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Okay Sony, Maybe It’s Time For A $99 PlayStation 3 Offer

Ben-Dutka 47 Comments

The big news today didn't involve the PlayStation 3; it involved Microsoft's announcement of a new – and not necessarily cheaper – Xbox 360 offer.

It's reminiscent of how cell phones are sold, in that the consumer will pay $99 for the 360 console that comes with a 4GB hard drive and the motion sensing system, Kinect. But it's only a hundred bucks if customers commit to a two-year Xbox Live Gold subscription…yeah, reminds me a lot of getting my phone for free when signing up for the two-year data plan.

Now, you're really not saving much of anything; in fact, you're not really saving at all. But consumers aren't always the sharpest cutlasses on the rack; most will only see that $99 price tag and not add up the actual cost (and compare it to paying for everything separately). See, I know my "free" $600 phone would end up costing me more than that with the $30/month plan, and that's without the insurance. But hey, it works, right? I got the damn thing, didn't I? The standard rule of commercialism and capitalism is that in truth, you don't get anything for free.

So the question is whether or not Sony should follow suit. Maybe this is a better option than a price cut. A price cut might actually hurt initially, but this way, you're only sorta fibbing to the consumer in the interest of driving sales. It's a common tactic. Yes, there are early cancellation penalties in place for this $99 360/Live deal ($250 to cancel in the first three months, down to $12 in the 23rd month). And Sony could do exactly the same thing; toss in Move, require a Plus subscription, and sell the PS3 for $99.

Why not?

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Call Of Duty: The Only Reason The 360 Still Outsells The PS3?

Ben-Dutka 65 Comments

Bear with my train of logic for a moment, bearing in mind that I'm a big fan of several Xbox 360 exclusives.

First, the facts- The Xbox 360 routinely outsells the PlayStation 3 in North America, although in terms of worldwide sales, it now appears as if the two consoles are just about even. Call of Duty certainly sells best in the US, the one country where the 360 actually does top the PS3 on a consistent basis. And according to recent numbers, approximately 70% of CoD players use the 360 for playing any new entry. Typically, the split is 70/30 between the PS3 and 360 versions of any new CoD and sometimes it's an even bigger discrepancy.

Now, the PS3 is well known for its exclusives (no, we don't need to run down the list). The 360…well, we've got Gears , Forza , Halo , and Alan Wake , with a few other minor ones (like one of my favorites, Lost Odyssey ) adding to the console's appeal. But Gears and Forza combined could never hope to reach Call of Duty sales numbers, and the Halo fans have to face up to facts…this is a CoD world these days, although Halo 4 is slated for the fall. The bottom line is that the 360 exclusives, regardless of what anyone says, don't have anywhere near the appeal Call of Duty has on a country-wide basis. I mean, it's not really even close.

Then you start counting up the sales of the 360 versions of the last four CoD entries…the numbers are astronomical. Of course, the PS3 benefits to some extent as well, but it's hardly the same thing. Furthermore, as CoD is basically a community event (multiplayer is the major draw), newcomers are probably enticed to purchase a 360 because the majority of their friends likely play CoD on Microsoft's system. So it's very likely that a great many people out there did in fact purchase a 360 only for CoD in the past few years, and given the sheer size of the numbers associated with that franchise, and Microsoft's general success in this country…

Now, if you just took away CoD and didn't factor in the profound impact that franchise has had, would it really significantly affect 360 console sales? I honestly think it would.

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Will PS3 Fans Be Jealous Of Halo 4?

Ben-Dutka 139 Comments

This is a legitimate question as it applies to this year.

For just about every year this generation, PlayStation 3 owners could point to at least one exclusive that was bound to make a big splash. From Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots to God of War III to Heavy Rain to Gran Turismo 5 to either of the last two Uncharted , Killzone , and LittleBigPlanet titles, PS3 owners have typically been able to embrace something that might make Xbox 360 fans green with envy.

But this year, it almost seems as if PS3 owners only have a bevy of multiplatform titles to look forward to. The Last Of Us has a tentative placeholder date of December 31, which probably means it won't arrive in 2012, God of War IV (which will almost undoubtedly be revealed in a few days) may not launch until next year, and even Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch got pushed. Many of the biggest games are multi; i.e., Bioshock Infinite , Assassin's Creed III , Borderlands 2 , Max Payne 3 , Resident Evil 6 , Medal of Honor: Warfighter , Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (not official but probable), and maybe even Grand Theft Auto V .

Some will say the best PS3 exclusive of 2012 is actually already here; it's Thatgamecompany's masterful Journey . But we're not quite to the point where digital offerings, regardless of how amazing they are, will likely vie for the ultimate Game of the Year prize. And yeah, it's already out. So unless we're counting on some pretty incredible Vita software – which is decidedly possible – it makes sense to ask: Might PS3 fans be just a little jealous of Halo 4 , which has now been confirmed for November 6? They usually have an exclusive (or two, or three) to compete but 2012 looks thin in terms of PS3-only software.

Yes, we'll get Starhawk , Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time , and we also already have Twisted Metal , but there's nothing to the level of Halo 4 . Heck, if you look at Nielsen's poll of the most anticipated 2012 titles, all of the top 10 PS3 games are multiplatform! And that just isn't normal for Sony's platform, where exclusives often have a chance of ruling, if not the sales charts, the review charts, for any given year. So yeah, it's okay to admit a bit of jealousy…then again, if Halo 4 turns out like crap and only proves the gap between the 360 and PS3 has continued to widen, then even the admittedly jealous will change their tune.

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Gap Between PlayStation 3 And 360, Wii Continues To Widen

Ben-Dutka 68 Comments

Currently available exclusives already make a strong case for the PlayStation 3's power; the Uncharted titles alone make it plain there is a definite gap in technological capability between Sony's machine and the Xbox 360 and Wii.

But while it seems plain that both Microsoft and Nintendo's machines are pretty well tapped out (looking down the road, I see no evidence to the contrary), the PS3 continues to impress with every passing year. In 2012 already, we've been seeing and hearing more about Naughty Dog's The Last Of Us , which not only looks downright amazing, but is likely something that absolutely cannot be done on the 360 (Naughty Dog was on record saying the Uncharted games couldn't really exist on Microsoft's console, either). They're also probably working on Uncharted 4 , although some wonder if that'll be available for the PS4…

Then there's Quantic Dream and that ridiculous tech demo , which is basically a year old and still running in real-time on the PS3. The studio has also said they didn't really push Sony's console very hard with Heavy Rain . We're also looking forward to see what other first-party studios have in store; Guerrilla Games is apparently working on an all-new IP along with Killzone 4 , and let's not forget about Polyphony Digital and the possibility of a new Gran Turismo at some point. I think the bottom line is that as this generation moves along, it becomes abundantly clear that while two of the consoles are basically done, one most certainly is not.

This is really good news for PS3 owners, too, because they can sort of feel a step ahead. New hardware is always an expensive proposition and if there's no backwards compatibility…well, it can feel like we're leaving too much behind to graduate to another level. But we may not see the PS4 for a while and you know…that's just fine by us. Obviously, the PS3 hasn't shown us its best work yet.

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Will You Own Multiple Consoles Next Generation?

Ben-Dutka 68 Comments

Of course this is a difficult question without knowing anything about the three upcoming consoles (with the exception of the Wii U), but we're wondering how gamers view their hobby these days.

Personally, I've always had one rule- I just want to play the best games available. And as it has turned out, that means I really haven't been able to own only one console in any generation, dating back to the SNES/Genesis days. The only possible exception might be the original PlayStation generation when I was a strict RPG player and there wasn't anything on the N64 that interested me. However, even then, I could list the PC as another platform I often enjoyed due to the influx of great role-playing games. It was really all I played at the time.

But many will say this is a more expensive hobby than ever before (which I'll take issue with for a variety of reasons, but I won't get involved in that now). If they think it's expensive, and Microsoft and Sony launch decidedly pricey consoles, how long will it be before you're a multi-console owner next generation? Maybe the higher prices are generating more ardent loyalty among the gamers; picking sides means you eliminate a lot of fantastic games due to exclusive titles, but it also means you logically save money. So maybe some people will simply own the platform they believe will get the most use.

It'll also be interesting to see if Sony and Microsoft make some changes in the new generation; for instance, if either of the new systems in question take a different approach to the hobby. Maybe it won't be all about more power and fancier graphics; maybe they'll try to do something a little different. Well, that would mean you'd have to be a multi-console owner, right? Can't miss out on entirely different experiences. …then again, I have zero intention of getting the Wii U and that's a different experience, so it probably depends on a bunch of different factors.

So based on how you see the next generation shaping up, what do you plan to do? Will you own more than one console? Or are you just going to stick with the one that is likely to give you most of the games you enjoy?

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Developers Need To Dedicate Time To “Push The PS3”

Ben-Dutka 35 Comments

Many have said the PlayStation 3 is simply the most powerful machine of the generation, and certain developers have often proven the raw potential of Sony's machine ('cough' Naughty Dog 'cough').

But according to Julien Merceron, Worldwide Technical Director for Square Enix, the PS3 has more in the tank, but developers will have to really focus on finding that power. In speaking to Industry Gamers , Merceron first said-

"Some consumers could have gotten the feeling in 2006/2007 that – graphically – Xbox 360 games were more advanced, but today it is quite different in fact!"

As for the future of Sony's machine, Merceron believes more can be done. It's just a matter of continuing to work with the PS3.

"Personally, I’d say that – on PS3 – I believe there are some major improvements that can still be done, taking advantage of parallelisation and using more of the CPU for graphics tasks. At the end of current home Console life cycle, it is very possible consumers might get the feeling PS3 is slightly ahead of Xbox 360 in terms of graphics, but it will only happen if developers dedicate time to really push things on PS3!"

Over the years, we've seen the graphical growth of the PS3; it's similar to the visual advancement we saw in the previous PlayStation generations. However, five years into its lifespan, some have wondered if game designers can do more with the machine…is it tapped out? Are we done? Do we need the PS4 now?

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