5 reasons why psx3 has failed so far

[lazerfire]

There have been numerous reports around the web the last couple of days of many stores having PS3s by the stacks and many people are surprised that a next-gen console could be found easily this close after its launch. However, when you think about the environment that the PS3 debuted in it really is no surprise that it isn?t breaking the sales records that many analysts predicted. Here are some reasons why the PS3 isn?t selling as well as people thought it would.

Families want to play together.

Gaming has become a national past time in many households, but unfortunately many families also feel a disconnect because of gaming. Kids usually lock themselves in their rooms to play the latest games while parents wonder how they can spend more time with the kids. I?ve heard of parents trying to get into gaming, but there is such a strong disconnect between hardcore games and casual games that often times they simply give up. Enter the Nintendo Wii.

When Nintendo made it known that they were targeting casual gamers this also meant people who never really got into gaming because it didn?t appeal to them. Seeing how Nintendo Sports works and its hard for any parent to pass it up thinking of how great it would be to finally play a game that the whole family can get involved in. Instead of creating a next-gen console, Nintendo has created the new dinner table for the 21st century.

All my friends have a 360.

With multiplayer gaming on the rise, gamers want to play with their friends and of the three next-gen consoles out, most people will have the 360. Mix that in with the perfection that is Xbox Live and the 360 becomes one of the default gaming systems to get any gamer. I know that is a bold statement, but you already have a deep library of games and if you are going to compare the PS3 with the 360 you will see that the graphics and games aren?t any different at the moment.

People follow the crowds and currently the crowds are on Xbox Live.

Nobody cares about Blu-ray.

Okay, more than nobody cares about Blu-ray, but with the PS3 using Blue-ray it quickly became the main selling point for a system that?s main function is to play games. Looking at a HD-DVD or a Blu-ray disc on a conventional television and you won?t notice any difference than the image from a standard DVD. The majority of homes are still using conventional televisions and don?t have the entertainment setups that fully utilize all the features that Blu-ray offers.

Sure it is cheaper than a standalone Blu-ray player, but when those aren?t selling, what makes people think that they will sell on a video game console?

PS2 is too strong.

I think anyone will admit that the PS2 won the last console race and there are still great games being released for it so if you are a Playstation fanboy what reason do you really have to rush out and get a PS3 when you still have a very capable system and a huge collection of great games available? The Wii is simply better than the Gamecube through game mechanics and the Xbox 360 has been out long enough that if you are a Microsoft lover there is no reason to stick with the original Xbox besides to play games that aren?t backwards compatible.

Sony mistakenly believed that the success of the PS2 would translate over to the PS3 when this obviously was not the case.

$600 for a DVD player.

If you are going for the 60gb version you will have to fork over $600 for the system. If you are looking to get another controller and a game you are starting to look at $700 just to go home with something you can play. Parents are only so stupid and love their children only so much before realizing they can get more bang for their buck somewhere else.

What the future holds.

This doesn?t mean that the PS3 is a bust because it is simply too early to tell. With over 750,000 units sold during the holiday season you definitely can?t call it a failure. However, for everyone expecting great things still in Sony?s future because of exclusives you have to keep in mind that no publisher likes to give exclusives to any game console unless it is the leader of the pack. With so many Wiis and 360s out there in the market it will be hard for Sony to keep all of their exclusive titles exclusive and therefore giving people less of a reason to buy it.

There is a long way to go before we can declare a winner for this generation of the console wars, but I can guarantee this round will be much more interesting than the last one.

[Brandon]

Agreed. Dont forget no vibration!

[Brian M. Veteran]

Yeah i can see the PS3 being a right flop here in the UK - everybody i know has 360's

[acnpt]

Yeah i can see the PS3 being a right flop here in the UK - everybody i know has 360's

Definatly, the delay till march and expensive price is gunna have a huge impact.

I know a couple of people who have purchased xbox360s instead thanks to the delay. Im also planning to buy an xbox360 later this month, however this is due to the price difference.

[+s55 Subscriber¹]

It won't stop people buying them, no matter how good or bad the product is. They'll still get thousands of sales in the UK and other countries. It may well not do as well as they had hope i suspect. Their problem, not ours, now lets get on with our lives.

Each Platform has its pros and its cons and personally i think its just easier sticking to the good ol PC ;)

[MadFerIt]

Hooboy here we go again.

There is no way to tell simply 1-2 months after a console's launch whether or not it's a failure. Hell I don't even own a PS3 and I can say this (and I have no intention in buying one).

Calling it a certain failure despite a lack of time or evidence just isn't going to be valid.

[Chadwick]

he never said its overall a failure, he said its failed so far, and he said that it might not fail.

your post will be the start of the fight if anything. The way I see it all his points are valid and not even the least bit debateable. He was very generalized and if you look at the majority of people what he says applies. On this forum a lot of us have HDTVs for example, but I personally don't, and the majority don't, only the people that have them post about them and contribute to the argument on bluray, hence it looks biased. But the reality is that nobody I know except my uncle who has a lot of money has an HDTV or plans to get an HDTV, so why would they even think about an HD dvd player?

Everyone is thinking too narrow, even going back to the launch "sell out" no **** is going to sell out, demand exceeded supply massively, and the people who buy a console like that at launch are the die hards, with money, with HDTVs with everything. Now the reality of trying to sell this to "normal people" is setting in and its not selling.

[jimbo12141]

Hooboy here we go again.

There is no way to tell simply 1-2 months after a console's launch whether or not it's a failure. Hell I don't even own a PS3 and I can say this (and I have no intention in buying one).

Calling it a certain failure despite a lack of time or evidence just isn't going to be valid.

Agreed, i have never owned a console, and i never intend to, as far as im concerned; their high priced machines that you waste your life away playing games on, but you cannot asses the PS3 after 1-2 months of being out for sale - this is the same for any product!

[Inplode]

Nobody cares about Blu-ray.

Okay, more than nobody cares about Blu-ray, but with the PS3 using Blue-ray it quickly became the main selling point for a system that?s main function is to play games. Looking at a HD-DVD or a Blu-ray disc on a conventional television and you won?t notice any difference than the image from a standard DVD. The majority of homes are still using conventional televisions and don?t have the entertainment setups that fully utilize all the features that Blu-ray offers.

Sure it is cheaper than a standalone Blu-ray player, but when those aren?t selling, what makes people think that they will sell on a video game console?ole?

ding

[spenser.d]

Hooboy here we go again.

There is no way to tell simply 1-2 months after a console's launch whether or not it's a failure. Hell I don't even own a PS3 and I can say this (and I have no intention in buying one).

Calling it a certain failure despite a lack of time or evidence just isn't going to be valid.

Good job buddy. Here's what the OP said right at the end:

What the future holds.

This doesn?t mean that the PS3 is a bust because it is simply too early to tell. b>

On topic...I think they are some pretty valid points there. Yes, it's too early to tell anything, like you said, but it's definitely not doing as well as I expected it to be doing.

-Spenser

[cammy]

the ps3 is a failure? since when? its only been out a few months and its not even out in europe yet..... ;)

[cashman Veteran]

Yeah i can see the PS3 being a right flop here in the UK - everybody i know has 360's

Wow, I don't know anybody personally with a 360. Everyone agrees it is too expensive, and hardly anyone has a HD set. Which doesn't bode well with the PS3 either in my opinion.

[Dick Montage]

I am a huge Xbox fan, and very quickly becoming a Wii fan. Also, bear in mind I HATE SONY.

But I am not gonna write the PS3 off yet...

Why? Momentum. This is in no way a comment on the PS2, but a LOT of people bought the PS2 because they had originally has a PS1. One instance cannot suggest a trend, but Sony seem to think otherwise. And they wouldn't have even started a PS3 without looking into it.

[TDQuiksilver]

You know when you're reading a meaningless post when somebody thinks that their life and what they see dictates the entire world around them. Not all my friends have a 360.. I know people who care about Blu-ray.. and as pointed out, even starting to say it's a bust in it's first two months is purely rediculous. The European market hasn't even been hit yet. I feel like we keep hearing the same few select people here on Neowin spout off the same ol' ramblings about the Xbox 360. I'll give you MORE than 5 on why I think the 360 isn't worth my time. You may use Blu-ray as a standing point for your arguement, but I'll use the built-in wireless, harddrive swapping and free internet gaming as mine against the 360. Yeah sure, you can buy additional components at additional fees for that white brick with those amazingly tacky faceplates, but why do that when I can have it all in one already? Price is no longer a point you can make.. so what should it matter who buys what? :laugh:

[PiracyX]

Good points made there and i agree with them all. It is too early to tell how the PS3 will do until the UK launch in March (if it still happens that is) and then we will know for sure what people think as i know they are many die hard fans who will rush out on day one to get the machine.

[planetik]

I agree with the Blu-Ray part. Seriously, hardly anyone right now (especially during this season) has money hanging out of their asses to fork over a decent 1080p/i HDTV and a PS3.

But a more important point that this article left out was that the games on the PS3 are CRAP right now. It's not really the PS3's fault since the 360 developers had way more time to fine tune their product, but unfortunately, the games still look like they were rushed madly.

[Soham]

You know when you're reading a meaningless post when somebody thinks that their life and what they see dictates the entire world around them. Not all my friends have a 360.. I know people who care about Blu-ray.. and as pointed out, even starting to say it's a bust in it's first two months is purely rediculous. The European market hasn't even been hit yet. I feel like we keep hearing the same few select people here on Neowin spout off the same ol' ramblings about the Xbox 360. I'll give you MORE than 5 on why I think the 360 isn't worth my time. You may use Blu-ray as a standing point for your arguement, but I'll use the built-in wireless, harddrive swapping and free internet gaming as mine against the 360. Yeah sure, you can buy additional components at additional fees for that white brick with those amazingly tacky faceplates, but why do that when I can have it all in one already? Price is no longer a point you can make.. so what should it matter who buys what? :laugh:

I agree, europeans didn't seen the potentail of PS3 as of yet and they are judging on emotion. Well as of me, I have recieved my PS3 from Amazon about three weeks back. I think it is great piece of multi-task mechine and you all just wait for the launch in Europe.

[.fury]

the playstation brand has a lot of inertia so i don't think it'll crash, though the market share will probably even out quite a lot, what with the 360 dominating the online aspect of consoles and the wii's price and innovation, especially as word of mouth is getting round about how great these two consoles are. Whereas what can we say about the ps3 - yes, its HD, but apart from that there's just the motion sensing thing (which doesn't look to be a major part of any of the games for the ps3 atm) and blu-ray (which will take a while to catch on, it's still largely unknown by joe public.)

Don't get me wrong i've had both the ps1 and ps2, but this time round I can see the tables turning - while sony is focusing on how great the cell is and how much more powerful it is, the general public aren't going to know what the heck the 'cell' is, whereas with the 360 and wii there is a multitude of actual evidence, rather than just figures, of the improvements over previous consoles.

[ToneKnee]

Does anyone know when Microsoft are going to start the price war? I bet they will do it a few weeks before the PS3 Launch in March. It would be great! :D

And I agree with all the point mentioned in this thread so far! :)

Also, one thing which wasn't mentioned. The PS3 doesn't come with a HDMI cable out of the box. So add that to the price! :)

[Matrix XII]

That is a good article, I agree with every point.

[Gfunk4life]

5 reasons why ps3 has failed so far

good points, and he isnt saying its a dreamcast, it had a bad start to its life that is what he is saying :/ doesnt mean it will not get better

[Joel]

I know people who care about Blu-ray..

But why do they care about Blu-ray? Why Blu-ray over HD-DVD, say? What's the draw with Blu-ray? More storage alone does not equal a better format.

[SonComet]

But why do they care about Blu-ray? Why Blu-ray over HD-DVD, say? What's the draw with Blu-ray? More storage alone does not equal a better format.

My reasons are lossless audio on every release from an exclusive studio, the gap in image quality has been gone for some time, nearly exclusive consumer electronic support, 20 more GB of breathing room for longer movies, and more studio support. As long as they can keep up with hd dvd in terms of price after ces announcements then I see no reason to prefer hd dvd other than the Universal exclusivity.

[soniqstylz]

Does anyone know when Microsoft are going to start the price war? I bet they will do it a few weeks before the PS3 Launch in March. It would be great! :D

I have absolutely no firsthand knowledge, but I would doubt it. Simply because I bet MS could ride the same price point all the way through Halo 3, and make some really good cash.

But why do they care about Blu-ray? Why Blu-ray over HD-DVD, say? What's the draw with Blu-ray? More storage alone does not equal a better format.

Better movies.

I mean, who doesn't want Talladega Nights?

No, but really, PS2 basically won last-gen becaues of software. Better games (to many people), and a wider selection (best of both worlds: kiddie games and 'mature' titles).

Blu-Ray has the backing of more studios, ergo, more software and a wider range.

Go with the one that has the movies you want to see, just like get the console that has the games you want to play. *shrug*

[MadFerIt]

You know when you're reading a meaningless post when somebody thinks that their life and what they see dictates the entire world around them. Not all my friends have a 360.. I know people who care about Blu-ray.. and as pointed out, even starting to say it's a bust in it's first two months is purely rediculous. The European market hasn't even been hit yet. I feel like we keep hearing the same few select people here on Neowin spout off the same ol' ramblings about the Xbox 360. I'll give you MORE than 5 on why I think the 360 isn't worth my time. You may use Blu-ray as a standing point for your arguement, but I'll use the built-in wireless, harddrive swapping and free internet gaming as mine against the 360. Yeah sure, you can buy additional components at additional fees for that white brick with those amazingly tacky faceplates, but why do that when I can have it all in one already? Price is no longer a point you can make.. so what should it matter who buys what? :laugh:

And here I was thinking you were going to be reasonable from here on. You're comments as as ridiculous as the guy who made this thread.