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The State of Sony's PS2
by Steven Kent for Gamers Today
"When you consider the strength of the PlayStation 2 hype, the cost of marketing a new platform in the North American market...When you consider that Microsoft has announced a $500 million marketing program for the launch of Xbox, that Nintendo has a $5 billion war chest, and the overall power behind Sony's PlayStation brand, Sega does not have the ability to compete against those companies."
--Charles Bellfield, vice president of marketing and corporate communications at Sega of America
Sony promised to ship 1 million PlayStation 2 (PS2) consoles for its October launch; then announced a parts shortage and revised its projections to 500,000 with an additional 100,000 to ship every week. By most estimates, Sony's real shipments still fell short.
Sony now finds itself in an awkward situation. Consumers are angry at Sony because there weren't enough PS2s to meet demand. (There would not have been enough PS2s if Sony had shipped 2 million consoles.) Some of those lucky few who purchased a PS2 are angry because most of the games for PS2 are not up to snuff. Most angered, however, are the software publishers who planned their year budgets around Sony shipping 1 million consoles.
And Sony has more to worry about than a few angry mobs. Microsoft and Nintendo are planning to release new systems this fall. That leaves Sony with six months to patch up differences with consumers, PS2 owners, and the third-party publishing community before Xbox and GAMECUBE start stealing the headlines.
A lot of people believe that Sony had plenty of consoles and cut shipments either to build demand or to cover up the quality of its launch library. In truth, Sony probably was sabotaged by shortages; but, its first-party launch library was pathetic.
The only game released under the Sony Computer Entertainment America label at launch was Fantavision, a little puzzle game with glorious lighting effects that was not even published by Sony in Japan. Since that time, Sony has erred in the other direction, publishing a slug of relatively lackluster sports games under its 989 label.
This bad games situation is potentially more dangerous than the shipping shortages. Having Madden NFL 2001 and SSX, two very impressive games from Electronic Arts, has certainly helped boost the PS2 image; but both of these games may also be available on Xbox. Metal Gear Solid 2 from Konami now appears to be a multi-platform product. Sony needs great games that players will not be able to find anywhere else if it is to develop a loyal following. Two of those games, Gran Turismo 3 (GT3) and Twisted Metal Black, should be on the market in the next few months.
Sony needs to solidify PS2's position prior to the fall launches of Xbox and GAMECUBE. To do this, they should have at least 10 AAA games out by September, or at least five of which should be first party or guaranteed exclusives. And next time, Sony shouldn't release NFL GameDay, NCAA GameBreaker, and NCAA Final Four until they are ready.
Sony enjoyed real advantages during the last generation of games. Saturn was better equipped to play two-dimensional games than the 3D games of the 32-bit generation. As for Nintendo 64, it used cartridges, a smaller and vastly more expensive medium than CD-ROM.
This time out, Xbox and GAMECUBE appear to be roughly equivalent to PS2. Everyone is making small mistakes, but no one seems to be making the major blunders that Sega and Nintendo did last time out.
Nintendo's biggest blunder, so far, is that it's alienating the third-party publishing community. Nintendo seems to think that having Shigeru Miyamoto making Mario and Zelda games makes third-party companies such as Midway, Square Soft, Rockstar, Electronic Arts, and Capcom superfluous. Bad mistake. Each of these companies has a following that will not buy GAMECUBE.
Microsoft seems to be going to the other extreme -- there are still no signs of significant first-party development for Xbox. This is problematic as it is the first-party library that defines a system. First-party games are the only promised exclusive titles. Why should someone purchase Xbox if its entire library is available for PS2?
Then there is Sony, the company that thoroughly dominated the 32-bit era. Sony appears to have become smug in its success. Namco and Square, once monogamous to Sony, now want to break ranks and court other platforms. Along with more and better software Sony needs to soften its rule over the industry, or designers and gamers may place votes on other companies with their wallets.
Steven Kent is the author of The First Quarter: A 25-Year History of Video Games, which can be purchased at Amazon/I>
