Playstation 3: Progress and Development

Posted: September 5th, 2013

Name:

Lecturer:

Course:

Date:

Playstation 3: Progress and Development

With its official abbreviation as PS3, the Playstation 3 is a home video game console developed by the Sony Computer Entertainment company, the third of its version, succeeding previous version of Playstation 2 and 1. The Playstation 3 serious has gone on to present serious competition to rival gaming production such as Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. These models are considered to represent the seventh generation of home video gaming consoles. The Playstation 3 was first unveiled in Japan on November 11, 2006 (Lewis, 15). International markets released this gaming console thereafter. Since its release into the market, the video game console has gone on to make significant impact in the market. It is currently considered the best of its kind.

The major features of the Playstation 3 console the playstation network, a unified online gaming service, multimedia capabilities, and a primary storage medium in the form of Blue ray disc. Sony Computer Entertainment Company first unveiled the game console to the public at a conference on May 16, 2005 as a prototype design. In this conference, the real version of the game was not present but the company opted to present to the public gaming demonstrations through video footage (Lewis, 19). The prototype presented at the conference was noted to have six USB ports and three Ethernet ports. However, when the game was officially released in 2006, these features were then reduced to four USB ports and one Ethernet port, presumably to reduce on the costs of production.

The Sony Computer Entertainment company announced that it had endeavored to produce two hardware configurations of the gaming console; including a 60-gigabyte model and a 20-gigabyte model. The models at the time were priced at 599 and 499 dollars respectively. The model with the 60-gigabyte capacity was the only configuration model with WI-FI internet, HDMI port, and flash card readers 9 (Conrad, 21). The Sony Computer Entertainment company announced in 2006 that the launch of the PAL region Playstation 3 was going to be delayed to the following year because of material shortage to facilitate production of the Blue ray drive. The company also announced that the 20-gigabyte model would include a HDMI port but would lack the distinct flash card readers and Wi-Fi properties as seen in the 60-gigabyte model. This move meant that the previous price stipulated for the model reduced by twenty per cent.

On the good side of the Playstation 3 gaming console, the model is incorporated with a swanky design. Additionally, the machine operates with almost quite sounds. All the games playable in this model all come in high definition viewing, a user-friendly interface. The machine can also upscale standard DVD’s in addition to playing blue ray movies with high definition properties (Conrad, 29). With the Wi-Fi support, participating online with other players is free. The gaming system is incorporated with backwards compatibility hardware enabling it to play Playstation 1 and 2 games for those who are still attached.

On the negative side however, compelling exclusive games are limited and far between. The Playstation rumble and Home controller were not released until late 2008. There have been suggestions that a USB port at the backside of the machine would have a brilliant addition. Since the gaming console lacks infrared support, the implication is that devices without blue tooth support cannot be compatible with the machine. Another criticism to the console involves the media, online gaming and commerce options are not competitive with similar features developed by Xbox live (Wildstrom, 32). Nevertheless, the bottom line is that the larger hard drive of the high-end playstation console and its ability to accommodate Playstation 1 and 2 games makes it a cheaper and worthwhile model.

In general, the argument is that the Sony Computer Entertainment Company stumbled out with the Playstation console. Since it was first unveiled to the public at a conference on May 16, 2005 as a prototype design, the following period witnessed months of intense hype until it was finally launched in November 2006. Up until it was officially released into the market, it was a full year after arguably its biggest competitor in the name of Xbox 360 had done its debut in the market. At the time, the standard price set for the deluxe model was at 600 dollars. According to gaming pundits, what was worse was that Playstation 3 was not equipped with any must have features and games did not seem as interesting as those available on the Xbox 360 by Microsoft.

Since then, the Sony Computer Entertainment company has been out to make necessary modifications and developments in a move aimed at better fitting the production model to the gaming market. August 2008 saw the company unleash another hardware configuration of the gaming console to include an 80-gigabyte model. In the same year in November, the company went a further step forward to double the capacity to a 160-gigabyte hardware configuration console. However, both gaming models lacked backward compatibility with previous Playstation games in addition to their lack of flash card readers ((Conrad, 36). At the fall of September 2009, the Sony Company announced the discontinuation in production of the 80-gigabyte model. The console model was retailed at a subsidized price a 300 dollars as means of speeding up sales. This move was meant to create time and resources aimed to produce more of the in demand 160-gigabyte hardware configuration console.

Although the predecessors to Playstation 3 were dominant forces against other competitive home video games and raked in huge profits for the Sony Company, the Playstation 3 started on a different role. For starters, the gaming console lacked the gameplay compared that of Nintendo’s Wii, which was more affordable (Wildstrom, 45). In terms of units sold, Nintendo’s Wii ranked first with regard to number of units sold to customers. It was just more popular. Furthermore, Sony had to bear with competition from Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which Sony allowed to have a whole year head start; something the company was largely criticized (Wildstrom, 52). As a result, big gaming titles such as Grand Theft Auto popular with Playstation 2 were no longer exclusive to Sony.

It took a longer time than estimated for the Playstation 3 console to peak in terms of sales. The Sony Company went on to make losses on every device sold of the original models sold of the gaming console. It was estimated that the production costs were 805 and 840 dollars for the 20-gigabyte model and 60-gigabyte model respectively. If the cost estimates were anything to go by, this implied that the Sony Company was incurring a loss of 241 and 306 dollars on each gaming model sold. The company moved to produce a distinct slim version compared to the original one. This model was modified with cost cutting designs.

Despite most of the feedback bout the gaming console being negative, several gaming websites and pundits gave positive reviews and commended Sony Company for its product. For example, United Kingdom CNET commended the gaming console saying that it was an impressive and versatile piece of equipment for home entertainment that would liven up hype and that it was worth its exorbitant retailing price. Out of a possible 10, CNET awarded the gaming console a score of 8.8 and declared it the highest ranking must have gaming device (Card, 19). In conclusion, the Playstation 3 console endured a ruff patch in both production compared to its predecessors. Withstanding what the company had to go through, it is prudent that they will have learnt a valuable lesson before they proceed on to develop Playstation 4 gaming console, according to rumors.

Works Cited

Card, Orson S. “The Gamer of the Future.” Official U.s. Playstation Magazine. 3.10 (2010): 48. Print.

Conrad, S, G Dorn, and P Craiger. “Forensic Analysis of a Playstation 3 Console.” Ifip Advances in Information and Communication Technology. (2010): 65-76. Print.

Lewis, P. “Sony Scores with Its New Playstation 3 Console, but Nintendo’s Wii Provides Cheap Thrills.” Fortune European Edition. 154.11 (2008): 86-87. Print.

Wildstrom, S. “Playstation 3: It’s Got Game.” Business Week New York. (2009): 22-22. Print.