Why the Console War is Over

The Sony PS3’s chance against the Wii and 360 looked dismal before the system was even launched. The failure of the PSP had many of us wondering if Sony had enough up its sleeve to keep gamers enticed, and many of us (including me) were sadly disappointed on November 17th, 2006. Yes, gamers waited in line, there were fights, and some people got shot. But after a few days of craziness, the fight for the PS3 was over.

Sony launched with a small number of units, an even smaller game line up, a high price point, and no component cables (granted, the Wii does not come with any either, but the Xbox 360 does). With a price tag of $600, many parents quickly turned to the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS. Many gamers decided that paying their mortgage or car payments in December was more important than dropping the sizable chunk of moola on a gaming system. Unfortunately, only a few of the PS3’s launch titles were exclusive, one being Resistance: Fall of Man. However, the other titles were already available for the Xbox 360 and this trend is said to be continuing.

Sony has lost exclusivity on many of its premier games, such as the Final Fantasy series. Square-Enix has not officially said that they will be releasing Final Fantasy XIII on other systems, but has claimed that they do not want to solely support Sony. Guitar Hero II is coming to the Xbox 360 in March, and many of the original Final Fantasy games have been made already for the GBA and DS, although Sony promises to have them released on the PSP sometime soon.

Sony launched the PS3 with the smallest amount of complete systems on record. After pushing the PS3 back a few months and then having the system be late to the assembly line, Sony faced a dismal number of units available for launch on November 17th, which was approximately 400,000. The set back seems to have stemmed from the use of blu-ray hardware that was untested and continuously failing.

Sony also missed out on their chance for a global launch by delaying the date of the PS3 launch in Europe to April 2007. Although the Xbox 360 was also in short supply when it first launched, Microsoft realized the importance of spreading the love throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, even if the system had slow adoption.

Another thing: Blu-ray is expensive. The movies cost more and the technology is a pain to develop for. Right now there are less than 10 Blu-ray movies sold at any Gamestop or EB games, and the initial stock is starting to collect dust as they remain unsold. Sony tried to urge consumers to purchase more Blu-ray movies by adding “Click” to a select number of holiday PS3s. However, the movies have still failed to catch on.

Analysts say that when Blu-ray players reach the market, they will start at a price point of around $1000, which is why the PS3 is priced so high. Most of us would rather settle for a nice HD-DVD player for around $200 instead. Considering less than 10% of the US population has forked over the $3000-4000 for a HDTV, what’s the point of Blu-Ray if you don’t have the upgraded TV? Also, the PS3 doesn’t even include component cables, which are an additional $50 and the HDMI cable for a PS3 is $90. Anyone with an HDTV with HDMI output would want to upgrade their cables for a better picture quality, but not at the expense of an additional $50-100.

I don’t care if the gaming engine is more powerful than the Wii and comparable to the Xbox 360. I don’t care about the blu-ray player, or if the system will be great in 2008. If that is true, I’ll wait a year to buy it. What is one good reason to purchase the system at this exact moment in time? I feel that many consumers are asking the same questions, and this is what has led to Sony’s pathetic launch and sale numbers.

Demand for the PS3 has become so dismal that many dealers have a wall of systems in the warehouse, but still no Wiis. The PS2 sold out last Christmas, and I don’t believe it’s due to how inexpensive the dated system is currently. The only time I have witnessed a rush for the PS3 has been when gaming stores offer more trade in credit towards the purchase of a PS3 when a PS2 is traded in. Even with these deals, the PS3s still haven’t sold out.