Sony Computer Entertainment UK’s Managing Director, Ray Maguire, has opened his big gob again. In a bullish interview he proclaims the PS3 as the “most powerful gaming platform ever” that will be “around for a very long time” despite launching late. And that “some other competing formats are on their way down right now”.

And seeing as Sony’s PS3 has only got two competing formats we’re aware of (and Maguire notably doesn’t say “one of our competing formats”), then he’s pointing the finger at both the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360 in the GamesIndustry.biz interview. In other words… fight, fight, fight!

Strong words for Sony, in the week that Xbox 360 exclusive Gears Of War 2 claimed the all-formats top spot in the charts, while rival console exclusive for the PS3 LittleBigPlanet only managed fourth place after FIFA 09 and Fallout 3. Worse, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift managed a paltry entry at 29.

Still, if PS3 does establish itself as the default Blu-ray player of choice, and enough people feel motivated to upgrade to Blu-ray, then the man could be partially right – the PS3 could have longevity the other consoles don’t have. But “on their way down” right now? Doesn’t look like that from here…

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  • Matt

    For all their talk what have they achieved with their most eagerly awaited titles, Lair was terrible, Warhawk was good but had limited success due to being multiplayer only, Heavenly Sword short and repetitive, sold poorly, Haze poor game bad sales, Ratchet & Clank good game not great sales, MGS4 good game if you’re a fan and like movie length cut scenes, sales didn’t come close to expectations, LBP pretty graphics badly handled UGC (see “Sony Killing Questionable LittleBigPlanet Levels, Without Warning” http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/11/littlebigplan-1.html?cid=138601150#comment-138601150)only managed 4th in the all format charts behind 1 month old Fifa 09!

    All these titles were heralded as flagship titles with the arguable exception of Haze, all have dissapointed either by poor quality, poor sales or both.

    Other titles best forgotten, GT5 Prologue expensive demo no car damage where’s the full game?, Motorstorm 2 stuck at 39th in the all format charts, SOCOM buggy as hell, 4.5 out of 10 on IGN.

    Yes i’m being overly harsh towards the PS3 and i really don’t dislike Sony’s console even though you may find that hard to believe but i’m tired of hearing Sony cheerleaders and Sony themselves keep proclaiming that (insert game title here)is going to deliver the final death blow to 360/Wii.

    Killzone 2 was shown at E3 2005 as real gameplay footage, with all the time and money that’s been spent trying to cover up the lie by trying to replicate their bogus FMV mock-up, they are never likely to recoup the developement costs let alone make a profit.

  • http://www.gravatar.com Simon Munk

    Matt,

    Can’t say I disagree on the exclusives as you summarise ‘em. And I don’t believe either LBP or Home are going to sell loads of consoles, no matter how good they are.

    BUT… do not underestimate the power of Blu-ray. The PS3 remains hands-down the best way to watch high-def movie discs. If these take off enough, movie addicts will be buying PS3s for the films and getting the games console thrown in effectively for free. There is some evidence this is already happening.

    So the PS3 still could flourish long-term, but it’s looking less and less likely it’ll do it primarily as a games console.

  • Matt

    Simon,
    I understand your point but i have a slightly different take on Blu-Ray which i’ll try to explain.
    First of all DVD was a huge improvement over VHS, who could argue that a tape based system that was vulnerable to chewing up and spitting out your tapes, generated lots of hiss and needed lenghty rewinding to cue your film didn’t need replacing, having said that VHS lived on for many years along side DVD for one reason only, recordable DVD players were not affordable for some time and DVDs could not completely replace VHS until a recordable mass market priced machine was available. I worked in a large department store up until september and i just don’t see much interest in Blu-Ray, maybe when BR recorders come out at an affordable price, or maybe DVD recorder/BR player combos will bring the format forward but until you can stick one under your TV and record your programs onto disc i don’t see them gaining much of the DVD market share and if/when that happens the PS3 wont be first choice for Blu-Ray as it’s not a recorder. Blu-Ray was chosen by the film industry largely for it’s more aggressive DRM, do they even want an affordable BR recorder on the market?

  • http://www.gravatar.com Simon Munk

    Always good to hear from retail on this kind of thing – and I don’t disagree that BR will really fly, if it flaps at all, only when it becomes recordable. BUT again, a lot of people are buying PS3s – for a mix of reasons I suspect: brand loyalty, early adopter must-haveness, its quietness/design, and Blu-ray movie playback. Blu-ray is a part of the reason to bring people to that threshold of purchase. Even if it turns out in the long run they’ll then buy a BR-recorder at a later date.

  • Matt

    I have to just clarify that i didn’t work in the electrical department so i’m not claiming to have a great knowledge of sales data but i did spend alot of time talking to the sales guys and from what i gathered they were less than impressed with Blu-Ray’s growth since defeating HD DVD.
    I don’t think the economy right now is really helping matters much an i can only see that getting worse for the next year or two.

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