| JGarret said: @john lucas What do you mean by "when Sony fades"?...no PS4, you mean? |
I meant exactly what I said.
Sony's about to leave the videogame business. There will not be a PS4 nor a PSP 2.
The PS3 fiasco has cost them greatly and with the global decline of economics, they can't afford to be in this fight anymore with competitors like greenbacked Microsoft & most likely Apple showing up.
The industry can't sustain too many major competitors at once. Sony is headed toward the road of restructuring & that MAY mean abandoning the videogaming business.
Remember it was Ken Kutaragi who begged & pleaded with his corporate superiors to get into the VG biz with Nintendo in the 1980s. It was Ken Kutaragi with a higher up's blessing that kept the PlayStation project alive after Nintendo's contract swerve at the CES in 1991 with Phillips. And with Ken's vision & the PlayStations' record success over the past nearly 15 years, Sony stayed in a business they once thought to be a childish fad.
With Ken Kutaragi gone, the PSP not fulfilling its mission against Nintendo's handhelds ALONG with the PS3's poor performance & budget wrecking effects (2008 was last year for PS3 to turn it around), Sony might not have the taste to remain in this business anymore.
Their whole success was bedrocked upon 3rd party support. Sony's systems didn't sell because of hometown efforts for the most part. They sold because of the 3rd party developers who showcased themselves on that system. This whole 3rd party set up was forged BECAUSE of Nintendo's (Yamauchi's Nintendo) treatment of the 3rd parties. Nintendo was Dad & the 3rd parties were The Kids. And The Kids got tired of Dad's mandates & commands so they moved of Dad's house to move in with Uncle Sony who let them do what they wanted to do. But Uncle Sony got a little lax with the upkeep of his grounds (and oh those drug-filled wild parties: 599 U.S. dollars!) & eventually The Kids were forced to make a decision whether to stay with their irresponsible Uncle, move in with his Rich Neighbor Microsoft (MoneyStacks to his friends) down the street, or come back home to Dad's yard hoping he's less uptight than before (Iwata's Nintendo).
You're seeing this decision being made in real time right now. 2009 will show where The Kids ultimately go. The Kids are moving out of Unc's house and into the Rich Neighbor's house but some of them have already moved into Dad's pool house (DS). Dad's making amends & asking The Kids to come back home. How the Rich Neighbor got his Money Stacks may ultimately do The Kids harm & Dad's always looking out for their best interest even if he comes off heavy handed at times.
3rd parties leaving Sony as an afterthought is the death knell. The 3rd party establishment may still prefer XBox 360 right now but watch as this year progresses. The Wii platform will begin to look better & better to them. When that happens even Microsoft will be taken aback. 2009's fight is between Microsoft & Nintendo & if Nintendo beats Microsoft in this aspect, it's even worse for Sony than if the reverse happened. Because Nintendo's market philosophy will revamp & revolutionize how it's all done effectively killing the approaches championed by MS & Sony these past few years.
2 systems fighting over a dead market approach? Ain't gonna happen. Microsoft will either adapt or die with Sony in the VG biz while Nintendo reorients the reluctant 3rd party companies on how it's going to be done.
I said it time & time again in many places on the internet: 1st party + 2nd party + 3rd party = Nintendo's Party
Who dares to stop them once they achieve this power? You need some funds to come up with something to stop this imaginative company. The only ones I can see so far who have this power is Microsoft & Apple. And since raw tech ain't the way anymore what are these companies going to create? Lots of R&D funds to figure out what to do if you don't wanna be old hat and dead out of the gate.
If December 2008 didn't help Sony, nothing will. It all declines from this point forward. PS2 is nearly 9 years old & about to join the Hall of Fame with NES, SNES, Genesis, and other obsolete systems. PSP is not going to get better after 4 years on the market performing like this. And the PS3 will REALLY see pain when that price is matched up against all these layoffs/cutbacks going around in every part of the country, in every part of the world. They can't price cut without putting themselves even deeper in debt. And any price cut made can be trumped by another one from money-flush Microsoft on the various 360 models. Price cuts didn't save Gamecube anyway so sometimes it's a gamble to do it.
It's over & it's up to Sony whether they want to risk it all for another round. Their record-selling days of the past decade & a half didn't bring them matching profits. That was because how their business model was designed (software sales to cover hardware losses). In days of plenty, they made a little money. In days of drought, they're losing billions.
Since they're not inherently attached to the business like Nintendo, they can jettison it & focus on another of their many pies to restart their influence.
2009 will be last year of the PS3.
John Lucas
Words from the Official VGChartz Idiot
WE ARE THE NATION...OF DOMINATION!
