Hyruken said:
360 is running at profit while PS3 is running at a loss. Meaning if Microsoft want to they could decrease the price of the 360. WHich they will obviously do at somepoint in 2010. Add to that they have Natal which the industry buzz about is very high. If Microsoft changes its image from being aimed at hardcore fans to casual fans ala Nintendo then that will help them to sell more. As i mentioned above even with the price cut and new model the PS3 is still selling 3rd in the 2 biggest games markets in US and UK. At somepoint that will start to factor as numbers start to decrease. What happens at the end of the year for holidays 2010 will have the most importance such is the trend of the past few years. The 360 will get a price cut and a new tool in Natal. On top of that will have Halo Reach which will most likely be the biggest selling game of 2010 on a single console and potentially other games like Gears 3 and Fable 3. Point being in terms of options Sony are the ones who have run out. They played their last card by bringing out a new console and price cut. And they had to do that because they were getting destroyed sales wise. We have now had the Final Fantasy release in Japan which is the most important game in Japan for the PS3. The effects of that release in comparison to previous versions was not as good. Now FF13 will be released around the rest of the world where it is also on 360. Meaning the exclusive sales it would of had have been probably halved. From an analysts point of view Microsoft have played it perfect. They allow Sony to have this holiday simply because they are millions ahead of them. They concentrate on the games that would increase the PS3's momentum i.e if FF13 stayed exclusive that would help sell loads of PS3's. And Metal Gear Solid also goes multi-platform meaning again less sales for PS3 as people who already have a 360 will not buy a PS3 to play it. So soon as GT5 and GOW3 have come and gone the future releases this year for the PS3 look pretty bleak in comparison to as i said games like Halo reach etc.. History shows momentum shifts from actions to actions. When PS3 cut it's price in 2007 the same thing happened as now. Then 360 cut it's price and took over again. That pattern will continue. Just the next price cut will see a very cheap 360 go against a still expensive PS3. In UK it would mean a 399 360 vs a £250 PS3. In UK the 360 is already outselling the PS3. If you then make the 360 £99 it will destroy the £250 PS3. So right now the momentum is with the PS3, simply because of it's price cut. Just as previously it was the same with the 360. But Microsoft have the ball in their court now, they have lot's of options on how to combat the momentum shift. And they are playing the waiting game. Just as they did in 08. They will play their ace cards at the end of the year just as they have always done. |
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