Sony Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison made several comments in defense of Sony’s PS3, namely of the dual price points and features of the next-gen console.
Harrison made the distinction between the two PS3 packages by saying, "The main differences are the 60 GB drive and the 20 GB drive in terms of disc storage. The 20 GB has HD component rather than HDMI. The 60 GB machine has additionally memory card slots on it, which are great for archiving photo and other content. But the 20 GB machine has USB ports so you can get all the functionality with external devices."
Ok, let,s put Harrison,s statement to the test. He said, “…the 20 GB machine has USB ports so you can get all the functionality with external devices." The base machine costs a hefty $499. Let,s add a USB 50GB drive, (they don,t come in 60GB), for $130. Add a USB card reader for $25. We want wi-fi connectivity too, so add on an additional $30. But don,t forget USB cables. We need to connect three USB devices, so that will be about $45 for three 1.5 meter cables. Add all these items together and the total to upgrade your bare-bones PS3 is an additional $200, not including tax. Add these accessory prices to your bare bones PS3 setup and you have a grand total of almost $700. Such a deal; we,ll take two of those setups.
Of course it would be “cheaper” to buy the high end PS3 than spring for the additional costs of upgrading the basic PS3 package. But anyway you look at the PS3, whether bare bones or premium, the next-gen console will be the most expensive offering on the market, come November.
Harrison switched gears and addressed the almost unanimous consensus by the game community of the poor form factor of the PS3 boomerang controller. Harrison remarked, "As you will remember when we showed the [boomerang] controller last year every photograph showed the comment ‘This is a design concept subject to change.’ Nobody in the world picked that controller up and held it in their hands — nobody did — because it was always under glass. But everybody formed an opinion based on what it looked like."
These small glimpses into the heart of management reveals a broader picture of the inner workings of Sony, and that picture seems to be one of constant missteps. Consider these points: Sony decided to base their PS3 on the Cell processor – a piece of hardware that is both expensive and difficult to program. They decided to go with their own proprietary DVD drive-Blu-ray, which increased the base price of the PS3. Developers weren,t getting their dev kits until May of this year. Sony has announced a price point for their PS3 that is pricing them out of the market. And finally, with the delayed launch of their PS3 until November, they will likely be the last of the next-gen consoles to debut.
While Sony has been deftly afraid of the competition overtaking them in the next-gen game console race, it is ironic that they may have done more to undermine the success of their own machine than could have been done by their rivals.
They have met the enemy and it is Sony.
