The Playstation 3 was the successor to two of the most popular video game systems ever. However, it is currently selling at nowhere near the rate as the previous Sony’s game consoles. In fact, it is lagging behind the competition of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. Still, Sony is planning for the Playstation 3 to reach the sales success of the Playstation 2. That will be highly unlikely to happen due to the following reasons.
Late Launch
The Playstation 2 launched in 2000. The average life cycle of a video game system is about five years. However, the Playstation 3 wasn’t released until 2006, when the Xbox 360 has already been on the market for one year and the Nintendo Wii was overshadowing the Playstation 3. Thus, it was an uphill climb for Sony from the start due to some bad timing.
High Price
As if the late launch wasn’t enough, the Playstation 3 launched at an unprecedented price point of $599.99. This instantly killed off any excitement for the Playstation 3. Not many people were willing to pay a high price for a video game system, even if it is the successor to the popular Playstation and Playstation 2. Even though the Playstation 3 can be bought at $399.99 currently, the turbulent current economy still makes it a hard purchase for many perspective buyers.
Losing Third-Party Exclusive Games
Due to the record-breaking sales, the Playstation and Playstation 2 video game system gets plenty of exclusive games from third-party publishers and developers. This is not the case with Playstation 3 due to its less than stellar sales. Exclusive games are important because those titles are the primary reasons why people will buy a certain video game system. So unless Sony comes up with a way to secure third-party exclusive games, the Playstation 3 won’t reach the popularity of the Playstation 2.
Too High End
Another big hurdle towards Sony’s goal for the Playstation 3 is that the video game system is probably too ahead of its time. To get the full experience of the Playstation 3, gamers will need an HDTV and surround sound system. Along with the price of the Playstation 3, the costs to get the most out of the system are out of the budget for many.
Unprofitable
While the Playstation 3 is expensive to buy, it is even more expensive to make. Sony is losing hundreds of dollars every time a Playstation 3 is bought. For that reason alone, they have a hard time dropping the price in order to increase sales. Sony hasn’t made a profit ever since they developed the Playstation 3. Unless they are willing to put themselves out of the business and drop the price aggressively, the Playstation 3 will never be as popular as the Playstation 2.
