"The fun's always free" they say

Jan 22, 2008 08:06 GMT  ·  By

It seems that Sony's not going to quit the gaming industry after all, since they're struggling so hard to surpass their greatest rivals, Microsoft and Nintendo. One of the methods of doing so is obviously quality marketing and you've got an example of such a promotional feature on the left of this article. It's a pretty cleverly designed ad, with the main attribute of the PSN in mind: its free content. The next thing you're going to think about, after seeing the ad is that Microsoft requires you to use Gamer Points and spend them for certain downloadable content.

In case you didn't know, not all gamers are loaded with points achieved through cash, so they're paying a lot of attention to any free service out there. Since the Xbox Live Marketplace looks better but offer both content available for points with the free stuff, some people may get confused and spend points on a theme or full game, while believing that they're downloading them for free. Meanwhile, Sony's PSN focuses on free stuff, occasionally delivering some paid content, but that's mostly the case of full games. It always bothered me that some Xbox 360 content was available for a certain amount of points, to be honest, but hey, the PSN's doing it too, so it's hard to tell the difference, unless you've spent some time on both services.

That's probably why the PSN's ad strikes and strikes at the core of Microsoft's marketing campaigns. Goes to show that not everything that looks good turns out good. Of course, this is not a one-sided affair and we're not promoting the PSN right here, as it's got its flaws, like the design for example. Whenever I'm browsing it, I feel like I'm checking out a cheap and old e-store and really have a hard time finding what I'm looking for.

Since it seems that Sony's using the 360's minor flaws in its ads, they might as well create another one saying "PS3, no overheating problems here!".

*Update: Thanks Liam for pointing this out for us! We've fixed the expensive demo/trailer part and focused on a comparison based on the costs of the content that really requires you to spend Microsoft Points.