Now it's down to the software
Finally Sony have seen the light and launched the 40Gb PS3 which is sure to finally sway the ‘undecided’ into buying a PS3 this Christmas.Ok, for the more tech-savvy gamer, the case might not be so strong but the casual gamer, for whom the word ‘PlayStation’ is synonymous with ‘games console’ the sub-£300 PS3 could now get them to spend their cash.
Casual gamers are a massive, largely untapped sector of the market in the next-gen console battle, a market which Nintendo are reaping huge rewards with the comparatively dirt cheap Wii and its accessible games.
Certainly, Microsofts’ Xbox 360 has enjoyed large gains in this area too, especially amongst those who either got fed up waiting for the PS3 to be launched or decided it was just too expensive. But now, with a price of under £300, Sony have pushed the PS3 into the same arena as the Xbox 360.
So now it comes down to software. Microsoft have Halo 3, a game which is enjoying record breaking success mainly due to it’s absolutely massive established fan base. The problem is that the PS3 still lacks the killer must-have game. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Gran Turismo, two big PlayStation franchises are still not here whilst previous PlayStation exclusives, (in the console market), such as the Grand Theft Auto series, are now available on the Xbox 360 too.
With the vital Christmas period coming up Sony have to make some major gains of the market share with the PS3 and maybe, just maybe, with the new £300 40Gb PS3 they’ll attract not only PlayStation fans who were holding off for a price drop, but also Xbox 360 and Wii owners who’ve now got more money to spend.
Let’s see what Microsoft and Nintendo do over the next two months to defend their positions.
