Buzzin Games

Speaking as a former marketer myself, I can confirm it’s a tough and thankless challenge trying to big up the potential of a product that just isn’t selling as well as its competitiors, and that’s the very task that Sony America’s marketer Peter Dille had to do in an interview with Game Daily.

The trouble is I can’t see anyone buying into what he’s saying, aside from a selection of very out of touch shareholders. The marketer has claimed that the recession “plays right into” the strengths of the PS3 because it offers “great value” and promises to be the “centrepiece of your entertainment for the next 10 years”.

He went on: “I think when people start doing the apples-to-apples comparison, and see what PS3 can do, and see the value of Blu-ray, and what free online and free Wi-Fi with a hard drive in every box really means, it resonates.” He goes onto add that Sony are pursuing “a profit goal” with Playstation 3 while the others were going for a “market share goal” based on a “very aggressive pricing strategy”.

Okay, let’s tackle these one by one, though in all honesty I’m not saying anything that anyone with more than a passing interest in the console wars will already see incredibly clearly.

1) A recession doesn’t necessarily make people compare like for like to get long term value. In fact, it’s more likely to make people panic and buy the quickest, cheapest fix there is. The truth is that at the moment that will be the Wii for those who want the innovation or the console that has the biggest marketing buzz around it or the Xbox for those serious gamers who want the biggest quantity of famous exclusive titles and the cheapest price. There’s no room for the PS3 when it costs at least a third more than its nearest rival and doesn’t offer the average consumers any extra value that they know they tangibly want. And that brings me onto my next point:

2) Even if you do compare like for like, the PS3 may offer ‘great value’ when you line up each component next to one another, but not everyone wants them and I do feel that most people resent having the expensive components forced upon them. It’s no secret that buying solus hard disks and wireless internet for 360 is a bit of a joke (the tech isn’t great, and the PC equivalent costs a fraction of it), but at the same time it’s possible to have a good experience without them. The free online offered by Sony isn’t supposed to offer a great experience, and as for Blu-ray – well, that’s fast becoming something of a lame duck that I’m pretty sure they’re wishing they could drop. Even with HD-DVD gone, the format hasn’t picked up in the way they’d hoped, and with Blu-ray disks significantly more expensive than DVDs for nothing like the improvement of, say DVD to VHS, the majority of people don’t want or need the most expensive part of the console – especially at a time when they’re tightening belts and cutting expenses.

3) Finally, although there is some truth in the argument that the Xbox 360 is pricing itself extremely aggressively, you can make a very strong case that the Wii is pricing itself with an almost Zen-like calm. Not a single price cut since launch (and the threat of a price rise in the UK), and with older hardware than its opponents – but it’s STILL cheaper than the PS3 if people are comparing the three consoles as equals.

The trouble is that the PS3 is also pricing itself aggressively – but it has to do the most aggressive pricing of all three consoles to make a success of itself. It’s selling at a loss (as is the Xbox), and realistically they know that the Wii is long gone.

So, if everyone knows that this is just marketing hypoble, then why bother? I think it’s just trying to convince worried shareholders to hold on to the high price point for as long as they possibly can before they are forced to cut costs to stay in the game. They’re fooling nobody.