For a while now, Sony has been in the spotlight for a lot of negativity, primarily regarding the launch of the PlayStation 3 where analysts hit on the idea that the console was thrown into the market with low quality launch titles, short demand, and a high price.
Since then Sony has dropped the price, upped their availability for the PS3, and brought out quality titles such as Ratchet & Clank Future and Heavenly Sword. Now the company is faced with the machine entering what is said to be its first real holiday season.
Hitting on a few topics, Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO, Jack Tretton, commented:
“I think the biggest miss for us was the launch, in that we had easily a million consumers in North America alone that wanted to get their hands on a PlayStation 3 … and we had roughly 200,000 units to take advantage of that demand. … I think that that was probably the biggest disappointment for the first year.”
This is one of the obvious reasons for the PS3’s current state. The console could have easily been the top system thus far, but because of the lack of the product initially, this has forced many consumers to seek out the Wii and 360 to replace what surely would have been a PS3.
Remaining confident, however, Tretton reiterated the fact that while it has been is a slow start; this does not have any bearing on the final outcome and fate of the next-generation system.
“The reason why we don’t end up on window ledges, where other people might not have the perspective, is we’ve been through this many, many times, and we’re the only company that’s gone out and had 10-year product lifecycles and sold over 100 million units — and we haven’t done it once, we’ve done it twice.”
When presented with question of how Sony views the PlayStation 3 and its impact on gaming, Tretton stated, “What we’re trying to do here is … refocus the game industry towards high-definition gaming, a real state-of-the-art, future-proof machine for the next decade.”
One of the biggest issues that many loyal consumers stressed is the fact that Sony has not done a decent job of educating consumers of the many aspects for the PlayStation 3. Leads of this point back to the initial PS3 campaign of a crying baby sitting in front of a PS3 console. While a unique concept, it was still to abstract of an advertisement at the time, a period where Sony should have taught the consumers about the product rather than relying on the name to sell itself.
“But I think the challenge of educating consumers on the technology is something that — I don’t know that we underestimated, but it remains a formidable goal. There’s a learning curve a consumer needs to go through before they make a decision on which platform to buy, and I think it’s a lot more complicated than it was five, 10, 15 years ago.”
Tretton later went on to talk about the PlayStation 2 and how even in it’s seventh year, still continues to hold a substantial purpose in this industry. He also talked about the industries perception of the ‘arrogant Sony’ and how they fail to mention their short-comings by saying, “….anybody who’s been through media training or been with the press isn’t going to get on a soapbox and talk about their failures. If that gets construed as arrogance, then I guess that’s a risk you have to take.”
Reassuring their fans, Tretton emphasizes that while things may seem slow right now, the future for the PlayStation 3 is promising and anyone who invested in one, will not be disappointed.
“If you summed up the mission statement for PS3, it’s short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. There was clearly an easier route to go, but we think the route we’re taking is the one that’s going to pay dividends for years to come.”
Interesting enough, Tretton never mentions anything on the PSP, a platform that continues to strive for recognition in the handheld market.
Source: msnbc