IGN: Whatever happened to the year of the Playstation?

Before you post, I would like to let you know that I've posted the article to the letter so you won't have to click on the link and give IGNorant more hits, while some of the stuff Mr.Miller wrote are valid, he does give away IGN's little scheme to gain more hits by igniting flame wars.

Greg Miller wrote:

When the year started, the declaration confidently rolled off my tongue like Nathan Drake scaling a crumbling Tibetan wall -- 2011 would be the year of the PlayStation 3. The system's price was reasonable, a PlayStation exclusive dotted nearly every month, and Gears of War 3 seemed to be Microsoft's sole counteroffensive. Everything was in line for Sony to turn the tables in 2011. To finally come from behind, sell more units, and reclaim the core gamer conversation.

But none of that happened, and if Sony couldn't pull ahead with the deck stacked like it was in 2011, I doubt the PlayStation 3 ever will. Now, this isn't IGN looking to kick the fanboy beehive. I believe in the PS3, and it's my go to platform for gaming. I'm not here to tell you Sony sucks -- because it doesn't; I'm just here to chronicle what went wrong in a year the PlayStation 3 "couldn't lose." There isn't a sole reason the PlayStation brand failed to capitalize on 2011. It's a combination of factors, some of which aren't Sony's fault.
The Earthquake

The first major blow came in March when a 9.0 earthquake rocked Japan. A tsunami and a nuclear meltdown followed. The death toll was nearly 16,000, putting the tribulations of a games company in perspective. But there is no doubt that, as a Japanese company, this shook Sony and the PlayStation brand. There were evacuations, development time lost, and more.

MotorStorm Apocalypse (the third PS3 entry in the popular racing series) had a decent buzz leading up to its March release date. But seeing as how the game had you driving through a city devastated by an earthquake, it was indefinitely delayed just days before it was to appear on store shelves. When it was finally pushed out in May, there was zero promotion behind the title.

Editor's Note: Originally, this section of the article contained a reference to the Vita's staggered release being a result of the earthquake. Sony confirmed to IGN that was based on an outdated news report, and the reference has been removed.
MARKETING

wish that I could say MotorStorm's flaccid ad campaign was the exception to the rule, but it wasn't. In a year packed with Sony exclusives, PlayStation never beat its chest as the place for core gamers, and thus couldn't be shocked by the disappointing sales. LittleBigPlanet 2, Infamous 2, Killzone 3, SOCOM 4 and a slew of other exclusives dropped this year, but none of them knocked it out of the park when it came to sales -- and these were sequels to established franchises. More than 57 million PlayStation 3s have been sold worldwide, but most of these exclusives struggled to sell 500,000 copies in their first week.

Of course, the most disappointing game in terms of promotion was Resistance 3. IGN gave the game a 9.0 and was joined in that score by the likes of GamePro and Joystiq with other outlets declaring this the best Resistance game ever. How did Sony choose to market this game -- a touching tale of a man's journey across the country fighting monsters to save his son? Sony put Kevin Butler on a horse, gave him a PlayStation Move Sharpshooter, and had the game play on a tiny TV in lower section of the screen. Sigh.
RELEASE SCHEDULE
Maybe the mediocre sales for a year filled with exclusives establishes that stacking a calendar with titles isn't the best business strategy. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception sold incredibly well in 2011. People knew that they were going to buy that game -- as well as a handful of third-party titles -- so perhaps they skipped Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection because those dollars were already spoken for. Perhaps Microsoft's Xbox 360 strategy of limiting major exclusives to Gears, Forza 4 and Halo Anniversary was the way to go.
PSN OUTAGE

But maybe sales were hampered across the board because of a loss in PlayStation consumer confidence. In April, the PlayStation Network unexpectedly went offline with Sony stating it was "undergoing maintenance." However, over several days, the real story surfaced. The hacker group known as Anonymous had infiltrated the PlayStation Network without Sony knowing and stole the personal information of 77 million registered users.

As if this wasn't bad enough, Sony withheld the full scope of the problem for days and the PlayStation Network remained offline for nearly a month. Fans were hurt and haters had enough fuel to lambast PlayStation for the foreseeable future. Even though the PSN is back on its feet, plenty of people have a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to PlayStation.
BAD NEWS
And even now -- with less than 30 days left in the year -- the bad news keeps coming. PlayStation Vita seemed to have its ducks in a row with the system costing $250, but last week's leaked memory card prices are outrageous. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is on a lot of short lists for Game of the Year honors, but reports are that the PlayStation 3 version can barely run 60 to 80 hours into the game.
THE FUTURE?
What does it all mean? It means that nothing is going to change in this console race. Other IGN writers have lobbed the opinion that the PS3 will outsell the Xbox 360 next year and I can see that happening when I look at the numbers, but it's not going to mean anything. Quality PS3 exclusives will continue to only do OK rather than the gangbuster numbers they deserve, the system will continue to have a loyal fanbase, and the majority of players will only use their PS3 for one big game every so often.

The real question is how does Sony fix this for the next battle? I mean other than not hawking the PlayStation 4 by putting Kevin Butler on a horse.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1214007p1.html

The PS3 is never going to outsell the Xbox 360. EVER! Better luck next time Sony.

Yea I remember everyone screaming "2011 PS3 domination" last year.

Its the same shit every year.

In 2010 they say that the ps3 will outsell the 360 next year
In mid 2011 the ps3 is outselling the 360 every week and they say "i told you ps3 is outselling 360"
In end 2011 the 360 completely dominates and steps on the ps3 sales wise
In 2011 they say that the ps3 will outsell the 360 next year

Well outside of this forum I can see people saying the PS3 will step it up due to a rumored price drop or something.

I think most people here know better by now and aren't completely blinded by their fanboyism like they were back at PS3N


For me, PS3 had a good year...because I EXPECTED Sony NOT to deliver. I kept my expectations low and came out relatively pleased with their selection of games and services.

The_Biotic_God wrote:

Well outside of this forum I can see people saying the PS3 will step it up due to a rumored price drop or something.

I think most people here know better by now and aren't completely blinded by their fanboyism like they were back at PS3N


For me, PS3 had a good year...because I EXPECTED Sony NOT to deliver. I kept my expectations low and came out relatively pleased with their selection of games and services.

lolololol. Calling PS3N fanboys and then expecting Sony not to deliver . . . 360 fanboy.

TRF wrote:

The_Biotic_God wrote:

Well outside of this forum I can see people saying the PS3 will step it up due to a rumored price drop or something.

I think most people here know better by now and aren't completely blinded by their fanboyism like they were back at PS3N


For me, PS3 had a good year...because I EXPECTED Sony NOT to deliver. I kept my expectations low and came out relatively pleased with their selection of games and services.

lolololol. Calling PS3N fanboys and then expecting Sony not to deliver . . . 360 fanboy.

I was only looking at the facts. The sales clearly indicate that Sony is gayer than Frankinstein.

The_Biotic_God wrote:

TRF wrote:

The_Biotic_God wrote:

Well outside of this forum I can see people saying the PS3 will step it up due to a rumored price drop or something.

I think most people here know better by now and aren't completely blinded by their fanboyism like they were back at PS3N


For me, PS3 had a good year...because I EXPECTED Sony NOT to deliver. I kept my expectations low and came out relatively pleased with their selection of games and services.

lolololol. Calling PS3N fanboys and then expecting Sony not to deliver . . . 360 fanboy.

I was only looking at the facts. The sales clearly indicate that Sony is gayer than Frankinstein.

Facts are for fags . . . you got no games. Enjoy playing your Rise of Failures and Queers of War 2.5

^ The guy on the left is Alan, and the gay jew on the right is TRF.

Who the fuck cares? I bought a lot of awesome games this year and am still getting some games soon. That is all that matters imo. All this console war stuff is old and doesn't matter anymore.


@Rambo, TRF is just mad that no one here is going to celebrate hanukkah with him. He is :alone: for lyfe, son.

Sounds like a whole bunch of excuses to why Sony underperformed.

ghost23 wrote:

Sounds like a whole bunch of excuses to why Sony underperformed.

Still got more games to play than the Xbox circle.

ghost23 wrote:

Sounds like a whole bunch of excuses to why Sony underperformed.

Well you can't deny that those did a number on Sony.

TRF wrote:

ghost23 wrote:

Sounds like a whole bunch of excuses to why Sony underperformed.

Well you can't deny that those did a number on Sony.

The only thing you can classify as that is the earthquake which was an external factor. All of the other factors that Miller mentioned are areas which Sony fucked up, leading to their losses.
It's their fault that they had average marketing, its their fault that the PSN went down and its their fault that Vita memory cards are higher than the price of gold.

I've never understood why the one year deficit the 360 had over the PS3 on the market has always been counted in Microsoft's favour.

The PS3 has just completed it's fifth year on the market and when compared to the 360's 5 year sales it outsold it.

It's almost like having Usain Bolt start the 100 Meter Sprint one second after everyone else and mocking him when he fails to cross the line first despite him being the fastest sprinter.

Not trying to start a flame war here, it's just something i've noticed.