There is no going back for anyone to the 90s pricing structure. Consumers have too many options now and simply will go buy something else. 

No one wants a $3000 TV any more. I remember that because in 1999 I paid $2700 for a 53-inch Sony TV, but that was the norm in those days. Just a few months ago I got a 50-inch Samsung plasma for $800 with 3D and a pretty darn good image quality (great blacks). The market for that high end price point, whether it's a Sony or a Samsung or whoever is extremely, extremely niche nowadays. 

I believe Sony is trying to team up with Panasonic to push OLED displays in the next year. They are working together to minimize the risk. I think working with other Japanese giants that used to be rivals may be a philosophy Sony embraces in the next 5-10 years. If the circumstances continue to shift like this, I honestly could see Kaz Hirai and Mr. Iwata at Nintendo starting to exchange phone calls. 

250 votes and it's pretty much fifty fifty. It's going to be a close one.

@S.T.A.G.E

What you said may be all well and good, but you didn't actually answer the question. You just made a observation of how the other players advertised. Rather then putting forth any ideas of your own as to how Sony should advertise. I would say if anything all you said was Sony is incompetent, and far too stupid to change the way it markets its own products. All your doing is arguing that the brand deserves to fail.

I intend to make a distinct thread about this on this forum so as not to hijack this thread, and I hope you will take another stab at this question, because I think it would actually be fun to see what some people would come up with. This wasn't about observation, but how imaginative, insightful, or ingenious some here could be if they had to solve a big problem like this.

Thats your interpretation, which is rather extreme to say the least. Sony does a lot of things right when it cames to gaming and Microsoft does everything right when it comes to sales and marketing. This was my point to a shorter extent. If you want to know what I think they should do, they should invest some of that marketing money for the Vita in games and the Vita and the Move and they will have more allure that way. Because of the fact that the Move is focused on the core they will need more games to prove that point. The PS3 will be fine and is always well stocked with titles which actually need a marketing budget itself. They don't need Kevin Butler, but they need to show off their exclusives and make sure everyone sees the characters, gameplay and let them know it's only available on Playstation. They need to attack the American Media just like Micrsoft and Nintendo did and reacquaint people with Sony quality, which in the gaming industry is still extremely high. Sony has the games down they just need to market. So many people are baffled when they find out about how many great games Sony actually has. There are too many great games which Sony has that no one knows about.

You know, as crazy as that sounds today, I can honestly see something like that happening in the next 5-10 years if things don't improve for Sony, and if Nintendo has trouble repeating the success they've had with the Wii and DS this past gen... and if both companies are faced with a threat from Apple or another major competitor.

Hey... it's not like these guys haven't partnered up in the past...

That's what today's gamers refer to as the "PlayStation".

Doesn't that history make it less likely to happen?

@S.T.A.G.E

For crying out loud am I talking in a foreign tongue. I just want the outline for a marketing campaign. I know this isn't likely to sink in, but I will give it one more try. I want your idea for a marketing campaign. Just tell me your idea for a group of commercials to advertise the product. Give me the tag line you would use. Tell me where you would run the commercials.

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@Scoobes

I agree these companies are both Alpha dogs. They would fight for dominance, and rip eachothers throats out.

Don't forget that even while their consoles floundered somewhat, Ninty was out bodying the handheld market.  Remember Wonderswan Color, NeoGeo Pocket, Game.com, Lynx, or the N-Gage?  No? Neither do I, not really, more just the headlines that they were miserable failures even though most of them were technically superior to the same gen Nintendo piece of hardware.  Ninty had a market LOCKED UP during their console struggles, something Sony doesn't have.  SCE isnt the real problem, the real problem for Sony is being overextended in the Electronics market.  Pare down the ammount of products that you offer, and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT MAKE ANY MORE PROPRIETARY FORMATS!!!!!   Every time Sony introduces a new format it is a miserable failure.  I am going to count Blu-Ray in this, even though it is arguable.  Blu-Ray will never see the sales or success of DVD or VHS, it came at a time when the industry was clearly moving towards digital distribution, and until recently was just too expensive for the average consumer.  HD-DVD was just so much worse that it made Sony look like geniuses.  I wouldn't count Blu ray as a win, as much as I would say it is less of a loss.  I stand in the minority here, but whatever.  The main point for Sony is, NO MORE MINIDISC MANG!!!!

@kowenicki

I wouldn't necessarily say they are lying, or even stretching the truth. I think the problem is two fold. The first real problem is this company has a poor track record of gauging the market. These calculations are based on their own supposition which is notoriously wrong well as of late at least. So it probably isn't the wisest thing in the world to buy into what they say.

Second if Sony really wants to show a profit it is well within its power to do so by selling off a large asset to make it look like they are doing better then they are, and that isn't a exaggeration. Sony has sold off assets in the past five years to soften losses. Making a target weight by cutting off a hand isn't exactly losing weight anymore then selling off stakes in other companies made the company genuinely profitable.

So investors have ample justification to be leery. Sony could easily miss on their speculations, and even if they do show a profit it could just as easily be cannibalism. Respect should be earned, and based upon performance. Sure Sony could turn the corner, but nobody should take that for granted, or take their word for that happening.

WRONG.

Ps3 sales were fine. That price cut was what caused them to bleed money.

Will they ever reach PS2 level success? No.
Will the company as a whole ever be on top of the world again? No. But that does'nt mean they can't run a successful company and be profitable.