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In a hard-nosed business like the videogame industry, the standard tactic adopted in the face of superior rival technology is to ignore the big picture and pick holes in little things. Which is why, when presented with a competitor whose new slab of gaming wizardry broke all records at launch, Sega and PS2 mix with the battle for the “modem”.
Entertainment via networked devices-mobile phones (PS1), set-top boxes, PCs, consoles, or the national grid- Is clearly the future and, on the face of it, It is Sony who have faltered by producing a new machine incapable of communication unaided. By making Playstation2 a modular system, introducing the base console first and then Supplementing it with a modem to enhance its performance, Sony are flying in the face of conventional wisdom. That is hardcore gamers may be willing to purchase upgrades to make their hardware sing sweeter, but the average man on the street simply will not buy into the Pay-Now-Then-Pay-Some-More-Later model.
Ask Sega themselves. Leading the 16-bit videogame boom in the early ‘90s, the company decided that it would not introduce a completely new system in order to take the phenomenon to its next level. Instead, it provided upgrade modules in the form of the Mega CD and 32X- two of the biggest flops in hardware history.
But Sony aren’t thinking of PS2 in traditional console terms, which is why the Sega example should have little bearing on PS2’s fortunes in this era of web-based consumerism. Sony must now see PS2 in terms of a consumer-electronics device comparable to the television. And sales of TV add-ons in the form of VCRs and satellite receivers are hardly meagre, are they?
Entertainment via networked devices-mobile phones (PS1), set-top boxes, PCs, consoles, or the national grid- Is clearly the future and, on the face of it, It is Sony who have faltered by producing a new machine incapable of communication unaided. By making Playstation2 a modular system, introducing the base console first and then Supplementing it with a modem to enhance its performance, Sony are flying in the face of conventional wisdom. That is hardcore gamers may be willing to purchase upgrades to make their hardware sing sweeter, but the average man on the street simply will not buy into the Pay-Now-Then-Pay-Some-More-Later model.
Ask Sega themselves. Leading the 16-bit videogame boom in the early ‘90s, the company decided that it would not introduce a completely new system in order to take the phenomenon to its next level. Instead, it provided upgrade modules in the form of the Mega CD and 32X- two of the biggest flops in hardware history.
But Sony aren’t thinking of PS2 in traditional console terms, which is why the Sega example should have little bearing on PS2’s fortunes in this era of web-based consumerism. Sony must now see PS2 in terms of a consumer-electronics device comparable to the television. And sales of TV add-ons in the form of VCRs and satellite receivers are hardly meagre, are they?
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In a hard-nosed business like the videogame industry, the standard tactic adopted in the face of superior rival technology is to ignore the big picture and pick holes in little things. Which is why, when presented with a competitor whose new slab of gaming wizardry broke all records at launch, Sega and PS2 mix with the battle for the “modem”.
Entertainment via networked devices-mobile phones (PS1), set-top boxes, PCs, consoles, or the national grid- Is clearly the future and, on the face of it, It is Sony who have faltered by producing a new machine incapable of communication unaided. By making Playstation2 a modular system, introducing the base console first and then Supplementing it with a modem to enhance its performance, Sony are flying in the face of conventional wisdom. That is hardcore gamers may be willing to purchase upgrades to make their hardware sing sweeter, but the average man on the street simply will not buy into the Pay-Now-Then-Pay-Some-More-Later model.
Ask Sega themselves. Leading the 16-bit videogame boom in the early ‘90s, the company decided that it would not introduce a completely new system in order to take the phenomenon to its next level. Instead, it provided upgrade modules in the form of the Mega CD and 32X- two of the biggest flops in hardware history.
But Sony aren’t thinking of PS2 in traditional console terms, which is why the Sega example should have little bearing on PS2’s fortunes in this era of web-based consumerism. Sony must now see PS2 in terms of a consumer-electronics device comparable to the television. And sales of TV add-ons in the form of VCRs and satellite receivers are hardly meagre, are they?
Entertainment via networked devices-mobile phones (PS1), set-top boxes, PCs, consoles, or the national grid- Is clearly the future and, on the face of it, It is Sony who have faltered by producing a new machine incapable of communication unaided. By making Playstation2 a modular system, introducing the base console first and then Supplementing it with a modem to enhance its performance, Sony are flying in the face of conventional wisdom. That is hardcore gamers may be willing to purchase upgrades to make their hardware sing sweeter, but the average man on the street simply will not buy into the Pay-Now-Then-Pay-Some-More-Later model.
Ask Sega themselves. Leading the 16-bit videogame boom in the early ‘90s, the company decided that it would not introduce a completely new system in order to take the phenomenon to its next level. Instead, it provided upgrade modules in the form of the Mega CD and 32X- two of the biggest flops in hardware history.
But Sony aren’t thinking of PS2 in traditional console terms, which is why the Sega example should have little bearing on PS2’s fortunes in this era of web-based consumerism. Sony must now see PS2 in terms of a consumer-electronics device comparable to the television. And sales of TV add-ons in the form of VCRs and satellite receivers are hardly meagre, are they?