PS3 – The Soul Of A Warrior

For two generations the warrior has conquered all contenders, leaving dust and the spilt blood of his foes in his wake, he has put them in their place and expanded his vast empire ten fold. Now, at the dawn of new era he is called upon once again to don his armor, take hold of his battle worn weapons and safeguard his kingdom.

That warrior would be the PlayStation brand, and his kingdom would be the videogame market. Right now Sony owns it, but can they hold on? It’s the question on everyone’s minds at the moment, will Sony beat the videogame curse and pull a hat trick? Will they fumble the ball on the third try as so many have done before? Sony’s blood is much sought after by Nintendo (who never forget a grudge), and  perhaps even more so by Microsoft and her minions of Xevil (pronounced Zee-Vill).  Will the warrior lay down his tired arms and fall by the wayside, or will he continue to dominate the gladiatorial arena for another generation? Let’s have a look at his anatomy.

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For two generations the warrior has conquered all contenders, leaving dust and the spilt blood of his foes in his wake, he has put them in their place and expanded his vast empire ten fold. Now, at the dawn of new era he is called upon once again to don his armor, take hold of his battle worn weapons and safeguard his kingdom.

That warrior would be the PlayStation brand, and his kingdom would be the videogame market. Right now Sony owns it, but can they hold on? It’s the question on everyone’s minds at the moment, will Sony beat the videogame curse and pull a hat trick? Will they fumble the ball on the third try as so many have done before? Sony’s blood is much sought after by Nintendo (who never forget a grudge), and  perhaps even more so by Microsoft and her minions of Xevil (pronounced Zee-Vill).  Will the warrior lay down his tired arms and fall by the wayside, or will he continue to dominate the gladiatorial arena for another generation? Let’s have a look at his anatomy.

The Armor:
The PlayStation brand is huge, her-UGE. Fact is there are more Sony fanboys out there an any other kind, almost double the number in fact. Why this is the case is a subject for another article, but there is strength in numbers. The fact that Sony is content to give its biggest competitor a full one year lead in the marketplace speaks volumes of their confidence in the brand loyalty they’ve been able to establish. Remember in Kill Bill 2 when Uma Thurman went to go train with that old Chinese guy on the hill and he pretty much just let her wail on him, laughing all the while? That old guy’s Sony, you know how the rest turned out.

Consider this as well, Sony hasn’t even begun to market the PS3 and it’s still on everyone’s minds. They’ve got this crazy Jedi mind trick at their disposal, all they do is wave a magic marketing wand and people like you and me do all the legwork for them. Granted they’ll eventually poop a few tragically hip commercials our way down the line,  but the net just can’t get enough of the Sony hype machine. Despite Microsoft showing a bundle of real time videos and actual games last year, it was Sony who set the public perception of what a next gen game should be. Little video for a title called Killzone, mayhaps you have heard of it?

Establishing a loyal fan base is all well and good, but at the end of the day the hardcore market is just a drop in a raging sea. Somehow Sony did the impossible. Somehow, Sony managed to get parents to stop saying “Oh Michael’s in his room playing Nintendo”, and start saying “Mikes chillin’, he’s PlayStaioned, w00t.” Ok so they don’t say that, but you get the idea. There’s been a shift in the culture, where non-gamers would previously call any console regardless of which one they were referring to a  “Nintendo,” they now refer to pretty much any console as a “PlayStation”. (A somewhat double edged victory for Sony’s marketing team no doubt).

The Arsenal:
Sony inarguably has the most well stocked catalog of exclusive third party developed titles of the big three. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a stroll through Franchise Land shall we?

Final Fantasy – For the past two generations these two have gone together like hot butter on a tasty dinner roll, and while there are rumblings that Squeenix might be headed toward a multi-platform model, it’s a pretty sure bet that the top tier Final Fantasy games will premiere on Sony’s magic box.

Tekken – It’s been married monogamously to both iterations of the PlayStation (and the love story continues on the PSP), why should this time be any different? It’s also the best fighting game ever made (though Soul Calibur runs a close second).

Ridge Racer – Namco debuted RR:6 with the 360 launch, but it was only half a Ridge Racer game, the next real Ridge Racer game will launch with  the PS3.

Ratchet and Clank – Considering  the level of polish we witnessed from Insomniac’s PS2 titles it shivers me timbers to think what they’ll be able to do with the PS3. Oh wait, we don’t even have to imagine… we can watch the video! (shiver!)

Devil May Cry – I’ll never forget the first time I saw the trailer for the original Devil May Cry, it was five years ago and I was nineteen years old. It was also the last time I wet my pants.

Grand Theft Auto – And then I pooped a little too.

Metal Gear Solid – No matter how skeptical people are right now, when they see Kojima’s new build of MGS:4 up and running they will believe in the power of PlayStation. The MGS series has always been able to show us the true potential of Sony’s machines. Expect no different this time out.

The great thing is that Sony have also realised that having strong third party support isn’t enough. For the past year and a half Sony has been restructuring its internal development teams and acquiring new ones, at the same time setting up an intriguing network (Sony World Wide Studios) in an attempt to pool resources and maximise developer communication.

The Heart:
“A warrior is only as invincible as his heart is stout” (I forget who said that, but he was smart and it’s appropriate). Sony took a big gamble going with the expensive and untested technology that powers the mystical Cell processor. We’re yet to see if it pays off and if so to what degree, but few can argue that on paper at least the PlayStation 3 is an intimidating machine. The specs are through the roof and the number of services the machine could potentially provide is mind boggling, getting one is practically a no-brainer… in a perfect world. There are two questions that need to be answered before Sony can really expect people to bite.

(1) How much will it cost?

(2) Does it really do all that they say it will?

At this point no one can answer either question and debates across the net rage heatedly as to what’s an appropriate price point for the services the PS3 promises to offer. The Xbox 360 debuted at $400 (let’s not beat around the bush here, it did) and as such has set a precedent. If Sony are planning on charging more for their machine, they need to tell us why – no, they need to show us why. And it had better be worth it. Sony have a nasty habit of over promising and under delivering, and this time it could really bite them in the posterior.

But… to be fair, they also have a history of delivering their products at a lower price than one might expect. Before the PS2 launched there was a lot of talk about Sony not even being able to meet their announced technical specifications because they were so high, let alone a price point competitive in the marketplace. The same thing happened with the PSP, remember all the doom and gloom and analyst reports that hinted at a $500 price point for the handheld? Launch came and  Sony quietly released the PlayStation Portable at $250.  Do that again Sony, surprise us. Come out at E3 and tell us you’re launching at $350-$400, shoot down that ridiculous $700 FUD. (Fear Uncertainy and Doubt)

E3 Tells All:
Sony had better have something more substantial than videos on display at E3. If Nintendo comes out all guns blazing, and Microsoft unleash Gears of War, Mass Effect, Too Human and Halo 3 and Sony shows us more “gameplay videos” it’s game over. QJ will be there and standing by, sending a continuous stream of updates and info from a team at the show floor, so now you know where to get the hookup.

Death:
“How we face death is at least as important as how we face life” (Admiral James T. Kirk)

If Sony does fumble, they’ll fumble big. A sinful amount of money has been invested in the PS3 and its peripheral technologies. How would Sony deal with defeat? Something to ponder.