Report: Developers are Steering Away from PS3
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Report: Developers are Steering Away from PS3
There's never been a company that has dominated the video game business
for three straight console generations. Can Sony pull it off? It's not
looking good as the high price seems to be putting off not only
prospective consumers but also developers, and that could be a vicious
circle.
Is Sony's PlayStation 3 in trouble before it even launches? Sony has
been the undisputed champion of the last two console generations,
towering over the competition, but now it seems like every analyst,
developer and industry pundit is placing a laser sight directly on
Sony's forehead.
The biggest problem would appear to be the pricing for the system. Even
the lower priced $500 SKU is expensive, and $600 seems ridiculous to
most. Ever since Sony revealed this pricing strategy at this year's E3,
the company has been put on the defensive, arguing that it's a
"computer" and that with the inclusion of a high-def Blu-ray player
it's really a "bargain."
Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer himself has admitted that the console is
expensive and that consumers are paying for its "potential." In the
PS3's native Japan, the reaction has been less than pleasant, with more
than 90 percent of developers in a recent survey stating that the price
of the console is just too high. And indeed it seems that this high
price is affecting whether or not certain developers decide to develop
for the PS3. Sony's PlayStation business has always been backed by
incredibly strong third-party support, but now for the first time that
could be in jeopardy.
According to a BusinessWeek Online report, some developers are actually
steering resources away from the PS3 in favor of the more affordable
Wii from Nintendo and even the Xbox 360. Hirokazu Hamamura, president
of publisher and game industry researcher Enterbrain, believes that
Sony's next-gen console might not be a smash hit the way previous
PlayStation systems have been. "Many developers think the console's
initial high price will lead to slow sales and are holding off on
creating games for Sony," Hamamura explained.
"At its autumn games preview on July 13, for instance, traditional Sony
ally Electronic Arts spent far more time showing off innovative
Nintendo games than it did titles for the PS3," emphasized
BusinessWeek. "EA announced six Nintendo Wii launch titles and showed
long working demos for two of those. But it offered only a short clip
of a car-racing game for PS3. EA says it's still testing the potential
of the PS3."
Ultimately, developers and analysts agree that in order for the PS3 to
be a success in the long run, Sony will have no choice but to bring the
cost of the system down as fast as possible. "It's likely Sony will
have to discount more...and faster" than planned, commented JP Morgan
analyst Hiroshi Takada.