An Interesting Delusion
filed on Thursday, September 08, 2005 at 3:32:45 AM CST

So, about a month ago, I ran out and picked up a new PlayStation 2.  With it, if you register with PlayStation Underground, you get a free copy of PlayStation Magazine, the official magazine of the PlayStation world.  So I'm flipping through seeing what all is coming out, and, as usual, I get caught up in the monthly letters (something I end up doing with many magazines).  And I come across the most interesting tidbit.

I read an article titled "The PS3 will be priced under $500.00?" today.  I can only say this:  NO CONSOLE HAS EVER BEEN SUCCESSFUL WHEN PRICED ABOVE THE $299.99 SWEET SPOT!  Sony isn't stupid.  The price will not go beyond $349.99, especially when faced with a $299.99 Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Revolution, which will almost certainly be priced below $300.00.  If Sony goes beyond that price point ($349.99), then we WILL be looking at a new market leader in Microsoft.
Joe Dennis
via email

Personally, I'd agree with him.  Sony, or at least the editors of PlayStation Magazine, seem to agree, sort of, but not without an interesting statement.

We admire your enthusiasm, sir, but we must point out that the Sega Saturn — certainly a successful system, though certainly not as successful as the PS1 — launched at $400.  Of course, with the 3DO, Neo-Geo, TurboGrafx-CD, and Philips CDi all launching well above $300, your point is well taken.

Interesting.  Mostly because the Sega Saturn was, perhaps, the shortest lived of the Sega systems.  Perhaps it faired better in Japan, but it tanked, and tanked badly here in the United States.

For those of you unfamiliar with Sega's tumultuous journey with consoles, the old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES to most of the world) and the Sega Master System (SMS) were in direct competition with each other just shortly after the first death knells of Atari.  Sega wanted to get their foot in the next generation market, and rushed the Sega Genesis (by far its most successful system) out the door.  Meanwhile, Nintendo took its time with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (S-NES), and produced a much more quality system.  The S-NES picked up where the NES left off, and dominated the market for many years, losing only a brief period to the Genesis.

Sega, of course, was unhappy about this, and started flopping around like a fish gasping for air.  They quickly started releasing things to compete with the S-NES, but none of them really gained any ground.  Not specifically because the hardware was bad, but because they lacked title support.  The Sega CD system had only a handful of games, and upon the re-release of the Genesis, hardly fit together with the new system.  Grasping at straws, the Sega 32-X came flying out... but it never quite landed, and few people looked up to see it floating overhead.  Again, most of its titles were the equivelant of birdshit.

Worried, and hearing rumors of a next generation system in development over at Nintendo (being co-developed by Sony), Sega presented the world with the Sega Saturn.  The trouble again was the lack of a title library, something that the S-NES had beaten in abundance.  That project that Nintendo and Sony were working on was the basis of the PlayStation, and when Nintendo turned its back on Sony, Sony continued forging on.  Long story short, that was the big shot in Nintendo's foot, for while the Nintendo 64 was a successful system (FAR more successful than the Sega Saturn) when it finally arrived, the PlayStation had already stolen all of the thunder of the S-NES.

In one last attempt to take over, Sega turned to the Dreamcast, which came, and disappeared swiftly into the winds.  Sony's PlayStation 2 slammed the coffin shut.

This is not to say that the Saturn had no decent games.  However, its library was limited, and its life, smashed between the floundering end of the Genesis and the quick rush to release the Dreamcast (which, by the way, had more hardware units released than software, so many people couldn't even play their brand new systems at release, so quickly did Sega rush it out the door), the Sega Saturn hardly had a breath of air before it was crushed.

So, I have to agree with Joe Dennis.  Sony could, quite literally, perform the Saturn Maneuver, and toss its popularity over to Microsoft, or perhaps even back to Nintendo (though I'm leaning more toward the 360 myself on that front).  Here's hoping Sony stays around the $300 price point... anything more, and I think it'll find itself the bastard stepchild of a dominant series of systems.

Tacky Religious Messages
filed on Thursday, September 08, 2005 at 3:53:55 AM CST

I haven't had a decent chance to share my thoughts about Hurricane Katrina or the devastation along the Gulf Coast yet, but I have been taking notes, and plan on writing something up in the next day or two, now that I'm actually in the mood to sit and blog again.  However, one particular note just couldn't wait.

There's a church here in town that I pass every day as I head to I-355 for my long, northbound drive to the Bensenville/O'Hare area.  Like many churches these days, it has one of those flourescent-lit message boards that you slap the big, black, all-caps plastic letters onto.

This week's tidbit:  IN DEEP WATER?  TRUST THE ONE WHO WALKED ON IT

I'm sorry... I don't know what genius thought that was an appropriate message, but it's not.  No matter how much faith you have in Jesus Christ or God Almighty, that message is so inappropriate, I can hardly begin to describe how inappropriate it is.

I mean, really... a message of prayer or hope is certainly appropriate given the devastation and destruction, particularly in New Orleans.  But somehow, I don't think many people there would be amused by the light-hearted commercialization of a religious message that is conveyed by that particular neon-bright statement.

And really, that's what it is.  Sensationalistic balogna.  I mean, if they're trying to attract more people to their particular church, I personally think they failed horribly in hitting the mark.  It would have been like putting up a poster that read, "Superman:  Man of Steel Wheelchair," over Christopher Reeves' casket.  Just.  Not.  Funny.

And while they probably weren't shooting for funny, they did hit the mark on offensive.