PS3 stills has a chance for 2nd place?

[NJ5]

NeoRatt said:

TheBigFatJ said:
The only reason I can think of that would keep the PS3 selling after the Xbox 360's successor comes out is if Sony doesn't release a successor to the PS3 for a while after and Microsoft immediately stops selling the Xbox 360.

That could actually make the PS3 more relevant than it has been so far, as it could be the only way to get a new system that could play all of this generation's cross platform games when the next generation is started.

Frankly, I think that if Sony was really interested in making a PS4, they'd try to beat MS to market.

The problem with the theory is that you are assuming the next generation of 360 will follow the same path they did with the original XBox.  Rumours have talked that the next rev of 360 may be forward compatible, and if it is, that allows them to continue selling the current 360 on the low side and a higher end one for the gamers who want more...

If Sony beat MS to market with PS4, they will again discredit themselves.  The PS3 is supposed to last 10 years.  Almost all 360 owners know that is not a reality for the 360.  People (like me) who bought expensive PS3's are going to be very unwilling to buy an expensive PS4.  Sony has a lot of work to do, to convince me that a PS4 is going to be worth my while.  the PS3 has got the short end of the stick almost all this entire generation so far on multiplatform games.  The 1st party exclusives are the only things breathing life into the PS3 outside of MGS4.

Forward compatibility looks like a bad idea to me. This means developers will have to target and test their games for two platforms. On each platform, they may have to target and test the different models (in 360's case, Arcade and non-Arcade due to the hard drive difference).

Furthermore, it gets harder (or impossible) to take advantage of new features when targeting two separate platforms with different features. If the next MS console has motion controls, how to make games that target both? If the nextbox uses Blu-Ray, how will the games be distributed to 360 users?

I'm thinking those rumors stem from the idea that Microsoft wants to make consoles like PCs. While that makes sense on a superficial sense, I wouldn't bet Microsoft will go that way. The Wii's success shows that's not what people want.