At last the PlayStation 3 is here, but is Sonys latest worth a hefty £425? Nigel Kendall decides
On Friday, Sony declares war on the video game market with the launch of its new PlayStation 3. It should be the most exciting technology event of the year. Instead, its in danger of falling flat.
So what went wrong?
In a word: Wii. The PS3 was originally scheduled to arrive here last November, but manufacturing difficulties led to the launch being postponed. This has allowed its arch-rival Nintendo to steal a march with the Wii console, which has been a sensation since it launched in November. The Wii, priced at £179, has put the fun back into gaming (if you can find one in stock try
www.wii-consoles.co.uk) and converted people who would never previously have considered owning a console.
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At the consoles launch in Tokyo last year, Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainments worldwide studios, denied that the delay and price would be a problem: We know that serious gamers will buy all consoles available. Its an established pattern.
This attitude typifies Sonys attitude to its customers. Nor are the launch games very compelling. At the Japanese launch of the PS3, Ken Kutaragi, the father of the PlayStation, addressed this lack of innovation by developers. We have been relying too heavily on easy-to-sell sequels, and our users have become passive, he said. Theres no sign yet that anyone was listening.