I own a PS3 and of course I hope it can have all success.

However, according to what Microsoft have done in recent months,  I am worried about Sony.   I just feel that MS is trying to do what it did in the past to monopolize the gaming market: Copy + Cheap (or even free).

Frankly speaking, I don't like MS because it often introduce unfair competitons.  A brief historical retrospect:
Windows 3.1 -> Machinosh
IE -> Landscape
Windows Messenger -> ICQ
Windows Vista -> new MacOS

Now it is XBox360 -> PS3.

I don't mind if XBox360 is doing well and successful.  But it is very unfair to PS3 owners when MS continously use much money to pay for exclusive games, no matter whether timed exclusive or exclusive DLC.  As a result, the right games are not developed for the right consoles.  And it shows that the success is controlled by how much money a company is able to waste instead of how good are the games and how creative it is doing (this is usual problem of MS).  And finally, XBox may destroy PS in one day.  It is definitely not a good consequence to gamers.

On the other hand, Sony must also do something to compete with MS.  According to several feedbacks, the problem of PS3 are mainly the price and number of games.

About price, I think cutting the price is not a good solution when the current price reflects its value.  Of course more bundles with same price is a good strategy.  (The price of XBox360 is decreasing either indicates its value is decreasing or indicating it is selling in price under cost)

About games, I think Sony should not hope that the future trend is going to be completely multi-platform.  It is not wise as it is not the thought of its competitor.  As MS keeps on buying exclusives and paying PS3 exclusives for multi-platform, it will just lead XBox360 to have more and more exclusive games and when people consider which console to buy, they should choose XBox360 because they feel that it is more promising on providing the games they want.

Another unwise strategy Sony is doing is to let its exclusive games go multi-platform.  e.g. FFVIII and may be MGS4.  Of course, MGS4 going multi-platform a year later does not affect the sales of this game for PS3.  But the impact is very big in long term.  This cause people think:
- Any good exclusive games for PS3 will finially come to XBox360 (not vice versa) so they will choose to buy XBox360 and no need to buy PS3 for that game.  And when XBox360 gamers express a high demand MS will fight for them.
- PS3 will have less and less representative games.  When people mention PS3, they can hardly figure out any third party PS3 label game.
- Existing PS3 fanboys will not be happy and Sony will lose their loyalty.

Finally, I think Sony should definitely get more JRPG games for PS3 to rescue the Japan market.

Umm i'm pretty sure microsoft is doing what sony did las gen...

And i don't think the sony brand name will just die like that, they have plenty of money too.

Even if Sony does end up failing another, possibly better company might jump in to the market with a better console.

P.S. comparing vista to New mac os as an unfair advantage is a joke, cause vista is useless.

Yes clearly MS forced Sony to include the Cell processor and BluRay in the PS3 resulting in a system with a cost far above what the market is willing to pay which has ruined PS3 sales, damn you Microsoft!!!!

It's funny back in the PS2 days a lot of games could have been made graphically superior had they been designed for the xbox but due to market share were designed to run on the inferior PS2, now the roles are reversed and all the fanboys come out of the woodwork.

Copying is a succesful and non-MS exclusive strategy:

Windows 3.1 -> Machinosh->Xerox Alto
IE -> Netscape->Mosaic
Windows Messenger -> ICQ->IRC
Windows Vista -> new MacOS->Nextstep

First off, welcome to the forums.

As to your topic, I think your worry level is dispropotionate to the actual problem. Inspite of all the factors you've listed, Microsoft still hasn't "put Sony away" so to speak, and the PS3 is doing fine relative to the 360 in Japan and Europe.

Furthermore, Microsoft seems unwilling to spend its way to victory in the gaming market. Most of the exclusives we've heard being purchased were targeted towards Japan, and were secured in the earliest days of this generation. That well seems to be drying up, even if there's still the odd exception. The timed exclusivity doesn't seem to help Microsoft that much in the long run, and considering how much money it's costing them I'm skeptical that it will be all that common in the future.

That said, Sony does seem strangely lethargic this generation. Their Western developers have been productive, but their Japanese companies have been mostly silent so far. This problem is compounded by the fact that Sony Corp. isn't going to be chucking money into the gaming market either (profits are declining rapidly, and with the upcoming recession demand for high-end electronics probably won't be so hot). So don't count on Sony moneyhatting a whole lot either...

So in conclusion, Sony isn't as deep in the hole as you seem to feel, and isn't as vulnerable to Microsoft as you seem to think. If their goal is to match Microsoft, they're doing alright. If their goal is to dominate the market and push Blu-Ray, that ship has long since sailed, and profitability should be the new goal.

I will add though that new JRPG's aren't the end all and be all that many make them out to be. Microsoft has the most so far, and it doesn't seem to have done them extraordinary good. Sure, Final Fantasy XIII will raise Sony's boat in Japan, but I don't expect it to be a tidal wave that Sony will ride to Console War Victory. It'd be better instead for Sony to read the current market, decipher what folks really want, and give it to them. They have someone giving them clues...

Dont worry Sony will be alright, right now their in a tight situation because they cant cut price on their Ps3 but they have learned alot this gen from microsoft and Nintendo. They know that they just cant put an outrages price on a console and expect people to buy it, but they are still doing alright. Look at Nintendo after being down in last place for the last two gens their on top now. This race isn't over yet a price drop is coming in 2009 and it will most likely raise hell in sales.

360s cost has nothing to do with diminishing value or selling under cost, and much more to do with drop in manufacturing costs, and price saturation, remember its been on the market longer, and gets one price cut a year much like the ps2 set the pase for price cuts before. 

for the money hatting as people call it, sony has done this in the past, ms will do it, its just what happens although now it is far better for devs to go multiplat.

unfair comp i can buy in some cases but can also explain

the mac windows thing would never have even become an issue if apple lawyers had paid more attention to licensing agreement for windows 1 based on the mac os.

current os, the two have nothing to do with each other, they arrived at there own looks through separate work, and honestly vista is not as good in my opinion and ms seems to feel the same with the rush put on system 7. msn, never thought it was as big as aim, but then again, my mother used aol back when i first used chat tools... ages ago... god dial up was bad. 

the IE/Netscape thing is true back in the 90s, but netscape just kinda gave up in the end. 

now i doubt ms will destroy sony, they may beat them this gen and who knows maybe even next, but if you look at computer gaming on the windows platform, thats about as bad as it will get on consoles if ms was all there was, though i doubt nintendo is going anywhere and really want to cede the market sony, and MS are fighting over to them, im sure somewhere in the big Ns tower they have plans to drag us back to them, besideds ups and downs make the market fun and new challengers will come out

Xerox alto was bought for use with stock since xerox could not launch it, they were barred against it legally. 

nextstep was a baby project of jobs, so i could say it was apples all along, after all what is apple without jobs? (also i want a classic next step  computer )

Just pointing out that copying and improving a product has a long and successful history.  MS doing it, in that they made a pretty standard console by the standard of anything past the SNES, is not some sort of unprecedented move.

Off Topic:  Beautiful machines the NeXT boxes.  They would not be all that impressive today but they made Win3.1 look truely primitive by comparison.  If you get one buy the color version.

sony will win likely win 2008 unless they have shortages.
and get to 20 million faster than the 360 did.

they are not worried and all those costing double than the 360.