2008 "The Year of the PlayStation 3" – N4G Response

In response to the editorial posted earlier about 2008 not really being the year of the PlayStation 3. The point that I was trying to get across to fellow PlayStation owners is that although yes 2008 will certainly be a great year for games and content, it just isn’t going to be the “year” of the PlayStation 3. That “Year” is some year and a bit more away, developers are just getting to grips with the PlayStation 3 architecture and are only just realising some of its potential as a gaming platform.

The PlayStation 3 is no longer a joke amongst the elite gamer crowd, and can no longer be ridiculed by Xbox 360 fanboys intent on ripping apart the console for its many negatives. It is now just becoming what it should have been at launch, a games console. Sony ploughed billions of pounds into making the PlayStation 3 a success and it was clear for all to see just what it meant for the company for it to succeed. Uber-Boss Howard Stringfellow even rolled his sleeves up and got involved as the PlayStation brand began to take a kicking.

However, the point I was making in the editorial was this, 2008 so far has not been a great year for PlayStation 3, in terms of what it could have been. Some users on N4G.com commented on the fact that PlayStation 3 had seen Firmware 2.4/1 this year bring the majority of user requested features to the console, but lets not lose sight of the fact that, these updates for me, have arrived a year too late. The features introduced in 2.40 should have been there at launch, and it is simply impossible to justify them not being there. We still have not been given the ability to chat outside of a game yet in a private chat, yet this is available on the 360 quite easily, and has been for some time.

Games are still crashing unexpectedly, Ferrari Challenge (Crashes when someone joins an online game), Battlefield Bad Company (+VOIP Issues, Squad Invites not working, Squads not creating), Uefa Euro 2008 (Framerate Lag across the whole game) I could go on and on about the issues that are still faced by PlayStation 3 users. Yet these problems seem to be pushed aside because Sony PR has everyone believing this year will be the year of the PlayStation 3.

If lets assume for a second, that this was infact the “year” for the PlayStation 3, then I really don’t want the console through years three, four, five and six as it will progressively get worse!. I absolutely love the PlayStation 3, I think it has immense potential, but you cant help but feel that Sony have asked a lot of its consumers to stand by it in the face of constant delays to a service we were shown three years ago at E3 2005, then to put up with a lack of games, games that were available were crashing/buggy or just didn’t run anywhere near their 360 counterparts.

Sony still have a huge amount of work to do. Introducing Firmware that wont brick consoles for a start, how that one slipped through the QA net, I will never ever know. Introducing the features that we need to make the console a success. We buy the hardware giving Sony the profit, so instead of devoting time to the stupid PSN Video Store, why not spend it giving us the features, as gamers we need and would like.

Voice chat at anytime, whether in game or on the XMB, with any of our friends, More uses for the PlayStation Eye, but most of all PlayStation Home! Shown three years ago, and we’re getting an Open Beta this fall, it has been so badly managed that it’s almost become a joke at Microsoft, with a senior Xbox executive this week telling us not to “hold our breath on PlayStation Home, as it could be dangerous”. I agree completely.

You have to understand that Sony have failed miserably in managing the PlayStation 3, Phil Harrison did not just leave a very well paid job because the PlayStation 3 was a roaring success and he felt like he could not achieve anymore in his current post, he left because he knew that the Sony ship was headed for stormy waters, and he didn’t want to be there when that happened. Harrison mentioned on the DualShock front that he believed it was a gimmick, and gamers didn’t need vibration, SIXAXIS was the future. – What a load of crap, and Sony proved that buy settling their dispute with the company behind DualShock.

2008 has been a “better” year for PlayStation 3, of that there is no doubt, but it certainly wont be “the year” of the PlayStation 3, that I am afraid is another year away.