Context Sensitive: Who Is the PS3 For?

Xersues

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Dec 11, 2009
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I really don't see any crazy bias here, I just see an article by some one that doesn't get or like Sony's marketing strategy. Susan does a lot of good PS3 reviews, and she seems to enjoy the system a lot.

Again, its just her opinion. I don't like the article because I think the PS3 has quite the strong identity, which I can ask people around me that are NOT gamers, much like her "Average Joe" person and they all tell me the same thing: "Powerful, blu-ray player, best graphics, entertainment system." Again these are people that don't even have friends that play on the 360, but have gotten into the PS3 because it seemed like the least "toyish" to them. This isn't a good enough sample, but its pretty much just as good anecdotal opinion that was presented in the article.

It seems to present crisis in marketing for no reason and barely reports any news. Its pure opinion. That's why I don't like the article. *shrug* Nothing against Susan, John, or Escapist. Can't always write winners I guess. But tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be happy as ever reading something else you all wrote.
 

shadow skill

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Oct 12, 2007
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SaintWaldo said:
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 bias to rest.
There could be ten articles a day on how MS is trying so hard to market to JRPG fans when we all know damn well that, that is a dead end. Heck the early indication is that even FF13 isn't going to do that great on the 360. In my mind Microsoft's Natal push is more deserving of this type of article because the game library doesn't easily lend itself to the "casual" image. Sony's isn't all that great either, but it is markedly better than that of Microsoft's.

I'm interested in what Sony can do with Move because if they can get the kind of games I like to play to work with the system as well as a traditional controller I can actually play things like Killzone 2 without having to worry about being able to aim since the motion controller isn't going to be inherently biased towards right handed individuals. Secondly it does not have the potential problem of biasing games towards people who can stand/walk unlike Natal.
 

ALLxGHILLIEDxUP

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Nov 4, 2009
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SaintWaldo said:
Logan Westbrook said:
SaintWaldo said:
You seem to be taking this rather personally, and you really shouldn't.
You seem to be assigning degrees to my thoughts, and you really shouldn't. Refute my argument or don't, but please don't assign emotion to a rational discussion.

In fact, one might point out that claiming a speaker is emotional (or "taking this personally") is a way of deflecting an otherwise valid line of argument for which one can't find a suitable defense. I'm completely dispassionate and have yet to see any words to dispute my points.

I'm sure you only meant to ask if I was emotional, and not attempt to dismiss or color my comment. I'm not.
ooo I like this guy, he actually knows how to have a rational argument.

OT: The PS3 still knows who it is, it's simply broadening it's consumer base. A completely logical move from a business stand point.
 

SaintWaldo

Interzone Vagabond
Jun 10, 2008
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Logan Westbrook said:
SaintWaldo 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.
Again, I'm not angry.
Well, you sound like you are, so you might want to rein that in.
Well, I'm not. Since we seem to be exchanging advice, you might want to rein in your assignments of emotion to pieces of internet text.
 

mrx19869

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Jun 17, 2009
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Logan Westbrook said:
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.
since we are talking about the commercials, i think its important to realize that a commercial is only meant to spark the interest of the consumer, not to tell the consumer about everything the product can do in 30 seconds, i believe that you mistake sony's " marketing problems" with what the real problem is.

the consumer has gotten stupid, lazy, and wants to be feed all the info, i see no difference in the way the PS3 was marketed with how cars are marketed. the show you the product something it does, all flashey, etc etec, then its the consumers jobs to do independent research. Everything the PS3 can do is on the box, their website, and other websites.

so i believe this article just takes aways from what the real problem is..
 

SaintWaldo

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Jun 10, 2008
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Random Bobcat said:
John Funk said:
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.
I think you're seeing anger as your own kneejerk response to an expectation of it. Informed criticims doesn't mean anger, as a journalist I would think you would be above such quick assumptions.
This, Right here. This is what every Escapist employee in this thread should internalize.
 

Aura Guardian

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Apr 23, 2008
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Hubilub said:
Edit: Wait, I just came up with a reason as to why the Average Joe should by a PS3.

Because of Kevin Butler.
It might be the ONLY reason why I would buy it. However...Sony has ripped me of a lot of times. So I still cannot see myself owning a Sony product.
 

Nuke_em_05

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Mar 30, 2009
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I don't know if I want to join the epic battle of strawman vs ad hominem here...

For those in the know, we know what the PS3 is. As far as it's marketing (you know, what they use to get people not "in the know" in... the know), it does seem a little off.

You know?
 

Guy32

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Jan 4, 2009
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Sony is and has been in an awful position since the PS3s release. It's capable of so much, but really the only way to let people know how much it can do is to point out all the things that the other systems can't, which would make Sony look like total dicks.
 

shadow skill

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Oct 12, 2007
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Does anyone question the Iphone commercials that bring up things that have nothing to do with telecommunications? No one states that the Iphone has an identity crisis whenever one of these commercials comes out because everyone (In the press in particular.) understands that smartphones like the Iphone are intended to be swiss army knife type devices. Sony has actually been rather consistent in marketing (Albeit poorly.) the Playstation 3 as a swiss army knife console. The only people who have not noticed this are the gaming press. * They assume that they are the only market that Sony is targeting with the device. The reality of the situation does not reflect this belief. That isn't to say that gamers are the biggest target audience for this device however.

*Should I change that "are" to is?
 

rembrandtqeinstein

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Sep 4, 2009
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mrx19869 said:
rembrandtqeinstein 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.
Your point is moot, people who get a console to play online with friends WILL get a 360 just because Live is so much more advanced and the overall community is massively larger. Disclaimer, this only applies to north america.
 
Apr 24, 2008
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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?

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.
Well obviously you can't say something about the ps3 without infering something about the 360...right?...

I enjoyed your article. I don't begrudge the blatent copy of design(it's a good idea, and I think it's really about who does it best...rather than who did it first), but the advert is uncannily like Nintendo's, it made me chuckle. I was hoping that they would focus the tech on games with depth, something that I had been hoping would happen ever since I first played a wii. The potential is there, it could be great if they don't just make a string of mini-game compilations(like wii sports)and then abandon it.

Give me a deep(and bloody)sword fighting game using this tech, and I'll be a very happy gamer...I don't need to play ping pong and golf anymore...
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Random Bobcat said:
I think you're seeing anger as your own kneejerk response to an expectation of it. Informed criticims doesn't mean anger, as a journalist I would think you would be above such quick assumptions.
Nobody's angry here - I'm certainly not.

If they were informed criticisms, then you might have a point. I honestly don't think they are.

Sony makes mistakes. Microsoft makes mistakes. Nintendo makes mistakes. Valve makes mistakes. Konami, Blizzard, Squeenix, etc - they all make mistakes. Calling a company out on what we perceive as a potential mistake is not evidence of bias.

SaintWaldo said:
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.
I'm not saying that you are an idiot. I'm saying that if you - generic you, if ANYBODY - thinks there's a conspiracy, then that's idiocy plain and simple.
 

AceDiamond

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Jul 7, 2008
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I think the PS3's problem is that Sony's tried to use it to be a lot of things. For example they were hoping it would help catapult Blu-Ray into overtaking DVD as a format (it seemed anyway). This did not pan out, now they're trying to emulate the success of their competition in order to salvage something (and also prove that it can do everything it needs to do) but between the PS3 identity crisis and Sony's habit of making shit up in an attempt to look good which often results in hypocrisy on their part (force feedback, motion control, etc.), customer confidence probably is nowhere near where it was during the halcyon days of the PS2.
 

mrx19869

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Jun 17, 2009
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rembrandtqeinstein said:
mrx19869 said:
rembrandtqeinstein 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.
Your point is moot, people who get a console to play online with friends WILL get a 360 just because Live is so much more advanced and the overall community is massively larger. Disclaimer, this only applies to north america.
i own an xbox360 as well, i find that with the larger community all i get is more crap...
 

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Random Bobcat said:
Unprofessional to see the least, very weak projection of emotion as a response when a sensible counter illstration eludes you.

Perhaps you might want to rein yourself in, you're looking foolish with such statements.
Yes, it's me who looks foolish. Definitely.

As for a rebuttal, Waldo's main complaint seems to be that the PS3 gets an unfair rap from gaming journalists, which may or may not be true, but doesn't really have a great deal to do with the article; he's just using it as a jumping off point for a rant about journalistic bias.

Does he have a point? Maybe, maybe not, but that's not what this article is about.