I think it is a common sentiment on these forums that Sony absolutely needs a price cut. Casting the constant hyperbole on these forums aside. I am curious what is it that members think will happen if the PS3 doesn't have a price cut. How drastic the outcome are you imagining when you make the comment. Are you merely seeing the end of an era of debate. Where you must say now it is cast in stone, or are you seeing something much more bleak. Are you seeing the console fall to utter mediocrity or worse the end of the console.

Technically all of the above are possible. Nothing seems to be going particularly well. Third place in two markets, and second in the smallest. Sales are down year over year. While the competition is holding up well, or actually up year over year. Then you still have the problem that the console holds a dangerously small market share in the market that accounts for almost half of the global market. I don't know if anyone is having the market share bounce around in their head from last year, but it is actually quite shocking. 

The console in North America accounts for 17.6% market share, and yet last year during the holiday season the console saw weeks where it had a market share of less then 15%. What could happen this year with no price change could the console dip into the single digits. What happens then. The point being you can go really bleak here. I mean you can find some real fire and brimstone in all of this.

So just curious what do you mean when you say it absolutely needs a price cut? Are you just being overly enthusiastic with your comments, or are you really concerned it could be really bad. Well what is it?

No the ps3 is a 10 year plan, so if there not making profit now they get profit later. It's selling good compared to the Xbox 360.

No offence, but im highly surprised you said that.

Anyway... if nothing is done (Slim/Pricecut) this year, i expect the PS3 to stay firmly in 3rd place for the rest of the gen. It wont "die" but it certainly wont be doing that good. Third party support will start to dwindle and sales will start to drop severely until Sony finally do decide to cut the price.

If it doesn't get a price cut it will be hurting.

Heres something for you.

If PS3 did effectively just die, what would happen to the third party support on the 360?

With big budget HD games barely breaking even on PS360, how would 360 alone get profits from the big games? Would all third parties start shifting towards Wii for the blockbuster titles?

I think if the PS3 actually "died" it could also harm the 360 in the long run and also cut its life short.

The ps3 is doing fine

now for the reason I came into this thread:

I hate shortbread

Consoles can be discontinued like a light switch going off. One day they are being made, and the next they are not being made. However a platform actually winds down. Game development does not immediately stop, and support rarely stops. Basically the console lingers through one year with most of the titles it would have had, and by the second year your getting two or three titles a month. Only major publishers are still making games at that point.

That usually gives ample time for the players to migrate to new platforms. So it is a gradual process with little major impact on third party developers. In fact depending on emulation software it is a real possibility in this generation for the first time for another manufacturer to buy a platform, or for the platform originator to support the product for many years. The quality wouldn't be high, but then again as long as you get some good games it isn't too bad.

@leo-j

I am less then interested in any defense of the platform. Being inquisitive by nature when someone tells me something has to be done or else. My mind immediately leaps to the question or else what. Perhaps I am naive to think they actually have a thought behind such statements, but I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume they had a particular outcome in mind. I at least hope they are using the words beyond a figure of speech.

I have read this same comment a few hundred times in the past few weeks. I am kind of to the point where I want an explanation as to what this is all about.

I think many people simply want the ps3 to have a price-cut so that the sales of the console equal or top the 360's for the short to mid term. Maybe they simply don't like the current status-quo and thats as deep as it goes? I very much doubt many people actually think the console will collapse if it doesn't get a price cut.

@FaRmLaNd

In other words your saying it is a case of them expressing their malcontent with Sony. I could really get behind that notion. That the people saying it are at the end of their tether, and are just about to call it quits. In that case it doesn't really matter how things end, because they are giving up on the whole thing anyway. Sort of like turning the station on your favorite sports team when they are just embarrassing themselves on the field.

Right this moment I am getting the notion that they aren't going to chime in to even offer up any explanation even a weak one. Perhaps I need to hunt them down, and corner then in a thread. Perhaps it is like in Star Trek where the crew has to give paradoxes to androids, and they just blow a fuse. I really have the feeling that they cannot answer without shattering some false reality. Anyway I would think Sony fans would be a little more put off by the behavior. I highly advocate if you catch someone saying this or else crap. You ask them for some clarification.