PS3 Lost The Console Wars

Now, from a consumer's point of view, I think that Sony has already lost the console wars. This is due, I think, mainly from their price point of $499 versus the 360's $299/$399 price points. Sure, the 360 has an elite version that's coming out for $499, but I'm going deep into that...why do I think Sony lost? Take a look at sales, take a look at exclusives, take a look at the whole picture.

If I remember correctly, Sony had sold over 105 million PS2's since its launch. Now, to be fair, their launch was a LONG TIME ago. BUT, for the month of June alone, the PS3 had only sold, roughly, 98k units...that's not gonna make Sony hit their 100 million consoles within 5 years...

Their ticket to failure? I think it's their stress to the Blu-Ray standard. Not that it's a bad standard, but it's something that, to the normal eye, you can't tell the difference with a normal TV. I, myself, do not have a HD TV, nor do a lot of other people I know. So, what's BR gonna do for us who do NOT have HDTV? Squat, that's what. AND, why am I gonna pay $500 for squat? Sure, there's a lot of people moving to the HDTV standard, but the PS3 will be another $500 they have to shell out to get a system that can do BR and play games.

Now, I'm not saying the 360 is a better buy. I love Sony and have their consoles (original PS1, their updated PSOne, PS2, PSP) and most of my electronics are Sony. BUT, as of now, there aren't any interesting games out there for the PS3. Mainly I'm looking for Gran Turismo. No, I don't want a demo of GTHD...I want the real deal. GT4 was SUPPOSED to allow you to download cars to your garage. Did that happen? Nope. GT for the PSP was SUPPOSED to come out...I'm still waiting. And now, with the release of Grand Theft Auto NOT being a PS3 exclusive, you can see where they are slipping. Also, with Forza Motorsports 2, it makes me want to get a 360 JUST for that game. Sorry, Sony, but I want to play a driving sim and you don't have one for me...

I would have thought that Sony would have started their PS3 pricing to match that of the 360, $299/$399. Sure, they're losing money, anyway, but I think if they had done that, the PS3 would have jumped WAAAAAAY ahead in their months behind (after the 360's launch). I'm not a marketing analyst so I can't scrutinize all the numbesr, but to me, if you don't price accordingly, people won't buy. Sure, it has a zillion times more processing power and the best DVD player in the world, but if you have to pay two hundred dollars more for it, that's a lot to swallow...especially if the cheaper console offers almost as much with a wider selection of readily available games...let's put it this way, in this generation with kids going to work for $8/hour working a full work week (~ $900 a month), do you really think they would want to spend $650 of it on a console? That's not much left to spend on their other wants...

Will Sony ever recover? I'm sure they will...if they lower their prices to match that of the 360. If they're unwilling to budge on their pricing, my guess is that the 360 will lower their prices even more to further shut out the PS3 from the market. In fact, I think the 360 will come down to be closer to that of the Wii. People have already jumped on the Wii and traded their PS3's for it. Too many people are trying to sell their PS3's for the Wii or 360.

Sony needs to rethink their strategy here in order to regain their market share. It's never too late...however, the longer Sony waits, the harder it will become...