Context Sensitive: Who Is the PS3 For?

SnipErlite

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Ahhhh it's true Sony are not quite so clever in the image department.

Pity, since PS3 is a damn good console. Good article.
 

Susan Arendt

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Jan 9, 2007
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mrx19869 said:
Susan Arendt said:
mrx19869 said:
does anybody know if this "Susan Arendt" the author of this post owns a PS3, and if so what model?
Yes, I do, an original launch model. Ah, sweet, sweet BC....
I find that you (and Sony's marketing) forget to mention other great features the PS3 has going for it.
This isn't an article about the PS3's merits. This is about how Sony can't seem to focus on a message for its console. The average consumer is left with little to latch onto, because Sony's marketing is so scattershot. Ergo, the PS3's various plusses, which are many, aren't really relevant. I say the PS3 is great, which is is. Why do I need to go into more detail than that?

Oh, and to address folks saying the 360 plays copycat, too...well, yes, absolutely it does, and I never claimed otherwise. To say that Sony's marketing is failing isn't saying that Microsoft's is succeeding. I'm not praising Microsoft simply because I'm not saying "yeah, they suck, too." This article is in response to a Sony trailer, and addresses Sony's apparent lack of understanding of its own product. Microsoft really isn't relevant for that discussion. If/when Microsoft releases a commercial for Natal that is practically a shot-for-shot copy of a Wii commercial, you can be sure I'll mention it.
 

Xersues

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Dec 11, 2009
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They've said time and time again that the PS3 is for "Anyone with electricity". There's a bit of everything there. Hardcore/casual/softcore/movies/streaming/videos/music, its there :p

Its like saying Microsoft Windows has an identity crisis. Because not only does it do games... its a server, and has productivity tools.... and does internet... I mean whose it for!??!

Sorry but this article is terrible. Not that its poorly written. It just doesn't seem to identify that it was more of an expensive console that did more than just be a console when it first launched and has since then gotten out of the "toy" market that the 360 and Wii seem to be in. I'd agree that its been a hell of a marketing challenge for them to make up their mind, but now I think they finally have it centered. But the Playstation has always had a message "For anyone with electricity".
 

mrx19869

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Logan Westbrook said:
mrx19869 said:
Logan Westbrook said:
Random Bobcat said:
A well informed counter statement to a poor article is "taking it personally"?
Nope, but an angry rant about a good article is.
but this isnt a good article...
If you say so, but your comments about the Wii earlier suggest that you're less than objective.
you are correct in saying that i am less than objective, but everyone need to admit that the wii was rushed, and could have started out of the gate a whole lot better, now sony is stepping up to the game and they are gonna do it right.

my problem with this article is that how can the PS3 have an identity crisis when they are saying that

"it does everything" and it does... everything
 

StriderShinryu

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Wow.. pro Sony fanboys unite.

You do realize you're missing the entire point of the column, right? The column clearly isn't about "PS3 suxxorz!!1!" or "I have no idea what the PS3 is *head explodes*" The column is about Sony's marketing strategies and, to some extent, their development plans... and it's not really talking about those who are generally in the know (aka those who read and post on The Escapist).

As for why a breakdown of MS's 360 marketing history and their positioning of Natal hasn't been included, I'm guessing it's because the 360 hasn't seen it's first real push yet. We don't even know if it's going to be called Natal. If MS has the same issues as Sony does when it makes the big push, then of course they should be examined in the same way (though the OP is right in saying that MS has had a more generally cohesive marketing push for the 360 to this point).
 

SaintWaldo

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Jun 10, 2008
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John Funk said:
D.) Take. The fanboy blinders. Off. And while you're at it, take the tinfoil hat off, too. You're taking this way too personally, dude.

Every single one of us here in the Escapist offices bought a PS3 with their own hard cash. We wouldn't have done this if we didn't think the machine was pretty cool in a lot of ways. You're an idiot if you think we're all members of a global conspiracy dedicated to undermine Sony.
Sir, please stop the name calling. Note also that I never claimed a conspiracy. Note that I also know that Susan isn't a PS3 hater. Note that not everyone claiming a perceivable bias is calling for heads to roll or for the Bastille to be stormed.

I'm not speaking to a conspiracy. I'm speaking to hidden, suppressed, possibly unconscious bias. It's a very different thing. I'm not claiming anyone at the Escapist has taken money from MS to put a fix in. I'm saying, it's been my impression, over the entire course of the PS3's history, that the western press has been overwhelmingly hyper-critical of Sony. It's also been my contention that this is due to many factors (cultural, linguistic, geographic), so that the ones who participate in transporting the bias aren't necessarily to blame for the action.

But it is there, and in my eyes, as a bias, it should be revealed and spoken to if we are to be honest about our own culture. And it is a reasonable impression that there are some jingoistic forces at work in the US gaming culture (and the culture at large, sure) that I'd prefer to face up front rather than allow to continue unremarked.

You call me a fanboy (and intimate that I may be an an idiot); I've never hidden the fact that I prefer Sony. I've also never spoken to others as though their choice of console was incorrect or revealed some lack of anything in their person or character. Maybe you shouldn't react so strongly to criticism if you'd like to avoid a few choice label of your own.
 

Susan Arendt

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Jan 9, 2007
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StriderShinryu said:
Wow.. pro Sony fanboys unite.

You do realize you're missing the entire point of the column, right? The column clearly isn't about "PS3 suxxorz!!1!" or "I have no idea what the PS3 is *head explodes*" The column is about Sony's marketing strategies and, to some extent, their development plans... and it's not really talking about those who are generally in the know (aka those who read and post on The Escapist).

As for why a breakdown of MS's 360 marketing history and their positioning of Natal hasn't been included, I'm guessing it's because the 360 hasn't seen it's first real push yet. We don't even know if it's going to be called Natal. If MS has the same issues as Sony does when it makes the big push, then of course they should be examined in the same way (though the OP is right in saying that MS has had a more generally cohesive marketing push for the 360 to this point).
Thanks...glad to know someone got the point.
 

John Funk

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Dec 20, 2005
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Random Bobcat said:
This is bizarre.

a) Seeing as both devices were still referred to as X's motion device this bears little weight, but good point for you I suppose.

b) No, it's just stapled on features like a catwalk model, much better.

c) Wow - so the motion capture bar bears no resemblance to the Wii's?

d) I think you jumping to the defence of the 360 need to take the blinders off. "Fanboy" is a desperate insult for someone running low on argument.

I just assumed Susan auto submitted this, but with the staff rallying in to defend I'm becoming more and more surprised.

And before you blurt "fanboy" to me, I maintain the attitude that this generation suffers from copying in general - not just Sony.
A.) That was the official title; both Natal and Arc/Gem/Wand/whatever were working titles. When Natal reveals its official title, we'll start calling it that.

B.) I think that in terms of marketing strategy, it is better, actually. Microsoft marketed the 360 as a gaming machine from the get-go, a gaming machine with a bunch of peripherals that people may or may not have cared about (or were later rendered obsolete, like the HDDVD addon). As Susan makes the point, Sony marketed the PS3 as a gaming machine second, which probably made it harder to catch on.

We're not talking about from a pure quality standpoint, we're talking about from a marketing one. That's an important distinction to make. MS was "Oh, we're a gaming machine! But we've got these little trinkets and features, too." Sony was "Hey, we do all of this stuff, NON-GAMERS will want to buy our PS3 for the Blu-Ray and the Home Media and... well, okay, yeah, it plays games too I guess."

C.) Has the motion capture bar ever been featured prominently in Wii advertising? No. The image that comes to mind is the Wii remote and the Nunchuck, and the way people interact with Move is identical to how they interact with MotionPlus (roughly, let's not split hairs here). Click on the link and tell me you can tell the difference between the two.

D.) I'm ... not defending the 360. What did I say that was in any way defending the Xbox 360? Saying that the Xbox never had quite the identity crisis of the PS3 is not a defense, it's pretty obvious.

I'm attacking the persecution complex of PS3 fanboys who think that everybody is out to get them and there is a coordinate attempt to undermine Sony. And whose kneejerk reaction is to shout NO YOU'RE WRONG to a well-reasoned article that is more about Sony's failing in presentation than about the merits of the actual console.
 

shadow skill

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They do have a message however, "It only does everything." whether that message is good is another question. They already had a motion controller in the system at launch so trying to improve on the functionality by creating a controller that works isn't a bad thing. The target audience is the consumer that wants a device that does more than the 360/wii without having to buy two or three different devices.
 

mrx19869

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Susan Arendt said:
mrx19869 said:
Susan Arendt said:
mrx19869 said:
does anybody know if this "Susan Arendt" the author of this post owns a PS3, and if so what model?
Yes, I do, an original launch model. Ah, sweet, sweet BC....
I find that you (and Sony's marketing) forget to mention other great features the PS3 has going for it.
This isn't an article about the PS3's merits. This is about how Sony can't seem to focus on a message for its console. The average consumer is left with little to latch onto, because Sony's marketing is so scattershot. Ergo, the PS3's various plusses, which are many, aren't really relevant. I say the PS3 is great, which is is. Why do I need to go into more detail than that?
The message has to change because the people buying the ps3 are different now than they were 4 years ago. The people who purchased the ps3 the day it came out like me (waited 3 days in a tent with my friends for it) we knew everything about it, they did not have to market it, they didnt even have to put a picture on the box for me.

now skip to today, the best way sony saw to market the PS3 was to simply state " it does everything" also they have a great website that is easy to use, and explains all the features ,
i guess my question is now what does your statement "marketing is so scattereshot" refer to.. am i correct to assume you are talking about commercials?
 

SaintWaldo

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Jun 10, 2008
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Susan Arendt said:
Oh, and to address folks saying the 360 plays copycat, too...well, yes, absolutely it does, and I never claimed otherwise. To say that Sony's marketing is failing isn't saying that Microsoft's is succeeding. I'm not praising Microsoft simply because I'm not saying "yeah, they suck, too." This article is in response to a Sony trailer, and addresses Sony's apparent lack of understanding of its own product. Microsoft really isn't relevant for that discussion. If/when Microsoft releases a commercial for Natal that is practically a shot-for-shot copy of a Wii commercial, you can be sure I'll mention it.
Ok, that's all fine, but when did we get an article that dwelt on the long term ramifications of XBox branding when it did a shot-for-shot ripoff off Miis? WE DIDN'T. That's what people like me are talking about. Sony gets a concern troll piece about it's direction, but MS NEVER DOES. If you'd like to link to the article you feel treats MS or Nintendo with the same "concern from a real fan of the platform", that would go MILES toward putting any impression of (possibly unconscious) bias to rest.
 

Low Key

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Don't bank on Sony making motion control just for Americans. Microsoft pretty much owns the "hardcore" console market in America, but they are almost nonexistent in Japan. The PSP has done fairly well holding it own against the DS in the land of the rising sun, so Sony is hoping with their take on motion controls and much, much, much better graphics to fight the Wii directly. With the latest price cuts, they might actually gain some substantial ground.
 

rembrandtqeinstein

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100% dead on. The ps3 was not only released last, had the glorious $600 price tag, looked like a babylon 5 prop, and had no real exclusives outside of MGS whose reputation was thoroughly tarnished by MGS2.

The PS2 was really the perfect storm. It came out with the DVD and with the next console generation. Even the weak (except SSX) launch was forgivable because the DVD capability made up for it.

The gap between VHS and DVD is remarkable, but the gap between DVD and Blu-Ray isn't nearly as pronounced. Particularly if you take into account there weren't very many hi-def televisions when the thing was released. And even hi-def gamer households probably had a 360 because Microsoft's year head start.

The ps3 slim is a much better value proposition but really it is a case of too little too late. If the slim was the launch system then I think the 7th generation would be a closer contest than it currently is.

That said if I had to choose current version xbox and ps3 I would get ps3 in a heartbeat. The system just looks better designed built. The xbox reminds me of jury-rigged computer work that you hope works. And it sounds like a jet engine.

Sony could convert me if they come out with a Devil May Cry, or Ninja Gaiden with true motion controls, not the sloppiness of Twilight Princess random flailing. A first person MGS where you aim with the pointer like in Metroid.

Good luck Sony, you certainly need it.
 

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Random Bobcat said:
c) Wow - so the motion capture bar bears no resemblance to the Wii's?
Superficially, yes, but the tech behind it is very, very different. The sensor bar is essentially a just a reference point for the Wii remote, and all it does it emit two points of IR light. Natal, on the other hand, has two cameras built into it to position a player and track their movements.

mrx19869 said:
my problem with this article is that how can the PS3 have an identity crisis when they are saying that

"it does everything" and it does... everything
That's what the article is talking about, that Sony doesn't have a clear idea of what it wants to PS3 to be. Part of the reason that the Kevin Butler were so well received is that it seemed like Sony had finally decided how it was going to market the PS3, and had made a really good job of it. But now it seems Sony has a new angle for the PS3, one that eschews very endearing Mr Butler. I don't know if you've seen the trailer for Move, but it makes the PS3 look so much like the Wii it's like they were separated at birth.

The conversation isn't about what the PS3 can actually do - everyone on the Escapist staff is well aware of how good a machine it is - it's about how Sony is communicating that message, and an enduring characteristic of Sony's handling of the PS3 is inconsistent marketing.
 

mrx19869

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rembrandtqeinstein" post="6.180282.5286698 said:
100% dead on. The ps3 was not only released last, had the glorious $600 price tag/quote]

yeah but how much money has xbox360 users payed since launch to get online and play with your friends? It seems like i have spent less on my ps3 5 years down the road because i payed a higher price tag up front.