I wasn't saying that Sony owners are skrewed.  I don't see much loss for the position they are in.  I do see that it does force Sony to reevaluate its business strategies, which looks like a good thing to me actually.  Anyhow, of all these, I do see the lack of backwards compatibility the largest problem.  They cast the die to make that an issue when they decided they needed to have their systems complicated internally.  That makes emulation difficult and undermines backwards compatibility.

1) It won`t finish last.

2) This DOESN`T MATTER anymore.

EXCEPT Japan, where PS3 is N1 HD console.

PS3 WW is 3rd, so WHAT? x360 or Wii getting more 3rd party exclusives? NO.

Wii is only on PAIR with PS360+PC. That`s why HD consoles will always get MANY 3rd party games, which won`t be available on Wii.

x360 is ahead only in NA, but NOBODY will ignore PS3 userbase.

While, many Japanese developers may ignore x360 in Japan, where x360 is DEAD and PS3 is the ONLY HD console of choice.

Again, this gen is not like PS2 with xbox/GC.
The gap between x360 and PS3 is small compared to what ps2 and xbox or GC had.

And just wait for 299$ PS3, then talk about 2nd-3rd place. =)

I think with all the money Sony put into the PS3 they were banking on it selling as well as the PS2 thats why a price cut is taking so long Sony and Microsoft are about equal as far as revenu goes so both could faill repeatedly and still come back the following generation as long as the system does sell... Sega pulled out way to early with there Saturn and paid the price with there Dreamcast. So yeah I think if Sony sticks this out they could posibly take seccond and will be better prepared next gen to fire back at Microsoft even if it means getting a years head start and making a cheaper more afordable console

@richardhutnik

I notice a lot of posters trying to see the bright side, and saying Sony can reevaluate their strategy, but will they honestly have a chance to mend the errors. Realistically you are looking at ten years to reintroduce backward compatibility alone. Not to mention rectify late market arrival. Plus resolve pricing issues. Basically it is easier said then done, and I am not entirely sure the market is going to allow Sony the time to do so.

The competition is surely not going to stagnate, and let Sony get back into the mix. Microsoft has found a mountain of cash in live. Eventually they will be able to lock in most of the high end software market, and that is going to slow the recovery of Sony dramatically. We are not in the age anymore where the next console is a fresh start the competition will build upon its success, and make it much harder on Sony, and Sony has a mountain of problems to resolve.

All I see in the long term prospects for their console business is them moving away from that business. Moving either towards portable devices, or moving towards the way Sega changed their model. Perhaps towards being a software only company, or a component manufacturer. I am not seeing Sony having the ability to both rectify its mistakes, and being able to compete meaningfully.

I often wonder how people envisage Sony countering its failures, and being able to strongly compete it in the end will be very expensive. Without carryover Sony will have a powerful detractor to overcome against a very successful Nintendo with a great deal of financial assets, and Microsoft which could be looking at a billion dollars annually coming from their live service. With both having ample incentive to push Sony out of the market for good. They will have the capitol to do this, and Sony will have to fix at that point some serious design problems.

Really Sony has penned itself into a corner. They cannot be cost effective while following the Cell architecture, and they cannot honor backward compatibility without that architecture. I know people sing the praises of emulation, but if that were such a possibility by now the PS3 would have an emotion emulator. Kind of like that epic line in the Bill and Ted movie. Where they need a great musician to be a great band, but they cannot get a great musician without being a great band first.

Carryover as far it is concerned is like the insurmountable obstacle. Without it Sony is crippled. While trying to honor it will cripple Sony. So either way they are crippled going into the next generation against Olympic athletes. The only way I see out of the paradox where Sony doesn't get obliterated out of the market next generation is for them to perform a Nintendo, and have a radical departure which brings the masses to them.

Sony fanboys rely on Sony being in first to justify their purchase. They should acknowledge Sony's mistakes and enjoy their PS3, just like I do.

i dont consider it a better service or at least to pay 50$ a  year.

for ingame voice chat (since we have a voice chat in the full XMB) and a party system.

and there is not proof jasper it's as reliable as the wii/ps3/Ds/PSP (currect generation consoles) reliable either, it produce less heat. RRod and E74 can still happen.

I have done purchases like the N64, NGage, and Neo-Geo Pocket as they were on the way out.  They had stuff I wanted to play, like Jet Force Gemini (Pocket Kingdoms on the NGage).  When you look beyond where a system is positioned, and look at the library, then you can have greater peace with this.  I still have my Dreamcast, for example.  I have MvC 2 on it, and other games.  It was said seeing it go, but it still is able to play stuff when I want it to (well, I had better check on it to see if it still does ).

Look to what it is and be happy.  Look forward to cool stuff coming out this year for it.

Hmm... I should look to hook up my Dreamcast again.  I think Mars Matrix is calling.

And NO, I am not updating my games own list to state what I have on the Dreamcast.

This is in the Sony forum and the topic isn't in about the 360 so why are you deliberately posting flame bait?

For the record the original xbox was a fantastic piece of hardware that was both more powerful and more reliable than the PS2.  In other words your statement regarding them being incapable of making good hardware is wrong anyway, yet you'll no doubt ignore this point and continue on your agenda.  If you don't agree with a paid for online service thats fine, I'm sure Sony will always offer you an alternative for free .

On the actual topic it's not like third or second this time round is the same as previous generations.  All 3 current consoles have a sufficient enough userbase and good enough software sales to secure third party support for the rest of this generation.  If the PS3 were to finish in last and provided Sony have made whatever they need to off the console to launch a successor, then it will be fine for gamers.  I want choice when it comes to gaming as each of the current consoles offers me something a little different.

The Dreamcast today still has more replay value than the PS2, with a limited amount of games.

tell that to grave i just reply to him, and the original xbox power source was prone to burn. i bought my gamecube first =).

and the ps2 when it was reliable.