The PS2 made enormous profits and kept Sony afloat for five years.

if i were a stockholder, of course i'd prefer to see the company gain instead of huge losses but i really doubt sony would ever let it happen

i'm just saying...
while nintendo, even during GC period they'd even seen so many gains and has never seen a loss even for a year, i still see nintendo as a better third party than sony..
nintendo has a lot of ip's and their games can appeal to either HD consoles not to mention a lot of fans

i thought black was breaking even, starting to pull profit. I though Blue or green was profitable while of course red means in the hole. so sad i've taken over 30 college hours of business classes and not once were any of these colors ever mentioned.

Not in the PS2 early years, as I say in the OP.

Agree. But that would make Nintendo a less profitable company, skipping hardware income, and therefore a worse company by this thread logic!

ugh no? :S going through or rather have had gone through a tough time doesn't mean they should abandon their products...that's called bad business and I want my ps to be around...it kicks ass

I'm almost certain Playstation was profitable until the PS3 came along.

But on topic yes they would be a fucking fantastic 3rd party dev; but they'd be giving up possibly the biggest brand in gaming history PLAYSTATION. Yes playstation is arguably a bigger name than Nintendo in gaming (or at least in the PS1/PS2 days).

I don't think its a good idea for Sony to give up on hardware. They could start to see a profit on the PS3 this year or within the next year or two, and next gen they could easily become profitable if they forget about making the most powerful console ever and focus on great games and innovating with things like 3D.

sony makes 15-20$ on every single video game that is sold, first, second , or third party.
Additionally, the ps division posted profit last month, so it can't be too bad right now. We'll see shortly when the FY reports come out.
Lastly, they won the HD format war. I'm sorry to disagree, but no, just no. I mean, look at next gen. They have free Bluray rights, driven down the price tremendously of most of the components inside, and have even developed a vast network which they are planning to incorporate into all of their electronics.
These are all things that Sony will not have to pay for next gen. Easily saving themselves billions of future-bucks.

Neither would be better as a 3rd party. 3rd parties have to pay licensing fees for all their games to the 1st parties. This is an incredible competitive advantage. In this manner 3rd parties subsidize production of the console, and of all 1st party titles. Imagine how quickly Coke would lose their dominance if it had to pay Pepsi 10 cents for every drink Coke sold.

1st parties have more diverse revenue streams (their own games sales + console sale + licensing fees + peripheral sales). A 3rd party only has games sales. A few bombs in a row, and they go bankrupt.

you are everything that's worng with gamers this gen, my god where did you people come from, your bacially saying go ahead company fuck me real hard in the ass with a bunch of bullshit, as long as your profitable and make tons a money. It's you *bleep*ing *bleeps* that need to wakee the fuck up and realize YOUR A GAMER!!!!!! not a fucking stock holder, don't ruin shit for us gamers because you *bleep*bleep*s care more about money................ you'll never fucking see ever in your life EVER.

I mean this shit really bothers me, your the type of person that would yank jobs from millions and put it somewhere else becasue you make a few extra million...........on top of the millions you already have, and instead of producing a quality product you start making a piece of shit........all in the intrest of more money, do go crawl back under your rock, please for the love of GAMING.