Sessler’s Soapbox: Thanks For the Truth, Sony
By Ron on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 1:02 PM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Games Industry, Sony, Sony
You can count on Adam Sessler to throw out something that makes people talk, and this week is no exception. In his weekly ‘Sessler’s Soapbox’ feature, Adam take a few minutes to thank Sony for finally owning up and admitting that the 40gb PS3 lacks backwards compatibility for a reason. Sony wants gamers to stop buying PS2 games and start buying PS3 games.
Honestly, I can understand that mentality. Let’s face it, although sales are picking up, the PS3 has been struggling a bit in its first year. However, backwards compatibility was a selling point of the PS2, and has since become something that gamers expect. While it’s nice to see a company (especially Sony) finally come across with the unvarnished truth, is this something that gamers will buy into? Or is the lack of backwards compatibility on the 40gb PS3 a real detriment to the console? I’ll leave that up to you.
Thanks, G4!
“the PS3 has been struggling a bit in its first year.”
Sales graph showing the lifetime of the next gen consoles (weeks/sales in millions)
http://i24.tinypic.com/29c2l9f.jpg
The PS3 has sold more units than the 360 had at the same point after launch even though it was only launched in the EU 7 months ago. When you remember that the 360 had no next gen competition and that the PS3 has had no big games and a large price to put people off I’m sure you will agree that its actually done really well. Just imagine how well its going to sell when there is actually a reason to buy one.
Why do people keep reporting that the 360 has sold really well but the PS3 is struggling when its actually selling quicker than the 360?
Deliberate bias or just not being in possession of the facts?
When I say struggling, I mean in relation to the published expectations Sony had for the console for that period. That’s all.
No bias or lack of facts intended.
“However, backwards compatibility was a selling point of the PS2,”
It was a ‘feature’ not a ’selling point’. World of difference. I have never heard a sinlge person give the #1 reason they bought a new console as “to play my old games on”.
People might be disappointed it hasn’t got it or they might put off buying it for a while longer till it has more games but nobody is going change their mind about buying a PS3 because of no backwards compatibility. Anyone who says they are is lying.
Great spin in this article…
Do you really think PS3 owners were going out and buying PS2 games? As the price drop in the UK showed, people end up purchasing the more expensive unit anyway (by something like 80%)…
Sony knows this… Sessler probably knows this too…
This is all spin based on some wording in a WSJ article. The whole premise of the losing backwards compatibility to sell more PS3 games is so ridiculous it is amazing any thinking person takes it seriously. Really…
Now, getting the price point down was the reason they made these cuts (and they admit that)… Having the price of the PS3 lower might encroach on some PS2 console sales… But games? C’mon… Don’t be stupid.
Ron said: “When I say struggling, I mean in relation to the published expectations Sony had for the console”
That’s ’selling slower than expected’ not ’struggling’.
A console that is selling faster than its direct competitor even though there is no reason to buy it yet is not struggling in any way shape or form.
No BC is a huge letdown. They are really hurting.
used cisco says:
“No BC is a huge letdown. They are really hurting.”
Ummm – So then exercise your OPTION to buy the model with BC. Giving you a $100 less OPTION is a problem for you?
Hate much?
wow, rampant fanboyism rears it’s ugly head
of course both models that have full backwards compatibility have been discontinued, so the “OPTION” doesn’t exactly exist anymore.
and seriously, fanboys, give it a rest. the xbox 360 overheats and dies, the ps3 isn’t getting a lot of good exclusives until later this year, and the wii only gets a good game every three months. they all have their problems, but they’re all fun to play. you know, fun? isn’t that why we play games in the first place? unless you find whining fun. my two-year old nephew seems to enjoy it, but even he doesn’t whine this much.
When are people going to realize that Sessler is a walking stereotype? He is an insult to gamers everywhere with girl/boyfriends, a real job, and a life in general. His opinions and rants do nothing but perpetuate this stereotype of gamers. Gimmie someone that dont act like a half-brain dead idiot, then and only then will that persons opinion carry any weight with me.
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Sexually yours,
Nelson Mandella
Jonathan says: “of course both models that have full backwards compatibility have been discontinued, so the “OPTION” doesn’t exactly exist anymore.”
So you’re saying the 80gb model that has both hardware and software emulation is discontinued now? When did they make this announcement?
@tirm
the 80gb model has some software emulation, but not full backwards compatibility. it can play some ps2 games, but not all, and even some of the major titles suffer from some lost gameplay functions and graphical glitches. basically, it’ll play the games, but you’ll have to deal with some problems. the 20gb and 60gb models on the other hand, didn’t have these issues.