View Full Version : Sony's PlayStation Move: A Hard Sell
Sub-stance1
08-28-2010, 04:37
Editor's note: While editing this article, I learned that the PlayStation Move launches in just over three weeks. I had no idea. (I knew it was at some point during the fall.) Where's the coverage? Much like Jon, I'm not saying that this is a hard-and-fast death knell for the product, but it certainly doesn't bode well.... -James
http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/sony/move/movebundlesmall2.jpg
This is the PlayStation Move.
Last week I walked into one of the dozen or so local GameStops within five miles of my apartment. I was there to look for any used GameCube games I hadn't already found or browse through the newest DS releases...or play a quick round of Street Fighter 4 (http://www.bitmob.com/mobfeed?tag=Super-Sreet-Fighter-4) with a stranger who also didn't have anywhere special to be on a weekday afternoon. Ah, summertime as a teacher.
When I walked in, I saw the new PlayStation Move display box. And when I picked up that empty placeholder, I had a gut reaction: No one is going to buy this thing.
Let me qualify what I mean by "no one." A million or so early adopters and gadget hounds will grab it during the holiday season. Then several thousand wealthy families with over-privileged children. And then the Move will stop "moving," as it were.
http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/playstation-move1.jpg
I want to be clear that pure (uninformed) intuition provides the basis for my argument. It comes from the feel of the box in my hands, the look of the wand, and the total price next to each product SKU in that display corner.
But I mean, the Move seemed cool, right? You've got the tactile response of the controller. You've got the requisite packed-in sports-compilation software. You've got the slightly menacing Eye camera, which, combined with the glowing red orb, conjures memories of HAL from 2001. And all of this is only $99.99.
It's too bad you need a $300 console to use it. To be fair, I thought the Move looked promising when Sony announced it. Sure, it's a blatant rip off of the Wii. So what? Band-Aids were a copy of whatever bandage was being sold at the time, and we know how that turned out. Be it cars or movies or toilet paper, imitation is how industry works.
If the Move could offer the raw power of the PS3 alongside refined motion controls that use 2010 technology, why wouldn't it succeed? Who wouldn't want one? On paper, its success seems inevitable.
People that have PS3s right now are content. They enjoyed playing Resident Evil 5 (http://www.bitmob.com/mobfeed?tag=Resident-Evil-5) with their dual-analog controller. Will they buy it again solely for Move functionality? Wii owners certainly made Capcom a few bucks by snapping up the Wii-enable Resident Evil 4 (http://www.bitmob.com/mobfeed?tag=Resident-Evil-4) in droves. But RE4 alone didn't sell the Wii.
The question is whether the same legion of families, grandmothers, nursery homes, schools, cruise ships, and lapsed gamers will get as excited about Sports Champions (http://www.bitmob.com/mobfeed?tag=Sports-Champions) as they did about Wii Sports (http://www.bitmob.com/mobfeed?tag=Wii-Sports).
My thought: No, they won't. It just ain't happenin'.
http://static.providingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/new/2010/06/sony-playstation-move-plus-e3.jpg
If only Kudo Tsunoda would hold still....
And maybe that's okay. A million-seller peripheral would have been a huge success in a pre-Wii world.
But is this the foundation of the PS3's future? I hope not. Perhaps Sony will be happy with EyeToy-like success for the Move. But I can't help but feel that after the dust settles, more people will be staring into the eye of their Kinect camera than pointing their glowing, red stick at their TV screen.
And the final outcome of it all? Sony will have "moved" from dominator to doormat in a single console generation.
http://www.bitmob.com/articles/why-i-think-sonys-move-will-fail
I think move will sell pretty well over time.
Seems like a rather silly article to me, it'll sell.. now if Sony has more games like Sorcery up there sleeves, I am sure it'll sell pretty damn well.
Sub-stance1
08-28-2010, 04:52
Seems like a rather silly article to me, it'll sell.. now if Sony has more games like Sorcery up there sleeves, I am sure it'll sell pretty damn well.
It will do ok...I do expect those who already own a PSeye to buy move also but I guess we'll find out soon.
LastManDancing
08-28-2010, 04:54
If it does what it's suppose to do, it'll sell.
Sorcery, Dead Space Extraction, and Dead Space 2.
Mmm.... delicious.
Its got some potential, and looking at the recent games kinda has me interested. I agree itll sell like hot cakes for first few months then it may dive...or alot of people could get a ps3 this holiday season and want it so itll keep sales up.
Gotta say, overall this is a very realistic article.
Anyway, here is the thing. I do think Move (and even Kinect as well) will do better than people are giving it credit for, especially Kinect which a lot of people expect to fall flat on its face and not go anywhere. But I have to agree with the tone of the article that Move may not end up being the mega event that some (especially here) are expecting it to be. There are definitely certain nuances that have aided the Wii in becoming as big as it has been that don't seem to be in favor of Move. While Move is definitely a more capable addition, it's still an addition and one that is going to take time to find any footing as far as being ingrained into people's minds as a part of the Playstation experience.
Though I do think this quote speaks volumes:
People that have PS3s right now are content. They enjoyed playing Resident Evil 5 with their dual-analog controller. Will they buy it again solely for Move functionality? Wii owners certainly made Capcom a few bucks by snapping up the Wii-enable Resident Evil 4 in droves. But RE4 alone didn't sell the Wii.
The question is whether the same legion of families, grandmothers, nursery homes, schools, cruise ships, and lapsed gamers will get as excited about Sports Champions as they did about Wii Sports.
MiThRaZoR
08-28-2010, 08:39
This will sell better than the Eyetoy no doubt.
This is basically based after a rival console's success.
This has hype built around it.
It seems to be well supported.
Many more people are actually interested in it.
Doesn't seem as lame as the eyetoy (eyetoy seemed REALLY lame to me, especially because of their games.)
Most of all, it actually seems to live up to (some) of the hype/fun factor.
Compare that to eyetoy.
FinalEvangelion
08-28-2010, 08:48
Seems like a fanboy article to me. The editor didn't know when it was being released? hmmm... Never heard of the site either. If the press was right about the PS3, then there would be absolutely no third party titles and all the third parties would have completely abandoned the PS3 like they did with the N64. Well, that didn't happen. I also remember the press saying that the PS3 slim and price drop would not have an effect on sales - that didn't happen either.
I think we ought to see when this launches. The good news, is the press is pretty positive about how it is functioning. The press is fairly negative about the competitor's offering. When the press is negative about something Xbox - that speaks volumes. They really weren't too hard on them during the whole hardware failure stuff going on.
I think the thing about the Move is that the level of precision is there enabling hardcore titles to benefit. Why not play games like Killzone with a directional device that resembles a gun rather than the DS3. If the hardcore game chooses to adopt the Move as the de facto standard for games like this it will sell massively. It also may well pull in those who have a Wii that is gathering dust because they want something with a bit more depth (I know quite a few people like this). A lot will depend on how Sony go about marketing this. These need to start soon though for it to gain traction during the holiday period as this where Sony will hope it take off.
I remember in the early days of consoles, additional peripherals like this almost all bombed simply because people didn't like the idea of buying on top of the cost of the console. These days people don't think twice about dropping huge amounts on pieces of plastic that they believe will enhance there gaming experience (rock band, dj hero etc). The Move is pretty inexpensive to dip a toe into and could significantly enhance a broad spectrum of games. I personally think it will do all right, certainly sell more than a million.
The article doesn't really point reasons why Move would fail. It seems to me it's gonna sell a lot!
It comes down to the advertising - they need to start at least a week before otherwise it won't become mainstream (ie sell several million ww).
AaronSOLDIER
08-28-2010, 14:59
It comes down to the advertising - they need to start at least a week before otherwise it won't become mainstream (ie sell several million ww).
This. They should actually start now.
It's all in the games as far as I'm concerned. There's no way I'm picking it until there's a good list of games supporting the hardware.
I won't be an early adopter and expect that it will be mid 2011 before there's a good enough catalogue to warrant an approximate £60 spend.
At least this writer admits this is nothing more than a gut feeling; pure speculation combined with opinion. Most writers attempt to state what they're feeling as some kind of fact, rather than a personal preference.
To me this article can be summed down to a few words: "I was put off by the price"
Tutankhamun
08-28-2010, 15:53
Here's what we don't know about the Move, will Sony lower the price to move more unites or are they happy with selling less of them but for a higher profit?
In other words, are they going for market penetration or for making money with the Move? I think the latter tbh.
Sub-stance1
08-28-2010, 15:54
It's all in the games as far as I'm concerned. There's no way I'm picking it until there's a good list of games supporting the hardware.
I won't be an early adopter and expect that it will be mid 2011 before there's a good enough catalogue to warrant an approximate £60 spend.
^This....Im getting it but I do want some unique experiences with it... Im not picking this up for Killzone or Heavy Rain. its cool you can use it for them but I want the games thats really built for it. Like sorcery.
Here's what we don't know about the Move, will Sony lower the price to move more unites or are they happy with selling less of them but for a higher profit?
In other words, are they going for market penetration or for making money with the Move? I think the latter tbh.
It will likely be the same deal as the PS3. If it's selling at a level they're happy with then why reduce the price? If it's not then a price reduction is one of the easiest and smartest ways to sell more units.
Also, the editors note made me giggle a little.
I may get move early, I doubt it though. Between working and school I just won't have the time to use it. I may get one closer to christmas, or whenever the Heavy Rain patch lands.
Tutankhamun
08-28-2010, 16:01
It will likely be the same deal as the PS3. If it's selling at a level they're happy with then why reduce the price? If it's not then a price reduction is one of the easiest and smartest ways to sell more units.
So then they are happy with having a lower market share for more profit. Then I guess the Move will be a hard sell for Sony.
Crazifanboi
08-28-2010, 18:52
I think word of mouth is what's going to sell move. I don't remember seeing to many advertisements for the wii when it first released. What got me to purchase it was my cousin telling me how fun it is. Hell that's what also got my sister to get it for her daughter in law, and what got my other cousin to pick up the system. In store adds may not catch peoples attention and sell the device, but everyone knowing it works well and provides a fun experience just might sell it.
Bligmerk
08-28-2010, 18:58
Another stupid personal opinion post that is meaningless. Some nobody walks into a game store, picks up the Move display box and gets a "gut feeling" it won't sell?
Lethal_NFS
08-28-2010, 19:08
A hard sell? Sony easily got me to pre-order 2 navs and 2 motion controlers........Does this make me easy?
Two4DaMoney
08-28-2010, 19:19
I'm sold based off the games I've seen demoed. I know things can only get better. I'm just going to wait until the holidays to pick one up. I refuse to miss out on those great holiday deals. The starter pack will do just fine for me. I won't need a nav controller. My hands are big enough to use my standard controller.
A hard sell? Sony easily got me to pre-order 2 navs and 2 motion controlers........Does this make me easy?
+1
Im spending £170.00 on Move day one, I think it will sell really well.
unicron7
08-28-2010, 20:10
Hard sale... already have two Move controllers and nav controller preordered. Along with tons of other friends. I think most who have a PS3 Eye will say "Hey what the heck, it's 50 bucks." and snatch one just to play around with. Kinda like what I did with the eye back in 2008. The games I have seen demoed so far work very well. I love the fact that it does exactly what it is supposed to. No gimmicks, or smoke and mirrors. It just works. I do think it will sell better than what the competition is offering.
jakster123x
08-28-2010, 20:25
I'm not sure it'll be a system seller tbh. It'll be snapped up by fanboys etc who already own the PS3 and newcomers will most likely by the PS3 console with the Move if they were already thinking about getting a PlayStation but if Sony are expecting to take the Nintendo audience i'm not sure that will happen. I'm not an analyst so i could be talking complete BS and because i have nothing to back up that statement, it's just a statement. I just think that that is what is going to happen.
That doesn't really matter though. As long as a decent amount of the install base buy Move it's going to rake in quite a bit of money for Sony. I just think that all those people who bought the Wii show that they don't care about motion controls with HD graphics, which, to the public, is what this looks like (and probably is, just a little refined, but hey, Kinect is a refined EyeToy. Like the writer said, the industry is built on refining ideas).
They have my money anyway. 2 Moves, Sports Champions and, after trying my Sixaxis in one hand for 10 seconds, a NavCon, too. I also look forward to trying the demos on the store, MAG, Sorcery and, of course, the big daddy - Killzone 3.
DayWalker
08-28-2010, 20:38
um duh?
Sony = worst marketing ever.
It's like they are penny pinching on marketing to make up for the slow PS3 start.
But we all knew (or at least the smart ones) that MS was going to market the hell out of Kinect and that Sony was going to pretend like they didn't care one way or the other.
So then they are happy with having a lower market share for more profit. Then I guess the Move will be a hard sell for Sony.
Where was that ever stated?
Tutankhamun
08-28-2010, 21:01
Where was that ever stated?
It wasn't I draw that conclusion.
skinny_jr
08-28-2010, 22:44
I know that me and my crew, we'll get it for only one reason.... Especially me, cuz my men are good at this!!!! But, its really hard to play an FPS with a controller.... I'm no PC Gamer, but whenever we play CS I rock and everything... But, when I play COD on PS360..... Man I suck!!!!
I think word of mouth is what's going to sell move. I don't remember seeing to many advertisements for the wii when it first released. What got me to purchase it was my cousin telling me how fun it is. Hell that's what also got my sister to get it for her daughter in law, and what got my other cousin to pick up the system. In store adds may not catch peoples attention and sell the device, but everyone knowing it works well and provides a fun experience just might sell it.
Word of mouth certainly helped the Wii but there were advertisements for it back when it first launched. Another big platform supporting it was the fact that media programs like Good Morning America and the The Today Show featured the hosts using the device and showing what it can do.
Nearly 50 Move titles announced, alot of these are third party titles too. Also Move launches 2 months before the competition.
Doesn't look like too much of a hard sell to me.
Is there a list of the announced titles and projected release dates anywhere? I'd be interested in seeing it.
BlacJack
08-29-2010, 14:09
Gotta say, overall this is a very realistic article.
Anyway, here is the thing. I do think Move (and even Kinect as well) will do better than people are giving it credit for, especially Kinect which a lot of people expect to fall flat on its face and not go anywhere.
Almost everyone I hear from feels Kinect will sell better, so I don't know who you are talking to. Kinect will do well because of the exact reasons the guy in this article stated Move will sell, it's new, it looks impressive. But what give these types of things legs are the software behind it.
For that reason i think Kinect will outsell Move this fall, but Move will most likely have longer legs. Neither one will sell like the Wii because the entry prices are double what the Wii's was, and it was standard on that console. It's a shame how our market works, but convenience (of one purchase) and Minority Report style menu surfing is worth $150 to some more than the ability to play 1:1 motion games.
Almost everyone I hear from feels Kinect will sell better, so I don't know who you are talking to. Kinect will do well because of the exact reasons the guy in this article stated Move will sell, it's new, it looks impressive. But what give these types of things legs are the software behind it.
For that reason i think Kinect will outsell Move this fall, but Move will most likely have longer legs. Neither one will sell like the Wii because the entry prices are double what the Wii's was, and it was standard on that console. It's a shame how our market works, but convenience (of one purchase) and Minority Report style menu surfing is worth $150 to some more than the ability to play 1:1 motion games.
Are you sure you quoted the right person? Because I was actually give "props" to Kinect. -_- I was simply saying that despite people feeling Kinect may not go anywhere I personally feel it's going to do better than those people expect it to.
Truth be told, out in public, I haven't heard or witnessed any "real" consumer level interest in these devices. It's always online through the gaming media and other such avenues of information that I have any idea that there are people anticipating the launch of these devices and what they bring to the table.
Two4DaMoney
08-30-2010, 01:17
Is there a list of the announced titles and projected release dates anywhere? I'd be interested in seeing it.
Click Me (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=21880356&postcount=1)
You'll see a list of titles there.
BlacJack
08-30-2010, 02:12
Truth be told, out in public, I haven't heard or witnessed any "real" consumer level interest in these devices. It's always online through the gaming media and other such avenues of information that I have any idea that there are people anticipating the launch of these devices and what they bring to the table.
Ya that is true, which is why I don't think either one of them will come close to Wii at all.
I guess I just used the part where you stated that others were saying Kinect will fall flat and just kinda ran with that. None of that was really directed towards you personally, sorry for the confusion.
Yungstar 2006
08-30-2010, 18:14
A hard sell? Sony easily got me to pre-order 2 navs and 2 motion controlers........Does this make me easy?
nah, just means your upto speed with what Move can offer, but the casual market will go into a shop and see Move as wii with lights on and they will just not understand the differences in accuracy etc.
while Kinect will definitely offer that same family a new way of playing what look to be fun games.
so a possible stumbling block for Sony (not understanding the difference between wii and Move) could well help Kinect sell.
I have to say I was pretty pumped for the move... until I saw the reviews for the move launch games. I will still probably pick it up for the eyepet as my niece would probably like that game... and I will be getting the sports champion with the move.... But I can see how some people wouldn't be to interested in those games at the moment. ( I also have yet to see a commercial that is advertising the move and its release date )
I'll be getting the Move Bundle + Extra Move Controller and 1 Nav controller. I'm really looking forward to playing Heavy Rain and RE5 Gold with the Move. Those + Sport Champions will hold me easily till November when megatons like Gran Turismo 5 hit. Not to mention Black Ops and Little Big Planet 2.
At the end of the day it just depends on how much SONY advertise it.
if they do not advertise it then it wont do as good as it can, whereas if they did advertise it then it could do very well.
It is difficult to decide, maybe it has to do with time cuz I am not ready yet jump on the wagon.