Fat Ninja

I think it’s fair to say that Sony had larger aims in the selling of the Playstation 3 than simply continuing to dominate the console gaming business. In fact, I don’t think I’m out of line when I say that the PS3 was really a vehicle for some of Sony’s other business arms. I’m not saying that Sony is so foolish as to completely neglect the gaming space. There’s far too much money there to ignore. But I think Sony has tried to consolidate their sweeping reach in the technology industry by putting all of their eggs in one shiny, black-clad basket. It’s a risky gambit, to say the least, but there are substantial rewards to be reaped in the potential pay-off. However, this grand vision may lack enough focus for the gaming community to swallow the bait.

I’ve said it before that I think the PS3 is a Trojan Horse. Here you have the successor to the best-selling video game console the world has ever seen. Not only did the PS2 sear its brand into the collective consumer consciousness, but it also helped vault DVD into the mainstream. With these successes, it was only logical that Sony would look to the PS3 as the perfect means to secure a strong install base for their BluRay media format. Not only that, Sony could also use the success of the PS2 in establishing DVD in households as the perfect investment portfolio to sway movie studios away from supporting the rival format HD-DVD. I mean, who could argue with numbers that strong.

Under that agenda, it seems to me that the limited games library that the PS3 currently offers may actually be beneficial to Sony’s larger plans for establishing BluRay as the next video-media format. It’s just a matter of leveraging the decent install base that the PS3 has already managed to obtain to push BluRay sales; and let’s face it, people, as it stands, there’s not much else to do on a PS3 than watch BluRay movies.

The Gaming Community Isn’t “Too Keen” On The PS3

Am I suggesting that Sony has intentionally engineered a drought of games to help push BluRay sales? Not on any literal level, no. Certainly, there’s a part of me that is so full of piss and bile with respect to Sony that I’d love nothing more than to attribute so diabolical a scheme to them, but I can’t do that without feeling like an out-and-out fanboy. Still, I can’t help but feel that Sony’s benefitting on one level of the multi-tiered assault that they’ve staged with the PS3, but they’re doing so at the expense of gamers. And there’s proof in the pudding; BluRay sales are up.

There’s still a lot of risk to Sony, however. This shift in focus away from gaming has already begun to alienate the Playstation brand’s loyal fans. The internets are awash with anti-Sony sentiment, and Sony’s unrelenting hubris about the state of the PS3 isn’t helping matters. Like the Bush Administration, they just seem content to keep screwing the pooch while offering no apologies for, nor acknowledgements of the many mistakes they’ve made.

Before I go, this pretty much sums up my feelings on the PS3:

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