GetDotted Domains

Viewing Thread:
"The Playstation Factor"

The "Sony Games" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.

Wed 17/10/01 at 19:14
Regular
Posts: 787
The Sony Playstation is a different console from any before it, and it may even have caused the birth of the Xbox. When you think about it really, the Playstation revolutionised a culture and a generation, not just the games market. I don't think that any other industry has one single company to thank for it's current state, and I amn't stupid enough to blame the success of gaming all on the shoulders of Sony and it's little grey box, but it did change the industry substantially. The Playstation was the first console to have an image, and Nintendo and it's fans should be cursing Sony for their childish sterotype. A lot of you by now will be asking why, so I will explain.

Before the Playstation there was the SNES and the Megadrive, both of which did more or less the same, but the main definition was the main characters on the systems, that is where the battle was won and lost. Sony came along and did something different, they didn't use a cartoon style character as a company mascot, and they didn;t base advertising campaigns around their games, they advertised a culture. The adverts for the Playstation were original and thought provoking, but what had gamers hooked more than anything else was it's maturity. The adverts contained messages, they were almost daring people into going for a Playstation by trying to convince people that they were immature and boring without one of their consoles. They have carried on in the same vein of advertising with the Playstation 2. The Third Place images have all been fairly dark and what you could call "dodgy" places to be, and it is an image of the unkown. As most people should agree with the unknown is it creates an atmoshphere of fear, but for some strange reason us humans are drawn to situations which make us feel uneasy, so the Playstation 2 advertising again draws on a cultural aspect of our time to suck us into the whole atmoshphere of the system.

Nintendo and Sega tried to stick to their guns with their systems, they tried to use the old tried and tested mascot advertising system, and pushed the content of the games as the main selling point. So far for the PS2, I think only GT3 has actually been advertised for the PS2 using actual in game footage, but even then they were abstract adverts, not your generic here is our game type affair. Sega learned a hard consumer related lesson with the Saturn and Dreamcast, the games don't really count when it comes to advertising. People can use the interent to find out much more information than ever before about the up and coming titles, so advertising needs to go somewhere else, a fact which Nintendo has caught onto. The only real evidence you need for this is the adverts for the GBA, the main one which springs straight to mind is where the guy walks into the toilet playing a GBA. This is also the principle which has seen Microsoft enter the console market on, they know that the strength of their advertising campaign alone can sell sonsoles if they provoke the right attitude in people.

So is this all the gaming industry has become? An image run money fest, I'm afraid it looks suspciously like it, but for the most part I don't really mind. You can compare the games industry today directly with the music industry. There are many different styles, and many different cultures, occasionally there is a genius who can combine more than one, but for the most part there is something for everyone. I'm quite sure that a Slipknot fan and a Westlife fan will disagree on what constitutes good music, but that doesn't make any of them less catered for.
Wed 17/10/01 at 20:22
Regular
"You Bum!!"
Posts: 3,740
Great post Bonus
Wed 17/10/01 at 19:28
Regular
Posts: 23,218
when have i benn not good about your posts?
Wed 17/10/01 at 19:21
Regular
Posts: 6,492
Kid Rock wrote:
> nice post there bonus i think my GAD attempt for today has just gone and i bet
> you get it for that


Since when did you start being nice about my posts?


:D
Wed 17/10/01 at 19:20
Regular
Posts: 23,218
nice post there bonus i think my GAD attempt for today has just gone and i bet you get it for that
Wed 17/10/01 at 19:14
Regular
Posts: 6,492
The Sony Playstation is a different console from any before it, and it may even have caused the birth of the Xbox. When you think about it really, the Playstation revolutionised a culture and a generation, not just the games market. I don't think that any other industry has one single company to thank for it's current state, and I amn't stupid enough to blame the success of gaming all on the shoulders of Sony and it's little grey box, but it did change the industry substantially. The Playstation was the first console to have an image, and Nintendo and it's fans should be cursing Sony for their childish sterotype. A lot of you by now will be asking why, so I will explain.

Before the Playstation there was the SNES and the Megadrive, both of which did more or less the same, but the main definition was the main characters on the systems, that is where the battle was won and lost. Sony came along and did something different, they didn't use a cartoon style character as a company mascot, and they didn;t base advertising campaigns around their games, they advertised a culture. The adverts for the Playstation were original and thought provoking, but what had gamers hooked more than anything else was it's maturity. The adverts contained messages, they were almost daring people into going for a Playstation by trying to convince people that they were immature and boring without one of their consoles. They have carried on in the same vein of advertising with the Playstation 2. The Third Place images have all been fairly dark and what you could call "dodgy" places to be, and it is an image of the unkown. As most people should agree with the unknown is it creates an atmoshphere of fear, but for some strange reason us humans are drawn to situations which make us feel uneasy, so the Playstation 2 advertising again draws on a cultural aspect of our time to suck us into the whole atmoshphere of the system.

Nintendo and Sega tried to stick to their guns with their systems, they tried to use the old tried and tested mascot advertising system, and pushed the content of the games as the main selling point. So far for the PS2, I think only GT3 has actually been advertised for the PS2 using actual in game footage, but even then they were abstract adverts, not your generic here is our game type affair. Sega learned a hard consumer related lesson with the Saturn and Dreamcast, the games don't really count when it comes to advertising. People can use the interent to find out much more information than ever before about the up and coming titles, so advertising needs to go somewhere else, a fact which Nintendo has caught onto. The only real evidence you need for this is the adverts for the GBA, the main one which springs straight to mind is where the guy walks into the toilet playing a GBA. This is also the principle which has seen Microsoft enter the console market on, they know that the strength of their advertising campaign alone can sell sonsoles if they provoke the right attitude in people.

So is this all the gaming industry has become? An image run money fest, I'm afraid it looks suspciously like it, but for the most part I don't really mind. You can compare the games industry today directly with the music industry. There are many different styles, and many different cultures, occasionally there is a genius who can combine more than one, but for the most part there is something for everyone. I'm quite sure that a Slipknot fan and a Westlife fan will disagree on what constitutes good music, but that doesn't make any of them less catered for.

Freeola & GetDotted are rated 5 Stars

Check out some of our customer reviews below:

Many thanks!
You were 100% right - great support!
Everybody thinks I am an IT genius...
Nothing but admiration. I have been complimented on the church site that I manage through you and everybody thinks I am an IT genius. Your support is unquestionably outstanding.
Brian

View More Reviews

Need some help? Give us a call on 01376 55 60 60

Go to Support Centre

It appears you are using an old browser, as such, some parts of the Freeola and Getdotted site will not work as intended. Using the latest version of your browser, or another browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera will provide a better, safer browsing experience for you.