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More PlayStation 3 Predictions

Posted by michael on from the tea-leaves dept.

GreyGusMan writes "On the heels of last week's report that the PlayStation 3 would be released by the end of the year, CNN/Money is now reporting that Sony will not release its next console until 2006 - a year later than most of the industry has been predicting up until now. The column points out that PlayStation 2 sales have remained stong for much longer than the PlayStation and the technology Sony has planned will take a long time to create. Meanwhile, the same column mentions that the expected May price cut may be less than expected. Most people were expecting the PS2 to drop to $149, but $179 is now also a possibility."

4 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why would they want to? by larien · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If they try to milk it too long, they'll fall behind the technology ladder. Fall too far, you risk losing market share and people will just buy Xbox(2) instead. Game makers will follow and soon PS3 is a dead duck before it's launched.

    As it is, they're already behind Xbox technologically and the only thing keeping PS2 winning is the game selection. If MS buys up enough games companies for Xbox only titles, PS2 will start losing market share heavily.

    *shrug* time will tell, as ever; 3 years is a long time for MS to make Sony an also ran.

  2. Re:Competiton by binaryDigit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As other people have said the PS2 unit itself might start making money for sony as production costs fall

    Repeat after me, Sony sells PS2 hardware for a profit already. Have for a while now.

    I look forward to the day I can play a photorealistic games rendered in real time.

    As long as the games don't suck. I look forward to the day when focus comes back to gameplay and not pretty pictures.

  3. they have to wait by NixterAg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sony won't pump out the Playstation 3 until they get a better idea of how many people will adopt HDTV, which technology will succeed DVD in the home, and when Microsoft will release a competing product. They can't afford to release a piece of hardware that isn't compatible with what people want. You can't believe how many people use their PS2 (or X-Box) as their primary (if only) DVD player. This is a huge selling point for the consoles and has been a huge boon to the DVD industry. It has, in essence, single handedly killed VHS, as many major retail outlets have already announced plans to phase out VHS sales.

    It's not just about games anymore. Gaming consoles will become the media hub of the future home, not PCs (yes you can argue that gaming machines are specialized PCs but that's not completely accurate), and it's critical that Sony continue with that concept, but it's risky at the same time.

  4. Re:to the victors goes the spoils.. by larien · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Nintendo is dying off in the UK; Dixons (major high street retailer; part of the same group as PC World) have effectively stopped selling it, clearing existing stock only. Argos are heavily discounting and are likely to stop selling RSN.

    They're not out of the game yet, but without a turnaround, they're going to become irrelevant soon.