Playstation 3 Release Spells Capital Disaster

Maybe it was an erroneous decision from Sony, that or they have some aces to be played. Because allowing a major competition time to take root is already giving a huge advantage, an advantage that may be spelt as capital disaster.

Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox, the Xbox 360 was released last November 2005. It was the first entry for the seventh generation gaming. And having practically no opposition, it sold rapidly worldwide, selling an approximate amount of 1.5 million Xbox 360s by the year’s end. It dominated the North American market and in the Australian market, where it sold 100,000 consoles in just seven months. As of September 30, 2006, there have been a total of 6 million Xbox 360s sold, moreover economists of Microsoft had cumulatively forecasted around 13 million by the next two years.

So what’s with the statistics? It clearly says that there would be no 13 million Sony Playstation 3 buyers by the next two years. There would also be no 13 million purchasers for the next system if both parties will continue releasing game consoles for the next level. There would be lesser market share in development of games and fewer licensing fees (which is the biggest money factory for console developers).

Perhaps it really was erroneous for Sony to gamble an early Playstation 3 release for a bunch of doodads, with one of them has specs that are still unknown by large. This is the Blu-ray media, and many experts have questioned the intelligence on integrating it as a main component than as an add-on. That means there’s no sidestepping if you don’t want a Blu-ray media. And you’ll hate it, because it is the component that made the Playstation 3 priced so high and had delayed several times over the Playstation 3 release (citing shortages of blue diodes). And to think that a DVD can do pretty much the same, other than having a lesser storage space. No one had commented on a game that has several DVD discs, so why a bigger media space. Price? Excuse me, 4 DVDs are cheaper than one Blu-ray disc.

Playstation 3 (PS3) Pricing Disadvantage

Even if the sales were good during the Playstation 3 release, the Playstation 3 release will still spell capital disaster. Because of several disadvantage: a very prohibitive price, at $600, limited number of games exacerbated by the fact the Playstation 3 games are very hard to program, and a sub par PlayStation Network (as opposed to the beautifully running Xbox Live).

Prior to the Playstation 3 release media talks have always been about: how will Playstation blow a huge Xbox 360 lead. Because a year’s head start is already considerable, and pushing a competition that has taken firm root out of space is… out of the question.