Yes, I’m a PS3 fan. But I’m not what I would consider a PS3 fanboy. The difference between the two is pretty easy to spot. The fanboy has undying love and never sees fault with the object of their admiration. I, however, am about to lay the proverbial smack down on Sony which should hopefully put to rest any murmurs of fanboyism.

I get the impression that Sony has some vague idea of a master plan. A synergistic approach to tie all of their various divisions into one dominating market force that’ll rocket them from zero to hero in the consumer’s eyes. The problem is, when you’ve got so many products and so many divisions, that kind of coordinated effort isn’t exactly instant. So let’s take a look at the puzzle pieces they’re trying to put together as part of this proposed plan and see if we can armchair quarterback a jump start for some key areas.

Sony’s got their Playstation 3 line, the Sony/BMG music group, they’ve got their Sony Pictures movie group, they’ve got their Bravia line of HDTVs which other than price are considered to be some of the best TVs available, they’ve got their line of non-Bravia TVs, they’ve got their Vaio Computer line, they’ve got their A/V Receiver line, they’ve got their Playstation Portable line, the Playstation 2 line, the Walkman line and probably a few others I’m not thinking of but you get the picture.

From the various rumors, stories, and executive comments I’ve been reading over the last few months, it’s clear there are concerted efforts in these various divisions to “bring everything home”. Not “Home” as in “Playstation Home”, but home as in the single place in someone’s literal home where they can seamlessly use the Playstation Network to do whatever they want to do. But I keep getting the distinct impression that these things are only sketched out on paper in someone’s office. The problem is that the distance between sketched out plans and using them in our living rooms is months away at best and years away at worst. I think with a project as immense as what I’m guessing they’re trying to do, they needed to have planned in advance for several substantial milestones along the way. It’s hard to get someone to sign on today for something that may not come to fruition for 12-18 months. And as such, I think a fair amount of “here and now” opportunity is being lost in the shuffle.

Playstation Home is compelling and ambitious if you really sit down and think of it (and I’m not talking about cracking a few Second Life jokes or exaggerating about having to enter a 3D world just to launch a game or see previous accomplishments from games; that’s crap and if you’re still spouting those things you’re either ignorant or misinformed). Is it just me that keeps waiting and waiting for the “Booyah!” moment that hasn’t come yet? That instance of “There it is… that’s what we’ve been waiting for” to happen. And don’t mistake this for me commenting on disappointing PS3 console or game sales, that’s not it at all. I’m referring to arguably the powerhouse of videogaming for over a decade seemingly missing opportunity after opportunity to wow people in different ways, be it technology, software, vision, synergy, implementation, price, collaboration, etc. Certainly we’re most directly interested in their gaming interests being active in videogaming communities ourselves, but this applies to much more than strictly their gaming division. Has any company successfully leveraged most or all of its not-necessarily-related assets in a fairly unified manner before? I’m having trouble thinking of an example myself. But at a glance, it would seem that Sony garnering their music, movie, television, and gaming resources across the PS2, PSP, PS3, and PC using the underlying Playstation Network should’ve been something they should have thought of and started work on a long time ago. Sony’s not always forthcoming with their information and it’s entirely possible there is advanced work going on right now that we didn’t know about at alll; it could actually be the “Booyah!” moment I mentioned earlier. As long ago as it seems that Playstation Home was first shown at GDC in March, it had clearly been under development for a long time at that point. And now after some wider beta testing and communication with developers, it seems Playstation Home is getting even more major work done to it, but honestly I have no idea when it’ll ever see the light of day as a non-beta product.

Would Sony be better off letting each division run around doing its own thing independent of each other? In the short term, I’d be willing to bet “yeah, they probably would”. Will they be more effective if correctly leveraged together? I think (and remember, that was with an “if”) absolutely. But at what expense? Will their gaming effort suffer at the expense of a better all-around company bottom line? Is Blu-ray taking priority over the Playstation 3 at this point? Do they see Blu-ray making Playstation 3 or Playstation 3 making Blu-ray? Will things look better once the HD video format war is over? Do you even care if your TV can download streaming content from the internet without any additional devices? There are a ton of questions to ask and very few answers from Sony. As much as I bag on Microsoft for marketing a crap-quality product that breaks if you so much as look at it funny, I’d really love to have some confidence that everything’s going to be okay in the land of the rising sun as well. Microsoft beating out Sony doesn’t concern me. Nintendo beating out Sony doesn’t concern me. Sony hosing themselves up and ruining a perfectly good opportunity for several promising technologies to grab hold and prosper… THAT bothers me. Pull your head out Sony. Set up smaller, meaningful milestones for your master plan. Things that will matter to the consumer. Things that will matter globally. Europe has PS3s being used for video on demand, set top boxes, pay-per-view movies, DVR functionality, music downloads, etc. The PSP in Japan has the Go! Cam and the GPS attachment. What about the rest of the world? What is it that keeps that stuff regional? Is it the fact that you’re not coordinating with your international divisions? (NOTE: Yes, I know why the DVR isn’t coming to the US, but the point still stands, they’re not applying themselves equally in all areas).

This is your opportunity to lose Sony. Do some aggressive things to win back the fans you’ve lost over the past two years with the lies, stupid executive quotes, specification changes, unbearable hype, underwhelming “blockbusters”, outrageous prices, fumbling exclusives, etc. Despite all of that, I still believe there are things that can survive and prosper. I, and others, are still waiting. To mock Sony’s European PS3 ad campaign: This Is Living?

Tweet This