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With
only months to go until the first rendition of the next generation
- Xbox360 - is released I felt it about time to look back at this
generation, and learn what it is that makes SONYs’ PlayStations
the biggest seller in the UK. I hear some people say “it’s
simply  because
SONY’s the greatest” but that’s not the case. SONY have been
very successful with the PlayStation franchise, but with two other
systems on the market; the notoriously riposte Nintendo GameCube
and Billy Gate’s black box, what makes the PlayStation the people
choice? With the uneducated masses not knowing all of the
GameCube’s advantages Nintendo have let us down in the UK - which
includes hardly any online games or support - and Xbox’s lack of
comparable marketing make both systems asides in the mass
market’s mind-eye. Like me I bet there are a lot of Nintendites
and Xboxers who just can’t figure out why the PlayStation2 is so
successful in the
UK
.
With
the in-house games of Nintendo there are no imperfections or drops
in frame-frame, no polygon pop-up and no bugging. Also there are
generally little to no loading times - while the Xbox is the most
powerful system on the market at the moment. It’s sheer power
that gives the Xbox its status in the gaming world, outweighing
both the PlayStation2 and the GameCube’s ability to produce the
amount of polygons and textures onscreen at the same one time.
In
the
UK
you find that the PlayStation2 has a lot more third-party support
than that of the other systems, there are literally hundreds of
releases on the PlayStation2. It appears to me that  the
publishers need to support the other systems a lot more – as
opposed to seeing a lack of representation of a specific genre on a
format as a slow-selling genre, how about seeing it as an easy
genre to exploit within which there’s little competition?
With
the later releases of the GameCube and Xbox they never had the
opportunity to catch up. The population of the
UK
must have thought that the PlayStation2 was a more high-tech
system; it was released with a DVD player so at the time it was an
advantage, and since the other systems have never been able to
steal the limelight from the PlayStation2.
So
what is it that gave the PlayStation2 its public image? It’s all
about marketing, the way you put a system across to the public. The
PlayStation2 was put
across as an “Entertainment Centre”. The PSP has been put
across as a very sexy piece of kit. In reality it’s just a
PlayStation2 in a smaller box, but looks certain to sell the
NintendoDS in the
UK
.
I
believe the SONY’s PSP is just a side step in the technology. OK
so it’s really stylish, a truly attractive piece of technology.
But being the most stylish and attractive piece of technology is
only the corner stone of selling a system on the worlds market. At
home here in the
UK
, the population seem to be set to be seduced by the sheer beauty
of the PSP. I’m telling you try to keep that screen scratch free.
Although the NintendoDS is a lot more practical and is nearly half
the price it will probably fall behind in sales within months of
the PSP’s release.
Not
being a SONY fan I was a bit sceptical about the PSP until a
college of mine who had recently acquired one from Asia (you know
the one with the higher grade screen), passed me his and said
“careful of the screen”. I was really impressed, as I’ve said
it’s a really attractive
and stylish system, with its big flashy screen, funny semi-analogue
control and the straight forward PlayStation2 button configuration
(with its infamously dodgy Square button).
SONY
have quite a big name in the
UK
. First with the SONY Walkman and all their stereos and TV/Videos -
and now with the PlayStation franchise. With many companies
concentrating their efforts on
Japan
and the
US
– a very sore point with many UK Nintendo fans - a lot of great
games have missed out in the
UK
. SONY understand the European market more than any other firm and
have taken the industry to places which seemingly no other company
saw coming.
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