joepinion
Smash Apprentice
Sony hasn't won the console war of course, but the war to become the most powerful media company on the planet that can use its wealth of assets to control the world.
Many Nintendo fans like me can't help but feel a twinge of pride that Wii is leading the "wars" by a large margin, and yet, aren't things going exactly as Sony planned?
We scoffed at a $600 console that loses Sony $200 per unit, but we were short-sighted. Toshiba just officially backed out of HD-DVD, and Blu-ray, Sony's baby, has won the format wars. What was the driving force behind the victory? How about 10 million PS3s out the door in the first 15 months, every one equaling a Blu-ray user and Blu-ray evangelist?
It's good that Wii and DS have been successful because video games is all Nintendo's got. But Sony has bigger fish to fry. Over 82% of ALL AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS have a DVD player. A couple years ago it looked like downloadable media would take over and HD-TVs would never become a standard but there still isn't a dependable way to get HD movies on your computer legally and HD-TVs are getting surprisingly common. 3-4 years from now there will be maybe 200 million + blu-ray players in America alone, and Sony will be reaping the benefits of the technology they invented.
Sony's not embarrassed that PS3 is in last place. On the contrary, the PS3 was just a name brand, a tool, to push the agenda that Sony wanted. PS3 may never get to 1st or 2nd place this generation; who knows, maybe the Playstation name brand will never recover. But even in that worst case scenario, the Playstation brand is just a baby lamb being sacrificed to the God of technology so that Sony can get a firmer grip on America's entertainment center.
We love Nintendo because we feel like they care more than Sony or Microsoft, and we are often derided for this sentiment because "They're a company, their goal is to make $$$." Well, sure they need to be successful, but there is a philosophical difference between Nintendo and the other big two. Sony and Microsoft own a lot of stuff and have much bigger ambitions than ruling the video game market. Xbox and PS are tools in the larger plans of these conglomerates. Nintendo's only hope and only chance is to make great games. Their motivation is different, and better for attached gamers like myself. God bless Nintendo!
Many Nintendo fans like me can't help but feel a twinge of pride that Wii is leading the "wars" by a large margin, and yet, aren't things going exactly as Sony planned?
We scoffed at a $600 console that loses Sony $200 per unit, but we were short-sighted. Toshiba just officially backed out of HD-DVD, and Blu-ray, Sony's baby, has won the format wars. What was the driving force behind the victory? How about 10 million PS3s out the door in the first 15 months, every one equaling a Blu-ray user and Blu-ray evangelist?
It's good that Wii and DS have been successful because video games is all Nintendo's got. But Sony has bigger fish to fry. Over 82% of ALL AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS have a DVD player. A couple years ago it looked like downloadable media would take over and HD-TVs would never become a standard but there still isn't a dependable way to get HD movies on your computer legally and HD-TVs are getting surprisingly common. 3-4 years from now there will be maybe 200 million + blu-ray players in America alone, and Sony will be reaping the benefits of the technology they invented.
Sony's not embarrassed that PS3 is in last place. On the contrary, the PS3 was just a name brand, a tool, to push the agenda that Sony wanted. PS3 may never get to 1st or 2nd place this generation; who knows, maybe the Playstation name brand will never recover. But even in that worst case scenario, the Playstation brand is just a baby lamb being sacrificed to the God of technology so that Sony can get a firmer grip on America's entertainment center.
We love Nintendo because we feel like they care more than Sony or Microsoft, and we are often derided for this sentiment because "They're a company, their goal is to make $$$." Well, sure they need to be successful, but there is a philosophical difference between Nintendo and the other big two. Sony and Microsoft own a lot of stuff and have much bigger ambitions than ruling the video game market. Xbox and PS are tools in the larger plans of these conglomerates. Nintendo's only hope and only chance is to make great games. Their motivation is different, and better for attached gamers like myself. God bless Nintendo!
