Howard Stringer Says Games Profits Are Sony's "Top Priority"
Speaking at its annual shareholder meeting in Tokyo today, Sony boss Howard Stringer has said that the #1 priority across the entire company is - coupled with boosting their TV business - restoring profitability to the games division. And it's not hard to see why! The PlayStation division alone has lost Sony around $3.4 billion over the past two years while the PS3 was moving from R&D onto the shelf, so you can forgive Sir Howard for wanting to see a little of that money start making its way home.
Stringer Says Restoring Sony TV, Games Profits Is Key [Bloomberg] [Pic]
Holy shit. I knew the PS3 was losing money (Kaz said it could be at late until the end of 2009 for the PS3 to start making money), but to lose 85% as much money as the first Xbox in less than half the time?
Forget price cuts. Just be glad the system, but especially the games are selling as well as they are.
Then again, if the PS3 is still losing money, I actually hope Sony's cut of MGS4 offset the losses of the increased PS3 sales this week.
Don't you dare think I'm bashing Sony or the PS3. I'm not claiming Sony or their systems suck because of this, nor am I claiming this will ruin Sony. I'm just pointing out that the PS3 is putting Sony in a financial bind, same as the Xbox did.
Of course this could be an opportunity for Microsoft to cut their prices, assuming the 360 is profitable enough, but if it's just barely, I don't see a price cut for either system anytime soon.
A flashy-first game is awesome when it comes out. A great-first game is awesome forever.
Plus, just for the hell of it: Kelly Brook at the 2008 BAFTAs
