Europe Face To Face With The PS3

In May 2005, when Sony presented technical specs at E3 Expo, PlayStation 3 was the indisputable favorite when it came to gaming consoles. Compared to what the Japanese from Sony were offering, the Xbox 360, yet to be launched, already seemed a generation behind. At the time, Nintendo Wii was only a mental stroke of genius for Nintendo, so it appeared nothing would hinder the triumphant march PS3 was preparing for.

A mere two years later from those events, instead of releasing press statements announcing the sale of millions of consoles, Sony is searching for solutions to somehow limit the disaster that PS3 is heading for.

The first signs that something had gone amiss in the plans of those that had given the world the PS2, the most sold console so far, began to appear in March 2006 when, instead of announcing an immediate launch of PS3, Sony was postponing the whole thing until November 2006.

Microsoft, which had managed to be the first company to bring a next-gen console to the market, the Xbox 360, was not even sure if this was a reson for joy at such an unexpected advantage or incentive to concentrate more on the forthcoming November 2006 battle. Nintendo had already made public that it was preparing something grand back in September 2005, when it presented the prototype of Nintendo Wii’s controller. It was still not clear how this would turn things in their favor in the battle of the consoles.

Nevertheless, for Sony this was only the beginning of the errors and delays carousel. Devoted to their ideal of transforming PS3 in the main promoter of the BluRay standard, the Japanese from Sony found themselves face to face with two issues: the impossibility of creating a sufficient number of BluRay units to include in the consoles promised for launch and a price significantly above those of the competition.

None of these deficincies appeared to sidetrack Sony from the set prices. So they changed the strategy in their stride.

Instead of a global launch, Sony announced that the PS3 would reach Europe in March 2007 instead of November 2006, when it was relesed in North America and Japan. Sony’s PR continued to emphasize the advantages of BluRay for entertainment and even gaming. The millions of consoles promised for launch had become only a few hundred thousand.

The $599 price had already become a joking matter to some, especially since Nintendo had announced it would ask only $250 for Nintendo Wii, while an Xbox 360 could be bought for $400. (A Microsoft official’s witty remark during the latest E3, that consumers could buy both a Wii and an Xbox 360 instead of a single PS3, remains famous.)

Sony went on with its own work, apparently ignoring criticism, confident that people would pay for quality. The launches in Japan and North America at the end of 2006 seemd to justify this confidence at one time and the PS3 seemed to leave its disastrous destination. Unfortunately, Nintendo Wii was released globally at that same time and, in spite of inferior technical performances, it instantly became a hit, the best sold console in the USA for two consecutive months. It rapidly gained that winner’s position that Sony yearned for.

Microsoft, having taken great advantage of the year Sony had given it, was happily contemplating 10 million sold Xbox 360 consoles.PS3 had to make do with third place in US sales, behind Xbox 360, before its European release. Sony could not blame this on lack of availabilty. There are waiting lists still being made for Nintendo Wii, while PS3 is already in stores.

Sony could have proven it had learned from previous mistakes with the European launch of PS3 and could have started all over again. That’s not how it happened unfortunately. PS3 is more expensive in European and PAL territories than it is in Japan and North America, compatibility with PS2 games is limited because Sony made technical modifications to the console and the number of available games is still quite modest.

if Americans are able to buy a high-end PS3 for $599 and the Japanese gamers can even acquire it for ¥49,980 (US$412)- the low-end version, Europeans will have to pay for it € 599 (US $779) or £425 (US $840) respectively, while Australians and New Zealanders will pay A$1,000 (US $785) or NZ $1,200 (US $839) in their respective markets. By comparison, PlayStation 3 with the 60 GB hard drive costs ¥59,980 (US$494) in Japan.

The cheaper version, which is available in Japan and the U.S. for ¥49,980 (US$412) and US$500, respectively, won’t be offered in PAL countries due to "retailer and customer demand," according to Sony.

Also Sony announced only a total of 36 titles to available for European launch. Most of them will be on traditional disc but some will be available via network download. Launch titles available on disc: Resistance: Fall of Man; MotorStorm; Genji: Days of the Blade; Formula One Championship Edition; Ridge Racer; Call of Duty 3; Marvel: Ultimate Alliance; Tony Hawks Project 8; Gundam - Target in Sight; Full Auto 2: Battle Lines; Sonic the Hedgehog; Virtua Fighter 5; Virtua Tennis 3; World Snooker Championship 2007; NBA 2K7; NHL 2K7; Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII; Enchanted Arms; Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent; The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion; Def Jam: Icon; Fight Night Round 3; NBA Street 4 Homecourt 2007; Need for Speed Carbon; The Godfather: The Don's Edition; Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007; Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom; and F.E.A.R.

Titles available at launch via network download: Gripshift; Tekken: Dark Resurrection; Lemmings; Go! Sudoku; Go! Puzzle; Blast Factor; flOw; and Super Rub’a’Dub.

Under these conditions, the lack of enthusiasm European gamers has shown so far is more than explainable. Still, analysts continue to bet on PS3’s long term success.

In late February, ScreenDigest has published a report entitled Next Generation Consoles: Games publishing, hardware analysis and forecasts to 2010, which examines the prospects for next generation platforms and the implications for the console manufacturers and third party publishers alike.Speaking with Gamasutra, Screen Digest's Ed Barton claimed that PlayStation 3 will hold the largest market share by 2010, with the Wii a distant third.

Also, according to another research called "The Transforming Global Video Games Market: The Emergence of Next Generation Gaming”, published by the research company Research and Markets in January, Sony PS3 “is expected to win the console war in the long term with an install base of around 75 million globally by 2010.” But for the moment, Sony has to fight if it wants to win the war.