Time and again, Sony has demonstrated its incompetence.
No example could be more obvious than with the upcoming launch of the Playstation 3. Early reports are that the online component is broken. Resistance: Fall of Man, one of the biggest and most important launch titles, has reported that they are going to have to build their own online sign in, friend list, messaging system, etc. Tony Hawk 8 won't even have online play at launch on the PS3. And these are just the first two examples that come to mind.
Manufacturing problems have abounded with the processors for the PS3. This has resulted in a dramatically decreased launch. Having bragged and bragged about a worldwide launch, Sony will now have less than 500,000 worldwide, with only 80,000 going to Japan and Europe getting the short straw completely.
Add to that the fact that the console costs significantly more than its competitors, and industry reports state that in terms of actual power, the PS3 and the Xbox 360 are very comparable (the PS3 having a small edge in processor power, the 360 edging out in terms of memory ability), it would appear that the PS3 is much more bust than bang. In fact, many, many gamer and tech geeks are announcing the doom of Sony with the launch of the PS3.
Nevertheless, I have every confidence the PS3 will be a huge success.
I don't say this as a PS3 fan either. I lived without a PS or PS2 just fine for years. There are no games coming exclusively to the PS3 that are compelling enough for me to even want to consider supporting Sony. Frankly, I think they have treated gamers pretty poorly, and the deluge of disinformation and outright lies coming from Sony is enough to piss me off to the point I would secretly like to see the console fall flat on its ugly little face.
But Sony has something huge going for them. Something I don't think we can discount. And that secret weapon is this: consumers are ignorant.
It is this very ignorance that will save them. Sure, lots of us geeks realize just how bad Sony has blown things with the PS3. We read the reports, follow the trails, and lots of us are put out. But most consumers haven't a clue.
They are well-to-do parents who will buy their children whatever they want. They are regular working class people who have been playing their Playstations for years, and just want to play the next round. They are Sony fanboys who have to have the next big thing. Or, perhaps, they are informed, but are hard core enough that they will shrug off all the garbage to have all the next gen consoles.
Call it what you want, but when you get right down to it, I have a feeling that Sony will do just fine this next gen. I even think they will win it again. They have been too huge the last two generations to shrug them off. The ignorance of the average consumer will be their salvation. They will reap their rewards, all while slapping the unsuspecting consumer in the face.
But hey, ignorance is bliss, right?