Well according to Sony it is anyway. With the announcement of a 40GB version of the Playstation 3 due for release in Europe this week, sans a couple of USB slots, memory card reader and backwards compatibility (more on that later) the console will go on sale for £299 and be the fifth SKU or version of the PS3 released so far into the wild. Along with this announcement was the news of a price drop on the existing 60GB model to £350, however along with this came the news that, like when a similar drop was announced in the US a couple of months ago, this is basically a clearance sale so that when all the consoles are sold they are gone, leaving the 40GB model as the only one available in Europe.
So if you are wanting to play any of your old PS2 games now is the time to get a PS3, of course it’s possible that a larger fully specc’d version of the console will replace the 60GB model (most like the 80GB version now on sale in the US) but as of now there are no plans. Obviously this is a move born from sluggish sales and poor yearly performance and to be fair to Sony they haven’t just sat back and watched the train-wreck that has been the PS3 this year, they have responded, but their decision making has been baffling at best leading to the aforementioned 5 models of the console, each slightly different, each in different territories. The message that simple, clear and transparent business is good for the customer has obviously been lost amongst the scramble to get the PS3 to sell.
I understand the concept of different models of a console, when the full package is too expensive then it makes sense, but the cheaper 20GB version that launched alongside the main 60GB in the US flopped massively, leading it to be canned within months. The proof was obvious; when faced with a choice between the full product, or a version that it cheaper but missing features, people will splash the extra cash. The difference between the new 40GB version and the existing one is now just £50, and you get 2 games with the 60GB one. Obviously Sony want to get rid of their 60GB stock by having this price but, but if consumers are willing to splash out that sort of money for something, they want to feel like they are getting what they pay for, rather than an almost version. Yes the price should make the PS3 more competitive this winter, but the consequences of this decision are more than sales oriented, in fact as some have commented it seems like a shift in their whole business strategy.
But first a little history, flash back to 2006 when Sony revealed the details about the PS3 to the world. There Phil Harrison proudly stated that: "backwards compatibility, as you know from PlayStation One and PlayStation 2, is a core value of what we believe we should offer. And access to the library of content people have created, bought for themselves, and accumulated over the years is necessary to create a format. PlayStation is a format meaning that it transcends many devices -- PSOne, PS2 and now PS3.".
These remarks were echoed by Sony Head honcho Ken Kutaragi who went on to say that: "the PS3 will feature backwards compatibility with PS and PS2 games from day one. I'm emphasizing this because, from what I hear, there are some platforms that haven't been able to completely do this. It's costly in terms of hardware, but we'd rather invest firmly on compatibility from the beginning, rather than to have issues later on.". The message to those listening was clear, the Playstation 3 is about the brand, it is about rewarding loyalty and consistency from one generation to the next. In fact Sony were subtly mocking Microsoft who’s Xbox 360 had limited backwards compatibility. I wrote an article for my old website a while back that complained against companies misleading and treating customers unfairly and this kind of doublespeak and going back on ‘core principles’ is at the heart of what got me riled up. The trouble is that Sony are stuck, trying to promote all these new developments as positive, when everyone knows what is really going on. When talking about the new model Sony Europe president Nick Sharples said: "We have made clear on many occasions that our priority is on developing innovative new features and services for PS3 and not on backwards compatibility." Many occasions? I’d like to see one!
What frustrates me is not necessarily the decisions made, but the naïve business talk that accompanies them. Everyone knows that if the PS3 were selling like hotcakes and had been since launch we would not be in this situation. There would be no other models, no gimped backwards compatibility, so spilling some spiel about how it has always been Sony’s interest just doesn’t cut it. Thanks to the internet now people can easily keep track of everything your company executives say, and more than a few times this year that has come back to bite Sony.
When I talked about a new business strategy this is what I meant. Sony are shifting their focus and trying to leave the PS2 behind. It’s immense success this year has been a stone around the PS3s neck, and whilst it was probably bringing Sony some much needed income the truth is that as long as the PS2 kept selling, the PS3 wouldn’t. By supporting the PS2, allowing people to play cheaper PS2 games on their PS3 Sony were handicapping themselves; no-one was buying PS3 games. Sony boast about having 65 titles available at Christmas for people to choose from, somehow implying this is better than a catalogue of thousands. As Bill Harris, in his excellent weekly console post, rightly points out the price and the PS2 have been holding Sony back, this new SKU is their attempt to correct that, and it may, just may, work. But it’s a heck of a risk, the risk of alienating PS2 owners, frustrating fans and gamers alike. What this move more than anything sends out is a lack of confidence in the product, tweaking it and re-releasing it in the way that film companies do with DVDs these days. The only company to be worried about this is Microsoft, at £299 the PS3 is very close the Xbox price and with a Blu-ray drive included, if Microsoft want to keep their lead and attract the tech-savvy consumers they need some good PR, Halo 3 will have helped them recently but persistent problems with consoles failing do not help, especially against the PS3 which, in this regard at least, has been flawless.
It will be interesting to see how things pan out in the short term future, Sony’s real hope will be that when the dust settles people will forget all the fuss and with some more software and the new lower price the PS3 can move forward in its own right, no longer dwarfed by the success of its younger brother.
Oh and what about Nintendo you might ask, what to make of them with this whole business? Well right now they are that little spec in the distance, riding high atop the sales charts wondering what all the fuss is about.
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