Do you know what MGS is? WOW....yeah...its the gaming division Sony created which houses actual developing companies to make games for them. Microsoft does it too....i'm not impressed. Nintendo actually makes games.

I think it is, because Ken Kutaragi is no longer at Sony, he was the one that pushed for PSONE, PS2 and PS3, he is no longer at Sony, and the way Sony Computer Entertainment is talking, is that they will try to get as much money from ps3, and had to convince Sony that the ps3 is worthy investment, that tells me that the big heads at Sony doesn't see the Playstation business as important, that if anything is an indication to me that the ps3 will most likely be Sonys' last console.

DISCUSS!

I do.

And the point you made about the importance of Ken Kutaragi in SCE is one I have made before.

HE'S the one who with great struggle pushed Sony into the games business & so long as the division was profitable they stuck by it. The videogaming business is ripe for software piracy & is complicated due to retailer conflict & buyer apathy toward certain titles. It's a tough business to make money in which is why Sony used the lossleading business model to break into the biz like Microsoft did in the grandest fashion with the original XBox.

Think about it. These corporate giants struggle to break even on their expenditures bringing their consoles to market. Meanwhile a company much smaller manages to make money on every angle with profit margins far proportionally larger than its mega-sized competitors.

If the PS3 has already according to some reports blown through the equivalent of the profits of the PS2, the best-selling console in videogame history, and still hasn't closed the production loss gap yet, then SCE is in bad shape to try for another console.

When Gamecube failed Nintendo was still flush with money. That brief 2003 loss was probably expenditure for R & D for the then-upcoming DS & Wii. Sony Corp. is much bigger than SCE, true. But do you really think Sony would hang on to a business as rough as the videogame business at the detriment to the entire corporation? ESPECIALLY without Kutaragi in the mix??

In truth, Microsoft shouldn't have stuck with a product that cost them nearly $4 billion. Their motivations to stay in this business show that they seek to waste as much as it takes to secure a larger goal. They want to take over the living room & folks like Sony are in the way. Sony wants the same thing as Microsoft only in a different method. Microsoft also is desperate to diversify their portfolio before their computer operating software empire gets disrupted. But if it gets too bad for them they'll leave too.

They're doing much better than XBox 1 but they still haven't fully mastered the scene. Internationally they're weak but in the biggest market in the world (USA) they're solid. Should Nintendo ratchet up the pressure on them, watch Microsoft respond & learn what all challengers to Nintendo eventually learn: Nintendo are the masters of this business.

Nintendo has redefined how consoles should be done philosophically as well as technically. The other two can't continue on this path which has given them only limited success if that. New competitors & dark horses will emerge to complicate the scene even further so all of this crowds out a struggling Sony. Apple is the immediate example.

The market really can't support 3 major competitors as it is now so somebody's going to be replaced if a newcomer makes a compelling product. Whenever Microsoft decides to turn up the heat on Sony, Sony will find it harder to hold on. I don't think Sony will have the heart to have a chance at TWO $3 billion losses back to back. There's no guarantee a new system will wow the crowd. The PSP while resurgent in Japan did not accomplish its ultimate mission even though I'm sure by now it's recovered the production loss gap. Even with the PSP & PS2 combined, SCE cannot significantly hold off the losses of the PS3.

People will expect not only a new PSP but a new PS for the home. How will they pull this off with a schism in the international markets which see Japan as handheld first & rest of world as home console first? Can they make an internationally appealing handheld and home console? Can they stop the momentum of the incumbent market champion, Nintendo? Can they diminish the impact of new competitors trying to enter the scene?

If they can, then yes there will be another PlayStation. But if they can't, it would probably be wise not to gamble the whole company on a sector like videogames. They would probably have to make a new brand too since the name PlayStation may have run its course & sequel numbers like 4 begin to look tacky.

2009 is gonna be rough for SCE internationally. Japan's their best hope right now. If Nintendo ever reverses their rise there, that could be it. Unlike Nintendo, Sony's not making money from SCE. If the division's losses become so great that it affects the entire company on the balance sheet, the shareholders will revolt if they DON'T cut SCE loose.

John Lucas

Metal Gear Solid?!    

And there you have it, thanks for proving yourself wrong.

I think Apple is the next to enter as well, regardless the videogame industry is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

O.o

Is this because you think that the iPod touch is going to be bought primarily as a handheld gaming console? You use the recession against the PS3, but why would you think that Apple would spend the huge ammount of money to break into this industry when we're in a recession (and they sell more expensive "high quality" products)? There's a difference between trying to stay and to penetrate.

How much money did MS use to pentrate the market? How much money do you think Apple will have to spend?