Playstation's Personality

[Ekim]

Hi,

I'm working on a creative brief to design an advertising campaign for the Playstation 3.

I wanted to get an idea of what other people felt the personality of the Playstation brand is, in comparison to the other major consoles (XBox 360 7 Nintendo Wii).

At the moment I am thinking that the XBox is more serious, perhaps slightly more technical due to its close relationship to Microsoft and PC Gamers as a whole. The Playstation represents, for me, a more dark side to gaming. The look and feel of the console (the jet black colour of the casing for PS2 & PS3) as well as pioneering games such as GTA and Resident Evil, and other titles in these sort of genres.

I'd be interested in hearing everyone's ideas on this subject and it would help me no end!

Thanks

[kandy]

An expensive pile of **** with a betamax DVD player

* xbox 360 owner so biased opinion :D

[*Tsunami*]

Playstation 3... You get what you pay for... (If you pay for it you get ripped off)

But seriously, Wii is the family console with games for all ages (family friendly) and a unique control system... Xbox360 is the console for the more serious gamers ... That leaves the PS3, I have no idea what it is trying to aim at?. I cannot work out it's target market (@ it's current price) maybe a console for Sheep who buy it becuase it's Sony? (or playstation). Console for those with more money than sense?...

Pioneering games such as GTA and Resident Evil have been done on many console as well as playstation. A lot of the time they are not pioneering at all, just a format lockdown by sony to prevent them being released on other formats.

I'm sure sony will make it a success, some people might buy the console as a cheap blue-ray player. However I'm waiting until the HD-DVD/BlueRay war has been fought and there is a clear winner before I decide to pick one format (over the other).

[Freelance]

please, no negative advertising. it's just cheap. leave the smacktalk out of the ads

[Ryvita]

As a starter for ten, trying to scare your prospective customers (The baby ad), whilst effective at generating memory retention, is just plain freeky. :)

Ryv

[shred_dog]

Ive always kind of thought of XBox as the Britney Spears of the consoles - fun, nice to look at, all the kids love it, and its everywhere. Even in movies like The Island. It's too pop for my tastes. It WANTS to be legit, but isnt. That's why Xboxers are paying so much to play online.

Nintendo, although (IMHO) having paved the way for consoles, is the Disney of the group. Its an all mario, all pokemon party. all the time. they never go away. Blitz was great fun on the N64, and all the 8-bit games are still awesome, but I don't know that (again, IMHO) nintendo will ever compete with Sony.

PS2, IMHO is the greatest console ever. The graphics are still cartoony enough to be a lot of fun, without taking itself too seriously. Its kind of the Primus/Bruce Cockburn/Kate Bush/Marillion of the consoles. Tons of great stuff for it, but people who are so caught up in Micro$oft's monopoly don't give it the time of day or dismiss it without giving it a chance. The controls are just clunky enough to keep it interesting. I don't really care about how my Ferarri reacts to real life physics on the track, cos I don't have a Ferarri IRL to compare it to. I want to be able to beat the guy on the track next to me cos Im a gamer, not cos Im a gearhead. UT was TERRIBLE on the PS2, but come on - NO console can compete with a PC. Downhill Domination was simply a blast on PS2, and except for that Eye-Toy debacle, Sony reigns supreme.

(on a side note, walking into GameStop or EBGames and asking for Dance Dance Revolution for the Gameboy Advance is GREAT fun - esp when they start looking for it) :D

[Dux0r]

That's why Xboxers are paying so much to play online.


er? £30 a year, oh noes thats like £2.50 a month, how will anyone ever afford that.

but seriously, the playstation 2 was the more commercial and appealing consol to casual gamers and non-gamers, because of its huge colllection of (mostly crap, but casual gamers dont care about that.) games, for all ages and almost every genre, it wasn't to expensive and did have a few big consol selling games, such as metal gear for me personaly, but there are a few others.

playstation 3 to me personaly is about.. i dont know realy, i just know i dont want one right now as i cant see anything to realy grab me and pull me in.

[GreyDeath]

Playstation is the console that releases itself 1-2 years before all the good games get realeased.

[CyberDrac]

I feel that the PS3 is a bit like a Bentley or Rolls Royce, incredibly expensive, superb image, oozes quality and class, and everyone thinks they want one ... then they look in their wallet and realise that they can only afford a Ford Ka (Wii) or VW Golf (XBox).

CD

[RocketKnight]

Playstation 3? All style, no substance.

Consider their list of confirmed launch titles, and compare it with the Xbox 360. The following PS3 launch titles are also available for the Xbox 360:

# Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
# Call of Duty 3
# EA Sports Fight Night Round 3
# F.E.A.R.
# Madden NFL 07
# Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
# NBA 07
# NBA 2K7
# Need for Speed Carbon
# NHL 2K7
# Sonic the Hedgehog
# The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
# Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
# Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
# Tony Hawk's Project 8

The following titles are unique but suffer problems that would put me off buying them or don't offer a reason to splash the cash:

# Full Auto 2: Battlelines - I don't know much about this title yet as I haven't seen anything hands on, but I read a couple of reports it suffered collision issues. This is a game where collisions are a big part of the gameplay, so I wouldn't consider picking it up on launch day.
# Genji: Days of the Blade - Another title that gets slammed for being nothing more than old gameplay with pretty graphics.
# Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire - Good game, but hugely let down by no online play. It has 1v1 split screen, just like the Sega Megadrive did 20 years ago...
# Ridge Racer 7 - Identical gameplay to the Xbox 360 equivalent but with updated graphics.
# Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom - Has recieved bad reviews for average (and sometimes awkward) gameplay on a shiny graphics engine.

Titles actually worth getting a PS3 for:

# Resistance: Fall of Man - This is a title worth having, greatgame play and 40 people multiplayer support.

I could go on but I don't think I have to. On launch day at least, I think Sony will have an expensive console that's all dressed up with nowhere to go.

[Cabe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1hwb5yGZZQ

[LozB]

the words to sum it up

overpriced, overhyped.

[no friends]

I find this thread hilarious. Basing their argument on a price tag?

All consoles to me are just simple multiplayer gaming machines, i never really took to the single player aspects of any games on them tbh.

Just always ended up around a mates house having a 2 player good fun session.

[GreyDeath]

Well people keep bagging on it for looking like a sandwhich toaster.

Anyone who has seen the actual cooling sink for the machine would then believe that it was true

[shred_dog]

I find this thread hilarious. Basing their argument on a price tag?

All consoles to me are just simple multiplayer gaming machines, i never really took to the single player aspects of any games on them tbh.

Just always ended up around a mates house having a 2 player good fun session.


I dont even understand the arguing and slagging. Ekim said at the beginning he was looking for descriptions of "personality" of the consoles themselves... personifying them a bit in a creative way, but most on the thread have taken to criticism and petty arguing ala "my mom can beat up your mom"!!!! It's quite funny how a person can be inferior or a "casual gamer" based on the console they play (including my previous "legit" comment). As kids we used to log entire weekends drawing maps and exploring Hyrule and Brinstar, just so we could beat the game again and again and again faster and faster each time (does the 8-bit NES automatically make you a 'casual gamer'?) come on. Halo2 or Solomon's Key or Project: Gotham or Kung-fu doenst decide whats a serious gamer vs. a casual one. Most of the criticism comes from xboxers, too, so I guess the "personality" of an Xbox is shallow, overtly critical, and immature.


come on, guys. grow up. Help Ekim with his project, ya know?

oh yeah. by the way. my mom CAN beat up your mom :P

[Demondan]

I find this thread hilarious. Basing their argument on a price tag?



Price over the other 2 consoles out there would be a deciding factor for a fair number of people...I know a fair number of people that won't be buying it until it drops in price..is that a good way to run a business? Nope.

Sony I think have become victims of thier own success and decided people will buy them no matter what the price, I own a PS1 and PS2...not at all interested in a PS3.

The way they have also treated europe as a whole with no choice unlike US and JAPAN with the cheaper and Max versions speaks volumes.

[Neon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1hwb5yGZZQ
'nuff said ;)

[Brystar]

I'd have to say that the view of the PS being like the primus of the consoles is extremely distorted. Primus tend to be popular for being anti-pop.

Personally I think the PS3 does look extravagant and to a degree just as vulgar as when the PS2 first dawned upon us. Like one of those extremely large gravestones you see outside a church (no pun intended) except it seems to have sleekness and style to it.

Which kinda makes me think about what somebody else said comparing it to a rolls or Bentley: A Status symbol that can't be afforded by all.

But now to be off-beat about my thoughts on it's actual image to the brass tacks: GTA started out as a PC game originally (Was clarified when Edge did a look back on the game recently) but there were pioneering games with Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, and Wipeout coming to mind as fair representations of it. Also to take back the older PSone stance there was sweetness in motion with Bushido Blade and Soul Blade (which blossomed on the Dreamcast.)

Anyway, that's my 50p in the metre on both counts. :P

[Freelance]

tbh, at the moment the ps3 is in the same situation now that the x360 was a year ago. short supply, untested in the real world and with a small variety of games (might be different by the ps3 europe launch), now it's established with a good set of games and a good online service. microsoft is firmly entrenched as a maker of good consoles now, if you're going to market your console versus their console, i think you'll have an uphill battle.
also i wouldn't personally put too much weight on your past seeing as a lot of the ps1/2 success is based off 3rd party games, and the landscape is much changed now

[GreyDeath]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061117/ap_on_re_us/playstation_shooting

so good, id shoot you for it.

[Zenith]

It's been said twice already, so a third time won't hurt....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1hwb5yGZZQ

"I'm just peppy!
"I'm cheap... and fun!" :D

[rick_2k]

PS3 just says adult gaming to me.. you don't buy it for your kids.. and if you do i hope you have alot of money to blow on games all the time after they get mashed. It just looks like it has the adult games and looks to it. I dont see it as expensive for what you get and all that tech inside such a small box so i completely disagree with the whole its so expensive crap. Upper class console.

Xbox 360 has a more casual teen gamer feel imo.. there arnt many hardcore games out tbh .. they are like sit back relax and play for a while kinda thing which is by no means a bad thing these days.

and wii.. well i agree with everyone on this one.. its a family console that i think anyone can get involved with no matter if you play games or not. That is the market.. nintendo are in for the winnnnar on this one.

[Mingtea]

Remember as a marketeer you don't have to like the product, but you do have to sell it ;)

What it says to me, is dark cold and impersonal, but for most people this is a very cool viewpoint, if you look at most consumer electronics they have this edgy cold view to them.
I'd be using the darker side of the palette, navy blues and blacks would be predominant perhaps with the PS 3 font featuring in a light grey/white (but hey for advert text i'd go for Myriad or Helvectica Neue easier to read, the PS 3 font is a bit naff)

What would you focus on? I guess sony would want PS3's main features to come through in advertising material, you'd look to advertise the SIXAXIS controller, the fact it's the only console with built in next gen drive, and i'd touch somewhere on the cell processor.

So in conclusion, Cold, Impersonal, Dark but very very lust-worthy and Cool. Just like me.

That's what i'd do anyway...