CGI-Quality said:
Uberkiffer said:
Quite honestly, the xbox moves software and accessories at a crazy pace. I really don't see much of a "shift" in sales, even with the ps3 finally consistently outselling hardware over the 360. 360 always has had a much higher attach rate, sells tons of add-ons, and keeps growing its pay-to-play online service. 360's attach rate keeps going up, more users keep buying additional controllers, chat pads, wireless headsets, and new HDDs - this will not change anytime soon. As a result, the video-game division of MS has made good strides toward consistent profibility. As a publicly held company there is no issues with stockholders over the division - it's here to stay at least for another generation.
PS3 on the otherhand is in the position where they need to sell more consoles and take a larger financial hit so that they can begin to reap the rewards of peripherals and increased third-party sales. They are even looking into a pay-to-play online system as well. As is, I see no way at all that the PS3 will drop its price yet another year in a row, especially once it finally starts to show some positive signs of life. The risk they took with blu-ray and the cell processor both in the same generation was huge, they have yet to see a single cent of profibility from this venture. Couple that with a free-online service and they start using their own systems to build server farms - this costs even more (initial + monthly). Needless to say, they put all their eggs into one basket and it has yet to be fruitful for them. I doubt that they would ignore the next iteration of consoles, but if the ps4 struggles as much early on as the ps3 did, I think it is entirely within the realm that ps4 would be a "sink-or-swim" scenario for the division. |
False.
Regarding the PS4, the MAIN issue for Sony at launch with the PS3 was price. A launch PS4 @ $299 would be a different scenario entirely.
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Sony has stated they plan to introduce other subscription-based features to PSN, but the current model would remain free, there would just be other things one can subscribe to. As to what, who knows.
Edit: Figured I'd post the quote and a link
“Especially in the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services."
http://www.edge-online.com/news/sony-may-introduce-psn-subscription-model
