Outside of the Sony cutting jobs, he was right but SCEE is cutting 10%.

None of those came true.

Much love to ya madskillz. I'm just a guy offering my viewpoints. Oh, I definitely enjoy the compliments but I am human and have been wrong before.

However, even when I'm wrong I'm on the right track. My MGS4 prediction fell flat but the reasoning behind it is still legit. Look at the recent news about No Final Fantasy XIII in U.S. until 2010.

You really think with how the world's economies are going right now and PS3's recent performance this Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yule that they can last until 2010??? I don't think they'll finish out 2009 with 3rd party withdrawing exclusivity toward the solid XBox 360 & finally putting teams behind the Wii. 2008 was Sony's last chance & it's over now.

GTAIV told the story in April. That massively hyped game did nothing to bring signifcant new customers to the platform. It was preaching to the choir. Meanwhile Nintendo was doing the unprecented selling over 700,000 in a month back to back between March's Brawl & April's MKWii. The others couldn't even break 200,000 with GTAIV behind them.

And until Microsoft did that price cut they were looking a little rough too. The price cut undermined any potential for Sony to get ahead. Microsoft replaced Sony for good with that move & now with the platform starting to get a little respect in Japan of all places, they will be the go-to platform for those looking for an alternative to the growing Nintendo empire.

2009 will be a fight between Nintendo and Microsoft...with Nintendo beginning to pull some power from Microsoft. With the introduction of NXE, Microsoft already conceded the superiority of Nintendo's approach. Everybody's waiting for them to produce their own Wiimote especially now that the 3rd party establishment realizes their mistakes. The Wiimote does things with gameplay that the 360 controller simply cannot so they will have to copy or watch Nintendo steal some of their base as the so-called "hardcore" games start appearing on their system.

Sony's losing money & the PS3 STILL ain't profitable 2 years in. They're cutting staff & the games they use to support their lossleading business model are too high for most folks. So then they can't cover their losses for each console sold...if it sells. Not just that but the PS2 is fading out after almost 9 years on the market. That system doesn't have enough funds to cover PS3's losses. Remember that the whole profits of the PS2's lifetime were negated by the losses of the PS3 in less than 2 years. PS3's losses are starting to eat into the advances the PS1 made so long ago. And while PSP got a little life as the handheld alternative to Nintendo's Japanese handheld monopoly, even it can't take up for Sony's bleeding budgets. It's mostly pirated & with few exceptions hardly ever sells enough games (what few games that do exist anyway).

Then you got Apple on the perimeter trying to sneak into the business through the iPodTouch. That means Sony has to fight a 3 way battle between Microsoft, Nintendo, AND Apple. I think Sony without Kutaragi in the mix (the whole reason why Sony even got into the gaming business) will pack it in for the VG biz. They will undergo a massive restructuring and even though one of their only shining lights for a long time was videogames, they will have to leave this business.

They are not pure gamemakers like Sega or Nintendo. Their whole aim was tech. But tech for tech's sake has lost its relevance thanks to The N. And the tech race is expensive. They don't have what it takes to go against Billy Gates' funds, Nintendo's war chest, or Steve Jobs' bank all at the same time.

Toyota just halved it car production this year. HALVED. Japan's economy is tightening like so many others. Worldwide downsizing & Nintendo's efficient business model allowed them to overcome marketplace reduction between 1996 & 2005. Now with things in their favor they are making money hand over fist over foot still holding on to that waste-wary way of running a business. All this keeping prices reasonable while offering an exciting product. Sony in its best-selling days didn't make as much money as Nintendo in its drought.

These are the facts. So while I may miss some predictions, you can't discount my reasonings. If it doesn't hit one, it'll hit the other. Final Fantasy XIII may be the one not going to the PS3. But long ago when I originally made that prediction at N-Philes.com I remember mentioning Final Fantasy XIII alongside MGS4. Reasoning was it was just too much big money behind it for it to only sell some to a small base. It all depended on PS3's performance & they started looking a little more hopeful at the start of 2008. Now that's gone.

Soon there will be a thread that runs down all of my prediction as a checklist so you can see what's right & what's wrong. To gloat or to cheer either way. I love the feedback.

John Lucas