How much difference does the gaming community make?

savemejebus

It seems to be the overriding sentiment on the web in general that the sony have pi$$ed off the gaming community and as such will reap what they sow as lots of people will boycott sony products etc. to teach them a lesson.

It's undeniable that in any business alienating your customer base is a dumb move at best and an unforgivable loss causing sin at worst. However, I'm wondering is what we know of as the "gaming community" the customer base that companies like sony are aiming for.

I remember when the original playstation started making a big splash, appearing on tv and becoming part of popular culture and i don't think it was at launch or when it first appeared on gaming tv shows. As far as i recall it was when someone got the bright spark to stick them in night clubs and let clubbers play wipeout and project funky patterns as the CD played.

I think that caused everything to change, gaming became cool but it also became very casual and i think that alot of that remains to this day. I think it was the casual gamer that made the ps2 a success, and I kinda think that is who sony is marketing the ps3 to. Not the people that are posting on messageboards at midnight on a friday night;) , but the ones who are out dancing and drinking, with tonnes of disposable income just gagging to spend it on the latest hd tv and a bright shiny ps3 to go with it. And they outnumber us :eek:

Sorry about the rambling thread but i saw the other thread on whether people will buy a ps3 and it was heartening to see many people taking a stance and saying "no". I think it's great as really many people just complain and do nothing and as far as i can see voting with your feet in situations like this is the only way to make a real point.

The thing is, i wonder will it make a difference?

What do ye think?

projectmayhem

savemejebus wrote:

lots of people will boycott sony products etc. to teach them a lesson.

whatever about alienating their audience, sony products are still selling like mad. bravia is the #1 selling HD-tv, their mp3 player stuff has gained market share (though they'll never beat creative or apple there) and the ps2 still outsells 360 by a margin or 5:1 or thereabouts.

"lots of people" wont make a difference. a massive global movement would, and internet forum geeks are not a massive global movement... they're just whingey virgins.

savemejebus wrote:

It's undeniable that in any business alienating your customer base is a dumb move at best and an unforgivable loss causing sin at worst. However, I'm wondering is what we know of as the "gaming community" the customer base that companies like sony are aiming for.

in another thread it was mentioned, quite correctly, that sony's PR flubs never have, or ever will enter the mainstream. stick a 360 kiosk next to a ps3 one and i guarintee you the ps3 one will generate more interest, even if the game inside was the same. "playstation" is a brand that over 100million people have invested in, a lot of whom have done so more then once (ps1, ps2, psp). 100million people do not check out the crusade joystiq have going on. 100million people couldn't give a rats arse about lik-sang, "riiiiiiiiiidge racer" or giant headcrabs. they just want a new playstation because it'll have lots of great games.

savemejebus wrote:

I think it was the casual gamer that made the ps2 a success, and I kinda think that is who sony is marketing the ps3 to. Not the people that are posting on messageboards at midnight on a friday night;) , but the ones who are out dancing and drinking, with tonnes of disposable income just gagging to spend it on the latest hd tv and a bright shiny ps3 to go with it. And they outnumber us :eek:

which is kind of what i'm getting at. forum nerds and joystiq writers don't pull out buzz or all the eyetoy games. we play counter-strike on our PC's.

the new ads on tv were moaned about right here, and on a load of other forums no doubt. the idea isn't to make the "hardcore" who already know what they want (a 360, or a new graphics card, or a Wii) for the next 5 years aware of what ps3 is/has... it's to put the ps3 in the general publics psyche by refreshing the "playstation" brand and adding a "3" to the end of it with the kind of ads that did the same thing for ps2 (third place, fun anyone, etc.)...

savemejebus wrote:

The thing is, i wonder will it make a difference?

What do ye think?

i'd say the people in hospital from the queues in america would say no.

Rabies

savemejebus wrote:

Sorry about the rambling thread but i saw the other thread on whether people will buy a ps3 and it was heartening to see many people taking a stance and saying "no". I think it's great as really many people just complain and do nothing and as far as i can see voting with your feet in situations like this is the only way to make a real point.

The thing is, most of those people will still buy the PS3 after the initial price drop. The "No" is mainly about the price.
Hell, I think the price is crazy, the lack of launch titles is madness, but yet if money was no object I would buy every console on launch date regardless like everyone else.

jonski

I think the majority of people that will buy the ps3 are people that game on consoles ( obvious ) , these are the same people that watch game review shows on TV . If they have a pc it is for listening to music and a bit of surfing , not really for joining in on gaming communities , therefore they don't really read the negative stuff online .

Having said that , with more and more games for the consoles being playable online , it might get them into/hearing about , online game communities and they might take a break from allofmp3 for 5 minutes .

I would also be pretty sure that there is a good precentage of the playstation/xbox crown that would look down and despise the clans and gaming communities , feeling it is made up of nerds/geeks .

Rhyme

In this case, no. SONY would have to actually come out and say 'You're all f*cking idiots' or some such phrase to crack into the positive light that thousands of people view Playstation in. You might say 'fanboys' but for the most part its just people who trusted the PS1/2 through word of mouth/example and now through association they will buy the PS3 as they trust the brand. They may have lost a fair bit of business through their little mistakes and that price tag but it will take more than that to make a dent in their profits/fanbase.