Why Sony's Playstation 3 is anything but a failure

When this generation of console gaming is over, the Playstation 3 could very well be sitting in a position they've never been in before, dead last.  Both Playstation and Playstation 2 devastated their competition with little difficulty.  I find this particularly funny, because during the time of PSX vs. Sega Saturn, I was firmly planted on the side of Sega, since they were the "real" gaming company.  I had dealt with Panasonic, professionally of course.  Their 3DO console was a failure from the start, and once the Saturn and PSX were about to come out, Panasonic decided that it was wise to bow out while they could still clearance out their overpriced consoles.

Sony came into this generation with a pretty big ego.  After their big wins over the last two generations, they fully expect the new generation of console gaming to begin when they said it did.  Of course, we all know how this generation has turned out thus far.  Microsoft was first out of the gate with what could very well be the finest management of game releases in the first several years that I've ever seen.  Nintendo shot out of the blocks like a fat kid after a doughnut, and while they ran out of steam very quickly (which I predicted less than 6 months after their launch, by the way), they still managed to move more hardware than either of their competitors.  Sony, on the other hand, thought they had the gaming thing licked, and needed to move their focus onto a much more profitable venture.

 You seem the Playstation 2, back in 2000, did something much more impressive and important than rule the video game world.  It was responsible for accomplishing something that many had tried to do, but failed.  The accomplishment?  The destruction of VHS.  When college kids were getting Playstation 2 consoles for Christmas, it put a DVD player in houses and college dorm rooms across the world.  With the blessing of every studio, the Playstation 2 managed to start the boulder rolling of the DVD boom.  This was a glorious time for movie studios, because they could reissue everything they have had in their movie portfolio, at a cheaper cost, and  make tons of money in the process.  So this time around, Sony was once again trying to do something similar.  Introducing a new format to the movie world.  The only difference this time, however, was that they had competition.

Toshiba had HD-DVD, while Sony brought Blu-Ray to the table.  While there are differences between the two, and honestly now it's pointless since we all know Blu-Ray won this war, the only important thing to remember is that both were high definition formats.  Sony initially was in talks with Toshiba to combine the formats in order for both companies "win."  However, Toshiba backed out of the talks, and the warn ensued.  Microsoft backed Toshiba, more or less out of spite for Sony, with an attachment for the X-Box 360, however every Playstation 3 that sold came with a Blu Ray player.  A damn good one too, that is continually updated via firmware patches, and since launch has also added 3D Blu-Ray support.  Like the PS2 before it, this put the format war out of reach, with HD-DVD bowing out a little over a year after the PS3's launch.  

So why is this important?  Two major reasons.  The first reason is because just about everyone watches movies.  Think about it.  You play games.  Your brothers might play games. Your Dad and mom might even play.  Do your grandparents?  Does everyone you know play?  Probably not.  However they all watch movies, don't they?  The second, and much more important reason for Sony is that with Blu-Ray being their format, that means they get a cut out of every Blu-Ray player and movie sold.  It's probably not a huge amount, but it's why a patent is so important.  Hell, Sony made a zillion bucks off of CDs.  This comes into play with the next generation consoles, like the next X-Box.  If Microsoft wants it to be a multimedia hub of high definition entertainment, they are going to have to go with a Blu-Ray drive.  And who get as a cut of that?  That's right.  Every X-Box and X-Box game produced, Sony will receive a cut. 

Think about that the next time someone says the Playstation 3 was a colossal failure.  Sure it did a lot of things wrong, and didn't win both wars, but it will make Sony a lot of money in the future.