Ben-DutkaSony has been all about the ads recently – you may have noticed the television spots for the PlayStation 3 that feature either a game montage or Blu-Ray – and of course, marketing is what makes the world go 'round. It's especially effective when you take a little jab at the competition while promoting a very attractive aspect of your own product.
Here you see the latest Internet-based ad placement for the PS3 and more specifically, the PlayStation Network…which is free. Beneath the PSN logo, the statement is clear- "The fun's always free." Obviously, this isn't referring to the hardware itself – yes, the 40GB model still sits at $399 – but it is talking about the Network online service. It comes at no charge to the consumer, which is in contrast to the Xbox Live service, which charges an annual (or monthly) fee. Granted, many will argue that Live is still the better service, but in all honesty, most who play online won't notice a few of the lacking bells and whistles on the Network. Furthermore, with continuous firmware updates throughout 2007, the PSN experience on the PS3 continued to get better and better. As of now, it really is a big selling point for Sony's next-gen console- if you wanna play online, all you need is your normal high-speed Internet access, a free registration, and that's it. Log on and play.
Toss in the seemingly inevitable Blu-Ray victory and more than a few awesome exclusives scheduled for this year ( Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , Killzone 2 , Gran Turismo 5 , etc.), and 2008 could very well be the year of the PS3.
