I think Sony is in need of some PR love and redirection. They seem to have mis-placed their E3 mojo and were not very focused at E3. They have yet to explain to some potential customers, who are shell shocked over the sticker price, why it is so much more expensive. As one person I know noted, "I have a SDTV and hundreds of DVD movies. Why would I want Blu Ray? Since the games look similar, why should I pay $100.00 extra for a feature I wont use."
People are saying this because I believe Sony has not conveyed the full value of their product. They have a list of doodads and tech mumbo jumbo, but to get the sale closed they need to convey the value, and a passion for that value, to ignorant Joe Public. They need a face lift! The value of the PS3 is not an extra $100 for a Blu Ray player, or an extra $200 for Blu Ray, WiFi, and a larger HDD. Its the big picture, the future, and the PS3's positioning as an HD media center that plays killer games. How Sony could not hit a homerun on this I don't know! So I put on my marketing PR hat and have come to Sony's aid.
Sony is on the defensive, and a "Punter" is on the aggressive. How should Sony respond? My money-hat PR man has the answers! (NOTE: This is not a technical exchange, but how Sony PR can capitolize on the current state of affairs. Feel free to disagree with the PR marketing speak)
Punter 1: Why is the PS3 selling for $100-$200 more than the Xbox 360? The games look pretty similar. It can be argued at this stage the 360 has more better looking games. How can Sony justify the price difference?
Sony: The PS3 is not just a game console. We have been careful to not call it a video gaming console. We offer a lot of features that our competition does not. One key advantage is that the HD era needs a Hi Definition media format. We have that in Blu Ray to offer True HD gaming and movie playback.
Punter 1: But I have a SDTV, so I am not interested in HD movies. Blu Ray does nothing for my gaming, so why should I pay an extra $100 just for a Blu Ray player, it does nothing for games!
Sony: Not true. It means bigger, longer, deeper games all on one disk. It also improves security over DVD which means developers make more money due to less piracy. More money means better games. This is just one of many value features (e.g. WiFi, HDD, Online Gaming, games, backwards compatibility, media/internet, True HD, etc) that justify the extra price. This fall you can pick up a stand alone Blu Ray player for $1,000.00, or get this feature in the PS3 which also plays next gen True HD games. You may not want Blu Ray now, but in 2 years we bet you will! We have a lot of features, like common media ports and replacable standard Hard Drives, that give our customers the value they will need for the next 10 years of the PS3 life.
Punter 1: Interesting list of features, but I must note MS offers WiFi as well.
Sony: The PS3-60GB has WiFi built in WiFi; the WiFi adapter for the 360 is $100.
Punter 1: Ok, but MS also has a HDD too.
Sony: Yes, but ours is standard--meaning every game can use it. We are even pushing developers to use it. We also offer 3x as much space compared to MS's Premium SKU.
Significantly we allow our customers to use standard 2.5" Laptop HDDs. MS does not. This means you are not stuck paying through the nose to obtain our addon.
Punter 1: The 360 also has online gaming.
Sony: Yes, for $50 a year. Ours is free (a $250 value over a 5 year period), and we believe better. Why? Because we give more control to developers. Note how many Xbox games are limited to 16 or 24 players on Xbox Live. We have already announced launch games that support 32 players. We can do this because each game dev can have their own servers that backend our network.
Punter 1: You mentioned games, the 360 has a ton of games!
Sony: E3 established that a lot of 3rd party titles are multi-platform. So the question is one of exclusives. We both have new IPs. We have Heavenly Sword and Resistance, they have Gears of War and Viva Pinata.
But lets be fair: New IPs are a crapshoot. Most end up sucking. We at Sony have a long history of proven content that sequal after sequal are VERY good. Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Tekken, Devil May Cry, and so forth. We have exclusive content, PROVEN exclusive content, that appeals to a wide array of gamers. We are not fixated on FPS. There is a reason we have sold 100M consoles in each of the last 2 generations. More games people like.
So while we will be giving you proven franchises MS is betting on... Too Human.
Punter 1: But I am not seeing the difference in quality!
Sony: We admit our powerful console (2x faster than MS's Xbox 360) has a learning curve. The PS2 had similar growing pains, but developers quickly exposed the power of the PS2. The PS3 is 250x more powerful and even easier to harness the power. But we are in there here and now. Compare our launch titles to MS's launch titles shown at last E3. Heavenly Sword, Resistance, Warhawk, MotorStorm, Assassin's Creed, FFXIII, Madden, F1 '06, Eye of Judgement, and so forth. This is our launch software. Last year MS showed games like Tony Hawk and Full Auto at E3 as playable. And the MS footage was very choppy whereas most of our software is butter smooth. As you can see even early development is getting big gains compared to MS's first software, and we have more power in there for the long haul. Just wait until the games are released this fall.
Punter 1: But MS has more games and backwards compatibility.
Sony: We have over 100 games in development for the PS3 as of Fall 2005, we are also backwards compatible to over 13,000 games. How many does the 360 play? Very few comparatively. We have more games, and more better games on our Playstation platform.
Punter 1: You mentioned media and the intenet. My 360 does all of that!
Sony: But we are offering the Linux OS and have a web browser. A cheap PC costs $400. We are tossing in this key feature that the PC is frequently used for... for free! A 360 and a PC to browse the web comes up to $800. We are offering much MUCH more value. We also have media ports for a ton of USB devices, SD and Compact flash, and other formats. Our competitor does not even offer these features.
Punter 1: What about True HD? My 360 plays in HD.
Sony: But not True HD (TM). The 360 only offers 720p (1080i is just upscaled from 720p), and even then a game or two have not even been 720p! On our side of the fence we have a number of games offering 1080i/p and as developers get more familiar with the hardware you can expect even more games to offer the highest level of HD. We also offer Blu Ray movie playback at 1080p. MS is stuck offering DVD quality video which is not HD at all!
They pronounced the HD era, but our movies and games are all in HD, even the highest levels of HD (1080p), while some of their games are not HD and none of their movies are.
Punter 1: That is a lot of information. Could you review why you think the PS3 is worth the extra expense?
Sony: Sure!
- More powerful hardware means future games will look much better (Processors: PS3 is 218GFLOPs, the Xbox 360 is 115GFLOPs; Systems: PS3 is 2 TFLOPs, the Xbox 360 is 1 TFLOPs). Even the system bandwidth (we have 2x as much) is indicative of the power difference. You need less bandwidth for a slower system, and that is why they have slower memory.
- Wireless controllers. Standard.
- Gyros. Welcome to the 4D world. MS has kept the same old controller design while we have innovated and offered new control inputs.
- Hard Disk. Standard. Every game can use it without fear of there not being a HDD. This also means we will have better load times., better connectivity, and better customizations.
- Games. We are the only place to get our great franchises. We still have the most exclusive content in the industry and have all the big names like Snake.
- Backwards compatibility. We support 13,000 games, not a couple hundred like MS.
- Media/internet. With the Linux OS and web browsing you get the functionality you expect from a home computer. This is why we are calling it the Playstation computer. It is not just for gaming, but TiVo, True HD movie playback, web browsing, and games. Our competitor's machine does not have a web browser, probably because it is not powerful enough. This is the power of CELL and RSX.
- WiFi. This is not included in ANY 360 console. You have to pay $100 for this addon. WiFi means no cable mess, it also means you can hook your PSP right up to the PS3 for more advanced gaming oppurtunities.
- Blu Ray. More space. More security. More room for longer, bigger, and more detailed worlds. Blu Ray players are over $1,000.00.
- Free online gaming. $50 yearly value. After 5 years of console ownership you will save $250!
- Lets just add up the last 4 items. WiFi, Online, and Blu Ray.
Cheap PC for internet web browsing: $400.00
Stand alone Blu Ray player: $1,000.00
WiFi Adapter: $100.00
5 years of online gaming through Live: $250
If you have a $399 Xbox 360 premium SKU with a 20GB HDD and bought all of the above that would be $2,149.00! And that does not include a 60GB HDD, the great Playstation games, web browsing, or the power advantage of the PS3!
We give you a $2,149 value of the Xbox 360 with addons for $499--$599 depending on your specific media center needs.
That is over $1,500.00 in savings. You may not use every feature NOW, but you may in the future as these things become standard. And the PS3 has them all, plus great gaming, for a much better value than the Xbox 360.
---
Ok, that is rough, but I think Sony has fumbled when it has come to a focused message about value. It is not about the machine being faster or some vague sense of "value". The hardware is blurring the distinction between gaming console and HD media center.
All Sony needs to do is put up a check list of what they offer, and MS does not, and the cost involved in adding it. Most consumers wont use many of these, but there is a lot there. Since Sony is betting on un-known consumer products (Blu Ray) and blurring convergence lines they have to be active in consumer education.
Obviously my fake dialogue is a PR hack job (I was just thinking of how Sony PR could make their case), but it is only intended to show that from many angles the PS3 offers a lot of value.
The question is, can Sony convince consumers they NEED these new features in a game console? If so, how? Do you have suggestions for Sony's PR department?
Personally I think the first 6M will sell out, and by the time production ramps up in 2008 things like WiFi, Blu Ray, and so forth will be much more mainstream ideas. And by that time Playstation owners will be evangelizing their friends on the games (dude, you have to play MotorStorm with me!) and on the features. "Why get a PC when you can browse the net on the PS3?"
People are saying this because I believe Sony has not conveyed the full value of their product. They have a list of doodads and tech mumbo jumbo, but to get the sale closed they need to convey the value, and a passion for that value, to ignorant Joe Public. They need a face lift! The value of the PS3 is not an extra $100 for a Blu Ray player, or an extra $200 for Blu Ray, WiFi, and a larger HDD. Its the big picture, the future, and the PS3's positioning as an HD media center that plays killer games. How Sony could not hit a homerun on this I don't know! So I put on my marketing PR hat and have come to Sony's aid.
Sony is on the defensive, and a "Punter" is on the aggressive. How should Sony respond? My money-hat PR man has the answers! (NOTE: This is not a technical exchange, but how Sony PR can capitolize on the current state of affairs. Feel free to disagree with the PR marketing speak)
Punter 1: Why is the PS3 selling for $100-$200 more than the Xbox 360? The games look pretty similar. It can be argued at this stage the 360 has more better looking games. How can Sony justify the price difference?
Sony: The PS3 is not just a game console. We have been careful to not call it a video gaming console. We offer a lot of features that our competition does not. One key advantage is that the HD era needs a Hi Definition media format. We have that in Blu Ray to offer True HD gaming and movie playback.
Punter 1: But I have a SDTV, so I am not interested in HD movies. Blu Ray does nothing for my gaming, so why should I pay an extra $100 just for a Blu Ray player, it does nothing for games!
Sony: Not true. It means bigger, longer, deeper games all on one disk. It also improves security over DVD which means developers make more money due to less piracy. More money means better games. This is just one of many value features (e.g. WiFi, HDD, Online Gaming, games, backwards compatibility, media/internet, True HD, etc) that justify the extra price. This fall you can pick up a stand alone Blu Ray player for $1,000.00, or get this feature in the PS3 which also plays next gen True HD games. You may not want Blu Ray now, but in 2 years we bet you will! We have a lot of features, like common media ports and replacable standard Hard Drives, that give our customers the value they will need for the next 10 years of the PS3 life.
Punter 1: Interesting list of features, but I must note MS offers WiFi as well.
Sony: The PS3-60GB has WiFi built in WiFi; the WiFi adapter for the 360 is $100.
Punter 1: Ok, but MS also has a HDD too.
Sony: Yes, but ours is standard--meaning every game can use it. We are even pushing developers to use it. We also offer 3x as much space compared to MS's Premium SKU.
Significantly we allow our customers to use standard 2.5" Laptop HDDs. MS does not. This means you are not stuck paying through the nose to obtain our addon.
Punter 1: The 360 also has online gaming.
Sony: Yes, for $50 a year. Ours is free (a $250 value over a 5 year period), and we believe better. Why? Because we give more control to developers. Note how many Xbox games are limited to 16 or 24 players on Xbox Live. We have already announced launch games that support 32 players. We can do this because each game dev can have their own servers that backend our network.
Punter 1: You mentioned games, the 360 has a ton of games!
Sony: E3 established that a lot of 3rd party titles are multi-platform. So the question is one of exclusives. We both have new IPs. We have Heavenly Sword and Resistance, they have Gears of War and Viva Pinata.
But lets be fair: New IPs are a crapshoot. Most end up sucking. We at Sony have a long history of proven content that sequal after sequal are VERY good. Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Tekken, Devil May Cry, and so forth. We have exclusive content, PROVEN exclusive content, that appeals to a wide array of gamers. We are not fixated on FPS. There is a reason we have sold 100M consoles in each of the last 2 generations. More games people like.
So while we will be giving you proven franchises MS is betting on... Too Human.
Punter 1: But I am not seeing the difference in quality!
Sony: We admit our powerful console (2x faster than MS's Xbox 360) has a learning curve. The PS2 had similar growing pains, but developers quickly exposed the power of the PS2. The PS3 is 250x more powerful and even easier to harness the power. But we are in there here and now. Compare our launch titles to MS's launch titles shown at last E3. Heavenly Sword, Resistance, Warhawk, MotorStorm, Assassin's Creed, FFXIII, Madden, F1 '06, Eye of Judgement, and so forth. This is our launch software. Last year MS showed games like Tony Hawk and Full Auto at E3 as playable. And the MS footage was very choppy whereas most of our software is butter smooth. As you can see even early development is getting big gains compared to MS's first software, and we have more power in there for the long haul. Just wait until the games are released this fall.
Punter 1: But MS has more games and backwards compatibility.
Sony: We have over 100 games in development for the PS3 as of Fall 2005, we are also backwards compatible to over 13,000 games. How many does the 360 play? Very few comparatively. We have more games, and more better games on our Playstation platform.
Punter 1: You mentioned media and the intenet. My 360 does all of that!
Sony: But we are offering the Linux OS and have a web browser. A cheap PC costs $400. We are tossing in this key feature that the PC is frequently used for... for free! A 360 and a PC to browse the web comes up to $800. We are offering much MUCH more value. We also have media ports for a ton of USB devices, SD and Compact flash, and other formats. Our competitor does not even offer these features.
Punter 1: What about True HD? My 360 plays in HD.
Sony: But not True HD (TM). The 360 only offers 720p (1080i is just upscaled from 720p), and even then a game or two have not even been 720p! On our side of the fence we have a number of games offering 1080i/p and as developers get more familiar with the hardware you can expect even more games to offer the highest level of HD. We also offer Blu Ray movie playback at 1080p. MS is stuck offering DVD quality video which is not HD at all!
They pronounced the HD era, but our movies and games are all in HD, even the highest levels of HD (1080p), while some of their games are not HD and none of their movies are.
Punter 1: That is a lot of information. Could you review why you think the PS3 is worth the extra expense?
Sony: Sure!
- More powerful hardware means future games will look much better (Processors: PS3 is 218GFLOPs, the Xbox 360 is 115GFLOPs; Systems: PS3 is 2 TFLOPs, the Xbox 360 is 1 TFLOPs). Even the system bandwidth (we have 2x as much) is indicative of the power difference. You need less bandwidth for a slower system, and that is why they have slower memory.
- Wireless controllers. Standard.
- Gyros. Welcome to the 4D world. MS has kept the same old controller design while we have innovated and offered new control inputs.
- Hard Disk. Standard. Every game can use it without fear of there not being a HDD. This also means we will have better load times., better connectivity, and better customizations.
- Games. We are the only place to get our great franchises. We still have the most exclusive content in the industry and have all the big names like Snake.
- Backwards compatibility. We support 13,000 games, not a couple hundred like MS.
- Media/internet. With the Linux OS and web browsing you get the functionality you expect from a home computer. This is why we are calling it the Playstation computer. It is not just for gaming, but TiVo, True HD movie playback, web browsing, and games. Our competitor's machine does not have a web browser, probably because it is not powerful enough. This is the power of CELL and RSX.
- WiFi. This is not included in ANY 360 console. You have to pay $100 for this addon. WiFi means no cable mess, it also means you can hook your PSP right up to the PS3 for more advanced gaming oppurtunities.
- Blu Ray. More space. More security. More room for longer, bigger, and more detailed worlds. Blu Ray players are over $1,000.00.
- Free online gaming. $50 yearly value. After 5 years of console ownership you will save $250!
- Lets just add up the last 4 items. WiFi, Online, and Blu Ray.
Cheap PC for internet web browsing: $400.00
Stand alone Blu Ray player: $1,000.00
WiFi Adapter: $100.00
5 years of online gaming through Live: $250
If you have a $399 Xbox 360 premium SKU with a 20GB HDD and bought all of the above that would be $2,149.00! And that does not include a 60GB HDD, the great Playstation games, web browsing, or the power advantage of the PS3!
We give you a $2,149 value of the Xbox 360 with addons for $499--$599 depending on your specific media center needs.
That is over $1,500.00 in savings. You may not use every feature NOW, but you may in the future as these things become standard. And the PS3 has them all, plus great gaming, for a much better value than the Xbox 360.
---
Ok, that is rough, but I think Sony has fumbled when it has come to a focused message about value. It is not about the machine being faster or some vague sense of "value". The hardware is blurring the distinction between gaming console and HD media center.
All Sony needs to do is put up a check list of what they offer, and MS does not, and the cost involved in adding it. Most consumers wont use many of these, but there is a lot there. Since Sony is betting on un-known consumer products (Blu Ray) and blurring convergence lines they have to be active in consumer education.
Obviously my fake dialogue is a PR hack job (I was just thinking of how Sony PR could make their case), but it is only intended to show that from many angles the PS3 offers a lot of value.
The question is, can Sony convince consumers they NEED these new features in a game console? If so, how? Do you have suggestions for Sony's PR department?
Personally I think the first 6M will sell out, and by the time production ramps up in 2008 things like WiFi, Blu Ray, and so forth will be much more mainstream ideas. And by that time Playstation owners will be evangelizing their friends on the games (dude, you have to play MotorStorm with me!) and on the features. "Why get a PC when you can browse the net on the PS3?"
