Sho_Nuff82 said:
If the PS3 had launched at $399 with adequate shipments, I honestly believe Sony would be at least 5 million ahead of MS at this point instead of the reverse. This is assuming they skimped on Blu Ray of course. If they had skimped on power instead, and the multiplatform competition was PS3/Wii vs 360/PC, Sony might even be further ahead.
Doubtful.
A few key features, outside of price, were prohibiting PS3's success:
1) Software
2) The HD Media Battle
These reasons, along with the high price, prevented the PS3 from being successful early on in the US.
If they had skimped on Blu-Ray, the PS3 would lease a key differentiating factor for new consumers needing to decide between a 360 and a PS3 as their console to get. Blu-Ray is an important feature now and longterm, and is evidenced by the boost in PS3 sales when Blu-Ray won. Without it, the PS3 would be looked at as a more expensive Xbox 360 with nothing else to distinguish it. It'd be a lot like if the Wii had removed its key differentiating feature with the Wii Mote.
Despite Sony's best efforts to out-Westernize MS with their emphasis on shooters and action games, the 4 largest online shooter communities (COD4, Halo 3, GTAIV, Gears of War) are all on 360, and the only 3rd party Western PS3 exclusives that haven't been published by Sony are Haze and timed Unreal Tournament 3. So while Sony has made some inroads, they still haven't had the breakout hit needed to break the PC/360 stranglehold on shooter mindshare, and unless Killzone 2 is that game (and it might be), they'll have abandoned a fairly substantial portion of their fanbase just to pay lip service to MS' strongest genre.
It's great if you're a fan of shooters like I am, but they aren't exactly what carried their last two consoles.
Sony's best shooter efforts (Resistance 2, Killzone 2, MAG) haven't been released yet.
Most of the shooter titles that have released on the PS3 were launch titles or shortly after launch (Resistance and Warhawk).
Killzone 2 is going to be Sony's premier FPS when it launches, and I genuinely believe it will be their breakout blockbuster FPS hit that has the potential to do millions and really propel the series into the limelight. Essentially doing what its predecessor failed to do.
Resistance 2 remains to be seen, but it's possible it will do much better than the original, though I personally don't feel it will do quite as well as Killzone 2 in the long term.
While this isn't what carried them last-gen, it's undeniable that the landscape changed last-gen with Halo being such a breakout series and popularizing online competitive FPS on consoles. This was a deficiency of Sony's last gen, and it still persists right now with a few weeks and months leading up to the release of a few key titles that will change all of that.
However, while Microsoft may dominate the shooter arena (currently), Sony has done a good job of releasing titles that still appeal to the core base of previous PS2 owners. Adventure titles like Uncharted, platformer/shooters in Ratchet, and now they are going to be releasing something completely unique and revolutionary with LittleBigPlanet. The only people I can see being disappointed are the JPRG fans...
I do not see JRPG fans as being a "substantial portion" of the PS3's userbase. I find them to be a vocal minority, especially considering the sales of those titles (at least in the west). Yes, those titles are popular in Japan, but apparently Sony doesn't feel like investing in 1 small market is as important as investing in 2 much larger markets. Again, I agree with that decision.
