Japanese developers to focus on Wii over PS3
According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the game just isn’t going “Sony‘s way” this time around. Publishers, analysts and even PlayStation 2 gamers have claimed that there’s something just not right about the PlayStation 3, and it clearly takes form in it being in last place.
Supposedly being Sony’s successor to the still popular PS2, the PlayStation 3 still has a lot of ground to cover: it has to beat the PS2’s still growing sales point, overtake Microsoft’s early bird Xbox 360, and divert developer attention from the lower priced and mass-market appealing Nintendo Wii.
Top of the news report however, is the fact that Japanese developers are looking down on the PlayStation 3. Kyoshi Shin of the International Game Developers Association in Japan mentioned that many developers were now focusing on developing for the Wii, since it has higher probability of selling to more customers, provided its humongous user base.
“When people talk about the PS3 on chat forums, they say it’s like going to a very expensive restaurant and not getting anything to eat,” Shin said. The temperamental Eastern sentiment is shared by the Japanese chapter of the IGDA, although no one is ruling out the possibility that the PlayStation 3 can still win.
Analysts have stated time and time again that Sony needs to place short term changes in their strategy to augment their long term performance. Since the PlayStation 3 has a lifetime of 10 years, the console should beat the competition by half that time – about the same time Microsoft and Nintendo put out their new consoles for the next five-year generation.
“It’s clear Sony is struggling with PS3 sales. The key question is: how is Sony going to persuade those 100 million PS2 owners to buy the PS3?” said Geoff Keighley, editor of GameSlice. The major sentiment is that Sony boost the console’s immediate value by dropping the price point to manageable standards. In short, they suggest a price cut.
According to sources, Sony already loses money on every PlayStation 3 sold, so it wouldn’t hurt for Sony to lose a little bit more to immediately distribute its console to install a larger hardware base than the competition. This is Sony’s primary strategy after all: “lose money or break even selling consoles but make loads of cash selling games.” Question is, when will they start?
According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the game just isn’t going “Sony‘s way” this time around. Publishers, analysts and even PlayStation 2 gamers have claimed that there’s something just not right about the PlayStation 3, and it clearly takes form in it being in last place.
Supposedly being Sony’s successor to the still popular PS2, the PlayStation 3 still has a lot of ground to cover: it has to beat the PS2’s still growing sales point, overtake Microsoft’s early bird Xbox 360, and divert developer attention from the lower priced and mass-market appealing Nintendo Wii.
Top of the news report however, is the fact that Japanese developers are looking down on the PlayStation 3. Kyoshi Shin of the International Game Developers Association in Japan mentioned that many developers were now focusing on developing for the Wii, since it has higher probability of selling to more customers, provided its humongous user base.
“When people talk about the PS3 on chat forums, they say it’s like going to a very expensive restaurant and not getting anything to eat,” Shin said. The temperamental Eastern sentiment is shared by the Japanese chapter of the IGDA, although no one is ruling out the possibility that the PlayStation 3 can still win.
Analysts have stated time and time again that Sony needs to place short term changes in their strategy to augment their long term performance. Since the PlayStation 3 has a lifetime of 10 years, the console should beat the competition by half that time – about the same time Microsoft and Nintendo put out their new consoles for the next five-year generation.
“It’s clear Sony is struggling with PS3 sales. The key question is: how is Sony going to persuade those 100 million PS2 owners to buy the PS3?” said Geoff Keighley, editor of GameSlice. The major sentiment is that Sony boost the console’s immediate value by dropping the price point to manageable standards. In short, they suggest a price cut.
According to sources, Sony already loses money on every PlayStation 3 sold, so it wouldn’t hurt for Sony to lose a little bit more to immediately distribute its console to install a larger hardware base than the competition. This is Sony’s primary strategy after all: “lose money or break even selling consoles but make loads of cash selling games.” Question is, when will they start?