The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) received mixed impressions during its late 2006 launch. Some people had considered the PS3 to be far too expensive, but others were ready to pay the big bucks for the pure power the system has to work with. A year after the PS3's launch, the fate of the system is still unknown, but the potential for a huge comeback still remains.

Editor's Note: After the initial writing of this article, which began in late November, there has been widespread news about the fact that the PlayStation 3 has outsold the Nintendo Wii in Japan for the first time. This news could be relevant to the future performance of the PlayStation 3. It most certainly is a morale boost to Sony.

VG Chartz reports that the PlayStation 3 is far behind its competition with the console selling 6.71 million consoles worldwide while the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii have both sold 14.06 million and 15.48 million respectively. This all adds up to Sony having less than 20% of the market share. Hardly impressive numbers; however, it could be much worse for Sony.

(Credit: VG Chartz - Hardware Comparison Charts - Updated and as of 12/6/07)
Ever since the release of the PlayStation 3 there has been much criticism of the console. Many of the points raised in the past have been validated. The system was priced too high, and even if worth the price, the high cost ultimately lead to lower sales. If Sony had put out a system that was around the same price point of the Xbox 360 or Wii, then I would not be writing this article. Unfortunately, for Sony, there are even more basic problems that plague the PS3 as a result of the above.

As I sat here writing this article, I failed to even come up with a single spectacular title available for the PlayStation 3. Oh wait, Metal Gear Solid 4 must be it! Nope, a long wait until--Q2, 2008. How about Grand Theft Auto IV? Gran Turismo 5? Soulcalibur IV? Any game at all?

Forget about it, there is not one single "killer app" for the PlayStation 3 available. Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm, while both being impressive titles, do not come anywhere near Halo 3 or Super Mario Galaxy. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot might be the title that inspires consumers to pick up a PS3, but then there is also the possibility that a smaller development house with a new game idea could pull off a winner.

It all comes down to Sony needing to perform all the tricks to sell more units before it is too late to recover. The expandability of the PlayStation 3 will allow this to happen. The company already took action to encourage new games by reducing the price of their Software Development Kit, and this hopefully encourages more game development by new and smaller game development studios. However, game developers will be hard pressed to develop games exclusively for the PS3 while the other consoles have the potential to provide much more revenue for their games.

Improving or overhauling the multi-player services would also be in the best interest of Sony right now. There is much work that needs to be done on that front of the system. There is also a lot of distance between the Xbox Live service and the PS3's online component; I am sure the company knows this, and is working hard to improve the online gaming experience in the future.

The PlayStation 3 will make up ground in 2008. Whether this be the result of demand for the other systems slowing (potentially as a result of many gamers owning other systems), Sony getting their act together, or the PS3 getting its "killer app" early is something to keep an eye on in 2008.

If the PS3 ends as a huge failure for Sony, expect to see the latest generation of console wars start early. Development on the "PlayStation 4" beginning before the end of 2010 anyone? Anything is possible.

Update 1 - 12-12-07 @ 2:11 PM Est.:

It appears that Sony is indeed getting their act together with the latest news from GameStop reporting that the company is expanding connectivity for hardware, and improving their online network to compete with Xbox Live.

The thought that the most noticeable game company in the world with some of the most popular titles today would be one of the greatest threats to the game industry sounds ridiculous, right? Wrong! Reality of the situation is that while Electronic Arts might be a hit on the sales charts, this does not equal success for the game industry overall.

Some of the reasons that the game industry has thrived so well in the past is that many different development studios were able to compete with each other. Each development house had different standards, different methods, and different potential. The competition was fierce and hard work was done to earn your buck. This is still the case today, but not as prevalent, and also not necessarily done in the same fashion.

Takeovers, Takeovers, And Some More Takeovers

The rapid increase of studios being acquired is quite impressive, but its impressiveness shows the changes of the game industry. Smaller development studios can not flourish if they have millions being thrown at them to merge. The temptation to sell out is an easy choice for many development studios. Electronic Arts has embraced this method of doing business:

Some Acquired

• BioWare
• Pandemic Studios
• Critereon Software Group (Purchased RenderWare which was "used to run a quarter of all video games worldwide" as of mid 2004 - Technology Briefing)
• Maxis (The Sims and SimCity; sound familiar?)
• DICE
• Mythic Entertainment
• Westwood (By way of Virgin)

Some Candidates:

• Activision (Unlikely to be acquired by EA; Activision offers some of the best competition to EA, but they would undoubtedly love to own the Call of Duty franchise.)
• 2K Sports (Unlikely; EA could pretty much end sports gaming competition in the US market.)
• Bethesda Softworks (Likely; who wouldn't want to own the Game of the Year title in The Elder Scrolls series.)
• Bizarre Creations (Probable; EA currently lacks a realistic driver simulation after losing the Formula One license, and while Project Gotham Racing is not a sim, it a competitor.)
• Codemasters (Possible; the company will not remain independent forever.)
• Crytek (Very likely; a partnership must end eventually, so they will be acquired.)
• Epic Games (Unlikely; I believe Epic Games will hold off on any offers.)
• JoWooD Productions (Unlikely; well, unless EA can't acquire Bethesda Softworks.)
• Paradox Interactive (Doubtful; Paradox focuses on a slowly dying genre of games, but still creates quality games nonetheless.)
• SCi (Likely; the company will be sold eventually and there were reports of EA interest.)
• Ubisoft (A question of time; EA already has further increased stake in the company.)

A Big Problem

It is really common knowledge that in the past Electronic Arts has put eye candy before functionality in their game titles. A great example is Madden Football. Without competition from 2K Sports due to license exclusivity with EA and the National Football League, the game remained primarily stagnant. Some opinions floating around the web indicated the game was decreasing in quality year by year. However, this year Take-Two Interactive released All Pro Football, and while it did not have a chance of being a huge detriment to Madden sales, it certainly motivated EA to go for a touchdown pass this time around.

The Reality

The game industry needs competition to keep things moving forward for consumers. There will always be video games, and it is the greatest form of entertainment. Consumers in general are complete idiots, but hopefully some common sense can kick in if it gets to the point where we are paying $70 or more for games loaded with ads.

Fortunately for all gamers, things are not as bad as they could easily be right now. Other companies like Take-Two Interactive and Activision are doing better than expected, and they are still able to compete with EA; however, nothing is certain for the future and if there was ever a company to put a monopoly on the game industry, Electronic Arts would fit the bill. Consider this a yellow card to Electronic Arts, a warning to the game industry, and an eye opener to those consumers who pay the bills of the publishers.

Let the games begin, not end.

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