So the next gen starts when Sony says it starts?  Interesting!  You do realise that the world does not stand still and wait for Sony right?  The current gen (I don't even know what you mean by next gen starts - are you refering to the Wii/PS3/360 gen or Wii 2/PS4/720 gen) is now 2 years old for Sony and Nintendo and 3 years for Microsoft.  If Sony is waiting 3 years into the current gen for it to start well by that time PS3 will already be like 30 million consoles behind Wii with no prayer of making a come back and if it falls too far behind 360 then well all it can possibly dream of this year is a meaningless battle for 2nd (or to avoid being last to put in another way).

And the credit crunch is all due to oil. Oh what a discovery this was. Curse the man who discovered cars.

It's not worth it.

The best that either Sony or MS can hope for this generation is second place. Profits are much more important than market share. If any of the three companies could make 20 billion dollars by selling just 100 consoles, then they'd do exactly that.

Even if the worst-case scenario came true, it would make much more sense to be in third place having turned a decent profit than to be in a distant second place just a few million units ahead of the third place console while posting an overall loss of several billion dollars.

The only place that Sony really messed up with the PS3 was the price. Had it come out at $300-$400, then the loss of exclusives and the 360 head start wouldn't have mattered in the slightest. As long as the PS4 launches at a reasonable price, they'll be fine.

The economy will have the same impact on all 3 console manufacturers.  Nintendo is in the best position because they have tremendous sales at an attractive price point and they make money on each sale.  Both MS and Sony lose money on each unit sale and hope to make it up on software sales. 

In this economy it is best to focus on profitability and revenue.  MS needs to sell substantially more units to achieve the revenue that they were earning prior to the price cuts.  Using the Arcade as an example, to achieve 30 million in revenue the arcade can sell 107k at the "original" clearance price of $279 per unit, but at the new price they need to move 150k units to achieve the same revenue of 30 million.  MS needs to sell 43k more units just to have the same revenue.  I am not sure MS would have cut the price had they known how bad the economy would be.

Not quite. The whole way how the Cell was used was a big mistake. So the big move to Multiplattform Games would have happened anyway. The main problem is that the development costs are so high that it is simply cheaper to bridge the differences, then to specialize.

@libellule

if SONY can get Dark Knight Blu-Ray budled with PS3....they should say HI to GREAT SALES

If I'm not mistaken Dark Knight is now the BIGGEST SUCCESS in NA behind Titanic!

Last year there were the first sign of a credit crunch and in the States only.

This year 12 major banks in Europe have failed or needed to be rescued using emergency merger laws.

House prices have dropped by 15 % and are expected to fall more next year.

Unemployment is on the increase and everyone has been advised this could be the worst economic downturn since the 1930's

Im not sure the first thing the masses will do is rush out and buy the most expensive console available.

Expect market contraction.....

Christmas shopping is the biggest shopping time of the year. Do you honestly think people buy everything they get for Christmas with CASH? They use CREDIT. IF their credit is tapped, or they can't get anymore, they won't be shopping as much. How many people do you think have trouble keeping their credit cards caught up, let alone are capable of making regular payments on them with rising fuel costs, food prices, retail prices. It's not going to be a very white Christmas this year for a lot of kids.

At this price i am 100% Microsoft will win the Christmas race....

Quote me if you want...

Failthread?

Sony won't be price dropping this Christmas.

Sales are up close to 100 percent Year over year, I'm sure that they're fine with this. With games like LBP, and Resistance 2 to push consoles this holiday, I think they'll be fine.

Remember, Sony is about profit now.