I'm this close to just locking this thread right away, not because you've done anything precisely wrong, but because it reeks of a potential haterade thread designed to throw gasoline on the console war fires.

So, let me just say this: go ahead people, give me a reason to lock this up.

1. High price point
2. Lack of good exclusive games
3. Difficulty of development
4. Arrogance

Yeah, lately all my PS3 has been doing is working as a nicely silent UPnP client because I need to replace a power supply fan in my HTPC.

Indeed, although mine are separated by several shelves so they might not be aware of each other's presence, although they do both have cameras.

Second system effect. Even though it's the third system.

Edit: FWIW I tend to prefer playing a game on the PS3 if I can. Partly this is because multiplayer does not concern me at all (I hate people). But mostly it's because the PS3 does not sound like a leaf blower. Realistically speaking however, both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 got their marketing information wrong about price point and performance requirements, IMHO. Sony also boned their launch and general relationship with developers and the public along with building the wrong sort of machine.

I don't think the PS3 has failed, I just think it had a late start. It now has some compelling exclusive content in the way of MGS4, Uncharted, Ratchet, and Resistance. Upcoming there is some more exclusive content. What hurt the PS3 is that there was no community until recently and they are still behind on it.

360's biggest contribution to this generation of hardware has been using the internet to form communities. The PS3 can try to catch up but I think it's too late for a lot of people who already have their community on 360.

I don't think it has failed.

Others have pretty much summed it up, and it's been done to death in other threads.

It launched at a prohibitively high price point. There were no compelling exclusives. Its theoretically powerful CPU is not well suited to game logic and is difficult to program for compared to the 360. First and second party games were slow in coming and many 3rd party developers did not initially feel that the additional time and expense were worth it for PS3's comparatively small installed base.

In using PS3 as its format war trojan horse, Sony also segmented its installed base between the gamers who were willing to shell out half a grand or more for a PS3 and early adopter videophiles who were interested in the best value for a Blu-Ray player. This hurt software sales even more.

It has not exactly failed, but it sure got a rough start.

I am content with my PS3, and thus it has not failed.

Too expensive and no games, what else?

If I had to pick one reason, it's the lack of compelling games. Had it launched with MGS4 and FF13 on day one, things would be totally different.

Besides that main reason, there's a thousand others that the PS3 is behind. But not a total failure, yet.

I think we should have left the Haterade thread unlocked. It would have been an excellent chronicle of the mistakes Sony made, for future generations to learn.

I agree with Legion, I don't think the PS3 is quite done yet. Ultimately though, for folks like myself, it's going to be hard to justify buying a cross-platform title for it, especially if it has any significant multiplayer aspect. The 360 is where the multiplayer gaming is at in the GWJ community. I don't think I could subject myself to anything else. And of course, PC trumps all.

Reasons for the extremely slow start of the PS3, though, seem pretty obvious to me.

1. Delay - They held back the console for a year, while the 360 gained a foothold for an extra, and unnecessary, bullet point on the box: blu-ray. I have yet to hear a convincing argument that blu-ray was absolute necessity for the PS3.

2. Price Point - Obviously the console was gratuitously expensive upon release. This goes back to that extra bullet point, blu-ray. I can't see the console being as expensive without it.

3. Bad Press - This came in many forms. From the repeatedly botched press conferences, to loudmouthed spokesmen making grandiose and wholly inaccurate claims, to news stories about stabbings, shootings and robberies in the PS3 lines. This was made worse by the press surrounding the "shortage" of PS3's because of the blu-ray diodes. There may have been a shortage had demand been stronger, but as it stood, PS3's were on shelves for weeks following the launch, pining for an owner. E-Bay prices also plummeted quickly after launch, perhaps the biggest indicator that the console just wasn't selling. Sony's arrogance and practically insulting tone towards their market also contributed to the bad blood around the PS3. Even now, Sony execs can't learn to keep their mouths shut. On top of all of this, game reviews stepped into the mix with the introduction of reviewer's guides, as we all saw with Lair. This kind-of surged here and there, and wasn't exclusive to the PS3 eventually, but Lair really put things in the spotlight.

4. Bad Ports (and good ones) - The PS3's library relied for a long time almost entirely upon 360 ports and cross-platform titles. The number of exclusives for the console is laughably small. As has been pointed out before, exclusives really only benefit the console manufacturer, but when your list of strong exclusives is so short, how can you expect to sell to those gamers that already own a 360? Early ports were also of notably lesser quality, although the cross-platform titles that are coming out now are much less noticeably troublesome.

5. Lack of Exclusives - Already pointed out above, the exclusives list is very short. You can't expect to move units if you don't have the exclusive titles to entice gamers.

6. That Extra Bullet Point - Sony's mindset clearly changed around the time of the PS2, as it saw massive adoption to the DVD format thanks largely to the console. But this was a revolution too recent and too satisfactory to expect blu-ray to usher in another new, successful format so soon. High Definition adoption is still very low, and blu-ray even lower. Despite the victory for blu-ray over HD DVD, there was never much for it to win. And now prices are rising again, without competition. And that overpriced console is now the best blu-ray player on the market, and I think still the cheapest.

7. Network Weakness - Despite being free, the PSN is only now starting to show itself as a viable competitor to XBox Live. That the PS3 would enter the online gaming market bearing so fewer the number of features their largest competitor offered was foolhardy at best, especially if they expected the "free" label to sell it. Features weren't all that was lacking, either. Ease of use is considered the forte of consoles. The PSN didn't provide much ease of use.

In light of all of these weaknesses, faults, and mistakes, the console is still selling pretty well. The Sony name definitely still carries weight. And the PS3 still has many years ahead of it. I think it should be given some more time. Every single one of these items will either fade or be fixed with time (assuming they don't pull off any more PR gaffes) and some have even already been fixed. The PSN is getting stronger, blu-ray is much less of a concern, price cuts have happened, and will continue to as manufacturing is condensed and refined, the bad ports will just turn into old games, cross-platform games leveled the playing field as far as the delay to release goes, and time will give us more exclusives.

Although, one thing is for certain, the PS3 can't afford to lose too many more exclusives. FFXIII hurts them now, and will hurt them even more come release.

I bought a PS3 because I like Blu Ray, but I want a reason to play a game on it again. I've not bought MGS4 since there's a good chance it'll hit the 360 with more stuff. Also, FF XIII has been announced for it as well. I wasn't planning on getting it anyway, but at least if I wanted to sell my PS3 and get a cheaper Blu Ray player when it becomes available I can.

The PS3 isn't dead yet, but it has failed to impress a lot of people (myself included). The last big game I was psyched for was LAIR... and we all remember how that ended up. I think if it wasn't for the sheer success and nostalgia of the PS1 and PS2 Sony would have pulled the plug a long time ago. Remember Sega? I firmly believe the Dreamcast didn't get the user base that it wanted/deserved since they had a few failures before. Hello, CD/Jaguar/32X/Game Gear.

It hasn't failed. It's just not going to have PS2 level success. It'll end up on par with the 360 in terms of sales. And both will be dwarfed by the Wii. Though as we saw this morning, the Wii isn't necessarily about the same audience.

I think this is a big part of the problem... and this is the first time this ever really MATTERED in a console race, so I don't blame Sony for not taking the early launch idea seriously.

Microsoft was willing to kill off the original xbox (probably years before it was needed) in order to jump to the next level. Sony, obviously, wasn't going to kill the golden goose than is/was the PS2 before they needed to... something that seemed logical at the time.

This is why exclusives seem to be such a big deal, especially here on GWJ... I mean, if you didn't own either a PS3 or a 360 and were trying to decide, both systems offer pretty much the same game libraries. BUT, if you already bought a 360, there's little reason to buy a PS3 (the same could be said in reverse, for the most part as well).

Microsoft still throws all of its eggs into the LIVE basket (which is great for some people, but the reality is that most people in the US don't have broadband and DON'T use the online services), while Sony put their eggs in the blu-ray basket. Unfortunately, while the PS2 was right there when DVDs captured everyone's attention, the vast majority of people don't have an HDTV and don't CARE about high def DVDs. While the PS3 is a great deal fir a blu-ray player, it's very overpriced for someone who doesn't see that aspect as a desirable benefit.

The PS3 hasn't failed and it's insane to think it has. While it hasn't sold as much as the 360 in North America, it's now keeping pace month to month and there's still large sections of Europe where it is dominating. It is also the only hardcore console in Japan where Microsoft will never gain a foothold. For most people here who own a 360, there isn't much reason to get one. But we are only a small section of the video game market and a lot of that market is still loyal to Sony. Just because this crowd isn't into the PS3 doesn't mean the rest of the market isn't. The PS3 is not my favourite platform and there's no way it's going to win this generation but it has not failed and isn't going to. A lot of people think the Gamecube failed too and it didn't, it made money. So will this.

I think the epic fail is not the product, but the management team at Sony. The PS3 and it's trials to date are just the result of poor management decisions from design to marketing to customer relations. I'm surprised how many of them still have their jobs, especially whats-his-name, who is giving another poorly rehearsed E3 pitch right now.

Saying that the PS3 fails or doesnt fail, all depends on how you are going to measure it. Is success, # of units shipped, # of units sold, PS3 profitability or profitability across the PS brand? I think survival of the PS3, despite all the decisions and assumptions made early on, is a success in its own right. Is that enough of a succes for now? Yes, I think so but long term... probably not.