Glad I helped =) 

Enjoy that new word, if you pay attention you'll discover videogame forums are wall-to-wall jam packed with it.

1) sony mentioned recently they are still losing 10% on each ps3 sold, but with the slim having cheaper parts, saving money on heat reducing components, less packaging being needed and more stock being able to be shipped in for same cost, they will be making savings all around.

2) what's to say they haven't reduced the BR costs?

3) as with the ps2 slim, i can imagine a lot of current ps3 owners selling their old models to buy a new one.

4) even without a price cut i can see a surge ( although smaller ), especially in japan where slimmer models are favoured as well as ff13 being released exclusively for the ps3.

5) if there is a price cut in addition to a new ps3, i expect higher sales for the simple reason of the console being better and cheaper.

6) yes the 360 is cheaper but, you dont get a br player, no wifi, no blu tooth, controllers need batteries, online membership charges, no browser for free movie streaming and everyone fails to realise that when a new improved model is released, the predecessor drops in price. that alone will cause a surge in sales as the older models are cleared out.

7) sony has posted a heavy loss, but we cannot be sure what exactly they spent the money on. the gaming sector wasn't their weakest link! the losses in gaming no doubt come from the ps3- game development, r&d etc. however, once an expensive game is released and r&d is complete for a product you sell.

unless games like kz2, infamous , mag, gt5, gow3, heavy rain etc will never profit, there is a good likely hood a lot of these expenses will be cleared and profit made.

8) home is also starting to flourish and is offering more content as well as receiving more support. the micro transactions will only grow with the user base making more money for sony


if sony will still be making a loss per console sold, it will be a smaller loss and a lot of what they will be releasing alongside a possible slim ps3 will possibly turn the loss into profit. weighing out the odds, i believe it is possible for a price cut and a slim to appear this year and if so, the ps3 may finish this gen in 2nd place.

lol imagine if they announce a slim ps3 with 4 usb ports full backward compatibility with both ps1 and ps2, memory card slots and a glossy black casing with a chrome finish at $250!!

The most important point for Sony now isn´t related to sales, it is related to the fact that they need to stop losing money or start making money with every console sold like they did with PSX and PS2.

I believe that Sony has some wild cards for the holidays period, they are going to use it for getting more sales in the console but the most important one is Gran Turismo 5, the reason is simple and you only need to remember this game and what it did for Playstation 2 back in the year 2001:

For me this was the game that started the real success of the console, Sony wants to repear the same phenomenon again and they will make a fantastic marketing campaign like the one that Microsoft did with Gears of War but this time the star of the show will be Gran Turismo 5 and it will become a success.

The funny part is that Gran Turismo is a casual game

Can anyone translate Bullshit?

lol imagine if they announce a slim ps3 with 4 usb ports full backward compatibility with both ps1 and ps2, memory card slots and a glossy black casing with a chrome finish at $250!!

^ isn't that what the PS3 should have had from the beginning worldwide???

I'm not going to speculate as too the increase in PS3 sales. Certainly it is clear to all that such an early release of a PS3 Slim would be a sign of desperation, only possible due to the original removal of "core" PS3 features.

Furthermore, it is clear that this would signal (along with GT5's release) the end of almost anything significant Sony are capable of doing to push their console. If the results are anything less than extraordinary to the point of the relentless crushing of the Xbox 360 for months and months on end, it is the end of the PS3's chances of ending anything other than third.

One final point: In the last quarter Sony released what was arguably the most expensive shooter ever made. It was a first party title, maximizing revenue. They still lost over $200 million that quarter. Perhaps bear that in mind when discussing the $299 PS3 notion.

increase them

1.  Of course it's desperation.  Everyone knows they need to do something.  This something could be a game changer, however.

2. Outside of further price drops, yes.  Through various channels, I'm hearing that GT5 will make it out this year WW, and FFXIII should (through less accurate sources, but it makes sense from a logical standpoint) be hitting Japan at the end of the year as well.  These two things combined with a theoretical slim ps3 at $299 would be one hell of a combination, and if this can't help the ps3, then... hell, I can't think of any such favorable situation for a past struggling console to compare this too.  Halo 2's launch has nothing on this.

3. If they were only a publisher, Killzone 2's release would bear more significance.  Even making the liberal assumptions that they make ~$40 USD per copy of the game sold and that they shipped 1.5 million copies before the quarter was over, that would've only netter them $60 million in revenue.  Meanwhile, they would've lost $40 (maybe 45-50 after shipping, etc.) per ps3 on over 2 million sold in the same quarter, plus spent a good bit on R&D for the new PSP/PS3.

And yes, their losses on the surface make a $299 ps3 seem less likely, but keep in mind a number of things:

• Sony has projected that they'll ship 13 million ps3s this FY, a 30% increase YoY, despite being down YoY thus far.  A price cut explains this.
  
• They've projected similar losses to those from this past FY, despite theoretical gains from cost cutting measures (like the ps3 slim).  A price cut explains this.
  
• They have big plans for the PSN, given Stringer's recent comments.  They plan to bring it to more platforms, with the ps3 as the ultimate hub.  Hell, they even combined Vaio and Walkman with SCE under Kaz Hirai's control, in a new division called "Networked Devices".  They've obviously got something in mind for all of this, and the ps3 is at the center of it all.  They probably plan to offset any losses incurred by the price cut with gains in other areas as a result of the price cut.  Combining SCE with two other profitable divisions also helps them to muddy the financial waters, helping to hide losses from a price cut from shareholders.

I would suspect that if Sony cut the price of the PS3 by $100, Microsoft would cut the price of the Xbox 360 Premium by $75-100 and really the net result will probably be this.

Xbox 360 > PS3 America

PS3 > Xbox 360 Europe

BUT the Xbox 360 may still take the holiday season due to the change in ratios from Europe to America and the more casual userbase buying the console then.