Will the PlayStation 3 Confuse Buyers?

Sony has been eager to push the PS3 as more than just a games console, but some think that this isn't necessarily the right way to go.

Next week Sony will head to Taiwan for the Taipei Game Show, where some are saying it could show off the first fully functional PlayStation 3. But even as buzz is building, some are asking whether the console might do too much.

The PlayStation 3, as Sony is quick to point out, is much more than a games console - a slur the company refuses to use when talking about its new beast.

You'll be able to play next-gen DVD using the console's Blu-ray disc drive, go online and perhaps even use it as a digital video recorder (there's a lot of speculation out there and Sony is avoiding clarifying the situation right now). There is, however, the chance that all this added functionality could confuse potential buyers, Kenji Hall of BusinessWeek says.

And there's a good reason why people are wondering whether the hydra-like approach will work: the PSX.

The Japan-only PSX combined the PlayStation 2 with multimedia capabilities, including a DVR, with prices starting at nearly £400. The FrankenStation bombed, though, and Sony killed the limping project less after its first year.

Hall also wonders whether all the other things the PlayStation 3 can do will mean people use it less for playing games, pointing to the PSP, where UMD movies are doing better and better, even as PSP games suffer at the hands of Nintendo's DS.

At least in the early stages, there's no doubt that the PlayStation 3 will sell on its gaming credentials, just as a multimedia-enabled Xbox 360 has done in the months since its debut late last year.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games