Worst Marketing Ever (5 comments)
When specs on the Playstation 3 were first released, I was excited. I've been very happy with my Playstation 2 and I'd hoped that the PS3 would bring more of the same. The PS2 functions nicely as my primary DVD player and it's the preferred platform for a few of my favorite game series. Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, and Grand Theft Auto account for eight of the PS2 games I own and six of the PS1 games that I've played on the PS2. The PS3 will play Blu-Ray DVDs and hopefully remain the platform of choice for my favorite games, so it wasn't a tough sell to convince myself to work a PS3 into my budget.
My only concern was that the CPU architecture might be too complex for game developers to use effectively, but with Sony's PS2 momentum and popularity, it looked like developers would have no choice but to write for the PS3 and figure out how to solve the problems that came with it.
Since then, Sony has done what I hadn't thought possible: they've convinced me that I don't want to buy a PS3.
First, it was the price. The "good" version of the system is expected to retail for $599. That's a lot, and I can't see how it's worth it.
Sony explains that the price is high because the PS3 is a system that's much better future-proofed than its competitors and will stay in use for far longer, not only as a gaming platform, but as a home media center of sorts. I hate that. I hate it in the Xbox 360 too. I have a beautiful TiVo and a PC connected to my TV and I don't want to pay for any functionality in the PS3 beyond playing games and DVDs.
In a move that I can't comprehend, Sony went on the record this week to hint that PS3 games may be priced higher than the Xbox 360's standard of $59.99. It's like they're not paying attention anymore.