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HappySqurriel on 13 August 2007
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Takashii said:
HappySqurriel said:

The answer to this question is certainly dependant on how you define "Pull the Plug" ...

The PSP and Nintendo DS are rapidly approaching the standard end of life (5 years) and could potentially be announcing a follow up system as of E3 or TGS in 2008. Sony could simply plan to replace the PSP in 2010/2011 and hope for an improvement in marketshare (and let it die if it doesn't meet expectations).

The PS3 is a much uglier beast ...

If you assume the PS3 will be hitting $300 in 2009 it could end up being an expensive system (far more expensive than its competition or a Blu-Ray player) which has few games being released for it, sales could stagnate, begin to fall and Sony could be force to pull it before it dies. Basically, it would be better for the Playstation brand for Sony to release an upgraded PS3 in 2009/2010 as a PS4 then to let the PS3 fall to (essentially) 0 sales and sit there for 2 years; it would become a lame product among gamers, it would enrage retailers, and third parties would have doubts that Sony could produce a system that sold at all after that.


Ok I'm not talking to much about the PSP. Its a great system that is selling extremely well, even better than the other competiors that went against Nintendo, everyone has to amit that the PSP was a true challenger to Nintendo, and on the PS3 topic that you discuss wouldn't you consider that they are following Sega footsteps with that, that would make the existing PS3 owners pissed because they purchased the PS3 for its $600 price tag and then to find out Sony is making a PS4?


My thoughts on the PS3 are based off of the "worst case" for the PS3 ... Hypothetically speaking the PS3 could get caught in a cycle of poor hardware sales leading to poor third party support which cycles back into worse hardware sales and third party support; essentially the PS3 would suffer the fate of the Sega Saturn. The Sega Saturn survived on fumes for 2 years and was not pulled, Sega would have been better off had they replaced the Saturn with the Dreamcast in Late 2007 or Early 2008 than releasing it in 2009.

Basically, it would be better for Sony to have a console which people were pissed because it was too expensive and lasted for too short of a life (but had amazing graphics and great games) than as a system which ended up only having multi-platform crapware, started to lose retail space, developers bad mouthed it, and so on.