News - Why Sony PS3 came third in the console race

[HEXUS]

According to John Koller, Sony’s head of hardware marketing.

Read more.

[Terbinator]

The last two words in the piece are the biggest one, outside of and if not instead of, the high-price: "Xbox Live". Multiplayer gaming in terms of mass adoption with consumers exploded with this generation leading the charge by some distance, a distance that still remains IMO, is Microsoft.

There was a headset bundled in with the launch consoles that made those awful December nights on Lag of Duty 2 immensely fun - all it needed was word of mouth and it absolutely took off. If you look at MS's portfolio as well, they've consistently had good if not the best, online (console) games.

So for me it has been Live that has halted the PS3's charge, of course the year gap helps get your hooks into the consumers but the first year of 360 sales wasn't even the great - Sony just had no answer to what the consumer was after.

[Brewster0101]

I think Sony need to view this as not a failure but a success but not as good as the competition. Why ?
1. Wii was revolutionary and also came in at an attractive price.
2. Xbox was cheaper, almost as good - but most importantly Microsoft evolved it and kept people interested in it.
3. Was too expensive, games seem to be more expensive too and Sony didn't really evolve it.

As with all Sony products, Sony lack software ideas and innovation. Yes their software looks all smooth and shiny on the surface but its always lacked the flair.

My thoughts anyway.

[aidanjt]

1. Wii was revolutionary and also came in at an attractive price.
2. Xbox was cheaper, almost as good - but most importantly Microsoft evolved it and kept people interested in it.
3. Was too expensive, games seem to be more expensive too and Sony didn't really evolve it.

Agreed with all of this. I'd also add that Sony was rather late to the party. And as it turned out, they were more fond of stripping features than enhancing its feature set.

[Primey0]

I think Sony need to view this as not a failure but a success but not as good as the competition. Why ?
1. Wii was revolutionary and also came in at an attractive price.
2. Xbox was cheaper, almost as good - but most importantly Microsoft evolved it and kept people interested in it.
3. Was too expensive, games seem to be more expensive too and Sony didn't really evolve it.

As with all Sony products, Sony lack software ideas and innovation. Yes their software looks all smooth and shiny on the surface but its always lacked the flair.

My thoughts anyway.

Very well put

[crossy]

Personally, the reason that the PS3 "failed" was down to cost and the controllers.

At the time I was looking for a games console I really wanted a PS3, but the cost premium at the time on both console and games meant that I chickened out and went XBox360.

Later on - when the cost became more reasonable - I looked again, but I really didn't take to the PS3 controllers (the XBox ones are far more comfortable for me). But by then I'd got a reasonable amount of XBox games - so I stuck with what I'd got.

Technically, I still think the PS3 is better than the XBox. That said, Kinect (imho of course) is much more capable than Move - which still looks a bit "me too".

We've got a Wii too - but that was bought for the fitness and family games - the latter being an area where MS has to tip its hat to Nintendo - even now. Don't think we'll be swapping it for a WiiU - because MS is getting better.

[danroyle]

i've had all 3 consoles and am currently back on xbox
Loved wii but it was more for the wife and kid.
Sold my xbox for a ps3 but gt5 was snoring i mean boring. And i'd waited an age for it. I never felt as much love for my ps3.
Am back on xbox again and missed it alot i like all the extra stuff it does and i just feel more love for it.

Now we have kinect even my missus likes the xbox

[davidcrofter]

Forget Sony -I wonder how many of those 95 million Wii owners are happy bunnies as Nintento seem to have given up on that console a long, long time ago ...

[cheesemp]

Well my PS3 YLOD on me so I'm not interested another.

[csgohan4]

Forget Sony -I wonder how many of those 95 million Wii owners are happy bunnies as Nintento seem to have given up on that console a long, long time ago ...

Agree with above, plus PS3 games are so much more expensive than XBOX and WII it was just no worth it.

[Smudger]

Agree with above, plsu PS3 games are so much more expensive than XBOX and WII it was just no worth it.

XBox and PS3 games seem to be the same price to me? Am I missing something? Granted they're more expensive than Wii, but if you compare the Wii game with the equivalent PS3 or 360, you would expect that.

I've got PS3 and I don't feel it's a 'failed' product. It does more than I expected it to, now acting as a media hub rather than just a games machine, plus a route to online streaming through Netflix\Lovefilm, all for free.

[FRISH]

I decided to get a 360 coz the ps3 was delayed and I just didnt want to wait any more.

[Brewster0101]

I've got PS3 and I don't feel it's a 'failed' product. It does more than I expected it to, now acting as a media hub rather than just a games machine, plus a route to online streaming through Netflix\Lovefilm, all for free.

This is one thing I hate about the Xbox is that you have to subscribe to their gold account to access services such as Netflix/Lovefilm even if you've paid the subscription to them to use their service. I think Microsoft will need to change this policy soon. So many modern TV's / blurays players have these features too , people will change their habits and stop using the xbox for steaming - I know I have.

[OilSheikh]

I have a PS3 and an XBOX and the XBOX's grapghics are superior. PS3's graphics seems to be a clever use of lighting to make things look snazzy.
Then, again it costs to use multiplayer on XBOX, doesnt cost on PS3.

One also has to remember that XBOX took many years to becoem like PS3, i.e. no more loud fans, no more power brick, HDMI, built-in wireless, internet browser, rechargable controller but PS3 already had these from Day 1.

[crossy]

One also has to remember that XBOX took many years to becoem like PS3, i.e. no more loud fans, no more power brick, HDMI, built-in wireless, internet browser, rechargable controller but PS3 already had these from Day 1.

My XBox Slim (which I bought to replace an older model) still has that "power brick".

Secondly, I'm supremely unbothered by having an internet browser (or not) on my XBox - when/if it arrives I very much doubt that I'll use it (mainly because it'll be hobbled by Bing, and I loathe "duck shoot" keyboards).

Thirdly - not sure that rechargable controllers were a recent innovation. I seem to remember that the Charge n' Play pack (which replaces the normal AA battery pack with a rechargable battery and adds a charging lead) came out either for launch or shortly afterwards. Note that the Microsoft version gives you the option of using normal batteries if the battery pack is drained - although given the length of the charging cables (especially the recent ones) I can't see this being a big deal and I've never used the AA battery packs.

[Blademrk]

I seem to be playing more on my PS3 lately than my 360 but I think that's more down to the fact that I've picked up a lot of cheap games for it recently. Plus I decided to try a 3 month subscription to PS+ last month and this month it's been worth it with at least £100 worth of games downloaded (Infamous 2, LBP2, Darksiders, Motorstorm, WH Space Marine, Renegade Ops, Virtua Fighter 5 and Chime) which will keep me busy for a while.

I got a Kinect for Christmas and tbh I am a little disappointed with it.
You do need a lot of space to use it which means I can only really use it when my console is set up in the living room - and even then space is tight, it really needs another meter or so of space (or maybe one of those lens attachments to reduce the space needed) and possibly a better lit room.
I tried the voice integration with Skyrim and it often struggled to understand me (it's not as if I have a strong welsh accent) - it was often quicker to go into the menu and select a weapon/spell than to repeat myself several times before it understood "equip bow".