Why Sony will win the next-gen race

No fanboy-rants or list of reasons to be found here – it’s really very simple.

GTA IV.

Now hold on there, just to clear things up – I’m no Sony fanboy. I don’t even own a PS3, or intend to buy one for a good while. Honest.

But the way things are going to pan out seems very clear, and Microsoft have made a very big mistake. They’ve paid $50,000,000 for exclusive downloadable content, which was a fantastic move on their part – but who knows about it? I know about it, you know about it, sure. But at the end of the day, what does that really matter? The hardcore market is well aware of the fact that it’s probably better to buy it on 360, but let’s be honest: The hardcore market are pretty much the ONLY group of people Microsoft are appealing to right now- what they need is mainstream appeal.

And this was their chance! GTA IV will be better on the 360, and you can get both a copy of the game and a console far more cheaply than if you pick up a PS3. It’s a bloody strong message, so why haven’t they been shouting it from the rooftops? Why aren’t they spreading the word to the masses- the people who’ve not already made up their mind about which console to buy to play GTA IV on?

The problem is, the masses have already decided what console to buy it on: The PS3. Why? Just because. Sony don’t need a reason to drag mainstream gamers into their camp – they’re already there. The PS3 GTA bundle? Icing on the cake.

So here’s how things are going to pan out: April 2pth. Sale spike for the 360. Massive sale spike for the PS3. 6 months later those who bought a PS3 will hear by word of mouth that if they’d bought a 360 they’d now be getting extra stuff, but it’s too late. ‘Oh well’.

Microsoft have got almost 3 weeks. If they don’t start telling people outside of the internet about their ace in the hole, then it’s going to have been $50,000,000 down the drain. Good luck boys.

 Matt works with a number of publishers as a research analyst for one of the world’s leading video game market research companies.

In his spare time he writes articles and records podcasts for DarkZero.