More rumours:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=143786&page=1

Actually I think Sony has a lot of room to maneuver, but not necessarily within the space they occupied this generation. You don't have to be a high end player to succeed in the console market, and Nintendo proved that out this generation. What you can't do is angle towards the high end market, and not provide a high end product. Sophisticated users will move towards the more sophisticated machine. That doesn't mean there aren't other demographics to tap into.

There aren't any anti-competition laws that would seem to apply. Were that the case Sony would have been litigated to death this generation. They did actually sell a more expensive machine at a bigger loss then Microsoft actually did, and their trojan horse policy was almost underhanded when it came to the format war that was waged early on. So Sony would be the worst offender. Not only did they eat bigger losses, but they did in fact force someone out of a market. Like it or not I don't see the laws as being able to prevent this. Not that Sony would even try doing that in the first place. You don't want to make case law that all your victims can turn around on you.

Besides courts aren't likely to make a distinction between console generations. They would view these consoles as part of a product line, and if Sony is willing to absorb massive losses up front on one product. Then Microsoft would be perfectly justified in responding in the same way with a different product. What do you think Sony's argument would be exactly. Microsoft is getting a unfair advantage by doing what we did to get a unfair advantage. The judge would toss them out on their asses. That all before Microsoft has to fall back on the cell phone market as being a example of their philosophy. The machine after all is just a incentive to get people to use their service.

Hate to break it to you, but Sony wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

When i first heard about cloud gaming i hated the idea and i still slightly do..
However i can see why Sony is doing this, if they want to be number 1 again they can't follow anymore they have to lead the pack. The same way in which Apple came back by leading the MP3, Phone and Tablet industry.
Sony doing this and charging a small fee of around £5 a month to stream any game you want to your TV from a PS3 or a box the size of a AppleTV box could be huge! imagine the shelf with the WiiU £299, Xbox Loop £349, PSOrbis £99.
partnered with Sonys first partys bringing characters like LittleBigPLanet to the global masses and having a huge.. and I'm talking HUGE media blits could rocket sony straight into first place. it usually costs Billions to release a new system. at £99 entry they could be making a nice profit on that box and allocate about 1Billion in advertising. Yes I'm being serious.
The money they wouldn't have to put into shipping these huge machines, Developing them and building them could be used in making sure not 1 person on the earth doesn't know what the Playstation Orbis is.

Imagine a TV add aimed at Parents for the holidays... Mom and child walk into a store and the kids throws a tantrum because he wants the latest game for £40.. then its kicks in..

£5 a month.. Any Game, Any Time. Playstation Orbis.

OnLive have proven that even having not the best internet you can still stream these games!

infact Sony should just Revamp the PS3 OS and slim the system right down. continue with PS3 games and blu ray disks etc and have the PS3 and the PSOrbis living with each other. having a system that still has boxes in stores and keeps a good presence in shops would be good while having this new Cloud gaming on offer too. both systems have different games and the Orbis games look a nice little leap better then Ps3..

good god i never thought i would be on side for cloud gaming..


although the reality is this is all fake and wrong and sony are only going to slightly use Cloud Gaming in PS+ in a weak way and we will still just get a PS4 and it will most likely run Sony into the ground.

Not releasing the PS4 and concentrating on cloud gaming makes financial sense to Sony at the moment. If this was brought up 3 years ago, I would have thought it was crazy. I have been hearing that one of the HD twins was going to bow out of the hardware market but really didn't expect it this soon. I'd rather Sony drop the Vita (which has managed to sell "only" 2M units since launching in Japan last Dec) than have them discontinue the PS4. Oh well I guess there is a chance of seeing Kratos on the X720 and LBP on the Wii U.

I should think Sony will not be competing for the same space they did this generation. I really don't expect their machine to be the most expensive, high-end of the three again. I think they'll have learned a lesson and will attempt to go back to their successful roots. Although, recently Sony has attempted to capitalize on MS's change of focus from the hardcore by trying to appeal even more to that demographic, so it will be interesting to see how they position themselves next gen.

In relation to Sony this generation with the PS3, I don't think as an example it really applies. They released their hardware at a substantially higher price than the competition. They ate massive losses just to bring the console into the price range where customers could afford it, let alone compete with their competitors pricing.

As for the HD format war, I think it was actually benificial for the market to only have one HD format pushed, with full studio support behind it. You had two formats with varying deegrees of support and a sense of uncertainty and confusion with consumers before HD DVD was dropped. The same cannot really be said if one of the big three were forced out through predatory pricing.

@PlaystationGamer

I think you are misunderstanding the implications. Were Sony to move into the role of a streaming provider. The sad truth is they would be leaving the hardware provider market. They could no longer be exclusive in nature. The reality is that streaming doesn't require dedicated hardware, and if you are making dedicated hardware why would you be in the market of being a streaming provider. It is profoundly illogical to do both technically speaking, and even more illogical to do it commercially speaking.

Were Sony to become a cloud provider their primary focus would be to gain entrance to as many platforms as is feasible. Being a dedicated manufacturer would hamper that greatly. If their competitors are staying in the market as dedicated hardware providers. Then it is fully in Sony's best interest to leave that market so they could be in the position to be a viable third party content provider. Were they to stay it is unlikely that the other players seeing them as a rival would allow access to Sony's service on their device. Especially since Sony would likely withhold their exclusive content. Instead their rivals would create their own services, or invite another service onto their platforms.

So if Sony wants to get into the cloud in a big way it is paramount for them to not be a hardware manufacturer. Not only would staying be counter productive to their goal, but it would strengthen other providers of similar services. Basically to capture the streaming market. Sony must concede the console market. Which in a real twist of irony could be a golden opportunity. They could leverage exclusivity contracts out of their rivals before they leave, or force a bidding war over their current exclusive content.

So if you haven't gotten the gist of what I am saying here it is in a nutshell. If this comes to pass Sony will have to leave the hardware market. Which will be good for Sony as a company. They will not make a new console, and to be perfectly honest they will probably wind down their current hardware. The PS3 could be off of shelves before the end of the year, and the game sections will disappear shortly after that. Since Sony would be streaming their content, and if they decide to still use physical media. Those games would come to the other platforms, or even to one exclusively.

This all would basically mean the end of the Playstation platform, but then again Sony has a uncanny knack for having the ability to turn a winning proposition into a complete disaster. If there is a way for Sony to lose Billions on this I have faith that they will find it before anyone else does. Personally I am not a big advocate for streaming, when it comes to gaming. If Sony does go this route I hope they include some option for downloading.

I mean i know nothing better is expected from you but damn, it's like you don't even try (which only makes it funnier)

..now i'll agree that if sony wants to be a "cloud platform" that they will have to be on as many devices as possible.  .. .. it still doesn't mean they can't also make hardware.  i think even if the push to cloud is true there will still be a ps4.  the market just isn't quite ready for it imo.  build the service now but also have a fall back hardware for those hundreds of millions of people with inadiquate internet.

Wait Sony isn't making a next gen console. How will we know when the next gen starts without Sony telling us.