The Rise of the Playstation 3

At the end of World War II a man by the name of Masaru Ibuka founded a small radio repair shop in the devastated city of Tokyo. Throughout the next few years Masaru would slowly expand his company until 5 years later, on a trip to the US, he was able to convince America's Bell Lab's to license the newly invented transistor to his company. His company quickly developed the first commercially available transistor radios which quickly became a huge success, selling hundreds of thousands of radios to the Japan and America.

With the success of their transistor radio business Masaru moved his company to Tokyo and after careful consideration combined the Latin word “Sonus” (the root word of sonic and sound) and Sonny (a colloquial term used in 1950's America for boy) in order to create Sony Corporation. Sony went on to become a leader in electronics, video game consoles, and motion pictures. In 1993 Sony Corporation spun off its video game division into its own company, Sony Computer Entertainment. Like its parent company it quickly became a leader in the video game industry. Within a year of its inception it released the Playstation -- a revolutionary video game system.

The Sony Playstation was released in December of 1994; at the time American gamers knew little of Sony and it's Playstation console and their ambiguous launch campaign, “Enos Lives”, didn't help(“Enos Lives” was meant to be read, Ready Ninth Of September, the official launch date of the Playstation.) Sony quickly revised its campaign and it is now known for its innovative –and sometimes controversial-- campaigns produced by famous directors and animators helping it sell over 102 million units, cementing the Playstation series in video game history.

The console's successor, unimaginatively named Playstation 2, carried on the record breaking sales tradition by selling 136 million units and counting. The system is famous for its longevity and massive game library. Released in 2000 the system is still going strong with strong sales for a console that’s been around for nine years. Even now as more powerful consoles are being offered by Microsoft and Nintendo game developers are making hit games for the Playstation 2 such as God of War II and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, incredibly the system is projected to have over 1900 titles available by the end of this year.

Playstation launches are usually enhanced by their roster of blockbuster games. The Playstation 3 (also known as the PS3) broke this tradition by launching with a limited selection of lackluster games. Sony decided on making a system with advanced components and revolutionary software, as a result game developers found the system extremely difficult to program for.

To compound Sony's problems its competitors Microsoft and Nintendo both came out with their own Next Generation systems, the Xbox 360 and the Wii respectively. Microsoft released their system a year earlier capturing a sizable portion of the market and developing many hit games. The Nintendo Wii became a hit with young children and women, an audience the other consoles ignored.

Many had given up on the PS3 calling it the downfall of Sony yet there are signs that things may be turning around: first, game developers are finally utilizing the PS3 to its full potential and making great games, second, the technical superiority of the PS3 is finally becoming apparent, and finally, the PS3 has finally found a marketing strategy that works.

When the PS3 first came out its game lineup was rated mediocre at best. It's games didn't fully utilize the Playstation's capabilities and it's A-list game franchises – Metal Gear, Midnight Club, Final Fantasy, and Gran Turismo, to name a few-- we're still in development. However if one examines Playstation's current lineup the story is completely different. Games like Killzone 2 and Heavenly Blade have graphics surpassing anything the Xbox 360 and the Wii can produce and in the case of Heavenly Blade are rendering objects in previously unheard of numbers. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles were both released in America this year to impressive sales and rave game reviews. Final Fantasy XIII and Gran Turismo 5 are on the verge of release with most critics anticipating huge sales figures and graphics surpassing anything seen yet. Playstation 3 is also creating new game blockbuster Gaming Franchises with innovative games like Little Big Planet and Killzone 2. As Playstation games continue to improve and expand more and more video gamers will be driven to purchase PS3’s increasing its market share in the long run, a process that has already begun.

Many consumers were driven away from the Playstation 3 by its steep cost, $699 US dollars, nearly double its competitors. Yet as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”; The Sony Playstation 3 comes with a built in Blu-ray DVD player, backwards compatibility, wireless adapter, 60 gigabyte hard disk, and online play. When compared to its closest competitor, the Xbox 360, the difference really hits home. Microsoft backed Toshiba in the HD-DVD versus Blu-Ray war and lost when all the major movie companies sided with its rival. Sony’s Blu-Ray is now industry standard, making the Xbox’s drive obsolete. The Xbox offers wireless adapters and extra hard drive space at $100 dollars each eliminating their price advantage. This price advantage is completely gone when online play is factored in, Xbox Live (Microsoft’s online gaming service) is offered for $15.99 a month, Sony offers its Playstation Network for free – for life. Microsoft and Nintendo are already developing new systems to replace their aging consoles, meanwhile Sony plans on producing the PS3 for another six years, a testament to its quality.

Sony’s initial ad campaign for the PS3 seemed reminiscent of the failed original Playstation marketing. Their ads took place in a empty white room with ordinary objects acting in strange, surreal ways after an encounter with the PS3. Consumers were confused and left uninformed as to what the Playstation 3 offered. Recently however Sony seems to have hit upon a marketing strategy that works.

The company has spent 4 million US dollars in a surge of television ads demonstrating the graphical superiority of Killzone 2 and Major League Baseball: The Show, both Playstation exclusive games. Meanwhile another set of television ads is running that features a visually stunning mural made of PS3 games moving across a dark city. All of these ads are meant to communicate one thing to the consumer; Playstation 3 has the best games. Playstation 3’s increased marketing spending coupled with its competitor’s cutbacks is poised to make Sony a leader in video games once again.

In January of 2009, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s President, David Reeves, told the press that he believed the Playstation 3 would become the leading console in the next few years. He was quoted as saying “I’m very, very, optimistic for what I see for Playstation’s future.” The Playstation 3 is indeed on the verge of taking the market by storm. In the next few years gamers will flock to the system as more and more blockbuster games are released. Others will be converted by the built in hardware which more and more people are considering the better long term purchase. And all of these gamers will have been influenced by Sony's hard hitting marketing campaign. Playstation 1 and 2 became such huge successes because of the staying power of its hardware; games were being released on the systems years after their competitors had moved onto new systems. People took notice and Sony developed a reputation for building quality machines. After a rough start Playstation 3 is set to continue the tradition, a triumph of interactive entertainment.