Episode 24 – 5 Little Words

“I’m a PlayStation guy, but…” That little phrase is going to be devastating for Sony. Right now, as I type this there are very few things that the average person sees as a reason to choose a PlayStation this year. The average gamer from our eight bit generation picked up one if not both previous PlayStations. I had a PS1, and thought it was pretty ok. They have come accustomed to the controller Sony has created and just taken for granted that this controller will be around forever… probably true. Gamers like much of the same, so going from PS2 to PS3 is almost a no brainer for a lot of people and no doubt something that Sony had counted on.

The average gamer also didn’t really know too much about the Wii until recently. They also didn’t realize how much a PS3 costs. Both of those factors work into those 5 words.

“I’m a PlayStation guy, but…”

I was photo assisting the other day and a guy Rod, who I recently met, said these words after talking about videogames for a short while. He talked about how he was very interested in the Wii. He liked the idea of motion controls and that it ads another aspect to gaming and he thought it was really great.

Rod only learned about the Wii two months ago and he was intrigued but not sold on it. He is the definition of a casual gamer. He doesn’t read gaming blogs, he plays Madden, likes the occasional action game… but probably owns very few titles for his PS2. Definitely not the guy who is going to camp out for days to get his hands on a PS3.

This is the kind of person Nintendo is targeting, and had it not been for Wii I’d bet that a year (or two even) Rod would go get himself a PS3. Just because. The exact market that Sony strives for and has had for the past two generations, Nintendo is going to steal out from under their feet. I told him how much the PS3 and the Wii cost. He was shocked at the difference. So price didn’t even factor into his decision, though I’m sure it will for some other people.

There is a flip side to this equation. The casual gamer who likes the occasional “hardcore” (I need another word for that)… lets go with big budget action games. The kind of guy who really likes Halo, or Metal Gear Solid, but will only pick up one or two of those a year. The kind of person who does not want to play games standing up. The person who wants to relax and sit back and use a controller the way he was accustomed to.

Yesterday in line I got to talking to a guy who owned a PSP. We talked about the Wii since… well, that’s what we were there fore. He said he doesn’t like the idea of swinging a tennis racket. He just wants to relax and sit with the controller in his lap. He currently owns a PS2 and doesn’t want a PS3 specifically because of the motion controls. A perfectly reasonable complaint. I told him they weren’t that as heavily relied upon as Nintendo’s. He figured that, since the controller was the same as the PS2, but still he didn’t want to touch it.

He did, however, say, he would probably purchase an Xbox 360 once the price comes down. Interesting to see Microsoft scooping up a group of gamers not truly recognized by the industry. The lazy gamer. While Nintendo and Sony are trying to get people more involved, there are more and more people trying to not get involved.

There is something to say for the folks who don’t want to move. I can see it being a chore after a long day at work, or playing hockey, to then, hold my arms up to shoot some guy in Call of Duty 3 for the Wii. But that’s what my 360 is for. However, the causal gamer will only purchase one console. Will the novelty of the Wii wear off? Will the laziness set in? Or will Nintendo continue to captivate and have more people saying “I’m a PlayStation guy but…”