PS3 Fails To Impress - My Take On Things

The problem (as I see it) was including the Blue-Ray DVD player in the machine. There’s no call for it as there’s little demand to have a next gen DVD player in the house at present.

It was suggested that Sony should release the PS3 with a standard DVD player, and later the next version of the machine could include the Blue-Ray.

Including the Blue-Ray has:

• Delayed the PS3 several times from its original release date.
• Vastly increased the RRP.
• Been seen as un-necessary by industry analysts.
• and been accused of Sony forcing their format on the world (there was a rumour that the Blue-Ray was included in the PS3 to increase the overall sales figures of Blue-Ray drives, thus allowing Sony to claim market ownership and crush HD-DVD)

Without the Blue-Ray, it’d be retailing at about the same price as the 360 when it first launched. This would allow consumers to make a direct pound for pound comparison with the features of the machines, give them a indication of how it would drop in price over time, and enable buyers to make an informed decision of what to do with their money: ie “I’ve got £330, so I can either buy the 360, 2 controllers and 3 games, or the PS3, one controller and 2 games.” (Or something similar to this.)

It’s got a lot going against it.

• It’s last to market.
• It’s most expensive.
• It’s got equipment that many users won’t be able to take advantage of.

A lot of people who are were PS2 owners might be put off by a perceived lack of support for the product from Sony.

They’ve had to put up with a less than brilliant online gaming system for the PS2, a cancelled hard drive for the PS2, a withdrawn from market network adapter for the big PS2, so only the little ones could go online, a blatant lack of support for the PSP and the worry of a repeat of the problem with the UMD films, where Sony tried to push it’s own format on the market and failed.

They might (as I do) worry that Blue-Ray will fail as a format, and then they’re stuck with a console that was sold as a DVD player/Console combo, that can’t play any new DVDs that come out because they’re all in HD-DVD format now.