New Years Resoultion Suggestions For Sony

So here it is kids, my first post of 2009, as well as my first official blog for the site. Hopefully 2009 finds you all in good spirits and not faltering on your resolutions (C’mon people, were only five days into the new year).

This will undoubtedly be another exciting year for gamers, and almost every sign points to 2009 as another blockbuster year for the industry as a whole, but not all is well in gamerville, especially for the PS3. 2008 was supposed to be the breakout year for Sony’s magical black box, with A-list exclusives like “Metal Gear Solid 4,” “LittleBigPlanet,” and “Resistance 2,” Sony was hoping to find themselves right in the midst of an epic sales race with the 360 for console dominance (I tend to exclude the Wii, as its sales are well beyond anything its counterparts will reach in the foreseeable future). However, the reality is quite different as analysts expect PS3 holiday sales to fall well behind that of the 360’s, so I present to you this list – in no particular order – of things that Sony must focus on to make 2009 a memorable year, and help put my favorite console back on top.

Welcome Home:

The open beta for Home has finally arrived after a myriad of delays, and Sony’s Second Life-clone brings with it some interesting ideas. Customizing your living space is fun, and having the option to buy additional items such as art, lamps, couches, etc… at around 50 cents a pop provides a cheap way of differentiating yourself from Home’s other inhabitants. In addition to that, there’s also bowling, pool, and demos of other PSN games in the virtual arcade cabinets that can also be enjoyable. Overall, there’s actually a decent amount of content in Home, and it’s always constantly evolving, unfortunately, the individual game rooms remain painfully absent. When Sony first showed off Home back in 2005, these themed rooms, where people could go to converse about different games and start multiplayer romps straight from that space, seemed like one of Home’s biggest draws. If Sony can get these rooms up and running and bring more awareness of what Home is capable of providing, then more and more gamers may decide to make the PS3 their permanent choice of residence.

2009 = Year of the Smear:

I’ve always felt that one of the biggest reasons Sony finds itself in the predicament they’re in is their lack of effective advertising, and a simple little smear campaign against the 360 could work wonders for the PS3’s longevity. Sure, $600 dollars was a lot for a console, but you weren’t paying for just a console; you were paying for a home entertainment experience. When it was released many Blu-ray players were hundreds more then their console friend, and couldn’t even come close to offering the other options that the PS3 encompassed. But that’s just it; your average consumer probably didn’t realize that, especially with the Blu-ray/HD DVD format war in its’ inception; and that war has been over since early 2008, when Toshiba effectively stopped production on all HD-DVD players and recorders. Not to mention that the PS3 is the only console that plays any sort of HD format disk right out of the box, with no messy HD-DVD add-on required.

So, if I’m such a know it all, what kind of smear ad would I produce, you ask? Great question! What astute and intelligent readers you all are. My ad would depict Shane Kim, Microsoft Game Studios Corporate VP, trying to convince everyone in Xbox 360 land what a great purchase their HD-DVD players were, right after HD-DVD was all but extinct. Mr. Kim said, “While it is unfortunate that HD-DVD was discontinued, there is still enjoyment to be had from your Xbox 360 HD-DVD player. You can take this as an opportunity to build out your movie collection! There are around 500 HD-DVD movies to choose from, and many at great deals, so there is a fair amount of content for HD-DVD on the market. It also is a great DVD player and allows you to have game discs and movie discs, whether HD-DVD or DVD, within the console at one time. The HD-DVD player also adds two additional USB ports to the console.”

Did you hear that everyone; Two additional USB ports and a great DVD player! This sounds like one big, massive pile or horse#@&% to me, horse#@&% that should be smeared right in the face of all who are undecided on which console to buy.

Al Gore helped invent online gaming:

So, while the PS3 may still be more expensive than the 360, it has always had one nice advantage over its green light rival – PSN is free. If Sony is to succeed, then they need to make customers who are on the fence of purchasing a PS3 as aware as possible of the advantages to owning a PS3. Yeah, a PS3 may cost more at Christmas time but you won’t be forking out $50 bucks a year to play against your friends. It all adds up in the end friends, and with the 360 continuing to do well, Sony must get in their jabs wherever they can.

Exclusives – we don’t need no stinkin’ exclusives:

At least that’s how it seems, sometimes. Every year when E3 comes around I watch each company’s press event, and every year I leave my desk fuming at the latest news of a PlayStation exclusive going multiplatform. One year it was “Madden,” then “GTA,” and now “Final Fantasy XIII.” I’m getting angry just typing these words! Sony seems to forget that, in the console war, your biggest weapons are your games, and it’s frustrating to see IP’s that helped make the PS2 as successful as it was, be continually bought out by Bill Gates and friends. If Sony is to turn things around in 2009 they need to flash their cash and pony up to developers to gain more exclusives for the PS3. Sure we had “Metal Gear,” “Resistance” and “LBP” to name a few, but aside from “MGS” I rarely saw ads for those games – certainly nowhere near the amounts I noticed for Gears of War 2 and Halo 3. The only thing more important than properly advertising your exclusives IS HAVING EXCLUSIVES Sony, and in those regards you are dropping the ball all too much. So, for 2009, make sure people know about “God of War 3,” “Heavy Rain” and “Uncharted 2” and if your game isn’t an exclusive take a lesson from Microsoft and shell out the bucks to garner exclusive content. Also, if you happen to have copious amounts of cash laying around, try throwing it toward “God of War” director David Jaffe’s, company Eat,Sleep,Play. I’ve even heard of this company named Bungie who may be interested in developing new IP’s for other platforms.

A $400 dollar console is not recession-proof:

This is pretty self explanatory, so I’ll be brief. I realize that Sony is already losing money for every console they sell, and I know that there is a lot of technology within the PS3, but these are hard times, for everyone, and with things in the financial world going as poorly as they are, a $400 dollar asking price is just simply too much. This will be year three for the PS3 and consumers have yet to see a noticeable price cut, aside from the differently priced SKU’s. Many financial analysts say that even if the recession were to end today, we would be feeling the effects a year from now, so if Sony doesn’t do something to alter that hefty price tag soon, a Playstation 4 may become an impossible dream.

And that’s it. These may not be all of Sony’s problems, but they are my biggest gripes with the company that PlayStation built. Marketing seems to be the biggest theme here for me, as I would like to see more ads showcasing the PS3’s multitude of functions. Nintendo seemed to have it right by showing people of all ages having fun with their Wii’s, and I think that feel-good aesthetic really connected with gamers and non-gamers alike. So here’s to 2009 and to hoping it’s a good year for not only Sony, but the gaming industry period.

Oh, and before I get mounds of hate mail, please don’t assume I hate the 360. I don’t. It’s an exciting machine with an obvious abundance of A class titles. I just have a soft spot in the ole heart for Sony, so I wrote this in hopes of a good year for them and NOT for a bad year for Microsoft.

Shane Kim quote cited from 07/08 issue of EGM

Related Posts:

• April 30, 2009 -- Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic Review: Karate Chop!
• December 30, 2009 -- Top 10 Most Overlooked Games of 2009: The Hidden Gems
• December 21, 2009 -- God of War Collection Review: Revisiting Old Times
• November 6, 2009 -- Critter Crunch Review: I Eat, Therefore I Am
• October 21, 2009 -- Petition To Stop PlayStation Network Charging For Online