I don't think MS is going to let 2008 go as easy as you guys may think. The way I look at it, MS is saving a lot for next year. Since they have a good year this year and considering their track record of excellent software sales, they may probably have bought out some PS3 exclusives again. Not the big 3 of course, but they would hurt Sony again seriously just like what happened this year.

Next year we'll see more lost exclusives for Sony and more new IPs going to be released for Xbox 360. The only question now is whether how those will fare compared to the big three juggernauts Sony is set to unleash next year.

Just my .02

@Dodece, for you and the 'mentally hindered' no company is ever going to say a pricecut is coming a year prior.

Sony was still denying a price cut days before the last so your conjecture proves absolutely nothing and you should stop using insults.

Also Sony doesn't merely make money off of selling PS3s, software is the real moneymaker so don't be so sure they won't cut prices more.

Yes yes! Because Sony hasn't said denied they were going to drop the price before and actually dropped it right!? No wait, that doesnt make sense because a company would just announce before hand that they are going to drop the price so customers will wait it out?

Sony made mistakes in their launch, and if the format war was over already then it would be much easier to sell consoles. It would be the cheapest model of the ONLY HD format on the market, but that wasnt the case. Also, you can believe lineups, because its not Sony annoucing those dates, its the developers. First party titles havent had as many issues with delays as the third party titles have. So if theres a delay, I would say its in the range of weeks not months.

Things wont go exactly to plan most likely, but with all the exclusives coming and more time with the PS3, and the high standards the devs have, those delays and poor quality that plagued this years exclusives wont happen again.

Dropping price at the current manufacturing price would not be logical. However as the price of blu-ray drops, and with a reduction of the chipset from 90nmRSX 90nmCell to 60nmRSX 45nmCell, the production cost of the PS3 will drop. Since the original model they ave halved one chip, decreased another, removed two other chips, removed memory card slots, and decreased the cost of the blu-ray laser. The price will drop again next year, because they are not satisfied with the $399 price point. It will happen before GTA as well.

Sony planned to drop the price this year all along. With all the price drops and new models, they have. managed to add price drop boosts while only dropping the price of the PS3 by $100 dollars this year, while removing chips and hardware. They can manage dropping it another $100.

I think it's pretty much a certainty that Sony will drop the price right when their next big exclusive hits, I'm picking MGS4 release. They will then bundle in MGS4 and throw a massive marketing campaign at it in an attempt to move hardware but there is little doubt that a price drop next year is a guarantee. Sony know they need to hit the $300 mark VERY soon.

Their profit lies in games like GT5, Killzone 2 and co selling millions and that can only happen if the hardware is affordable.

Ps3 may have good games comming out... but so does the 360.

Sony has already used their all their "last resort" marketing techniques. Massive bundles, massive price cuts, massive ad campaigns. Microsoft and Nintendo has barely gone in that direction. 2008 will not be their "doom" year as I dont believe they will have one, but its not gonna be a picnic like everyone thinks. People are forgeting that Sony is outselling Microsoft mostly because of the "Japan factor". Without it, there still behind but Microsoft is still keeping pace amist their price cuts and huge ad campaigns. I forsee Microsoft will continue to be agressive and hype their exclusives as well. Microsoft and Nintendo also have stunning games in 2008.

2008 is going to be tougher in a few ways, like how everyone knows Sony is going to be in third place for at least a year, their losses are probably even higher due to huge price cuts, and the competition has better games both out and coming, but I honestly can't see sales for the first 2/3 of the year being anything but better than in 2007.

It will be interesting to see how PS3 sales in January are going to look like. Will they be strong like October/November, or go back to September and earlier levels?

Microsoft is also better at hyping their games. Look at what they did for Halo 3. They had their own Master Chief was figure at Las vegas, midnight launches with celebrities, huge budget "museum" commercials, Nascars with Halo 3 logos, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Now look at what Sony did with Ratchet. They quietly launched it and ran a few commercials. I can imagine next year that Microsoft will throw a mini parade for Banjo and make sure every kid on earth knows that "Banjo Kakooie is comming", and make them all pee in their pants.

Read my post again, and not just the first paragraph. Seriously read the entire thing. Yeah you missed the part where I said I do not believe what Sony said. I would sooner trust a pedophile with a toddler. At the very least a pedophile could feign remorse. Something that Sony can never seem to do.

The point is if you will blindly believe everything Sony tells you as so many fanatics do. Then how is it you believe the jargon about system selling games, but seem willfully oblivious to the fact that they told you no more price cutting next year. Some on these forums merely regurgitate whatever Sony public relations tells them. Looking for a little consistency here is that too much to ask. The only way to counteract selective memory is to shove the steaming pile right in front of some posters. Lock them into a paradox, and watch the smoke pour out of their ears.

While there is a logic to be made for them holding firm on their pledge it all depends on just how desperate the competition can make them, and I have little doubt that Microsoft and Nintendo are going to come at Sony hard next year. So I do expect them to be forced to take drastic measures. I am not sure if their financial plans could suffer the consequences, but I am sure they will fling themselves on the electric fence regardless.

I have said it before, and I believe it. Microsoft is holding back on their massive price cut. I think before the end of next year their most expensive console will probably be around three hundred dollars. While their least expensive will be around two hundred dollars. They are probably going to time it to coincide with a major release like Grand Theft Auto. I also think Nintendo is going to recapture their bi monthly stagger of top notch releases. Turning their software lineup into an unrelenting jack hammer.

When they hit Sony will fold like a house of cards, and do what they do not want to. Even then it probably will not help them that much. I fully expect Sony to behave in a reckless, and irresponsible manner until their stock holders raise holy hell. By the way if software is helping Sony it has to be inflating Microsoft's wallet by leaps and bounds. Their game sales, and their online plan with online sales have to be a mountain of disposable income by that logic.

Just a little sick of the verbatim Sony monologues. How can you recite the marketing jargon word for word, but when it comes to what Sony told you about pricing you conveniently forget that they told you no. Thats the logic a child applies to conversations with adults. Maybe to a child means yes. No to a child means maybe. Thats what we have here Sony saying no, and I lot of people saying maybe. Even though many of them repeat what Sony says, because Sony is always right. What kind of twisted logic is that?

Ok I have re-read your post a few times...
But heres whats weird, you are saying I am contradicting myself right? You are saying that because I say games are coming, along with price drops, that somehow I am just taking the parts that make my argument better. Ok well first.



1. I orginally got the price idea because analyst have said the price would drop. It would make sense to me because people don't usually just go out and buy things over $300 dollars without planning. At $299 it would be at the same price that the PS2 was at when it sold 30 million in two years. Then AFTERWARDS, a sony executive, (I forget who but if it will make people happy I can go find it) said that $299 is the ideal price point for the console. I dont think an executive would say this if there werent plans to do it for over a year. And Sony's biggest concern is not losing money on consoles, but selling consoles. Thats also the price point at which gaming consoles are acceptable. Add to this to the announcement that Toshiba will start producing cell processors at half the original size, and you see that most likely it will come true. SONY HAS NEVER ADMITTED TO ANYTHING BEFORE IT OCCURS! It also denied that rumble was coming, then a month later there it was.

2. I thought I posted this before, but as far as believing Sony about the upcoming year in games, its not them saying it its the developers. A good amount of them are third party developers. They are saying that their games will be completed next year, so as far as I know they will be. You can speculate all you want to, but seeing as most of them have already seen delays, it seems that they have delayed it enough to make the necessary improvements they want to. So im not listening to Sony there, im listening to developers, but in all honesty im less confident in games being released on time than I am in the upcoming price drop. However since many games are slated for Q1 or Q2 08, I see them atleast making it inside the calendar year.

Now heres something many of you arent realizing about this whole generation. Sony isn't competing with the Xbox. The Xbox has built this whole thing up, and IMO is largely to blame for this whole fanboy thing. The only people really benefitting right now from it is Microsoft. Sony is competing with the PS2, believe it or not.

The PS2, we should all be able to agree, was the most successful gaming console of all time. The PS3 is about the same thing as the PS2. (DONT KILL ME ILL EXPLAIN)

If you take off your fanboy goggles for a second, and step back a moment and look from a business perspective you can see what I mean.



1. The PS2 was priced at $299(ideal price point.) The PS3 will be priced at $299 as well.

2. The PS2 had GTA,GT5,FF,Madden,MGS, Socom, etc to move consoles. The PS3 has all of those games as well.

Sony knows what will sell, and they have many people on board that are much smarter and predict the market much better than either you or me. I am not believing anything, this is just what you figure out when you stop wanting a console to do better and look at the reality of the situation. Sony is not run by idiots, and if you think that after one year the console is "dying", even though it outsold Xbox360's first year and is outselling the 360 right now, your going to be in for a big suprise.


BTW if you are wondering, I own all 3 consoles. I like them all, but it doesnt change the fact that the PS3 is going to pass the 360, unless the 360 can find another way to elevate its sales and maintain it year long in 2008.