Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is to launch an £82 million PS3 marketing campaign designed to help the company win the Christmas console battle.
A new series of TV ads, the first of which is to debut this evening in the UK, will showcase the range of services available on the PS3 including online gaming, Blu-ray and downloadable movies.
"Two years after launch PlayStation 3 is realising its full potential," Alan Duncan, SCEE’s UK marketing director, told the Guardian. "The console is moving beyond gaming and gaming is moving beyond discs."
Duncan’s suggestion that “the console is moving beyond gaming” is an interesting one. According to SCE boss Kaz Hirai, early marketing that positioned the system as a media hub rather than as a games console led to the PS3 having “a bit of an identity problem” and to criticism from third party game publishers. Almost two years later, with close to 25 million PS3 units now sold worldwide and the new PS3 Slim about to debut at a reduced price point, Sony appears ready to market the PS3’s non-gaming capabilities once again.