you guys need to know Sony wants the PS3 to sell for another 4 years and have a new console out by 2015, since its cheaper to have a console with a long lifespan then releasing consoles every few years. 

the PS1 was 5 years

PS2 was 7 

PS3 will be 8-10 years 

It was no mistake, the prices were fine.

True faults were not launching first and top games taking forever to release.   

No, Sony unlike Nintendo and Microsoft is a multi-media, multi-national conglomerate. The PS3 with Blu Ray was intentionally designed to push Blu Ray once Blu Ray became popular. It has been 4 years and Blu Ray is not catching on like DVDs did in the late 1990s and early 2000s...

You can see Sony is not learning their lesson by pushing 3D games for the PS3, which conveniently coincides with their 3D television business. In the next year, you will start to see more and more PS3 games, especially Move games touting 3D capability.

Sony in their behavior has not shown any sign they have learned their lesson. If anything, their current behavior is indicative of a company who, at the top, views the PS3 more than just a console. The PS3 to Sony means increased Blu Ray sales and increased 3D television sales. Sony with their diverse lineup of multi-media products will always put out the most expensive console because they are banking on the future, whether their vision of the future becomes reality a year from now or 10 years from now.

They got away with it because of the success of the PS2 - both in convincing developers to make games for the PS3, convincing consumers that the PS3 would win eventually and as a way of getting lots of cash for little effort. The PS3 is doing well now, but it's no PS2, it will not be able to prop up it's successor. If the PS4 makes the same mistakes as the PS3, there will certainly be no PS5.

I suspect Sony have learnt a fair bit from this gen, and I think the PS4 may be $400, I doubt the PSP2 will be $200 though

If PlayStations are on an 8-10 year cycle, then there won't be many generations of PlayStations left.Just like the Walkman vs. the iPod, the later you get in, the less relevance you will have along with fighting for scraps of whatever is left of the market for you to gain, if you can gain it.

Sony does not get to decide when the next generation and all the hype will start. Whoever starts the next generation does and looking at the evidence, all eyes are on Nintendo to jumpstart the sucker in 2012. It is up to Sony to either react and release within a few months to a year, put out the PS4 first, or get in their wishful thinking mode hoping they can come into a generation 4 years later and still compete.

The PS3 has had a lot of problems that seem to date back to the start of development of the CELL in 2000, SONY wonted to create a CPU that could tack on WinTell in the server market, but they have not been able to do that and IBM have ceased production of a replacement to the CELL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSX_(DVR)

Then 2003 SONY released the "PSX" a DVD Recorder based off the PS2 as an experiment to test how easy it was to make a consumer electronic device out of a games machine and t test market reaction. it was only released in Japan because it failed because it was very expensive about 60-80000YEN or about US$925 for the top model.

Then SONY played Russian Roulette with the PlayStation Brand by PS3 became a vehicle for winning the format war with there Blu-Ray against TOSHIBAs  HD-DVD despite the fact that it was a huge gamble in light of there failer in the BETAMAX vs VHS VCR war of the late 1980s and the failer of there VCD against TOSHIBAs DVD in the mid  1990s the gamble of cores work this time but only because the PS3 was the chepest Blu-Ray play on the market in 2006 being $600 half the price of stand alone Blu-Ray Players at the time.

but many Developers/Publishes started to more and more go multiplatform because of uncertainty with the PS3 and the marketing of SONY, PS3 did not moving software like it should costing them a lot of big exclusives that they were almost guaranteed before lunch in 2005-2006.    

I love the games from the PS and PS2 era but SONY better get there act together for next Gen with a easer to program for system and a more comdative price or it is all over.

I sometimes worry about Sony, but then I remember that their competitors are Nintendo and Microsoft. And then I realize that they'll be fine.

I understand the price concern of the PS3, but the 3DS seems like it'll be priced around what the PSP launched at - $250 or so. If it sells as Nintendo expects it to, it'll become clear that price was not the PSP's main issue. (... that, or Nintendo is about to learn a lesson of their own)

Well, even without that, the more expensive DS sku's (DSi / LL) have been doing well, despite being priced similarly to the PSP.

As for the PS3, I'm pretty sure Sony already knew the thing was overpriced. I don't see how they couldn't. Perhaps the Wii or 360 forced their hand or something.

I'm sure Sony won't repeat this particular mistake, though with what happened to them this gen (compared to last), they'll have much less room for error this time around.

The biggest problem wasnt the price or the late launch, it was the loss of exclusives. i've heard Sony failed to provide enough dev kits to Ubisoft or Bioware, and thus lost Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect as exclusives. MS is rumoured to have paid $100 mil to Rockstar for GTA4 to go to the 360 as a multiplatform. other important exclusives as well like RE5 or FF13. and the Sony first party was comparatively weak compared to the third party.

but the 2nd and 3rd strike was the price and the loss of at least 1 year on it competitors. and for some reason despite being the worst of the 3 consoles, having the worst launch line up and the highest price its still doing pretty well. as long as they release at a competitive price to their competitor, have a solid launch line up - then it could happen.

It will be very hard to make the PS4 any cheaper than PS3 at launch. The PS4 will have to have both motion and traditional controls out of the box if they even expect to compete. That right there will drive up cost slightly.