The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
Okay, given Sony’s attempts to break even on hardware losses , something they hope to do this year, it is understandable that they try to stick to a retail price point to achieve this goal.
But given that even exclusives such as the excellent LittleBigPlanet and Resistance 2 failed to ignite a sales boom and PlayStation Home failing to capture the imagination of the gaming crowd, the non-media centre capabilities of the PS3 seem to be struggling.
Though the 2009 exclusive (and even the not exclusive) range looks strong, with Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain and inFamous vying for gamer dollars and a expanding of casual and party games such as Buzz and SingStar to remain a focus.
But will it be enough to keep the PS3 relevant in the gaming world? The competitors have never been stronger and the Blu-ray drive trump card that Sony consistently plays is starting to lose its edge.
The grumbling is rising, and it is an international clamour. As the price of Blu-ray standalone disc players begin to drop, the PS3 is being left to stand more and more on its gaming merits in order to justify remaining at the current price point.
Over at CNET Rick Broida asked the obvious: “Seriously? Sony is still pricing the PlayStation 3 at [US]$400? That was fine when Blu-ray Disc players were selling for about the same price”.
He goes on to point out that today, in the U.S a standalone Blu-ray player can set you back as little as US$150.
Back to Australia, and even Sony themselves are offering Blu-ray players under two thirds the cost of a PS3. The BDP-S350 has a RRP of AU$449.00, but can be picked up cheaper than that at many electronic outlets.
So the consumer is left with considering the PS3 on its whole package solution, do they need a single box that can provide gaming entertainment, Wi-Fi connectivity, Blu-ray playback and the future possibilities of PlayTV and digital entertainment distribution?
Or do they opt to modularise their entertainment outlay on separate, cheaper components to customise their purchases to personal needs?
It is in the answers to these questions that the PS3 2009 fate lies.
David Bass
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