The PlayStation 3 was an undeniable stumble upon launch. Its huge markup over other consoles, even if defendable considering what it packed in, made the system the undeniable leper at the party. Those who did adopt the console in the early days were met by a dearth of games, and even worse, those who didn’t were met by a confused Sony PR message. The focus of the PS3 message seemed to be everything but the games, a confused message similar to the one Sony tried with the launch of the PSP.
Still, much like with the PSP, given enough time Sony figured out what they were doing and got their message back on track with, “It’s the games, stupid,” simplicity. Fall 2007 brought several unique exclusives such as Heavenly Sword, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Even missteps like Lair were forgivable in the face of a company who finally seemed to be getting it. However, all of these problems relate back in one way or another to the PS3’s Trojan horse—Blu-Ray.
Blu-Ray is Sony’s latest in a long line of attempts to establish their own proprietary format as the format of choice for consumers. From Betamax to Mini Disc to Memory Stick to UMD, Sony has a museum of its failed or at least semi-failed formats. Blu-Ray certainly could have ended up like the others, but Sony was cleverer, or perhaps just luckier, this time. None of this is to say Sony had no positives on its side.
Indeed, Blu-Ray featured heavy support from the film industry, even more so than its rival HD-DVD. It also featured more storage space, and the remarkable publicity (even if not all good) that came with it being bundled in the PS3. Still, when HD-DVD got off to an early start and the PS3’s sales floundered, it appeared we might have another UMD on our hands. Then, something remarkable happened—Sony won.
The tipping point was certainly the switching of Warner Brothers from being a format neutral studio to Blu-Ray exclusive, but the tipping had begun even earlier. Most of 2007 saw Blu-Ray dominate HD-DVD with a 2 to 1 sales ratio. The fall of 2007 saw Paramount switch to HD-DVD exclusive, and yet, the sales did not falter. Some have chalked this up to Blu-Ray’s aggressive buy one, get one free sales, but whatever the case it continued to dominate in sales, and Warner Brothers followed.
So, where does this leave Sony? While the inclusion of Blu-Ray in the PS3 once looked to be Sony’s fatal flaw for their prized PlayStation brand name, now it is looking more and more like cunning marketing genius. Make no mistake, the PS3 might very well lose this console generation because of the higher launch price, but in the end Sony has gained potential dominance of the home video market in the process. Proceeds from Blu-Ray player sales, disc licensing fees, and more will surely recoup any losses due to a slip in market position. Plus, with Blu-Ray firmly planted as the market leader, Sony can now focus full attention to putting their game division back on top. A slew of high-profile exclusive releases such as Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy 13 will surely grease those wheels.
The war hasn’t been won by Sony, but a decisive battle certainly has. Sony once appeared to be a company in a tailspin, but now with a resurgent television and home video divisions, Sony looks prone to regain some of its gaming luster, as well. Blu-Ray may have been one of Sony’s many stumbles, but it’s also what helped it get its groove back.
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