E3, PlayStation Plus and Food
by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
Human beings, on some level, love spectacle.
Major sporting events. Blockbuster movies. Graduation ceremonies. Whatever the setting and context, it is a universal truth that, as a species, we’re a rather communal lot. And we love the idea of a grand, shared experience; it makes us feel more connected.
Video gaming is perhaps the perfect example of this. As an industry, it’s gigantic. Many of its bestselling titles are spectacles. Yet gaming is something largely experienced in a solitary environment, or with a small handful of friends. For all of its commercial viability, that isolation makes it feel like a niche experience, even though there are tens — no, hundreds — of millions of people who share it.
This, I think, is why E3 is more than just an expo. It’s an experience. Specifically, the experience of enjoying a shared experience. Not only do you get to interact with other people who are speaking — with enthusiasm — exactly the same language, but the event itself exists simply because it has to. It’s our nature to want something which is the pinnacle of the industry, with lots of high-profile announcements and crazy events, simply because such a focal point validates our interest in the subject and also enhances our enjoyment of it.
The costs associated with this sort of stuff are enormous. Let’s look at the Sony E3 press conference as an example. Renting the venue, setting up the displays and A/V, bringing in catering, hiring all the necessary support personnel, permits from the city…it’s a blizzard of bills. And while none of it can be measured in terms of hard ROIC, the spectacle and the swaying of consumer sentiment in your favor can be a powerful tool for future revenue gains.
Sony was extremely smart with this year’s press conference, which Cubehouse and I attended. They let in a couple hundred people from the general public, which was an absolutely brilliant bit of crowd dynamics. It effectively “juiced” the room, so that on top of the regular reaction one would expect from a room full of gaming press, you had some very enthusiastic cheering and hollering punctuating all the right moments. As a bit of consumer outreach, it was a very, very astute move, particularly in a year when the blogosphere can’t seem to stop talking about how little they feel there is to talk about — a perception which I frankly don’t share.
Jack Tretton
The masterstroke, though, was Jack Tretton’s announcement that every single person in the room would receive a voucher for a free year of PlayStation Plus membership. I don’t even want to think about what the pro forma on that bit of sunk cost looks like, or what levels of analysis on projected gains had to be spreadsheeted to hell and back before pulling the trigger on something that big.
I can say, though, that it’s genius.
I’m not a Plus member. As a very Home-centric PS3 user, the cost-to-benefit ratio just hasn’t been there for me. I’d love to see Plus integrated more fully with Home’s commerce model, as that sort of cross-pollination would benefit all involved, but up until now, there wasn’t enough incentive to overcome the first law of inertia: that an object at rest has a tendency to stay at rest.
By offering twelve months of free membership (as opposed to something like one month, which is too short a window in which to accurately evaluate its worth), an object in motion will have a tendency to stay in motion. I now have no good reason to not explore what Plus offers. Indeed, it would be rather silly not to. And Sony’s gambling that enough people will stick with it after the billing starts up a year from now, and indeed spread word-of-mouth about it to their friends. Because referral marketing is very nearly always the most effective method of marketing.
You’ve probably noticed I’ve barely written about the press conference itself. I frankly don’t see much need. If you watched it live in Home, you saw exactly the same stuff I saw. So there’s no real story to tell.
No, the story revolves around what it’s like to be there.
Cubes and I had an *insanely* good view.
The story is about what it’s like to hang out with really cool people that you’ve gotten to know digitally, except that this time you can interact face to face. The story is about how fun it is to sit in a room with other PlayStation brand enthusiasts when the Sony guys throw ridiculous sums of money and lights and subwoofers at you, whilst unveiling cool stuff, and you ride the wave of enthusiasm and energy in the room.
Is there notable stuff to talk about from the press conference? Sure. For me, the one demo that really got my attention was the Wonderbook accessory, designed to work with the PlayStation Move. They showed a title involving Jo Rowling’s Harry Potter universe — most notably, the fact that it features new writing from her — in which you quite literally interact with a storybook.
Will this be a niche product? Probably. But that’s not the point. The point is that I love seeing this sort of innovation and experimentation. Had this been around when I was a child, I would have gone nuts enjoying it. Using the PlayStation as a medium for interactive books is a brilliant stretch of what a game can be. I’m not a massive Harry Potter fan — nothing against it, but it’s just never really grabbed me — but I have to admit that conceptually, this is a great move. And spending the money to bring in a heavyweight literary voice like Jo Rowling, right off the bat, is a great way to gain attention with it.
Later that evening, after the conference was over, Cubehouse and I went out to dinner and discussed all we’d just seen and experienced. The conference was exactly what we expected: lots of solid announcements about fun stuff that was coming down the pipeline, with no head-scratchers or Earthshattering revelations. But, again, that’s not the story. The story is about hanging out and breaking bread with really cool people who share the same interests as you, and enjoying the spectacle which brings everyone together. In this cynical hipster internet age we live in, that’s what I personally take away from all of this.
Well, that and a free year of PlayStation Plus. Thanks, Jack!
June 5th, 2012 by NorseGamer | 11 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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First let me say envy to the max! I have not watched much of the E3 coverage in the past. I did watch the entire press conference this year. And had some unpleasant side effects, my mouth dried out from my job being slack, and my eyes were even drier from not blinking. I have since recovered after holding my head under luke warm water for an hour. There are so many amazing things on the horizon, I can’t wait to see what else they have up their sleeves. Keep up the good work and I hate you both. I easily could have folded up into a carry-on bag and I only eat like a bird and would’ve been no bother… But noo00oo, you didn’t take me!
*Cough*
lol
That was an Epic presentation, and the show stoppers were definitely Watchdogs from ubisoft, The last of Us from Naughty dog, and The Sea battle from Assassins Creed III in the Sony press. conference. Holy mother, as if I wasn’t excited about that game enough already. It officially made me pre-order which I NEVER do, with games. the only dip was the move section. I love the move, personally i get a lot of use out of it with 4am and Sports champions and some of the shooting games but that dragged on too long. Seriously, SONY had the show this year.
So, if one already HAD PS+ will that voucher extend their subscription 12 months?
As for those who didn’t already have PS+, I don’t really see it as a risk. Those people were likely not to get PS+ in the next 12 months anyway, so no money lost there, and once those people get their mitts on some games they dont want to lose, theres a good chance they’ll re-up next year to keep their access to those games.
Smart move on Sony’s part, but I doubt it really “cost” them anything, especially in the long run.
Yes it extends your subscription one year, the vouchers are cumulative. I personally didn’t need more than one month to convince me to subscribe, but most people would probably need either a month of solid good deals and freebies, or at least 3 months to try it out. Not every month has had great games or great deals but I have gotten my moneys worth and then some.
Plus is sort of ingenious. If you don’t remain a member you lose access to what Plus gave you. The main issue I have with plus is the fact that I buy games as well. I’ve gotten burned time and time again with games that are offered for free on Plus that I already own.
Pretty awesome that those with plus got their membership extended. That, without a doubt, is costing Sony money in hand.
I feel you on that one. I own three of the 12 games just released but then again I am getting 9 free :). That happens sometimes, I bought the Capcom bundle during the sale, the very next week they had Street Fighter HD free, but I also bought 5 other games in that bundle. The way I see it with most of the plus free games is that I am renting them for as long as I am a member. The value is in the discounts, and I’ve taken full advantage of them. It does often make me hesitate to buy a game because I worry it will be free through plus later.
I havent bought The Walking Dead for that reason. :/
Sounds like you are having a grand time there Norse as I knew you would. Even without all of the hoopla it would be cool if all of us could meet each other face to face someday. E3 would be the perfect setting for that I think. I saw some of the press conference, enough to know they have some incredible stuff designed for the coming year or so. Going to be hard to decide what to buy and when to buy it. Glad you are enjoying yourself and say Hi to cubes for me.
I predict a 2015 meeting of all hsmag staff. I’m putting in my vote for Hawaii right now.