Sony Reveals Plans To Win Christmas Battle

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has hit back at criticism that its PlayStation 3 (PS3) console is suffering from sliding sales and revealed it is harbouring treats for gamers up its corporate sleeve to conqure the all-important Christmas market.

Nintendo's Wii console is currently riding the crest of a wave in terms of market share, leaving both Sony and Microsoft in its wake. But Jonathan Fargher, SCEE representative, said it was wrong to pit the Wii and PS3 against each other.

"The one thing we have always done with the PlayStation is stick to our business strategy," he said. "We keep an eye on the competition, but it is unfair to put the Nintendo Wii and PS3 in the same category. The Wii is a sub-£200 console and does one thing pretty well. Compare that with a £400 piece of hardware that plays next-generation games, allows users to access photo files and has built-in Blu-Ray technology.

"Many people have said PS3 is not doing well, but in nine weeks we have sold more than one million machines in Europe, which is faster than the sell-through rate of the PS2. The PS1 and PS2 sold 115 million machines worldwide, so we are confident of the PS3's performance in time," he added.

"However, the problem has been a boom and bust scenario with the software, particularly in the summer months when many firms tend not to release big-name games."

Fargher said Sony is looking to counterbalance the lack of games from third-party developers by making other titles available on its online PlayStation Store.

"It will be towards the end of the year when the big titles start to show what the PS3 can really do and hopefully make people feel more comfortable about the decision they made to invest in our hardware."

Titles due to hit the shelves in the Christmas run-up include the latest installment of favourites such as Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, Ratchet and Clank, Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter, he added.

"If you look at the hardware, you do get a lot for your money: as well as playing Blu-Ray, the PS3 also upscales DVDs to High Definition (HD) format, and if a gamer is lucky enough to own a PlayStation Portable (PSP, pictured, below-left) they can access their PS3 remotely using the PSP and a Wi-Fi connection," said Fargher.

At the PS3 launch backward-compatibility issues had blighted the console, but Fargher told CRN the problems had been ironed out.

"The backwards-compatibility issues have pretty much gone away," he said. "There are now up to 2,500 playable titles including all the major ones that gamers want to play."

Fargher said Sony has also released the PS3 Firmware update - v1.8 - which upscales both PS1 and PS2 games to HD and can be downloaded onto the PS3.

"People don't want to throw their games library away and want to make sure that the investment they have made, in terms of software, is catered for. Firmware v1.8 allows this," he said.

Add this to the console's ability to support games outside the PAL format, which means gamers can buy titles from the US and Japan, and the PS3 gives value for money, he said.

On the hand-held side, Sony is certainly not neglecting its PSP console. Fargher hinted there could be a redesign of the console on the cards, and admitted there had been a lack of AAA titles available for the format.

"There are many high-profile titles in the pipeline and the PSP will continue to grow. We are working with a number of content partners for the PSP, so watch this space," he said.

Hamish Thompson, a representative for the Dixons Stores Group, said the gaming market was very buoyant.

"We are confident about Sony. Launching the PS3 at the time of year that it did got it off to an impressive start and we are certain that the interest and demand will build as we get closer to the peak season of November, December and January.

"It is an interesting market as there is a lot of competition. All the [different vendor] products are appealing to a broader demographic and they all have another dimension to them, such as Blu-Ray and online connectivity. It certainly creates an exciting buzz, which is great news for retailers."

http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn/news/2192689/sony-reveals-plans-win

can't wait for e3!

jak and daxter this christmas say what.supersaiyan039

I was just thinking the exact same thing.

according to their battle plan they aren't competing with the wii :?GunSmith1_basic

they know its not possible.

it's funny they STILL refuse to even acknowledge MS' as a threat....

making their colossal failure with the ps3 all that much more funny...:lol:

face it sony; two holidays in a row for the 360..;)

according to their battle plan they aren't competing with the wii :?GunSmith1_basic

no wonder they didn't realize that the wii could access photo files as well ;)

according to their battle plan they aren't competing with the wii :|GunSmith1_basic

I take that as, they are not going to compete to get the 60 year old non-gamers that the Wii is scooping up right now.

Two different consoles that really are targeted at different audiences.

jak and daxter this christmas say what.supersaiyan039

also crash bandicoot

No mention of the Xbox360? :roll:

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"]according to their battle plan they aren't competing with the wii :|darthogre

I take that as, they are not going to compete to get the 60 year old non-gamers that the Wii is scooping up right now.

Two different consoles that really are targeted at different audiences.

No, what it means is 'wow Ninty is romping away with it this gen. I know we said we'd be number one but seeing as we made such a mess of things were happy to try and battle for second. I won't mention the 360 because i'm hoping, nay praying, they just vanish overnight in a puff of smoke'.

jak and daxter this christmas say what.supersaiyan039

Id be happy as hell. I love Jak games.

i don't think they're taking the right steps. They need a drastic price cut and lots of high-profile game out to win the christmas season.

saying that they're going to continue their current plan isn't a great idea either. They are being out sold by both of their competitors. when that's happening, you need to change something

Sony doesn't have one game that can stand up to the sales might of

1. Halo 3
2. Mario Galaxy
3. Super Smash Brothers Melee

So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? Stonin

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has hit back at criticism that its PlayStation 3 (PS3) console is suffering from sliding sales and revealed it is harbouring treats for gamers up its corporate sleeve to conqure the all-important Christmas market.

Nintendo's Wii console is currently riding the crest of a wave in terms of market share, leaving both Sony and Microsoft in its wake. But Jonathan Fargher, SCEE representative, said it was wrong to pit the Wii and PS3 against each other.

"The one thing we have always done with the PlayStation is stick to our business strategy," he said. "We keep an eye on the competition, but it is unfair to put the Nintendo Wii and PS3 in the same category. The Wii is a sub-£200 console and does one thing pretty well. Compare that with a £400 piece of hardware that plays next-generation games, allows users to access photo files and has built-in Blu-Ray technology.

"Many people have said PS3 is not doing well, but in nine weeks we have sold more than one million machines in Europe, which is faster than the sell-through rate of the PS2. The PS1 and PS2 sold 115 million machines worldwide, so we are confident of the PS3's performance in time," he added.

"However, the problem has been a boom and bust scenario with the software, particularly in the summer months when many firms tend not to release big-name games."

Fargher said Sony is looking to counterbalance the lack of games from third-party developers by making other titles available on its online PlayStation Store.

"It will be towards the end of the year when the big titles start to show what the PS3 can really do and hopefully make people feel more comfortable about the decision they made to invest in our hardware."

Titles due to hit the shelves in the Christmas run-up include the latest installment of favourites such as Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, Ratchet and Clank, Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter, he added.

"If you look at the hardware, you do get a lot for your money: as well as playing Blu-Ray, the PS3 also upscales DVDs to High Definition (HD) format, and if a gamer is lucky enough to own a PlayStation Portable (PSP, pictured, below-left) they can access their PS3 remotely using the PSP and a Wi-Fi connection," said Fargher.

At the PS3 launch backward-compatibility issues had blighted the console, but Fargher told CRN the problems had been ironed out.

"The backwards-compatibility issues have pretty much gone away," he said. "There are now up to 2,500 playable titles including all the major ones that gamers want to play."

Fargher said Sony has also released the PS3 Firmware update - v1.8 - which upscales both PS1 and PS2 games to HD and can be downloaded onto the PS3.

"People don't want to throw their games library away and want to make sure that the investment they have made, in terms of software, is catered for. Firmware v1.8 allows this," he said.

Add this to the console's ability to support games outside the PAL format, which means gamers can buy titles from the US and Japan, and the PS3 gives value for money, he said.

On the hand-held side, Sony is certainly not neglecting its PSP console. Fargher hinted there could be a redesign of the console on the cards, and admitted there had been a lack of AAA titles available for the format.

"There are many high-profile titles in the pipeline and the PSP will continue to grow. We are working with a number of content partners for the PSP, so watch this space," he said.

Hamish Thompson, a representative for the Dixons Stores Group, said the gaming market was very buoyant.

"We are confident about Sony. Launching the PS3 at the time of year that it did got it off to an impressive start and we are certain that the interest and demand will build as we get closer to the peak season of November, December and January.

"It is an interesting market as there is a lot of competition. All the [different vendor] products are appealing to a broader demographic and they all have another dimension to them, such as Blu-Ray and online connectivity. It certainly creates an exciting buzz, which is great news for retailers."

http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn/news/2192689/sony-reveals-plans-win

can't wait for e3!

-Renegade

Halo 3.

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"]according to their battle plan they aren't competing with the wii :?supersaiyan039

they know its not possible.

[QUOTE="Stonin"]So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? FlamingFlamingo

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

[QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"]

[QUOTE="Stonin"]So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? Darthmatt

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

[QUOTE="Darthmatt"][QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"]

[QUOTE="Stonin"]So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? SolidSnake35

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

Sony "this is waiting"

Good things take time.

You keep waiting. I'll keep playing.

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Darthmatt"][QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"]

[QUOTE="Stonin"]So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? FlamingFlamingo

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

Sony "this is waiting"

Good things take time.

You keep waiting. I'll keep playing.

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"]according to their battle plan they aren't competing with the wii :?supersaiyan039

they know its not possible.

A stammering babbling moronic Sony ad rep today bleated out nonsense to the press before returning to his office to finish off the bottle of Wild Irish Rose he keeps in his laptop bag.JiveT

:lol: Good one. I think I will wait until games are on SHELVES. I hope Sony has a good E3 and what not, but after their hype v. reality, I tend to ignore all PR people, especially Sony's. So great words, just want to see some action.

[QUOTE="Darthmatt"][QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"]

[QUOTE="Stonin"]So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? SolidSnake35

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

Ice ages take time, and at this rate we may be in the middle of the next one before Sony gets its act together.

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Darthmatt"][QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"]

[QUOTE="Stonin"]So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? Stonin

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

Ice ages take time, and at this rate we may be in the middle of the next one before Sony gets its act together.

[QUOTE="supersaiyan039"]

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"]according to their battle plan they aren't competing with the wii :?Tiefster

they know its not possible.

There's a reason you're not in charge of any major corporations. Better major in Kinesiology instead.

[QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Darthmatt"][QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"]

[QUOTE="Stonin"]So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? SolidSnake35

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

Sony "this is waiting"

Good things take time.

You keep waiting. I'll keep playing.

Wish I'd bought a console with old xbox games, bad ports, sub-par exclusives and multi-plats released months if not years after their 360 counterparts with barely comparable graphics....hang on, no i don't!

[QUOTE="Stonin"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Darthmatt"][QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"]

[QUOTE="Stonin"]So then, what he is basically telling us is .... just .... wait? SolidSnake35

That's been thier motto for a good while now.

Ice ages take time, and at this rate we may be in the middle of the next one before Sony gets its act together.

They could have done if they had planned it a little better, given developers better tools to work with and made a less complicated system to program for. I suppose though thats what they get for putting movies and formats before games on a games console *shrug*.

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"]Good things take time.Stonin

Wow...All Sony is doing is repeating their same strategy that they've had for years. And frankly, it's NOT working. The PS2 didn't have many games, it was expensive and it was pretty bad compared to the Dreamcast. But it still crushed its competition. The PS3 is expensive, has no games and is pretty bad compared to the Wii and Xbox 360 and...it's not crushing its competition. The strategies for last-generation aren't working for this generation. Until Sony gets the fact that the PS3 is too expensive and the gamers don't want the Blu-ray player in their PS3, the PS3 will never sell well.HyperMetaDragon

Well come on, the Dreamcast may have had some great titles, but Sega was pretty much dead in America and wasn't fairing too well in EU after everything that went down during the whole 32X through Saturn phases of Sega's life. All Sony needed to do was say "backcompatability" to win that. Also, the PS2 had some much better games out by the time GCN & Xbox were released, which was perfect. And exactly what MS did to get ahead this gen (though I seriously think there user base is MUCh lower than the actual sales from hardware malfunctions, and I speak as an owner of all the consoles)

But I agree on the whole expensive & what gamers don't want points (Blu-Ray movies we don't want, we want GAMES!!!), especially that the system is just too damn high in price.

[QUOTE="Stonin"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="FlamingFlamingo"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"]Good things take time.SolidSnake35

Opps, did I hit a sore spot? Here, take my SonySalve. Just rub it in and 'wait'.

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Stonin"]Wish I'd bought a console with old xbox games, bad ports, sub-par exclusives and multi-plats released months if not years after their 360 counterparts with barely comparable graphics....hang on, no i don't!Stonin

[QUOTE="Stonin"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Stonin"]Wish I'd bought a console with old xbox games, bad ports, sub-par exclusives and multi-plats released months if not years after their 360 counterparts with barely comparable graphics....hang on, no i don't!SolidSnake35

Yes it was. There, answered, happy now?

The lie too much.....i hope they go bankrupt :)Banned2x

but still when you see a xbox 360 sitting on the shelf, thats about 100 dollars cheaper why pass it up? Rahnyc4

jak and daxter this christmas say what.supersaiyan039

HURAY more and more franchise milkage from the consoles.....

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Stonin"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Stonin"]Wish I'd bought a console with old xbox games, bad ports, sub-par exclusives and multi-plats released months if not years after their 360 counterparts with barely comparable graphics....hang on, no i don't!Stonin

Yes it was. There, answered, happy now?

The Sony rep should of said 200 dollar price drop and some games that are actually worth playing are being developed in secret that we haven't revealed yet.

Also they should say we are copying XBL and it may cost 50 dollars for 13 months which would be hard for the people that squandered away money and sold family members to buy a PS3

[QUOTE="Stonin"]

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Stonin"][QUOTE="SolidSnake35"][QUOTE="Stonin"]Wish I'd bought a console with old xbox games, bad ports, sub-par exclusives and multi-plats released months if not years after their 360 counterparts with barely comparable graphics....hang on, no i don't!SolidSnake35

Yes it was. There, answered, happy now?

You obviously didn't use too much of your brain muscles when you decided to buy a PS3