Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Breaking News: PlayStation 3 delayed...
In Europe.
The video game industry exists on this glorious island where real world events simply do not matter. I am not being facetious either. No one ever says "How could you release that game/system during that time? What about the hurricane?" There are certain rules that go along with gaming that are followed regardless of trends in the "outside" world. So while people who are not totally immersed in the video game industry may look at Sony's latest setback with the PS3 - delaying their European launch to March '07 - for gamers, this is just another sign that Sony truly has no idea what they are doing. I'm sure you can guess why the system was delayed with little effort. Sony is having trouble manufacturing the Blu Ray player. Have I mentioned that Blu Ray is a bad idea?
For American and Japanese gamers, the PlayStation 3 is only two months from launch. In just 72 days, the PS3 will official go on sale in America and, within seconds, the first ridiculously overpriced system will go on eBay for a near unholy price. 72 Days! That's nothing. And yet, every single news report about the PS3 is still clouded in negativity. How is this possible? This latest report about the European delay includes the sickening fact about the US and Japanese launches - there aren't going to be any systems available. 100,000 will be on the streets November 11 in Japan and 500,000 one week later in America. I realize these are similar numbers to what Microsoft delivered last year, but the PS3 shortage will be much worse. The Xbox only sold 20 million systems worldwide and they only managed that many because of Halo. There was no Halo at launch for the X360. The PS2 not only has sold more than 100 million systems, but it has displaced Nintendo as the default term for video games. Even at $600 a pop, there will be a mad rush to buy those 400K systems.
In Europe, a place dominated by Michelangelo until Sony arrived a decade ago, the door is left wide open for someone else to steal the throne. The Xbox 360 has not really caught on over there yet, but it does offer the same mind-blowing graphics as the PS3 at a much more manageable price. The Wii may make a dent there as well if Nintendo can lure NDS owners to go console. Brain Training and Nintendogs and all those non-games are huge hits over there. Could Wii Sports be the next big thing?
Sony really needs something to keep gamers interested. If this was any other company but Sony, gamer's collective attentions would be turned elsewhere. But Sony did give us the PlayStation 2, most likely the greatest system ever, so people are willing to give them second and even fifth chances. But right now, there is no reason to be excited about the PS3. It's overpriced because Sony is forcing Blu Ray down our throat, but doesn't offer any must have game. With all the negative press surrounding this system, something positive has to turn up at some point, right? Right?
The video game industry exists on this glorious island where real world events simply do not matter. I am not being facetious either. No one ever says "How could you release that game/system during that time? What about the hurricane?" There are certain rules that go along with gaming that are followed regardless of trends in the "outside" world. So while people who are not totally immersed in the video game industry may look at Sony's latest setback with the PS3 - delaying their European launch to March '07 - for gamers, this is just another sign that Sony truly has no idea what they are doing. I'm sure you can guess why the system was delayed with little effort. Sony is having trouble manufacturing the Blu Ray player. Have I mentioned that Blu Ray is a bad idea?
For American and Japanese gamers, the PlayStation 3 is only two months from launch. In just 72 days, the PS3 will official go on sale in America and, within seconds, the first ridiculously overpriced system will go on eBay for a near unholy price. 72 Days! That's nothing. And yet, every single news report about the PS3 is still clouded in negativity. How is this possible? This latest report about the European delay includes the sickening fact about the US and Japanese launches - there aren't going to be any systems available. 100,000 will be on the streets November 11 in Japan and 500,000 one week later in America. I realize these are similar numbers to what Microsoft delivered last year, but the PS3 shortage will be much worse. The Xbox only sold 20 million systems worldwide and they only managed that many because of Halo. There was no Halo at launch for the X360. The PS2 not only has sold more than 100 million systems, but it has displaced Nintendo as the default term for video games. Even at $600 a pop, there will be a mad rush to buy those 400K systems.
In Europe, a place dominated by Michelangelo until Sony arrived a decade ago, the door is left wide open for someone else to steal the throne. The Xbox 360 has not really caught on over there yet, but it does offer the same mind-blowing graphics as the PS3 at a much more manageable price. The Wii may make a dent there as well if Nintendo can lure NDS owners to go console. Brain Training and Nintendogs and all those non-games are huge hits over there. Could Wii Sports be the next big thing?
Sony really needs something to keep gamers interested. If this was any other company but Sony, gamer's collective attentions would be turned elsewhere. But Sony did give us the PlayStation 2, most likely the greatest system ever, so people are willing to give them second and even fifth chances. But right now, there is no reason to be excited about the PS3. It's overpriced because Sony is forcing Blu Ray down our throat, but doesn't offer any must have game. With all the negative press surrounding this system, something positive has to turn up at some point, right? Right?
// posted by Tom @ 5:29 AM 
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