GamerNode: Columns - The PlayStation 3 has the Momentary Edge in the Console War

The PlayStation 3 has the Momentary Edge in the Console War

It has been a long and painful road for Sony these past few years in the game industry. But thanks to the release of the new "Slim" model and the recent drop in price, Sony's PlayStation 3 has finally gotten the edge in the current-gen console war.

Ever since its launch in 2006, the PS3 has been technologically superior to the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, but has suffered due its high price tag. The $599 price for the PS3 was considered far too steep for most gamers early in its life cycle, as they preferred to spend their money on the $399 Xbox 360 or $249 Wii. 

Sony has since dropped the price of the PS3 almost incrementally every year from $599 to $499 and eventually $399. However all of this did not have a huge significance considering the Wii and Xbox 360 were still at the same price, with Microsoft featuring different models at cheaper prices.

This long time as the most expensive console has hurt the PlayStation 3 as it has lost exclusives such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Final Fantasy XIII and has given Microsoft a chance to make its own hit exclusives to separate it from the PS3. Meanwhile, the Wii took away casual gamers due to games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

The price drops helped the PS3 close in on the Xbox 360 while the Wii continued to sail away from both, but Sony still trailed Microsoft by approximately six million total units sold worldwide. Sony was catching up and selling more units during its second year than Microsoft, but more people still owned the Xbox 360 and were buying the Xbox 360 versions of games and exclusives more than the PS3.

Things started looking worse for Sony after the September 2008 recession hit. Sony had lowered the price of the PS3 to $399 that year, but it was believed that if people wouldn't buy the console for $499 when the economy was in good shape, why would they buy it for $100 less if the economy was dwindling.

This mindset combined with the feeling that it was more cost-effective to produce games for the Xbox 360 and Wii led to Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick threatening Sony to lower the price again or else lose support from the company. This was coming off the heels of what many considered a lackluster E3 performance by the PS3 that had people wondering whether or not Sony was on a path to follow in the footsteps of Sega.

Instead of stay stubborn on their high price, Sony finally decided to do what had to be done. But how they have done it is what has now, for the first time ever in this console war, given them the slight edge.

• (0)
• 
• 
• 
•