Half-Masked

Hey, good job, Sony! Alienate anyone and everyone who owns your most successful video game console, or anything in its library of titles. Please force us to buy those same games in the future in case we want to sell or get rid of the last generation of consoles to maybe afford your overpriced doorstop. Even though patents suggest it is actually possible for the Playstation 3 to be backwards-compatible. Thank you, Kaz, for eliminating that incentive to part from $300 during a recession.

If this does not seem like an important thing to consider, look at the Wii and Xbox 360. The Wii doesn’t just play Wii games. If you fit a Gamecube disc and controller and memory card in there, you’re good to go. You can eBay the last generation and save room in your “entertainment centre”. The Xbox 360 isn’t entirely backward compatible, but most of the noteworthy titles of the original Box o’ X can be played on that machine as well. If for some reason you are tempted to go back to “Teh Haloz” Volume 1, you can. Sony is the only member of the big three right now whose product doesn’t let you play those immediate back-catalogues of games. Notice how it’s also no longer leading in sales above its competitors, like it was just a few years ago?

There’s a reason for that. Unless it’s a Super Nes, people don’t like holding onto these big, clunky systems when they can just play the same games on this new, shinier, fancier machine. After a Wii, you no longer -need- a Gamecube. With a Playstation 3, you still need the Playstation 2. The best you get now is the option to pay for PSX games you probably already own.

Wait, so its advanced enough to emulate games from the 90’s, but not from 5 years ago? And only then if you’re willing to pay them more money, after already selling your first-born child last week just to pay for gas?

While you’re at it Sony, make it a fucking ordeal for anyone to actually contribute software that you can find on the 360 anyway. And when you somehow accidentally manage to get someone to make product for the PS3, make sure it turns out significantly worse on your system(just ask anyone who bought the Orange Box). Really stick it to anyone stupid enough to support your company in any way.

John Koller, director of Sony’s hardware marketing division, put the backwards compatibility issue into perspective:

“It’s not as big as a purchase intent driver as you may be hearing,” he claimed. “We’ve got such a substantial lineup of titles on the PS3; most people are buying the PS3 for PS3 games. They’ve buying it for PS3 games and Blu-ray movies.”

The perspective being that of a magical fantasy land, of course. Blu-ray is understandable, but, and I’m aware that the following comments might upset some people:

What games?

No, really. When was the last time you thought about “Killzone”? Or “Uncharted”? Anyone? Is there anyone so self-loathing that they still play that marketing executive wet-nightmare “Home”? Is Metal Gear Solid 4 really worth not being able to play Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 without needing to hook up a different fucking machine(something I don’t have to do if I want to play Mario Sunshine or Star Wars Battlefront)?

Watching Sony go from the PS2 to the PS3 is like watching Michael Phelps chop off his arms and legs and attempt to break swimming records using only his neck and penis. They got arrogant. They got greedy. They assumed the ceiling was not made of glass. They tried to break the goose to get all of the golden eggs at once.

Yes, people are buying the PS3. They’re not doing it because it’s a quality product. I think it was David Wong who compared it to baseball player salaries. Baseball players get paid millions. It’s not because they’re expected to perform better the next year, it’s for being on the team and filling the stadium seats the previous year.

It’s the same thing here. People bought the PS3 because the Playstation 2 offered an absurd amount of fun times unique to itself. I think the only two characters that didn’t appear on that system were Mario and the Master Chief. While Nintendo and Microsoft tried using exclusivity to stay afloat, Sony wisely adopted an inclusive approach, and raked in a greater profit. This is why I’m not afraid to suggest the Playstation 2 might be the best video game console I’ve ever owned. The ratio of entertainment to cash-in stinkers was favourable even compared to the Super Nintendo. It was not unwise of the public to expect this same pedigree from Sony for their next console. What was once the obligated gathering ground for every title of even passing interest, is now a place many dare not tread. I certainly would’ve considered making the jump if I didn’t have to bring the old system with me. Final Fantasy XIII isn’t enough. This is like moving, but not being allowed to take anything you own with you into the new apartment. Even your family.

I am not against the idea of Sony finding success, let make that clear. I’m no hater. I’m sure all of the major consoles have their perks. But I am a realist, and if they want access to my respect, or my wallet, they’re going to have to get their heads back in the game. With backward-compatibility all but eliminated, they don’t have a lot to convince me to invest in their product(and that was a short list to begin with). All things considered, I don’t think I’ll be buying a PS3 Slim any time soon.

…I guess I could have spared a few hundred words if I’d just said that last sentence.

(Like many topics, Shamus examines it with a keener eye and sharper tongue than I.)

END OF LINE

~A.H.