Will Sony Ever Stop Playing Catch Up with the Playstation 3?

Today Sony announced that they would be selling and renting video content over the Playstation Store, and I suppose if this was a year ago, that news would have actually been somewhat interesting. But coming off the recent Netflix/Xbox 360 announcement, wherein the 360 would become a Netflix streaming device this fall a la the Roku, any impact from Sony’s announcement has been practically nullified. The sad thing is that this isn’t a new trend for Sony with the PS3, and along with the constant delays of Home, it’s clear that this situation isn’t going to improve anytime soon.

As I’ve stated before, Sony’s main competition this generation is Microsoft. Nintendo is clearly off in their own territory with the success of the Wii, and neither Microsoft nor Sony would gain much by competing directly with the Wii’s low price, motion controls, and mainstream appeal. Instead, they need to scrap it out for dominance among the more regular and hardcore gaming crowds.

In this particular fight, it seems the Playstation 3 will always be left behind. Sony started off a year after the 360, and they also didn’t have the benefit of a strong online platform in the PS2 generation like Microsoft did with the Xbox 1. MS learned a lot from the original implementation of Live, and in doing so they were able to craft a much more polished product for the 360. We may take it for granted now, but I’ll always consider the 360 Live’s focus on online multiplayer to be a major turning point for console gaming.

The notion of just being a few clicks away from gaming with your friends, aided by Microsoft’s uncharacteristically wise implementation of an easy-to-use global dashboard, is something that should now be considered standard for all future gaming consoles. That Sony has yet to mimic the experience is inexcusable. And no, I don’t care how “revolutionary” Playstation Home may be. The multiplayer experience should have been sorted out first–not tied to an unproven Second Life clone.

Microsoft (and arguably Nintendo) have also succeeded at building up strong game libraries this generation, something which the PS3 is still currently struggling with. While they’ve had their share of very good titles, the only real system seller that the PS3 has had so far is Metal Gear Solid 4. Final Fantasy XIII was another important exclusive (and potential system seller as well), but of course Microsoft put an end to that on Monday when they announced that FFXIII is coming to the 360 this Fall in North America and Europe.

At this rate, I suspect Sony will announce a similar Netflix deal as MS next year, but of course by that point many people would have already invested in 360’s and Roku boxes instead. And while it’s cool that your PSP can also play downloaded PS3 videos, that’s really only going to benefit the folks who actually have PSPs. It’s also yet another move by Sony that takes the PSP away from its core gaming functionality, and brings back dirty memories of their failed UMD platform.

Thus far the only great success from the PS3 continues to be its Blu-ray functionality, but of course that comes at the expense of all other similarly priced Blu-ray devices. The 80GB PS3 price drop to $400 is clearly a sign of desperation by Sony, given that most console price drops occur at about $50 every year. The loss of backwards compatibility from that 80GB model is also not a good sign, but considering their consistent efforts to diminish the importance of BC, I suppose it was inevitable.

I believe all of Sony’s current issues with the PS3 stem from their confused direction for the product. Is it an entertainment center, or a game console? I suppose the same can also be said for the PSP, but given how long that device has taken to really find its stride, this similarity is not exactly heartening. Despite all of the 360’s many features, it never felt as if MS ever strayed too far away from the goal of making it a console first, and an entertainment device second.

That’s a lesson Sony would do well to learn.

There is nothing I hate more than a foregone conclusion. Beneath every vicious (that is to say, factual) statement I have ever made regarding the company, there has existed the indubitable truth of their ultimate victory. This certainty extends, yea, even unto the company itself, which is why they have done so little to earn your love. The rumble-free controller with built-in batteries, the one that turns off while you’re updating your console every other week, that one that inexplicably loses signal from time to time but everyone is too chivalrous to discuss it, the one that is now obsolete because two years ago they tried to save money on something they knew they would have to pay anyway – this “six axis” is the icon of a system coasting on global brand inertia.

Announcing features that your competitors have had for coming up on two years does not a riveting presentation make. Exclusive PSN content (like a movie length Ratchet and Clank game, or thatgamecompany’s Flower) is still the company’s most compelling asset.