2010 = Magical $199 Price point on all three consoles

[Dodece]

@topic

I believe the world we live in is a world of balance. To obtain something one must sacrifice something else. For this scenario to play out accordingly Sony will have had to make serious concessions in the area of their library to achieve that price point. While the other players will have had ample time and incentive to use their resources in other areas. That means while the PS3 may have more hardware functionality the other consoles would probably have libraries that were far superior. So much so the PS3 would look like it lacked support.

Speaking as a gamer by that point I doubt the PS3 would be anything remotely close to a viable platform. Microsoft and Nintendo might be making handsome profits, but Sony gaming would be a gutted hulk. The cost cutting, and the selling off of acquisitions to fuel these price cuts would leave the division a shell of its former self. Which would in turn bode ill for the future of the brand. Which of coarse brings into question the potential for backward compatibility in a future console, because I would seriously not believe there would be a new Playstation.

The other two are reasonably possible, and would be affordable for both Microsoft and Nintendo. However for Sony to get at that point would mean that Sony would literally have to scourge just about everything else out of the equation. The games would suffer, the online service would suffer, the future prospects would be on life support.

@Final-Fan

Microsoft made the right call when it came to connectivity. While Wi-fi may be convenient for some. The reality is that the majority of consumers do not yet have this capacity within their homes. Which means Microsoft saved more consumers money. More importantly it meant that everyone who bought their console that had internet access could go online immediately.

That has to be the priority about such things. What functions for the majority of consumers, and what ensures that all of them can use the function. I found this generation the Wii is perhaps the console with the worst connectivity. Out of the box I was told hey you have to go spend another forty dollars on a dongle to play me online. The entire thing was kind of idiotic. What a three dollar jack on the back of the console was too expensive for Nintendo. While a wireless option was cost effective. That made absolutely no sense.

Will wireless eventually make sense probably, but that is still four or five years down the line. When the technology is more reliable, and the majority of our hardware comes enabled. When the modem box your broadband provider comes automatically enabled to do so. That is not right now though. Right now its still lines, and will be until wireless becomes a standard rather then a luxury.