Blu-ray/videogame discs to be released for PS3

Sony marketing around console's advanced features

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 2/11/2009

FEB. 11 | Sony is promising PlayStation 3 hybrid game/movie Blu-ray Discs this year, as it seeks to broaden the console's consumer appeal.

As the PS3 is no longer one of the cheapest Blu-ray players on the market—high-definition set-tops are now $250 and under—Sony wants to emphasize the $399 console's ability to play games as well as movies.

Further, Sony Computer Entertainment executives figure the available 50GB capacity of Blu-ray discs could give PS3 a creative edge over other videogame formats. (For comparison, the maximum capacity for Xbox 360 discs is considered to be 9GB, and disc room is even less for Nintendo’s Wii.)

A PS3 videogame, typically taking up 30GB to 40GB of Blu-ray Disc space, can feature richer graphics and complexity over Xbox 360 and Wii games, according to Sony. But that strength is proving not advantageous enough for PS3, which has been trailing the Xbox 360 and Wii in sales. The most recent third-quarter sales of the PS3 declined from its performance during the same frame the prior year.

The details of the hybrid PS3 game/movie product are still being finalized, but the idea is that a PS3 videogame disc would also provide access to an entire feature film. Plus, consumers would be able to transfer the film for viewing on the PlayStation Portable, similar to the way Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s digital copies can be transferred to the PSP.

“We are actively pushing, and the way that we see the future is that the movie and the game are placed on the same disc,” said John Koller, director of hardware marketing for the PS3. “There are a lot of developers who say, we have this game based on a movie, wouldn’t it be great to marry these concepts? We will definitely see this stuff this year.”

Koller declined to specify which studios are in talks with which PS3 developers for such a hybrid videogame product, but he predicts that as many as two to three such hybrids could launch in 2009.

However, Sony's DVD unit does confirm that it is participating on a single film/game disc for the PS3.

"The PS3 provides a unique ability to combine the best high-definition movies and gaming experience with Blu-ray,” said Lexine Wong, Sony’s senior executive VP of worldwide marketing. “Together with Sony Computer Entertainment, we are reviewing potential titles from both a movie and gaming perspective that would create a compelling hybrid for the consumer. It's a natural fit for this rapidly growing PS3 install base."

PS3 management believes creating this heftier bridge between its gaming and movie features will win over consumers.

“This is a value message with the PS3,” said Koller. “Consumers can capitalize on the larger amount of space with Blu-ray. There are grander experiences for movies or games.”

Many videogame industry analysts have advocated that Sony lower the price of the PS3 to jolt sales. During the Future of Packaged Media conference earlier this month, BMO Capital Markets senior analyst Edward Williams circled a $299 PS3 sweet spot.

Koller did not rule out upcoming price adjustments, but said PS3 is sticking with its $399 tag for now.

“We are always looking for market opportunities,” he said. “We are comfortable with the price point we are at today, but we are always looking at the market.”

There is also a drive to link movies tighter to PS3, after executives noticed a console sales jump coinciding with Warner Home Video’s release of The Dark Knight on Blu-ray.

“We saw a hardware blip during that week of Dec. 9, and numbers were above our forecasting,” said Koller. “We directly attribute that to the [title’s] release. We see that movies can help sell hardware.”

Beyond engineering hybrid Blu-ray discs, Sony will promote more PS3 games with console-exclusive features. The March 23 bow of Command and Conquer Red Alert 3: Ultimate Edition for PS3 will come packed with a developer strategy video, exclusive maps, bloopers and outtakes—material not available with other game console versions.

PS3 marketing also will stress additional assets over straight Blu-ray set-tops. Currently, the PS3 features one of the few Blu-ray players that can connect to the Web wirelessly. Plus, the PS3 is synced up to download and/or stream movie and game content from its PlayStation Store.

At January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung became the first set-top manufacturer to announce a wireless Blu-ray model, for launch at an unspecified time. Some set-tops are just now adding streaming film capabilities via such services as Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand.

PS3’s 2009 TV, print and online advertising will be themed around this all-encompassing feature message.

“We will have a fairly robust ‘educational’ campaign,” said Koller. “We’ve talked about the player holistically up to this point. It was a brand effort versus a feature-based effort. We really need to elevate that point, that [rival players] don’t match up dollar to dollar, feature to feature with the PS3. We need to make consumers understand the total message.”