Square Enix to Sony: get it together, man!

by Nick Doerr { Sep 7th 2007 at 3:30PM }

Yoichi Wada, the President of Square Enix, stated publicly that Sony has to find and stick with a more solid marketing strategy for the PS3. Remember those "Play B3yond" commercials? Don't worry -- not a lot of us do, since they were practically nonexistent after launch. Anyway, Wada told reporters "Sony first unveiled the PS3 as a mighty home electronics product. Then, after some badgering from game companies, it shifted the position of the console closer to a game machine."

It is odd, but Wada has a point: Sony does need to get it together when it comes to marketing their product. It's more expensive than other game machines (compared to the Elite, not by much), but it can do so much more. As a game machine, it's struggling to get its namesake: games. Until November, when at least a dozen great titles will be released or will have been released. Do you think Sony will unleash a bevy of PS3 marketing ploys for this holiday season, or will they try to keep those costs at a minimum and do something else? Either way, Square Enix seems anxious about the system, especially with something like FFXIII on its way.

[also via Joystiq]

Tags: sony, squareenix, yoichiwada

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mystical_304 @ Sep 7th 2007 3:42PM

Square-Enix didn't help the sitation. Maybe they need to get their act together and work on FFXIII. If I recall they were among the media badgering Sony. Everyone said the PS3 needed to be a game machine first, while Sony tried sticking with the home entertainment idea. Now they shift focus, and Square-Enix jumps on em again? They need to get off their high-horse.

daniel. @ Sep 7th 2007 3:45PM

they do need to market this beast better. not everyone knows the full functionality of it except hardcore tech dorks. i say market it as the beast that does all. have all the media pop up onto one of EU ads backgrounds with the DNA. blu-ray, upscaling DVD, PVR, CD, SACD, internet, PSN, free online, PS1, PS2, PS3 games. and then they all fly into the middle and the swirling black monolith sits. OR! nail the competition, sure it's dirty, but it works. how many people have we fanboys all converted into changing their minds about what console to buy?!

daniel. @ Sep 7th 2007 3:47PM

by the way, i wonder if S-E will ever quit their double/triple dipping techniques and make their own console like they were talking about years ago. GEEZ LOUISE! make a new game and get on YOUR projects.

Wonderflex @ Sep 7th 2007 3:50PM

I have, no joke, wrote Sony about five times now asking for more commercials on television. I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I never see anything on the TV anymore. I want Sony to be very successful, and to get mass market support (because then we might get some more great games), but unless they start to pump of the advertisement machine I don't see this happening.

Traditional ad's too - such as Nintendo has been using - not some weird put the puzzle together ads - just traditional, slick, superbowl worthy, ads. Sure, they may not be as much fun, but they seem to work.

Every response I've gotten from Sony, save one, was that they valued customer input, and would forward my email to the appropriate department.

I say that everybody should write them - then maybe they will get a clue and actually start up a good campaign. Here is the contact link:

http://www.us.playstation.com/Corporate/ConsumerServices

upz @ Sep 7th 2007 3:50PM

Considering that this guy probably only has visibility into SCEJapan marketing, he's actually only seen the best of the three primary regions' marketing. I'd almost be embarassed to show him our Play B3yond or This Is Living campaigns.

Ithilis @ Sep 7th 2007 3:54PM

To #2 -

The PS3 doesn't upconvert DVDs, dude.

sicklesdawg @ Sep 7th 2007 3:59PM

True we need more Commercials! PS2 had them everywhere

Mark @ Sep 7th 2007 4:01PM

To #6

Yes it does.

Ithilis @ Sep 7th 2007 4:04PM

To #8 -

Sorry! I have only had mine for 2 weeks now. I just read about it in a firmware update now. I was looking at old release reports.

SimplyB @ Sep 7th 2007 4:07PM

@ 6 yes it does dumbass!

Ithilis @ Sep 7th 2007 4:07PM

To #8 -

Doh! Sorry! I have only had my PS3 for two weeks and haven't brushed up on the firmware updates.

Popfrogs @ Sep 7th 2007 4:07PM

#6: Welcome to firmware 1.8. We've been able to upscale DVDs and PS1+PS2 games for months now.

As for Square/Enix criticizing. Guys, please, stop making PS2 games. Until everyone stops making old games and focuses on the new hardware, the new hardware will continue to sell slowly. FFXII *should* have been a PS3 launch title but you guys don't look to the future I guess. And yeah, I know I said FF12, they should have made it one of the first PS3 games when the PS3 was announced.

Also Sony needs a decent marketing campaign. Forget fruity BS like 'This is Living' or 'mysterious PS3 floats in a room', just show the console, footage of a game, and the console again. The Resistance commercials were nicely done this way...why not make more commercials that way? Probably not expensive to make those shorts if you're just showing footage.

I guess they really did need a new PR guy. Sony should clean house when it comes to PS3 *and* PSP marketing. They totally miss their mark and confuse their demographic with cryptic commercials that don't show gameplay. Which is what the PS3 is all about.

Furthermore, Square/Enix should be releasing a ton of their RPGs to the PS Store. Why not resell FF7 to us for $5 or $10? Or any of your other brilliant games like Chrono Trigger or Chrono Cross? It's one thing to cry that Sony isn't doing much. It's another to do nothing to help them.

MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Sep 7th 2007 4:07PM

ithilis you know what he meens unless you dont have a PS3. the PS3 has a dvd upscaler as well as a video game upscaler. the people behind it say that it only the begining and there trying to improve on the current upscaler thats out i think it came out in update 1.81.

Ste @ Sep 7th 2007 4:11PM

Well, they certainly have a point. The marketing of PS3 so far has been horrible.

@6

It does.

MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Sep 7th 2007 4:14PM

@12 there planning on it but for those who do homebrew and have custom firmware you have already played 7-9 crono cross and trigger. hahaha the other day they emulated a DS on the PS completely useless but it goes to show you the PSP can emulate anything. Playing final fantasy 8 and crono cross or even pokemon leaf green or even mario 64 on an PSP is sweet.

Wonderflex @ Sep 7th 2007 4:23PM

Ithilis - it does as of a few updates ago.

And I kinda like the whole, "playing dirty," idea. The regular mom's and dad's who go out and buy 360's for their kids may not know about the giant failure rate, and a well placed ad might make them think twice before they purchase one.

And I only say this because I get this weird feeling all the time, like Microsoft pays people to go online to bash the PS3, even if just in little ways.

Hirsbrunner @ Sep 7th 2007 4:28PM

"Until November, when at least a dozen great titles will be released or will have been released."

This is not a complete sentence.

I'm on a grammar kick this afternoon.

ruibing @ Sep 7th 2007 4:32PM

I don't watch much TV so I haven't seen the ads for PS3s, but I do believe Sony need to stick to a single SKU and selling point. Something like "More than a gaming system" or something. If they would just drop their 80GB to $499 and keep it that way instead of introducing all these bundles, different for each regions, I think people would be less confused.

Just to let Square know, FFXIII and another other FF RPG would be the only game(s) I would preorder and buy for full price. I've been a PC gamer for too long and had gotten used to downloading my games, so right now I've been on a spending spree for my PS3, I got over $300 worth of PS2 games. I'm just saying that if the PS3 can get someone like me who hasn't bought a game since Starcraft (that's a long long time ago), Sony and their supporting publishers will get a lot of revenue not just for PS3 games but their whole franchise.

AG23 @ Sep 7th 2007 4:37PM

@Wonderflex

You are right, MS does pay people to post negative things about their competition and say great things about their products.

It was widely reported(about 6 months ago?) that MS was paying blogging sites and giving free merchandise to people who gave Vista, Zune, and the 360 a favorable review.

And please, don't ask for links cause I am too damn lazy to look it up but if in doubt, Google it.

Wonderflex @ Sep 7th 2007 5:01PM

AG23 - with all the reading I do online I thought I would have heard about that...but looks like I totally missed that (after googling though, you were telling the truth). I've always felt this weird negative slant on the media surrounding the PS3, such as little comments like on Joystiq yesterday:

"Hey, American PS3 owners ... tired of your Xbox 360-owning friends laughing in your face because they can play Stranglehold right now while you're stuck waiting until the end of the month for your interactive John Woo-inspired goodness. Well the mockery is over, because today you can play Stranglehold on your console of choice."

At the bottom they say, "via ps3fanboy," as if PS3fanboy would actually write their story like that. No, in reality it was more like,

"Sony have updated the PlayStation.Blog to show today's US PSN release list. The content isn't out yet, but should be up within the next few hours. It's a pretty big update so let's get started:"

It's just the random, little, put downs that seem like they are money inspired.

Popfrogs @ Sep 7th 2007 5:31PM

@Wonderflex: You wanna see random putdowns from paid-off Microsoft shills, watch G4TV sometime. They actually had a shred of journalistic integrity a few years ago but now I can't stomach anything besides Code Monkeys and I can barely sit through AOTS.

Ian @ Sep 7th 2007 5:37PM

I'm shocked, Sony has a Marketing department!

ndoerr @ Sep 7th 2007 6:02PM

@ Hirsbrunner -- I know it's not a complete sentence, but this is an informal blog, not a formal thesis. We all take the opportunity to utilize a creative license now and then, you see, so it should be overlooked. I'm not bitching back, just letting you know that I'm aware of what a complete sentence is. Trust me, I've written a hell of a lot. =)

Thomas @ Sep 7th 2007 7:25PM

Square-Enix has a good point... PS3 needs better marketing, and that goes for the PSP as well...

Le Mayor @ Sep 7th 2007 7:59PM

I hear that. Code Monkeys is the shiznit. Talk about a system seller. is S-E said they would release FFVII on PSN, ps3 would sell like hotcakes.

ruibing @ Sep 7th 2007 9:51PM

I've been hearing a lot of rumour of Square Enix wanting to jump ship on the PS3 for the 360. I will be seriously disappointed with Square Enix if they jump ship on the PS3. I believe loyalty is a really important thing and because I've always been loyal to Square's offerings, I've bought just about everyone of their RPG games for the PS2. I plan to do the same for the ones on the PS3.

The thing is that the fans who love Square Enix bought a PS3 partially for them and I think we deserve some loyalty as well. It is like you like a girl and you go to a school (the most expensive one out of three) because she said she would go there too, but it turns out she goes to yours and the other one you were considering and is already doing extracurricular in the last one. It might be a crude analogy, but I think it gets the point across. Loyalty might not be worth a lot (I mean it is just one pre-order for each of the games for me when it gets out), but I hope in this modern day it still counts for something.

Phour ZwanZig @ Sep 7th 2007 9:56PM

And I kinda like the whole, "playing dirty," idea. The regular mom's and dad's who go out and buy 360's for their kids may not know about the giant failure rate, and a well placed ad might make them think twice before they purchase one.

And I only say this because I get this weird feeling all the time, like Microsoft pays people to go online to bash the PS3, even if just in little ways.

Posted at 4:23PM on Sep 7th 2007 by Wonderflex

--
Well I have a 360 (jump sides due to delay in PS3) and love it.. Ive played the PS3 and am just not impressed (atleast at the moment) I do think its a powerful machine but it just wasnt ready yet, and most devs werent either..

Everytime I turn on my 360 I do wonder if Im gunna get the RoD but so far so good.. It has done some quirky things and I think it may be going, but thats what my BestBuy warranty is for..

Really if you like an item enuf breakdowns usually arent worried about til it happens otherwise, think, we wouldnt have any Ford drivers anymore.. :0