The SMH has an article about Sony and their late entry to the Australian market.  It's quite an interesting article in that Sony get all hot about their Blu-Ray compatibility.

After reading it though I had to wonder what Sony was really up to with the PS3.

Here's a few comments that made me wonder:

"The Wii-type functionality is more just a sub-element of what the PlayStation 3 offers"

"Wii is a core gaming device. It's a more fun, intuitive sort of product to pick up"

So I guess that the PS3 is not a "core gaming device" anymore.  Then what on earth is it meant to be - it's not a home theatre system is it?  or a HD Set top box?  or a TiVO? At the price it might as well be, but try this quote:

"You have a whole suite of other applications ... such as Blu-ray media playback, the ability to access your music, access your photos and the interoperability with the PlayStation Portable"

Oh, gee, thanks - that makes it so obvious - it's a camera/mp3/blu-ray/PSP Docking station thinga-me-bob.  I assume we can still play games with it, right?

Or how about this little quote:

"Gamers are extremely aware of what they're after and what they want"

Yep - and they want something to play games on, and NOW!  Oh, and they want it for less than the price of a new PC too!  Why would I shell out $830+ for a PS3 when I can buy a new PC from Dell for the same price.  And guess what - a PC plays music and lets me access photo's too, plus it has "a whole suite of other applications" as well.

I'm sorry Sony, but what are you really trying to do?  I suspect you're trying to use the power of the PlayStation brand to make Blu-Ray the next gen DVD platform so that you can make a squillion dollars from all those new Blu-Ray players people will buy and from the licensing costs of the technology.  It's not like DVD is a problem - I'm sure there are absolute millions of people picketing Sony offices crying out for an answer to their viewing woes because of all the pixellation and colour washout they have when watching movies.  And I'm sure that Blu-Ray is the answer for the man on the street, right?  ... No?!  I thought not.

So the PS3 really isn't about competition with core gaming devices like the XBox 360 or the Wii - it's about using a brand that has dominated the gaming industry as a lever into trying to dominate the home entertainment market, and to try and rort their customers along the way.

At least Microsoft show some thought for their customers by giving them choice.  Xbox with HD DVD or not? Then there's skinning options, accessories, add-ons.  The customer has choice and control.  Not so with Sony.

But then again Sony is also a major music label and a strong member of the RIAA right?  The same guys that sued 15 year old girls for downloading a handful of songs from the Internet a few years back.  I'm sorry for being a little cynical about their motives, but their track record doesn't help.

And what does the consumer think of all this?  Japan pre-sold 400,000 Wii's and sold 600,000 in the first 8 days in the US, Sony has sold 154,000 PS3's in Japan and about 200,000 in the US.  The XBox 360, which has had several months head start has sold over 6,000,000.

I think the customer knows what they want, and I think Sony knows how to kill a brand.