put it past Sony to bundle the newest Spiderman movie on Blu-Ray with PS3 consoles to coax holdout gamers in the future.

As cute as Wii is, it is simply surviving on the hype of not being available in stores. Some have suggested that Nintendo has been purposely choking the supply chain to drive up demand. I wouldn’t put it past Nintendo to do such a thing. The thing that will keep Wii from competing over the next three or four years is lack of decent third party games. People can say what they want about “graphics don’t make a good game,” but the reality is that each day the world moves closer and closer to the High Def era. LCD televisions are dropping in price and game developers are making games that eerily mirror the real world. Nintendo will always be a player in this industry just because their first party titles are untouchable. Heck, I own a Wii myself and love Mario, Zelda and Metroid just as much as anyone. When the cards are all laid on the table though, Wii will only have about four or five games a year that are decent. Only two or three of those will be stellar. This same scenario played out on the Gamecube and you saw how it turned out.

As to when Sony and PS3 will make its move, I personally believe it will be next year and 2009. I have my doubts that Metal Gear Solid 4 will be a PS3 exclusive this time around, but count on reliable games such as Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, Gran Turismo 5 and Killzone 2 in the near future. Also expect surprise games such as Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune to come out of nowhere and grab the attention of gamers.

We didn’t even mention the fact that God of War 3 is coming and there is a rumor circulating that the next installment of Silent Hill will be on PS3 exclusively. The bottom line is that Sony still has all the partnerships in place, their console is rock solid in terms of quality, unbeatable in terms of CPU power and they have plenty of experience. Microsoft can’t compete in the Asian markets and Sony still has a golden opportunity to capture European gamers. Don’t get me wrong, nothing is a foregone conclusion at this point. Sony will have to work incredibly hard to catch up. A PS3 price drop is absolutely critical and a million seller exclusive is as well.

No matter what happens, this is going to be the tightest console race in years.