No matter how you try to spin it the PlayStation 3 is in last place. And to those who say sales don't matter that's only half true. Sales shouldn't matter to consumers, but they do to the companies. And If I were running Sony these are the 5 things I would do to catch up to the competition.
1. A price drop. This is what's keeping the PS3 from selling as much as
gamers, journalist, and analyst expected it to. Launching at $600 was
too much for just about any gamer. The $100 price drop to $500 was
good, but still too much for just about any gamer. $400 was a good
point (and the same price the 360 launched at), but now with sells once
again going down it's time to cut the price again, in anticipation of
all the games and features the PS3 has and for the holiday season.
2. The PS3 has great games, and developers and having more will only
benefit the system. But even better as stated in the article is having
better tools. Better tools make the game development process easier,
which means more games will come out, and at a faster pace then what
the PS3 is currently doing. Currently Sony pushes about 6 games out a
year, and with better tools that could go up to 8, 10, or even 12 which
means more sells in both software and hardware.
3. Better online. Xbox 360 has there online streamed line so well. The PS3
doesn't. The PS3's online works fine, but it needs more features to
make it pointless to use online on a 360 when you can get on free on
the PS3 (besides playing with friends on the 360). This generation has
really pushed online gaming, and MS is leading, and Sony needs to catch
up.
4. PlayStation App store. Making the PS3 an all purpose machine is something I said, and something Sony should have been doing from the start. They have a special youtube channel so why not do the same for SKYPE to allow voice chat in games? Have an app store where gamers can download these features for their systems, and you can even make money off of these apps (even though many of them should probably be free). The photo thingy that was in a firmware was
not needed, and could have easily been something added to an app store.
These apps should be for X Media Bar or for PS Home (don't get me started on what Home spaces should be).
5. The last thing Sony can do to win this console generation is to win Japan. Japan is the only place Sony can completely obliterate the 360 (they can also catch up to the Wii in Japan). Sony needs to find out what the hello-neighbor is going on in Square and why the 360 is getting all the JRPG's and they aren't. Sony needs to keep FF13, FF13 vs., Kingdom Hearts (if it doesn't go to the
Wii) and every other major JRPG exclusive in Japan from now on. Sony
needs to add Japanese arcade games to PSN for Japanese gamers. Sony
needs to cater to Japan more so than what they have been doing. The PS3
and 360 are almost neck and neck in Europe, and in America the 360 is
dominating the PS3. A price drop will take care of both of these
regions. But a price drop as proven once before doesn't really do much
in Japan. A slim PS3 will (which is why they need to reveal one).
Here's what Sony needs to do in each region to at least catch up
America- $299 PS3 will do enough, but they should also sale bundles for $349 for all their huge games. For 1 the games will bring in people who are familiar with the franchise, and they can help generate more sells for possible and future sequels for the other game bundled in (since they not being bought anymore).
Examples of the Bundles
Killzone 2 w. Metal Gear Solid 4 (since they already have this one)
Ratchet and Clank w. Little Big Planet
Uncharted 2 w. Infamous
God of War w. Heavenly Sword
Gran Turismo 5 w. Motorstorm: PR
Eye Pet w. Eye Toy & Motion controls
Europe- Again a price drop will do a lot, but the following bundle is enough to offset a huge spike in PS3 sales.
$299 PS3 w. Gran Turismo 5
Japan- A price drop isn't enough to cause a huge spike in Japan, but a remodel is (as proven with the DS lite, DSi, PS2 slim, and most likely with the PSP Go).
PS3 Slim
$299 w. Final Fantasy 13
Now with all that being said I have no clue how much the PS3 cost to make, or how much money is distributed to games that are bundled in with the console, so these number are what I think would be best for consumers while being realistic.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
I'm trying to think of one for how the Xbox 360 can maintain it's lead and pass the Wii, but it's a little harder.
The sales for the PS3 show that they are one year behind.If the PS3 and the 360 were released at the same time the sales would show them neck and neck.
Why would you write a blog about a console that was released a year later and ask why is it behind?
It's behind in TOTAL sales not yearly sales so get your facts straight!
I agree with basically all of this except the second one. How could you honestly say that the dev tools need to be simpler? Have you ever made a PS3 game? Sure some devs complain it's too hard but that doesn't mean they aren't already close to as good as they can be.
well... looks like Sony read your blog, now they are doing this what are you going to rant about now?
They've used every trick in the book. They've hyped PS3, lowered price, lowered price, come up with good exclusives, worked a lot on PSN, slimmed and lowered price again and still working on PSN. I don't think it will get out of 3rd place. But PS3 is a great console, and it has helped BlueRay succed. Come back even better with PS4. It will have BD so Sony will have a leg up on that department. It's a marathon not a race.