This is Part 2/3 of ‘Step Up Your Game’ entries. This time I’m talking about Sony and the Playstation 3.

Sony has been the leader in the console gaming department for the past two generations, but they have made some poor business decisions getting their new console out the door and have been playing catch up thus far this generation. Lately, however, Sony has been slowly recovering lost ground with big releases such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4. They still have a long haul ahead of them but here are my ideas that could potentially improve the company and their progress in the console war.

Probably one of their biggest problems at the launch of the Playstation 3 was the $600 price point. Over time they have dropped the price and now you can get your hands on a 40GB PS3 for $400, but this is still a bit pricey for the average consumer. If they really want to get their old consumers back in bigger numbers they need to seriously consider dropping the price to be more appealing to their old consumers.

Sony has been delivering the games, but they really don’t advertise enough. Reasons why big games such as ‘Halo 3′ sell so well is because of the strong marketing behind them (aside from being a high-tier franchise). They just simply are not putting enough money in to marketing their products and selling them to the consumer as evidenced by prior software sales. Several of their higher quality games have sold well, but I believe they could have sold much better with more advertising.

When it comes down to games, they’re there, but this generation is more costly than ever to develop games. In order to recuperate the money lost, many developers rely on multiplatform development. Sony has been securing few high-quality third party exclusives. Some multiplatform titles prove to have a slight upper hand on the Playstation 3 while others fair much better on the competition’s machine. Sony really needs to reach out to developers, help them with development, and if need be to secure a high-tier title as exclusive, throw some money their way. Even if it’s only exclusive for a certain window of time, it would still be better than having a multiplatform game release that is better on the competition’s console. It can really discourage potential costumers who want the best experience available. Sony has the first party studios creating plenty of quality games but as far as their third party support goes, they just aren’t fairing as well as they did in previous generations. This is one key factor that Microsoft has the upper hand in.

Online has become a large staple for the gaming community. The Playstation Network is constantly growing everyday and with growth comes evolution. As I’ve reported previously here, Sony has been actively improving the Playstation 3 and the PSN with firmware updates that keep their console’s experience feeling fresh. There are still plenty of improvements that can be made to the network and I’m sure over time they will. One big announcement that Sony made at last year’s GDC was Playstation ‘Home’. It has been in a private beta for a while now and many have been patiently (others impatiently) waiting for at least an extended public beta or the full release of Home. No one is quite sure when Home will grace our PS3s but it could be a necessary extra feature the PSN needs to set itself apart from the competition.

Stay tuned for the final entry in ‘Step Up Your Game’ where I will be discussing Microsoft and the Xbox 360.