Sony has had an incredible track record since their debut of the PlayStation back in 1995. They have sold well over 150 million consoles by continually securing great exclusives for their systems and pairing that with ingenious marketing. After today at their E3 conference Sony continued with that strategy showing God of War 3, a new Gran Turismo, a 256 person multi-player online game but one thing was missing….any sign of embracing the growing social platforms. No mention of Facebook. No mention of Twitter. These products are touched by millions of people a day, but Sony refuses to embrace them. Microsoft and Nintendo made announcements related to both products already.
Consumers are showing that it is imperative that their electronic devices integrate with their life in every way possible. Our phones get our email, allow us to browse the web and update our Twitter. The Nintendo Wii has caused a mass hysteria with people young and old with its interactive remote and simple games. Microsoft in addition to its wealth of games has embraced the idea of allowing users to stream NetFlix movies and this fall send messages on Facebook and update their Twitter status….all from the console. Sony meanwhile continues to pound away with the games, a proprietary movie system that does not allow unlimited streaming or integrate with Netflix, no Facebook support or Twitter. These brands are cool, kids and adults know them and Sony just continues to believe they know best.
Obviously they don’t. Sales figures for April were even worse for Sony showing the PS2 still outselling the PS3 and Sony and Nintendo outselling it by nearly 50% and 200% respectively. This situation is only going to get worse for Sony as the price of their console doesn’t become the only issue this fall.
