Square Enix agrees: PlayStation 3 is in big trouble

The box of doom?

(Credit: CNET)

As I've mentioned before, I believe Sony is in for a rude awakening with its PlayStation 3. The company's expectation that video game consumers will flock to the PS3 because of its technical prowess was disastrously incorrect, and the notion that Sony can sell hardware that is too expensive and difficult to develop for is something it has yet to address.

And while some Sony fanatics have called me biased, I assure you, I'm not alone in my assertion that very little can save Sony and the PlayStation 3.

Yoichi Wada, president of game publisher Square Enix, told reporters Friday that Sony must change its strategy if it wants to see the release of the PlayStation 4. According to Wada, "Sony first unveiled the PS3 as a mighty home electronics product. Then, after some badgering from game companies, it shifted the position of the console closer to a game machine. (The future of the PS3) would be tough if its marketing strategy is not straightened up."

The verdict is in: one of the most important video game developers in the business is saying the PS3 is in trouble. Isn't that enough for Sony to overhaul its entire strategy?

Square Enix is extremely important to both Sony and the entire video game industry. With such classics as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest under its belt, Square Enix has proven to appeal to both Japanese and American gamers--a feat that should not be overlooked. In fact, Square Enix was a significant player in the PlayStation's original success.

But today, the company is releasing hits on most major platforms and has been successful enough to wield power in the video game industry. And if Wada's criticism of Sony's marketing strategy is any indication of the future, Square Enix may be losing its patience with Sony and the PlayStation 3.

Square Enix is not the only developer that has issues with the PlayStation 3. A few weeks ago when Madden 08 was released, many gamers were upset with the poor PS3 performance compared with the superior Xbox 360 version. "Rob B." from EA Sports explained that the issues can be attributed to the experience developers have had with either console, but some players and reporters were skeptical if that was the entire truth.

Sony relies on developers. As Nintendo learned in the previous two generations, going it alone is not the best solution when you are trying to sell hardware. And while Sony is, by no means, "going it alone," it's running the risk of losing the support of developers who find the high development costs, steep learning curve and poor revenue gains increasingly annoying.

Wada was correct in his assessment that Sony really doesn't know where it's going and how to market the PlayStation 3. First, the company tries to tell us that it's a multimedia powerhouse that will become the centerpiece of our living room. Realizing the Wii was beating it up with a solely gaming angle, Sony tried to tell us that the PlayStation 3 was the world's best gaming console because of that, oh so amazing, Cell processor. Sure, it may be great, but I haven't seen anything spectacular come out of it.

Finally, the company seemed like it realized we don't want to pay so much for a game console, "dropped the price" and then announced that a new higher capacity version will be coming out for the old price. What a deal!

One of the most common arguments I hear against my (and Wada's) assertion that the PlayStation 3 is in trouble, is the notion that I'll "just need to wait and see what comes out next." The reference? Exclusive PlayStation 3 titles like Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Sure, I'll concede the fact that these games could significantly improve the PlayStation 3's footing in the console wars, but I'm not so quick to assume that they definitely will.

As anyone who has ever played a first person shooter on the PlayStation 2 or 3 knows, it's not that great of an experience when compared with an Xbox 360 FPS. First off, the analog sticks are poorly engineered and secondly, the L and R buttons simply don't work as well as the Xbox 360's triggers. That said, the PlayStation 3 FPS experience is far better than its predecessor, but still lacking when compared with the Xbox 360.

And as for Metal Gear Solid 4? Well, I guess you're right, I'll just need to wait and see. But if Sony doesn't get its act together, it wouldn't surprise me if the game is released on the Xbox 360 with a few improvements thrown in. Sales dictate exclusivity in the video game industry, not loyalty. My guess? MGS4 on the Xbox 360 by Christmas 2008.

The PlayStation 3 is nothing more than a lost puppy. Is the PlayStation 3 a living room solution? Is it a video game console? Is it both? If so, which is more important to the target market? Is it too expensive? Is it too hard to develop for? Are developers losing patience? These are the questions Sony must answer. And if it doesn't hurry up, Wada and I agree: it's in deep trouble.

[ironkevin]

My PS3 Experience

I bought the PS3 and 6 games shortly after it released. I've been very impressed by the quality and performance. I regularly download or buy new games/demos and the offerings are improving month after month. I understand that developers want it easy (I work at a software company) but clearly many companies are developing amazing games. If Square Enix doesn't want to play I think there are dozens of other game companies willing to take their place.

[jabailo]

PS/3 will be a Xmas hit

The thing about console gaming it changes every year because every year theres a new crop of 11 year olds who don't want last years junk.

Sony will be the big hit of 2007 with new games, a Linux desktop and other cool features.

[bommai]

PS3 is a great BD/DVD/CD player

While I am not a gamer, I purchased the PS3 as a good Bluray and SACD player. I am a movie buff and its Bluray performance has been phenomenal. The constant software updates that have given us DVD upscaling abilities, CD upscaling abilities, and SACD bitmapping abilities are great. I am super satisfied with my purchase. I own one game - Motor Storm. That's it. I use it everyday to play DVDs, CDs, SACDs, and BDs.

[ndsnowman]

Sony can't afford to lose Square exclusives

You can't just say "whatever" when a company that produces some of your biggest exclusives complains. Especially now that they've already lost GTA exclusivity. If Square moves on, a lot of people are gonna follow (see the FF VII exodus from Nintendo to Sony). And since MSG4 doesn't come out til (as of now) March of next year, right now their biggest profile franchise game going into the holiday season is Ratchet and Clank. Is that enough to compete with the cheaper Xbox360 and Halo 3?

[cirej2000]

Agree 100%

Losing Squaresoft was during the N64 days was one of the biggest triggers for Nintendo's decline during the mid-90s until...well...last Fall.

If Sony loses SquareEnix, there won't likely be a boatload of top-tier developers waiting to take their place.

[BadLag]

Best device ever, gaming or otherwise

As a long time technogeek, learned PCs just to play games, I think the PS3 is by far the coolest thing on the planet...yes I am impressed with the games and Blu Ray but the latest PS3 update, allow us to search for media servers within our home Lans. I have been trying to build a decent living room PC for home theater, multi-media, PVR etc for yrs, the PS3 has just eliminated the need for that! With MediaPlayer 11 on my main PC, I just setup a media server, on the PS3, search for media servers...now all my music, movies and pics, are accessable wirelessly to my big screen TV and Surround system, this is very cool!!! Also next yr there will be a PVR setup for the PS3...wow, what more could anyone ask for?....PS3 ROCKS

[BadLag]

OH, and also

I forgot on my previous post, I put Yellow Dog Linux on my PS3 and now can surf the web and do email with Firefox and Thunderbird....so maybe Sony does not have a marketing direction so why not just say, it is the All In One box that does much much more than games... ;-}

[allenmwnc]

hold on a second

Unfortunately for PS3 buyers, you can also do most of these things with the 360 for a few hundred dollars less. That is the big caveat in my opinion. Sure the PS3 is cool, but just way too expensive.

[scales]

i strongly disagree...

I just purchased a ps3 after debating between it and the 360 for the past few months, and don?t ever think for a second that I made the wrong choice.

First off, I don't know what you are talking about when you say the ps3's FPS is far inferior to the 360s. I own Resistance and Warhawk and both games play beautifully at excellent frame speeds and easy controls, especially warhawk when flying the planes.

I happen to own a 360 controller for my PC and I also disagree with your statement that its analog sticks are way better than those of the ps3. I personally like both controllers equally. Yeah I wish that the ps3 put the stupid rumble in it but it isnt a deciding factor for the system.

I don?t think I need to make any comments on the graphics of the console; they look just as good if not better than any 360 games.

The multimedia experience of the ps3 is also fantastic. Just like the 360, it streams my videos and music from my networked windows desktop. And using a program called tversity I don?t even have to worry about having them all in the correct format. Unlike the 360, the built-in blueray (HDdvd for the 360) ensures that I can watch fantastic quality movies without having to purchase some extra add-on.

Now, I am not saying that the ps3 is the best console out there, but your comparison to the wii is way off base, everyone knows that the consoles are in completely different markets. The wii is only "beating it from the gaming angle" because it is cheap, and offers a new experience. Overall I strongly feel that after playing the Wii, it is fun, but its motion sensors for every game definitely get old because they are not very accurate or responsive, and as a skilled and coordinated gamer (yes i will be so bold as to make that claim) I definitely do not have the control that I usually have with analog sticks and buttons.

The one thing that the ps3 and the wii both need to do is get a better game library. I don?t know why square enix is saying that the ps3 is hard to develop for, try developing for nothing but motion sensors with the wii, spiderman3 on that console is ridiculous to try and control.

All in all I think developers need to stop complaining and either adjust to compensate for the ps3 or simply don?t make games for it. I don?t know what sony can do at this point to save the console if it fails, but I highly doubt it will fall off the charts and that the ps4 will never come to market.

[Carlox1]

an image is worth but that thousand words

the truth its that once you see your neighbor, cousin or friend ps3 in action you will want to have one, no matter if you just bougth a wii or xbox, because ps3 its spectacular and almost ulimited posiblity system thanks to its hard disc and its cell procesor you can install and update a lot of things ps3 its like having a powerful pc, xbox 360 its almost as great as ps3 but ps3 its a little bit more, and wii like i said its in another low category, its fun at the begining then......, anyway if you have a wii also necesary you must have a xbox360 or a ps3 if you really want last gen console, i m not with any brand of console, i just take the best at the moment, if in the future nintendo is the best i will be with, my first console was atari 2600, and intellivision, then nes, snes, sega genesis etc etc etc. sorry my english y speak spanish, if ps3 were bad i would be the first one to tell everybody that.

[Carlox1]

jaja don reisinger why you hate ps3?

i disagree totally with you? its too soon in the console war, i have a ps3 and its spectacular the fluid an detailed action in the games and online gaming too its impresive 40 players at the same time with a lot of action the cell its really great, and 1080p games its the best and the movies are also great in 1080p i have lcd samsung, besides you cant despise about 5,000,000 consoles sold until now, and also you cant make a comparision on products sold between products with a big diference in their prices like wii and ps3 it like say that you have to multiply x 2 the ps3 console sold because the price, sorry my english but i speak spanish, ps3 its not just a consolole, blueray 1080p player, games 1080p in blueray discs, 7.1 ch, wifi, hdmi 1.3 etc etc etc,on line gamming free,surf the web and i heard something about linux on ps3!(ps3 also a pc) it seems its not too expensive console, besides justify me the price of wii, im sure you wont be able to tell me nothing, wii should be cheaper, i like wii but its another inferior category than xbox 360 and ps3.thanks

[cosmoracer23]

This blog is a very good summation of the PS3

I am thus far amazed at the lack of vision and clarity that Sony has had with their "gaming system" and I can see why a lot of their developers would be jumping ship. One of the only reasons I would have purchased a PS2 was for GTA but now that it is available on 360 there is no need to own 2 consoles.
It could be a valid argument that the PS3 is superior to the 360 because it has a cell processor and blu-ray but look at the facts....
The true power of the cell processor has not thus far been unlocked (read: bad dev kits from Sony) so I know I am not willing to sit around and cross my fingers for that to happen. Xbox 360 has the potential on the ground and it is showing that potential in head to head comparisons (Madden). So saying that the potential of the PS3 is larger then the 360 is pure speculation.
Sony has somehow convinced its base that the Blu-Ray is necessary to usher in the new generation of gaming (read: Sony wants to have its proprietary format the new standard) but I see very few games that can not fit on a standard DvD. If this is really an issue they can be fit on multiple DVDs (Blue Dragon).
So the Sony fanboys can make their speculative arguments all they want and play their first party games. I will be playing Halo 3, GTA with exclusive content and it sounds like (fingers crossed) Final Fantasy. Sorry, Madden never did it for me (you've played one football game you have played them all.)
Great article Don - you summed up a lot of what the rational non-biased gamers think). Although I am a XBOX fanboy.

P.S. - You are right about the controllers. The reason I loved my xbox from day one was because of the controllers. We passionately referred to the large ones as "D"-Cups.

[gary z]

5 Reasons Developers Choose Playstation 3

Momentum is shifting to Playstation 3, because:

1. Excellent games NOW and LATER.

2. Quality system will earn huge install base.

3. Controller fits like a smooth glove.

4. Developers recogonize the future of mainstream computing is multi-core like the PS3, so they need to embrace it or they become tomorrow's COBOL programmers.

5. Redmond auto-blog farmers all admit they love and envy the Playstation 3.

--Gary Z.

[cosmoracer23]

Retort to Garys Comments

"
Momentum is shifting to Playstation 3, because:

1. Excellent games NOW and LATER.

2. Quality system will earn huge install base.

3. Controller fits like a smooth glove.

4. Developers recognize the future of mainstream computing is multi-core like the PS3, so they need to embrace it or they become tomorrow's COBOL programmers.

5. Redmond auto-blog farmers all admit they love and envy the Playstation 3.
"

1. Which games are you referring to? Fall of Man? That is the only exclusive game that is great that is available on the PS3. Everything else is on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Xbox has Bioshock - by all accounts a masterpiece of a game (read the reviews).

2. This may be correct. The Xbox does have some issues with hardward but Microsoft has taken ownership of the issue and has extended warranties and they have already addressed the issues on the new consoles.

3. Fits like a glove? I think the last controller that fitted like a glove was on the NES (power glove - i sure hope the ps3 controller is better then that). It's a matter of preference and I am not sure there have been any studies conducted otherwise.

4. Not true. The developers need to pick whichever platform they can make money on. It's pure economics. Right now the Xbox is easier to program for and has a larger install base. Developers would be naive to spend time on an unproven product. The most powerful system does not always win (Neo-Geo). That is assuming that the PS3 truly is more powerful which is far from proven. In the long run the Cell might be the future but for now no one "needs" to utilize it. Look at the PS2 - it is still selling very well despite its age and is not a black hole like the PS3 is for Sony.

5. Who?

[wreckless999]

PS3 From 10 to 1... 2.5

The Cell Processor is not for calculating graphical. In addition is limited to only 256MB of memory.

My point is that people keep saying that the PS3 is better bacause the Cell processor has more core than the XBOX 360 CPU. But, how many core's have the GPU in the PS3? Only one. Running @ 550MHz.

So, they only thing that makes games look great is the freaking GPU not the freaking CPU... and the XBOX 360 has a lot of memory for do great graphics.

[synagogue]

Transparent biased garbage

That's basically all this article is, presenting opinion as though it somehow constitutes actual fact? Desperately attaching Wada's name to every attack he could muster on the PS3?

This is pretty pathetic. The writer here is clearly in love with his 360 to the point where he needs to pretend anyone who doesn't agree with his stance is somehow wrong and "that's a fact". Get over yourself fanboy. I got more enjoyment from Timesplitters on the PS2 than I have from any Xbox FPS I've played. This is an OPINION, not presented as fact you'll note. Try it sometime.

Agenda led garbage, That's all this is.

[EnglandDaz]

I totally disagree with the article

Maybe look at the bigger picture before slating the PS3 and look inside the smaller picture and compare.

1. Lets compare the PS3/Wii/XB360

PS3 is an all round 'Next gen' game console and multimedia machine with future expansions to boot.

The Wii is nothin more than a mediocre family gaming machine and is far from 'Next gen'

The XB360 is very much alike to the PS3, to compare the 'PS3 with the 360' both are very much alike as to gaming and next gen graphics/gameplay. The only difference as on now is the time difference of both boxes. It's obvious the 360 has a bigger fan base and following as its been out alot longer with more consoles sold.

Now if we are to look at the time factor difference between the 360 and PS3. How many 360 consoles had MicroSoft sold in the first 6 month in comparison to Sony's PS3 (as of now EU - March to Sept) Now lets take into account of how many 360's has gone to red light modus within that time frame and compare them stats to the PS3. (quality over quantity) comes to mind.

There is much to be seen from Sony (for the PS3) in time to come and it will be evident which one is/will have the upper hand. As of the state of things now, Microsoft have done pretty well securing lots of exclusive deals way before the launch of the PS3, you just have to ask yourself why... I think the answer is simple, M$ knew full well the capability and power of Sony's Playstation 3 and I can see all the exclusives changing in time to come.

[Carlox1]

ps3 system info.

check this link with ps3 system info
http://www.sony.com.mx/playb3yond/

[Michael.Hatamoto]

Don't count out the PS3 yet

Even though I am impressed with the progress made by the Nintendo Wii, I
agree that it is only a matter of time before the power of the Sony PS3 is
properly used to create games.

On another note, I believe some members of the media need to spend less
time comparing the three consoles to one another. Why wouldn't game
developers want to create games for the Wii? It's fun, cheap game console,
and it's still impossible to find one at B&M stores.

I truly believe game developers are at least attempting to utilize the
technology the PlayStation 3 offers.

[taomaster99]

Fanboys of Sony

Now the Sony fans know how it feels when everyone is dogging your machine. I like all consoles by the way so I'm not flaming or anything. Don't have a ps3 yet but will eventually pick it up, if it's still around.

[Y_Y_Z]

I OWN A PS3 and an X360 ...and I AGREE!

Unless you own an X-BOX360 and a PS3 how would ya know?

The PS3 is a networking NIGHTMARE to begin with. Here's a nice list of other ridiculous PS3 problems:
1. Media extensions are very limited.
2. BlueTooth headsets are unreliable/troublesome.
3. Sony's Servers are unreliable.(-Warhawk)
4. Practically need to be IT certified to run this thing!
5. Analog stick controls are too floaty.
6. The "wireless" console antenna is poor(60% strength to XBOX 360)
7. Pic folders are archaic in organization. MONTH/YEAR? LOL!
8. Customer Service is not 24/7
9. Game patches/fixes are very drawn out.... Motorstorm etc
10.Surf the web? Yeah sure...just can't login to anything.
11.Online gaming features are about 1/3 of XBOX Live.
12.FPS is way less than XBOX360, example: RSVegas.
13.PS2 upgrade games have controls issues, example:MaxPayne
14.SIXAXIS...LOL who uses it?
15.Ported games are dark in contrast, ie RSVegas.
16.PS3 game catalog is horrendously small.

------CUSTOMER SUPPORT?
And what I really love is when I called SONY to complain about online play, they said "well sir, it's a free service"
HAHA... yep... I paid $600+ for that. ELITISTS.

Play an XBOX360 b4 you slam the PS3 critique. This is NOT a Multimedia all in one powerhouse like it was advertised. Not even CLOSE.
By the way the Steering Wheel pictured on the box when you bought the console 10 months ago... still doesn't exist. HAHA.

[kzahid06]

I think the PS3 is awesome -- much, much better than the Xbox 360. It is a very powerful gaming console.