Kaz Hirai Wonders Where The GameCube, Xbox Are...

[Sqrl]

MontanaHatchet said:

Sqrl said:

The real question is whether or not you have that luxury when you aren't the overwhelming leader in sales.

There are some pretty obvious reasons why the overwhelming winners of the last 2 generations had long lifespans relative to the consoles they stomped into the dust (in terms of sales) and it isn't just because Sony wanted them to.

By 2010 or 2011, the PS3 may actually be making a profit. So Sony is likely to continue with the 10 year plan because they'll need any profits they can from the PS3 to stave off the almost certain losses they will receive from producing their next console. Unless of course Sony decides to sell their next system for a profit, but I don't see it happening.

 

 

If it was Sony who makes the choice of when it stops selling I would agree, but they ultimately defer to the customers.  There are at least as many scenarios where sales have died off by 2011 as their are scenarios where sales are still going.

I know the 10 year plan sounds great from the consumer perspective (and I hope they stick to it), but the reality of low development support, low hardware sales, pressure to innovate from competitors and/or consumers, or even a great new idea itself can all force the decision.  I'm not saying those factors will all be in play in 2011 but even 2 of them is enough and there are a lot of scenarios where 2 of them occur.

@Steven,

There might very well be some merit to that but its hard to say for sure if those sales would justify the cost incurred in supporting it still.  With the PS2 this is clearly worthwhile still, but when they finally stopped the Xbox it was selling around 5k a week worldwide.