Introduction
The video game industry has come a long way so far. This essay is discussing on the reasons for the extensive popularity of Sony video game (PlayStation). PlayStation video game has gained global scale popularity and acceptance since the introduction of PlayStation 1 because of its wonderful technological features that offer its users a wider variety of games to choose. The popularity that PlayStation has enjoyed for decades now is anticipated to rise. Currently as the video game is entering its fourth installment, it is not only becoming popular with children but also with adults. A significant customer population of the game is realizing the pastime that has been in existence with the introduction of the new systems. The popularity of the game system is in increase due to the customer appreciation of the wider variety of amazing games that each system is offering. These include games in categories like sports, adventure, action, and hundreds of others. The pride of owning a PlayStation brings a compelling experience of games to individuals, and this takes PlayStation gaming to greater heights of fame and popularity (Buel, 12).
The undisputable features of the current video game system in the market are driving the popularity of PlayStation since it contains various advancements. For instance, the video game system comes with a wide variety of capacities on their hard drive. This allows a gamer to select a game of their choice, and this is influenced mostly by what is best for gaming requirements for an individual gamer. The storage space needed will depend on the kind of games being played and the level of entertainment sought. Consequently, some gamers find the available storage space smaller than others do. The larger the hard drive in a PlayStation game system, the larger its ability to download several games and play them with other gamers (Buel 18). These features serve to advertise the video game as every individual will be seeking for the upcoming generation of video gaming console.
It is clear that the characteristics and the several qualities of PlayStation are the vital drivers of its popularity around the globe, for instance, the operations of some artifacts from certain countries are able to create an advantage for the gamers. These enable them to play their games on a system containing high quality definition, which can give the gamers interface capabilities that are can be dealt with easily. Incredibly, a number of these PlayStation systems are now being equipped with the Blu-ray technology, an installation that adds an even high definition to the games. In most of the new versions of the PlayStation games console, gamers are capable of playing some of the older versions of games (Wapshott 10).
The introductions of new installments come with novel technological advancements like capacity of memory. This may give a gamer the chance to play an unlimited number of games while retaining the ability to download many others. Whenever the United States, United Kingdom, or China releases a new PlayStation game system onto the market, the latter is always engulfed with an overwhelming popularity. People go out in large numbers to acquire the new systems before the stocks are depleted. The principal reason attributed to this is the fact that every video game system that is manufactured makes some improvements in the preceding version (Connelly 16). There is a wide variety of companies that now produce these amazing game systems with complicated accessories and the fact that every individual in such societies who is new to video games will always grow knowing PlayStation hence its anticipated rise in popularity.
The popularity of PlayStation is also attributed to the fact that people are drawn to artifacts from certain countries such as the United States because these countries can offer exclusive features in their products. Johnson describes PlayStation 3 as containing the PlayStation Home. This is a social gaming service available from the XrossMediaBar, and one only requires owning a PSN account to become a member. While a group of people from China is making games on PlayStations available free, conventional game system makers are making such games with a host of various genres and making huge sums of money from them. These free games may not be so serious a threat to the current video game industry but PlayStation video games are likely to become the latest attractions of gamers. Online games have increasingly become quite competitive compared to the usual video games. This has been attributed largely to the easily available plots online and the little or no price at which they come. Apart from the observable rise in gaming over the past few years, the growth in the number of companies providing such games has been significant (Johnson 32).
The popularity of this artifact has been highly affected by the different ideological, social, cultural, political, economic, and historical factors. In western countries where the socio-economic conditions are extremely favorable, almost every child can access a PlayStation system. Conversely, children from poor nations may not be having enough amount of capital or financing to afford the gaming system in as much as they would like to own one. As more and more schoolchildren start using this sophisticated device at an extremely tender age, teachers, and parents ensure they develop their communication and analytical skills while playing with the device (Connelly 66).
Sony has taken an initiative of modifying their games to accommodate a learning environment for the children by incorporated the stations to carry question-based games which cover almost every level of education in the hierarchy of performance in the previous level played. This assures the players of facing a new hardship and experience, which sharpens their brain activities, rather than letting their kids sit idly without doing anything reasonable. The rules of these games are extremely simple and children have no problem following them. Such games have been described as having ability to take a person to a break from reality, facilitating their entry into a world of fantasy where the impossible becomes possible (Johnson 64).
One artifact may become appealing internationally while others from the same country fail to gain the same kind of popularity. For instance, Greatest Hits from North America has been growing popular since it was introduced while Platinum Range has not made much achievement. Other video games that have not gained popularity are The Best and PAL territories, belonging to the PlayStation 1, 2 and 3, as well as Portable consoles from Sony. Sony has been re-releasing these games at throwaway prices but the preference by users is still low. Each of the artifacts possesses its own qualifications of entering the program of re-release. When the PlayStation era was not widespread, each game sold over 250,000 copies and remained on the market for not less than one year. That was the requirement to enter the range of the Greatest Hits. During the era of PlayStation 2, the requirements changed; the minimum copies sold increased to 600,000 and the game was required to stay on the market for a minimum of 9 months. The duration a PlayStation Portable game would remain on the market was 9 months and copies sold 250,000 copies.
The success of one artifact is known to open the door for other artifacts from the same country. One such notable commercial artifact is of PlayStation is the ‘It Only Does Everything’ series. This features a fictional character whose name is Kevin Butler. Butler is a Deputy President at the PlayStation. This commercial normally advertises the PlayStation 3 and the games the latter offers using a series of comedic replies to queries directed to ‘Dear PlayStation’. The commercial artifact has garnered unmatched popularity among users. However, its debut commercial has received excessive criticism from the government of Nigeria due to the subtle reference it gives to the 419 frauds of Nigeria. Sony has since been forced to issue a public apology and produced the latest version of the advert that omits the offending line. Meanwhile, a spin-off of the PlayStation Portable campaign has been created. It features campaign commercial artifacts referred to as ‘Step Your Game Up’. This is in reference to a fictional teenager by the name Marcus Rivers, who acts in a fashion similar to that of Kevin Butler. However, Marcus Rivers answers the queries about the PSP on ‘Dear PlayStation’ (Buel 71).
Another important aspect that has promoted the sales of others is the Piano Black PSP. In the advertising campaign held in July 2006 in the Netherlands, a Caucasian model dressed in white entirely and an African model dressed in black entirely were used to market the new Ceramic White PSP of Sony through comparison. The series of advertisements that followed depicted the two models fighting constantly with one another. This drew bitter criticism from the social media as it was considered racist.
However, Sony maintained that the advertisement neither featured racist messages nor mention explicitly that a Caucasian was fighting an African. Sony's American division employed a marketing company in November 2006. The company created a website and named it ‘All I want for Xmas is a PSP’. This website was designed solely to promote the PSP. In this website, a blog purportedly drafted by Charlie lay conspicuously. Charlie was a teenager attempting to get the parents of his friend Jeremy to purchase a PSP for him. The parents were also to provide a video of either Jeremy or Charlie performing music of the rapping variety on the PSP. Whenever visitors opened the website, they recognized quickly that it was registered to a popular marketing company. This exposed the advertising campaigns on sites like Digg and YouTube. Sony later admitted amid pressure that the website belonged to a marketing company. In an exclusive interview with the next-gen.biz, a director at Sony stated explicitly that this idea had been poorly executed. Therefore, ‘All I want for Xmas is a PSP’ failed to attract the sales Sony had intended (Wapshott 213).
Apart from its features, PlayStation has created a kind of a culture where different individuals from all over the world can interact thanks to online gaming. Many individuals tend to take this type of entertainment as a staircase to meet and create new friends. Online gaming has gone to an extra mile of even introducing live competitions for the internet virtual gaming heroes.
Works Cited
Buel, Doug. “PlayStation”. Tampa Tribune. 19 May 2000.
Connelly, Paul. “PlayStation”. The Times. 12 Nov. 1999.
“PlayStation”. Daily Post. 19 March 2003.
Johnson, Rommie. “PlayStation”. Tampa Tribune 1 July 2000.
Wapshott, Tim. “PlayStation”. The Times. 29 Nov. 2001.
