Maybe this has a little bit more to do with who you are, where you live and the people that you associate with. Just because you don't hear anything about the PS3 doesn't mean that "people" aren't talking about it. Here's how the picture would have painted it:

Most of my friends own a wii. Out of them, close to half also have a PS3 or plan on getting one. Other than that, the 360 seems dead to everyone I know of, excluding me.

Man, the title of the topic suggests an "after the PS3 crashes" scenario.

It will never happen so no need to extrapolate .

Even with poor results for this gen, playstation remains a valuable brand (it has a value) so ...

True, and we can discuss different scenarios. Well, new consoles could come as soon as 2011 (I would lean more towards 2012), so any relevant relevant discontinuation (is that even a word?) would have to come in 2009 or early 2010.

Discontinuing the PS3 much later than that would not make sense since its monetary losses would probably be lower then, and Sony would certainly like to keep their "10-year lifecycle" promise.

"When" is still important. If it suffers a slow death and gets discontinued then noone will care anymore. If it happens tomorrow it will send waves of doom and gloom around the world.

Granted, point conceded. I admit my idea of the scenario was narrow; I assumed we were talking about within the next six or eighteen months, since that would be the worst time.

I won't respond to individual comments but i'd say in today's market, it will be tough for PS3 to pull out.

1. Economy is slowing down - PS3 does't have the price point

2. BD Players are coming down - there are 199.00 players. More loss of price point

3. BD In and of itself has been slow to go. The death of the HD DVD/BD war seemed to just have a collective sigh on the industry and nothing has changed. Slow to release, expensive and gimmicky products (and movies)

4. PS3 Services - free is free, but when you like to game, the few bucks xbox live cost still offers a better service that gamers can feel a part of. They see the few bucks a month as an investment on their hobby of choice.  PS3 Home has been slow to start and frankly too little too late, the entire virtual worlds thing is passe if you ask me - in the sense that Sony is designing it. Simple user to user interactions and seemless integration from games to media is where its at. Adding complexity of virtual worlds may be some peoples idea of gaming bliss, but not mine :)

The dreamcast was still selling well when it was abandoned - mostly because the financial crises that Sega of America faced and the fact Sega didn't want to seek out capital but rather divest & restructure.

I guess it also comes down to commodities. PC Gaming is still based on DVD, so the format alone won't sway people that aren't already swayed.  Xbox gaming is just so affordable and for the price the best bang for buck that many people can experience and the premium that the PS3 affords over the Xbox 360 is often ignored or not utilized.  I mean, *EVERYPONE* i know that has a PS3 only has a ps3 to play a few random sports games while a select minority watch movies. Most still having an SDTV - they just bought the ps3 because they had a ps2.

On the flipside, i think it would have been certain death of the PS3 had the Xbox 360 not gone through its RROD horror phase.

This console war has been the best one to date if you ask me.  Competition has been fierce, the players have been fighting it out and the consumers ultimately win - game wise.   I think betting the format war was too risky and the slwoing economy may put a nail in that coffin as more people invest in gaming as family time and cost savings of not going out and spending cash they don't have. (unless your that addicted you have to have every new game/toy/movie or what not..)

I believe the scenario is probably more likely this. (If Sony does fall into a deep hole in the next 6 months)

Their first bet is to attempt to sell the playstation business in entirety or partially. Theres no point in discontinuing the PS3 because they'd be better off just selling it as that would kill the business anyway and they wouldn't likely have the money to continue.

So the most likely scenario is this, they spin off SCE as a seperate entity and they sell off 50% of the business to another partner. Apple is the most likely company at this point, though Microsoft may try to get their grubby fingers on it too.

If selling the business fails, then and only then will they discontinue the PS3 console.

Sony not dominating for a 3rd generation in a row is a good thing. Sony dropping out of the console market would be bad for everyone. Healthy competition is good for consumers.

MS would have no incentive to drop prices or add features.
MS could squeeze 3rd parties with higher royalties, since there is no competition for HD games.
MS would next target PC gaming for elimination. They do not get game or Live royalties.
MS would coerce 3rd parties into not making Wii game. Sorry EA, choose either us or Nintendo to release Madden 2010.

If you think none of that will happen, just look at every other product MS launches.

Look at what Sony did when they had too much power. They launched a $600 system and expected people to flock to it. With no competition, you would be stuck paying that. Luckily, MS and Nintendo were there to make Sony pay for their arrogance and give consumers choices.

I wouldn't care much. I can confirm that I like the Xbox 360 more than any console this generation. I play that console way more. Main reasons are the achievements, the games, and Xbox Live/

If the PS3 was to go down I would just play the 360. That's all. But I highly don't see that happening. Sony is in this generation and they will end this generation at least making some profit. They might not, they are more than likely Microsoft of last generation with the Xbox.

They are stupid enough to package all that hardware in a console and knowing that it wasn't a mainstream price. $600 is a lot of money. Even when I wasn't working and I'm working now. It's a lot. I'm glad Microsoft made a product that was cheaper to purchase than anything.

Sony will do alright if they can keep their head up, secure good relationships with publishers and release titles to their fans on time.