Destructoid: Sony needs to STFU

[Dodece]

I think fellow members may be a little rash in their fervor to discount the threat from Activision as being so much hot air. The more I contemplate it the more I see that it is a very real option. More to the point it might actually be the best move. Especially in the long term for the company. More to the point this is exactly how you would go about doing it. Give Sony forewarning publicly so that you can say we gave them a chance. Then when they do not salvage the situation you have full justifiability for your actions.

I read the same argument a dozen times in this thread. The threat is empty there is no way they would walk away from that much money. Short term absolutely they would lose some capitol, but companies do not think just in those terms. They have to position themselves long term. In that sense they would actually probably generate more profit by doing so. They reduce their development costs, reduce their turnaround, and limit their exposure to manufacturer exclusivity.

Here is where the common consensus is stumbling. Torpedoing the console is not the same as torpedoing the users of that console. Were Activision to pull the plug the console probably would not last another eight months. Once that happens do those users just stop playing games, or even stop playing your games. Most users are not vengeful fanatics. We know this, because of this console generation they drift where the wind blows them.

Within a year over ninety percent of the PS3 gamers would have purchased another console. Nothing more then a blip really, and Activision does a spectacular job of cutting costs. Plus they actually curtail competition against them. Imagine the losses that Sony software would eat on the way down. Sony is actually a big software player, and at some level is direct competition far more so then Microsoft or even Nintendo.

I think we should be far more concerned about these comments. You should not avert your eyes to omens. There is a basis for Activision following through on these threats. That alone begs the question is it smart for Sony to tempt fate. On the flip side Activision doesn't even have to kill the console. All they need to do is undermine it, and oddly enough comments like this are a first step in the process.

Bottom line is that this is a real option, and shouldn't be labeled as an empty threat. This could be the prelude to Sony being cold cocked. Could even be the last mistake in the console market they would ever make. Never write off threats. There is always the chance that they are the real deal.