PS3 arrives and yes, they were bought

Stan Beer
Saturday, 11 November 2006 16:37

Opinion and Analysis

Sometimes you just have to laugh at some of the doubts expressed by games market pundits about the Sony PlayStation 3. Scalpers lucky enough to get pre-orders of the console have successfully auctioned their rights to the new machine on eBay for thousands of dollars. Yet right here on iTWire we have doubters who don't believe gamers will pay US$500. Well today in Japan, queues of gamers braving monsoon conditions emptied store shelves within hours.

The only thing preventing PS3 from emulating the launch of PS2 in Japan, which sold 1 million machines in 3 days, is the lack of stock of the new console. What's more, from early indications, there is little doubt the success of the Japanese launch is likely to be repeated in the US.

Scoffers have also belittled the pulling power of the superior graphics capabilities and the raw processing power of the PS3, saying gamers don't really care that much and that Xbox 360 is good enough. Well not according to some of the reports and blogs I've read such as this one.

Probably the main reason that PS1 and PS2 were so successful with gamers is that they pushed the envelope and were technologically ahead of what was currently available. Incidentally, when PS2 launched it was damned expensive. Here in Australia it was A$750 and one of its selling points is that it included a DVD player. It sold like hot donuts at a football match - stores couldn't enough of them to meet the demand.

Critics who think that 100 million plus PS1 and PS2 devotees will snub the PS3 because of the price have got to be kidding. PlayStation fans have been chomping at the bit to get a PS3.

Some PS3 critics say that this time the PS3 has competition. The Xbox 360 has been around for a year and the Nintendo Wii will hit stores in December. In Japan, where locals are loyal to the two Japanese brands, both PS3 and Wii will cream Xbox 360, which simply hasn't cracked the market. In the US, hard core gamers who already own an Xbox 360, will probably add a PS3 to their collection and maybe also a Wii. Certainly Wii will be popular with kids. But PS3 will rule with the existing Sony fan base, who love advanced gaming technology.

Still others keep belittling the pulling power of the incorporated Blu-ray player, by far the cheapest Blu-ray option on the market, pointing out that most people don't have HDTV yet and there are not many Blu-ray movies anyway. Well hello scoffers. Unemployment is at a record low, people have disposable income and the price of both LCD and Plasma HDTV systems is dropping. Movie studios are starting to churn out both Blu-ray and HD DVD movies, and from many accounts even ordinary DVDs look crisper on Blu-ray systems.

As many commentators have already mentioned, it will probably be a year before the waters clear and we get a true picture of the new generation console market. However, early indications are that PS3 will be the box that puts Sony back on track.