WARNING WALL OF TEXT AHEAD
- The PSN: This was an inexcusable mistake and one that they will find very difficult to recover from. It was a known exploit, and they knew that the PSN had this vulnerability, yet they did nothing about it. Before this happened I always questioned XBox Live's worth; free online was one of the main reasons I went with the PS3. Now indeed Lemmings can arch their eyebrows and proudly say "You get what you pay for," and they're right. When I look at the PSN being free now it almost feels like Sony knew they couldn't compete with XBL so as a competitive aspect they just made it free instead of trying to improve it. Sure it has improved but it's still miles behind XBL.
It's not just this intrusion however that shows the PSN's age. Unfortunately the PSN has no sense of community about it. This is the key difference between the 360 and PS3; the value of Live as an entertainment medium. While PS3 focuses on great and more varied exclusive than the 360 (which is awesome, no denying), MS knew the value of establishing an online community. They knew that this market was key so well that they rushed the 360 even before it was ready to be released (hence all the hardware problems that have been plaging the 360 throughout its life). MS also knew that if PS3 came out first, more people would have bought it on brand name alone and they wouldn't have a chance to set up a strong XBox Live infrastructure. People playing online on the 360 love the service and switching to PSN feels very lacklustre and almost like a ghost town in comparison (no mics, nobody talking etc).
There are downsides - I know it's full of prepubescent kids screaming the N word all day - but the community aspect of the 360 is one of its greatest attributes. From a business standpoint it's excellent for MS. While Sony focuses on putting out high quality exclusives with huge development costs (which I personally cannot pass up), MS focuses on its online service and generates a constant stream of revenue. Sony MUST LEARN TO DO THIS NEXT GEN.
- The controller: I used to think that the PS3 controller was fine but this freaking thing NEEDS an update. I used to roll my eyes at the 360 fanboys saying how much it hurts your hand and cramps it and I'd dismiss it. Recently however I've been using the 360 controller a lot since I've been on vacation (took my gaming laptop's 360 controller with me and also have been playing my cousin's 360) and frankly it's so much better. Yesterday when I was playing PS3 over at my friend's house I really noticed how crappy the DS3 is now. It made my hand feel all cramped and my thumbs were slipping from the concave analog sticks and triggers. It's time for a new controller.
I should lump the Move in here, too. Remember that POS? I had almost forgotten about it. It's an abject failure on Sony's part. They were aiming for the casual market with this but which mum who's deciding between the PS3 with Move and the Wii is gonna go with the PS3? It's priced waaayyyyy too high and hardly offers anything above the Wii. And to a mum, it looks complicated. Sure the Move can provide a decent service to us hardcore gamers but most of us are happy to use our DS3s (I know I am) rather than spend $70+ on the move and the nunchuck. Sony needs to learn to innovate, not follow and improve its marketing. They also need to get their pricing right and be able to guage the market.
kinect is a crap controller, we all know that, but it is something fresh. The only reason that crap took off is because of MS' crazy marketing funds. Unfortunately Sony can't afford anything right now.
- Sony first party developers: In truth I can't say this about all their developers. Their Western developers [Sucker Punch, Santa Monica Studios, even Media Molecule (which had a good attempt at innovation and tried to capture a community aspect for PSN)] are all very good for the most part, but they have problems in Japan. Specifically, I'm looking at Gran Turismo 5. As a game, I think that's the biggest indication of everything that's wrong with Sony right now. The game was still stuck in the early 2000's and had absolutely nothing going for it with a ridiculous online interface. Granted some of the graphics were nice but for the most part it looked like an HD PS2 game! The biggest mistake they made was to take so much time to detail the cars. I know the guy who made it supposedly a perfectionist but that's inexcusable for what the final product was (250 legit cars and loads of PS2 cars thrown in to get the number up to a thousand). It was a seriously stupid decision to make the game in 1080p when clearly it limited all the other graphical effects they could produce with the game. If there was ever a game which shows Sony's lack of understanding of the current videogame market, that game was GT5. The reason why I use it here is because it was supposed to be Sony's biggest gun. Each iteration apart from the latest has sold over or around 10 million, but PD just didn't get it. It was an old game glossed over in 1080p.
- The hardware: Now we have to give Sony credit here for making such a nice, reliable machine. I personally love the PS3. I love its multimedia capabilites and how well it works, I love the Bluray player and I love how silent it is. Lord knows it's a gem of a machine, especially when it was released, but as a gaming console you can't justify a $599 pricetag in 2006. This was Sony's biggest initial mistake; their arrogance. On brand name alone, they thought they'd win this gen easily but nobody wants to pay that much for a system, especially initially when they hardly had any exclusives for it! A console can never be that expensive. It's not PC gaming, it's gaming for the masses and the masses can't pay that much money.
In the end, though they took a gamble, the Cell was by and large a failure. I don't know much about hardware wizzardry but I do know that its architecture gives developers a much harder time than the XBox 360 does. This was in fact another move of arrogance by Sony. They figured that developers would still develop for PS as the primary platform and then port over to the 360. Instead the reverse happened! PS3 got a bunch of crappy ports while the 360 reined supreme and generally had more videogame sales for multiplats.
WHAT SONY NEEDS TO DO
For one thing, they need to wake up. This gen is too far gone now, so all this relates to what happens next gen. They need a new team with more Western feel, who are more familiar with online gaming and how to set up a good community aspect like XBox Live. They need a competitive product. Unfortunately for this to work I doubt next gen Sony will be doing a free online system. Hell at this point free online from them would probably be construed as a cheap service. They need to emphasise the next network's security and live up to it.
Look at Nintendo with Project Cafe. They've clearly understood the importance of online gaming and they will be highlighting this aspect.
Next, they need to make a more developer friendly console. It doesn't matter now about Bluray being included since it's now much cheaper and will be the standard next gen. However, toss the Cell. Use it in your tvs and what not but NOT for the PS4. Build a medium with developers and find out exactly what they're looking for to make a very development friendly-platform. Also, do not debut with a price higher than $400. If they're smart, somehow they'll pull off a $350 debut. [This is all unlikely though because I look at the PSP2 and it already looks like a failure with all the unneeded crap in it which do nothing but increase the price for a handheld. This is a different story though; it still might have a shot because the 3DS ain't looking too hot right now.]
Finally, update your controller! I've defended it in the past but it's a piece of crap now. It's a dinosaur. Stop being arrogant and update it.
The question is really weather Sony have learnt from their mistakes. I really hope so. I hope that this PSN experience has humbled them into looking at themselves as a company and finding out where they need to change. Why shouldn't they have been arrogant though? PS1 and PS2 were both explosions and robbed the crown from Nintendo with so muche ease. But every gen is different and Sony stayed behind this one. If they truly want to be industry leaders again, I think they should take these points and release the goddamn PS4 in 2013 before MS has a chance to put it out. If they do this, and establish the community aspect in North America, with a series of debuting high quality debut exclusives, they can win again.
It's gonna take some balls to pull that off though with the lack of profitability the company currently finds itself in and it may sound unrealistic. That's the difference though. Before Sony were the leaders. They couldn't have predicted the runaway success the PSX could be but they did everything right with it. They marketed it the right way (made it a more "mature" and "cooler" alternative than the Nintendo counterpart) and released it before the N64. PS2 somehow had so much hype behind it that it completely eclipsed Sega's Dreamcast (which had many marketing problems of its own). Before the PS3 came out we had a bunch of weird ass abstract commercials - what the hell was that about?
I think I've already read that Sony intends to release the PS4 after the next XBox - i.e. see what they're doing and then release something that's improved upon it. Which is just being a follower and it's not what it needs now. It needs to release the PS4 first and establish the online community as best it can. It's tough to break, especially since XBL is already so grounded in NA, but it CAN be done with the right marketing and high quality exclusives. Everybody loves new consoles. Sony needs to look to the future now, stop dwelling in the past and become leaders again.
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