Sunday, February 19, 2012

The Legend of Sony's Patience


So there is a recent news story discussing how Sony is going to pick the wait-and-see method for annoucing their involvement in the next generation. They aren’t going to mention the PS4 until after Microsoft announces their successor. There has been a lot of speculation as to why Sony is deciding to reveal their stuff last. Some claim its to plagiarize easier, some claim that it will be easier for Sony to copy the competition by seeing what they are going to deliver. Sony has always been notorious for this, with the abysmal Playstation Move controller as a great example. The truth is however Sony works best when they are checking the pulse on gaming as opposed to trying to set the trend.

Even back in the 90s before the Playstation, Sony's wait-and-see game resulted in their first system obliterating the competiton. They saw the Nintendo's core audience was from 6-14 so they created a marketing campaign that would explore a new generation and cluster of gamers. The 18-34 crowd was thirsty for a system that would appeal to them, and that Playstation became that dream come true. For the record, the Playstation had been in construction since the late 80s---back when Nintendo and Sony were going to work together-----before all hell broke loose.

Sony didn't rush their Playstation 2 release either, as they waited for the Dreamcast to arrive and shoot themselves in the foot with an awkward release, lack of software, and a poor launch. The PS2 winds up becoming the most successful console in the history of gaming. But recently they tried to set the the trend of gaming and the end result was disappointment.

Surely the Playstation 3 arrived and predicted that Blu-Ray would be the future, but did not bank on everyone abandoning Sony and joining Nintendo. Nintendo copied Sony's strategy of the 90s and expanded the gaming audience even farther---from younglings under 7 to people in their 80s. The Nintendo Wii became the best-selling system for retirement homes in history. If Sony had waited a little longer and dropped the price and prepared a better helping of games they would have had a much better start and to this day not try to climb out of third place. And do recall the Playstation has free online service and also has a better helping of first/second-party titles than the 2nd place Xbox 360.

So now we have come to today. The Playstation 3 lifespan consisted of making big mistakes and learning from them. Sony would follow others by crafting several price cuts, cranking up the first-party library of games now that the third-party playing field is about even (Nintendo is closer than ever with the WiiU approaching), and most importantly making the games a bit more interactive by introducing a controller that resembles a goofier-looking Wiimote. Love or hate it, the Playstation Move has pushed good sales for the PS3. And with Nintendo poised to push gaming into another direction, Sony's decision to wait and see what happens next is very vital.

Why? Rumors are swirling that the XBox 720 might have a tablet controller similar to that of the WiiU. So if it is revealed to be true, Sony could then choose where the PS4 would go: continuing the low-key simpler approach of the PS3 or attempt to innovate similar to what the WiiU is destined to do. If Sony waits, then the ball will be in their court and they can decide how to return the serve. Some call it cheap, some call it copying; I call it a system that has helped Sony in the past, and should help them out in the near future.

Sony is going to wait? Let them wait, it will make the upcoming battle that much more interesting.

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