Battle of the boxes
Tuesday, November 14 2006, 12:19 AM EST
Contributed by: Jonathan Sidener
SONY AT THE FRONT
Two new video game consoles are about to hit store shelves, at least in limited quality.
Sony will go first, launching PlayStation 3. Nintendo will follow with the Wii.
On paper, the two systems could not be more different.
The PS3 is curvy, and like its predecessor, the wildly successful PS2, jet black. The Wii is stylishly angular, white and not at all reminiscent of the squat and slow-selling GameCube. The PS3 boasts leading-edge technology - BluRay high-definition video player and Cell processor - and a bleeding edge price tag of $600.
The Wii includes an innovative, motion-sensing controller system that can be swung like a bat, sword or golf club and a price of $250 with lower-quality graphics.
NINTENDO JUST BEHIND
Sony Corp. is expected to keep its existing game plan as it tries to hold on to as many of its customers as possible. Nintendo Co. is blowing up its playbook. It will try to hold onto fans of its core games such as "Donkey Kong" and "Mario Brothers." It will also go after new game players, or people who may not have played for years.
Despite all the differences, the two will compete directly with each other and with Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, which has a yearlong head start.
With the entrance of the PS3 and the Wii, the three-way battle for the multibillion-dollar video game industry will be under way. It is a contest that will test a number of marketing strategies and shape the future of electronic games.
Ultimately, the competition will determine whether there is room for three game systems. In the last generation, slow sales of the Sega Dreamcast forced Sega out of the console business. Few people are predicting a quick exit for any of the three gaming companies.
"I think the market is large enough to support all three," said San Diego game-industry analyst David Cole, president of DFC Intelligence. "Each system has its own installed base of users. After five years, Apple announced it has an installed base of 10 million iPod users. The gaming industry has an installed base of 150 million."
In the PS3, Sony is betting that gamers are willing to pay handsomely to own the latest game system. Sony invested heavily in the development of the Cell processor, which will power its new system. That contributes to the hefty price tag. The console also will include a BluRay high-definition video player, further boosting the price.
PS3 games will play at the highest level of high-definition video commercially available today, 1080 lines, progressively scanned, or 1080p. Xbox 360 games play at 720p.
Sony appears to have its eye on the future with the PS3 capabilities. Few high-definition televisions in American homes today are capable of displaying 1080p, but the technology is increasingly becoming available.
The Wii plays games at DVD quality, or 480p, which is not cutting edge, but is higher quality than what standard definition, traditional TVs can display. More than half of American homes have not yet made the switch to digital TV.
Nintendo says it is focusing on the gaming experience, not solely on the number of pixels on the screen. The Wii features a two-piece remote that controls on-screen action when players wave, swing or otherwise physically move it. In a fighting game, for example, one piece of the system can control a character's sword, while the other controls the shield.
Nintendo is betting that "different" will sell, while Sony is sticking to the time-tested formula of sleeker, slicker, faster, said Brian O'Rourke, gaming analyst with Arizona market research firm In-Stat.
"Wii is not cutting edge, but the remote system has been getting very good critical reviews," O'Rourke said. "When I tried it, I liked it a lot.
"The PS3 is very much cutting edge. It's the most future-proofed of the three systems. In 2010, it will be the most relevant system."
Nintendo is already showing signs of serious marketing of the Wii outside of traditional game player demographics. In October, the company took the gaming system to the AARP's Life@50(plus) in Anaheim, Calif. Nintendo showed off the new console and several games that it hopes will be attractive to the over-50 crowd.
This holiday season, there will be noticeable differences in one other area for the three systems: availability.
With a yearlong head start, Microsoft will have an ample supply of Xbox 360s, priced between $299 to $399. The Wii should be fairly easy to find. Nintendo says it will have 4 million units on shelves in the United States between launch and the end of the year. The PS3 will be next to impossible to find. Sony expects to have 400,000 units for launch, and many were sold as pre-orders.
Beyond the holiday season, it's hard to predict how sales will fare, O'Rourke and Cole agree.
"At the end of the day, it all comes down to the games," Cole said. "Who has the most fun games. Who provides the most entertainment. We're entering a real time of uncertainty. We might not know how it turns out for two years."
GOT GAME?
- Sony's PlayStation 3
Price: $500-$600
Number of games at launch: More than 20
Price of games: $60
Color: Black
Selling point: Cutting-edge technology
- Nintendo's Wii
Price: $250
Number of games at launch: More than 20
Price of games: $50
Color: White
Selling point: Motion-sensing controller
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