Sony plans to remove the 60GB PS3 from the circuit, leaving European customers with only one choice: the “degraded” entry-level SKU, with only two USB ports, 40GB HDD and no backwards compatibility.
Faced with Nintendo’s crushing dominance on the gaming market, with Xbox 360’s rise on the back of Masterchief and with the lack of authentic “system-seller” titles, Sony had to come up with a solution that would not hurt its profits even more and that would also please gamers in anticipation of the critical Christmas battle.
That solution is the upcoming 40GB PS3, but Sony claims the aforementioned reasons do not sit at the basis of its decision. “The introduction of the 40GB model has been the result of extensive research into the entertainment needs and preferences of the next generation of PS3 owners," said David Reeves, President of SCEE, during his official presentation of the new product.
Let’s just forget his official words and face the facts: Sony is desperate. In less than a year, their PlayStation 3 platform hasn’t live up to the hype (and that’s a euphemism…) and registered modifications that should’ve been operated only 5 years from now, if the PS3 was to be successful. It’s not, and the introduction of the more affordable 40GB SKU is the perfect confirmation. If they said that a console’s life-span reaches 10 years what should we expect for the PS3 next year?...Will they offer it at only $250, only to get rid of the “outsider” status they have now?....
Anyway, for some European gamers, the price cut does look substantial and there will be a lot of them willing to buy a “degraded” PS3 just because it’s cheaper. However, this means that Sony has to phase out the previous model, the 60GB SKU- which was the only one sold on the Old Continent.
As GameSpot.com revealed, Sony has no intention to continue selling that model in Europe after the depletion of the current stocks. Sony web-site says that “once stocks [for the 60GB PS3] are exhausted the new 40GB model will be the only one available in the SCEE territories.”
GameSpot obtained further confirmation from a Sony spokesperson who declared that "Our offering in the UK marketplace for Christmas are the two SKUs announced on Friday, but as the 60GB stock is depleted the £299 40GB SKU will be the only version available going forward. The 40GB machine represents all the power and potential of PlayStation 3 at a very compelling price...The only functionality that is being removed is backwards compatibility-and this is because we believe this less important now than when we launched- as there will be 65 PS3 games available by Christmas."
So, for I don’t know how many times in less than a year, European gamers get slammed in the face…
Just a bit of memory refreshment, so you can understand what I’m saying: first, Europe (and all other PAL territories) gets the PlayStation 3 six months later than the US and Japan; then, Europeans get their console with “degraded” (boy, does that word keeps showing up when talking about the PS3…) backwards compatibility, but at almost double the price for which the PS3 is sold in the US or Japan. How does Sony explain that? By saying that the US is “a land of cheap people” and that life in the UK is “at premium”…
And now this… Paraphrasing the previous example, I think Sony considers Europe either as a land of “unfortunate experiments” or as “the sacrifice land”, since their policy there is to simply grab more money and offer as little as possible.
While I can understand that Sony’s PlayStation division is “bleeding” heavily because of the costs involved in producing their latest gaming monster, I really don’t understand the company’s obstinacy in cutting costs on the back of Europeans… Ok, the 40GB SKU is indeed cheaper and it still offers enough USB ports to please the majority of buyers. But it lacks the multi-memory card port (read Sony spokesperson’s words again please to see the omission…) and, most importantly, it lacks the already degraded backwards compatibility. Sony thus forces Euro-gamers to buy only PlayStation 3 games from now on, despite the fact that the next-gen console’s library is still in its infancy and that God of War I or Shadow of Colossus look a lot better in HD…
Why would Euro-gamers want to buy a PS3 then? God of War II? Definitely, it’s a great game, but it’s still not enough. Heavenly Sword? It’s a good game, but too short and it gets repetitive after 2-3 replays. LAIR? Big disappointment. WarHawk? It’s just for the hardcore fans.
So my real concern here is Sony’s undoubtedly wrong strategy for this Christmas. Yes, there are a couple of titles (like Unchartered: Drake’s Fortune, COD4, Jericho, Assassin’s Creed or Haze) that might be enticing enough to play on PS3 to determine gamers to acquire the console. But while some of the titles are multi-platform (COD 4, Jericho, Assassin’s Creed), they are also mainly focused on the adult male audience, being filled with blood, shootings and strong language. Sony also lost one of the potential system sellers, and the postponement of GTA IV is clearly not good news. So, while LittleBigPlanet is still in development, Sony has yet to come up with some serious titles to beat Halo 3…halo and Microsoft’s more generous line up of games, if it wants to obligate gamers (European ones for the moment, but who knows…) to forget the PS2 or any other console and focus only on the PS3… For now, it only looks like Sony is insulting their intelligence in its desperate attempt to cope with the losses...
