One of the most powerful consoles ever designed.  One of the most expensive pieces of home entertainment technologies ever marketed.  Will Mom say yes?  Here’s the money, now run down to Walmart and pick up a PS3 with a cool Blue-ray player!  Oh, and get a game with it if there’s anything left over. 

The PlayStation 3 is a fantastic piece of hardware.  I wish I had one.  Why don’t I?  Well, with all of the advanced bells and whistles that I want, Blue-ray, Wireless, Cell technology, etc. the thing isn’t backwards compatible with PlayStation 2 games.  I’m not willing to go out and buy a 10 year old console to play God of War 2.  This is my reason and gamers have many more with number one being the high cost.  Developers know this and they are nervous. 

Sony has been in trouble for some time now and developers are hinting they won’t develop new titles if people aren’t buying.  Game developers have been complaining about Sony and the PlayStation 3 for years and now a crux is forming.  The console is too expensive to purchase for the average consumer and it’s time consuming and very complex to code software for.  Sales have been down around 40,000 units from this time in March of last year and dropping.  The price of the console is still high and world is now in a financial meltdown that Sony didn’t expect.  Game consoles really are not a necessity so people are willing to plunk down less money for a Wii or Xbox 360 or fore go buying a gaming system at all until financials are better at home.  What about the Blue-ray player?  Sony did have an advantage for the past few years since the price of a PS3 was equal with that of a standard HD player, so why not get the gaming console with a great HD player included?  Well, the price of the average Blue-ray player has now shrunk by $100 less than a lower end PS3.  As you could expect it’ll be harder now to justify to Mom that getting the console would be advantageous since it includes a great HD Blue-ray player.

Games that are developed for multiple system platforms like Resident Evil 5 aren’t selling as high for the PS3 either.  Although the PS3 version outsold the Xbox 360 version in Japan, RE 5 for Xbox outsold the PS RE 5 by more than 50% worldwide.  It’s just a numbers game.  More consoles on the market equals more games sold.  It’s simple as that.

The PS3 is a fantastic machine.  There is no argument that the machine is ahead of its time.  Maybe too far ahead.  So, what will save the Play Station 3 you are asking?  I vote for a huge price cut!  Sony has already reorganized its company and isn’t willing to drop the price of its console yet.  This news is making game developers very, very nervous.  They are hinting to Sony that future IP’s are being focused away from Japans top console.  I also vote that Sony support the fans with backwards compatibility for PS2 games and improve development of PlayStation internet framework and the PS store.  I believe they are just now only beginning to make some headway with exclusive titles.  Little Big Planet, Kill Zone 2, and Metal Gear just to name a few hit games to the PS3′s credit.  Sony must continue cranking out console exclusives to give gamers an excuse to pick up the console.  Multi-platform games and cell tech alone aren’t going to cut it during these economic times.

So, there it is.  If Sony can assure people with a price cut, exclusives, and continued internet development and support they may be able to pull out of a graveyard spiral.  Like I have iterated before, I’ll get one if they drop the price.  Oh Yes!

What do you think?  Add your vote about this issue to the poll below!

-dude

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