Kazuo Hirai’s speech yesterday made the situation loud and clear about the problems Sony is facing with the PlayStation 3, the game console they just cannot seem to rise to the expectations. In fact, it is the first time ever Sony gives up the optimistic speeches and just bluntly admits it is in difficulty.

As you probably know, so far, Sony sold only 4.3 millions PlayStation 3s so far. "The results we have produced so far have been unfortunate”, Hirai admitted during his speech.

So, what is Kazuo Hirai’s strategy to transform the PlayStation 3 into a game console able to compete with the Wii and the Xbox 360 in terms of sales?

First Hirai unveiled during his speech the new DualShock 3 Wireless Controller, which incorporates the rumble feature. The added rumble feature, combined with the highly realistic motion sensitive six-axis sensing system, takes gamers deeper into the world of interactivity, delivering a more intuitive, realistic and immersive game play experience, Sony said.

The new controller will also benefit PS3 content creators, by giving them the ability to further expand their creative imagination. PS3 titles that are already in the market may become compatible with the rumble feature through software update.

Sony’s decision seems rather odd, especially because in August the company officials denied any intentions to add rumble technology to PS3’s controllers.

Phil Harrison, UK corporate executive and a representative director of Sony Computer Entertainment, said at the time that the rumble technology is too “retro” to fit in the company’s strategy for the PS3: "I think [rumble] was a last generation feature; it's not a next-generation feature."

But beside DualShock controller let’s see what else Hirai is preparing. According to his speech and his interview published today by Financial Times the solution is quite simple: more games, a price cut sometimes in the future and the famous BluRay drive.

The BluRay drive has been a double-edged knife for the PlayStation 3 since the very beginning. From the moment when the PlayStation3’s specifications were announced Sony promoted the BluRay drive as the most important feature of the gaming console. But very soon, the Japanese company was forced to postpone the launch of PlayStation 3 from March 2006 to November 2006 because BluRay specifications were not finalized.

Sony promised a worldwide debut for PlayStation 3 with millions of consoles shipped in all territories, but in October last year, due to the production problems generated by the same BluRay unit, the company was forced to launch only 100,000 units in Japan and 400,000 in the US.

Along with the introduction of the Blu-Ray also came a high price in comparison with the Wii and the Xbox.

Strange as it may seem, although Sony hoped to use the PlayStation 3 as a launching ramp for the Blu-Ray they now see themselves forced to use a the drive to rise PS3 sales.

In his interview with Financial Times, Hirai stated that he was looking forward to collaborate with Sony Pictures and Sony Entertainment to market the gaming console as BluRay player. 

"The PS3 is first and foremost a videogames machine but we want to say – by the way, it's a great Blu-ray player as well," said Hirai.

So far it seems that Sony has given up any intentions to push the sales of its console during this holiday season. But it seems obvious that the company is preparing a strong spring offensive. That’s when the Home project will be ready for launch and also the Blu-Ray’s price will probably go down and along with it that of the PlayStation 3. Until then Sony will have also enough software titles to support PlayStation 3. In fact Hirai has linked the PlayStation 3 price reduction to the release of new games.

“Going aggressive only on price without being able to back it up with content doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me,” he said for Financial Times.  

So, do not expect too much from PlayStation 3’s sales this winter, but for their sake let’s hope that Hirai's strategy is the right one and their spring campaign will come through.

If not the battle for supremacy in gaming consoles market will remain a private affair between Wii and Xbox360.