It’s a Shame About Blu-Ray: a review of the PS3
Comments (0) Sony launched their latest gaming system with promises of revolutionizing the industry. With a host of new features (massive hard drive, wireless controllers, and a user friendly interface) and improved game play the future seemed bright. Lines of faithful geeks and hopeful parents camped out at their local Best Buy or Circuit City waiting to get their hands on the future of video gaming.
This hype was short-lived.
According to the research group NPD, this past November, prime Christmas shopping time, Sony sold less than half as many PS3s than Nintendo sold Wiis and Microsoft sold year old Xbox 360s. Sales have not fared well to date. Two factors fueled this tech-fizzle: 1) the overextended price point and 2) impotent technology. The two are related. Between research, development, and production, the Blu-Ray drives tack on a hefty price to the PS3. Much of this cost was passed on to the consumer. To make matters worse, Sony has not been able to conquer the Blu-Ray technology for gaming application, effectively turning the PS3 into a big, over-priced PS2. Throw in the mix the limited number of features available on Blu Ray, and Sony has a costly disaster on their hands.
Is there a future for Sony? There will always be a spot for Sony in the gaming industry. There will need to be some delivery on the hype the next go around. How about for the PS3? Is there any hope? If the Blu-Ray technology becomes useful, or if Hollywood settles on Blu-Ray over HD (which seems unlikely), PS3 has a chance. But these advances need to come soon. If Sony does not get the inks worked out of their Blu Ray, you can always convert the system into a grill (no joke, check out therealps3grill.com)
