Sony has been running a lot of ads lately about the PlayStation 3. They’ve covered everything from playing high resolution Blu-ray movies to playing exclusive games like Uncharted 2. Let’s quickly review a few of them.
1. It Does Unbelievable HD Entertainment
2. It Only Does Blu-ray Movies
3. It Only Does Great Games
4. It Only Does Uncharted 2
One theme throughout these ads is very prevalent. The PlayStation 3 does everything but be a social gaming machine. No mention of Twitter nor their newly announced support for Facebook Connect. Now how important is Social Media to these gaming machines? My friend Ryan recently blogged about how 10% of the ENTIRE Xbox Live User Base registered their Facebook Account with the system in the first week. Those kind of numbers can’t be ignored and sadly I think Sony is finally starting to pay the price.
Console Sales Numbers just released for November and Sony is back into third place of the major consoles. In October Sony was sitting pretty with their recent price drop outselling the Xbox 360 by over 15%, but now the price point is even and Sony is back to what it knows Games and Blu-ray. If I was Sony I would be very worried.
This was supposed to be Sony’s quarter to really dig into Nintendo and Microsoft’s lead in the console race and it has not happened nearly at the level it should’ve. They’ve launched a plethora of Triple AAA titles such as Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted 2, and God of War Collection, but it just hasn’t moved the needle. Exclusive titles nowadays are not so common due to development costs skyrocketing. Companies like Take Two Interactive and Electronic Arts are having to make games for every platform to recoup development costs and to ensure as many units as possible go out the door. That being said you have to distinguish your console and Sony has simply failed on all fronts.
But What About Blu-ray?
At $299 the PlayStation 3 is one heck of a Blu-ray player, but what stops a consumer from signing up for Netflix and watching HD movies on demand? Though the quality is slightly less, it is high enough quality that 99% of consumers dont care. Microsoft knew this and signed NetFlix to an exclusive agreement with the online streaming limiting Sony to having to offer it’s consumer discs to stream movies.
But They Do Have Facebook Connect
Sure they do, but nobody knows this. It’s not anywhere on the box. It’s nowhere on TV. Unlike Microsoft who is running constant ads during prime time featuring Facebook, Netflix and Twitter.
I’m a huge fan of Sony. I proudly show everyone my PlayStation 3 when they come to my home, but it’s hard to not be a little disheartened when your console is in a distance third, not outselling any of the major consoles at holiday with superior titles. Good luck Sony, I’m not even sure God of War III and Gran Turismo 5 can save you.
