Tretton has giant enemy crabs defeating Nintendo DS

So we can expect the ps4 in the end of 2016?

I think when he said adoption rate he didn't mean the sales numbers. I think he meant the statistical standpoint of how many non-gamers buying each of those handhelds, or how many people that aren't owners of previous products (ie: a guy already has a GBA, and is now buying a DS, or a guy with a PS2 buying a PSP) are "adopting" into the companie's products.

The only people I know/see buying DS's are those that are "upgrading" from a GBA, or they already have a GC and want something portable. The people I know/see buying PSP's are mostly Xbox1 owners and those with PS2's. Go figure.

"drive gaming for the next ten years"

wow......a TEN year plan for a console....

Microsoft and Nintendo will probably release a new console in 4-5 years, I wonder how Sony would handle that

@martinj88,

Sony Execs have said that they want multiple versions of the PS3 to be released over the course of that "ten years". "Updating" the console with more RAM, a possible Blu-Ray burner, etc. Of course, this plays to their whole "the PS3 is not a console, it's a computer" spin, but I think it's complete bunk. Of course, if it's true, it really craps on early adopters, who will essentially buy a crippled version compared to the PS3.1 that comes out a year later.

It will be ten years before any of us will be able to AFFORD a PS3.

There's an easy way microsoft could cut the legs off Sony's ten year plan.

4 year console cycle. New Xbox in Fall 2009 just three years after PS3 launches.

Sony would be eating all those huge hardware losses, but never get the chance to reap it back in later years.

Sony couldn't react fast enough to get a new console out within two years.

Then two years later (four years after Xbox 4, two years after PS4) MS would be ready to hit them again.

Bill-

Hah, you think Xbox is going to be in the game that long?

Please remember that they have to be in the black by a certain date (2007? 2008? Someone help me out here) or Microsoft is going to pull the plug

I could easily see either or both Microsoft and Sony biting the big one console wise this generation, only Nintendo is a shoe-in to survive (if not win)

The Playstation 2 was launched in 2000. It's in its sixth year and there are still some high profile games coming out for the system (God of War 2, God Hand, Final Fantasy XII in North America).

I see no reason the PS3 couldn't have a seven or eight year lifespan. Sony doesn't really need to force an upgrade considering how much tech is in the PS3. The longer the PS3 is out, the more money Sony makes.

I actualy HAVE tried the PSP on weed, still didnt make it a good handheld!

DS is doing better than PSP pbviously....but I do beleive DS isn't doing as well as the Gameboy series (Original, Color, Advance)....I think Nintendo lost a fat chunk of the handheld pie this gen.

As for PS3 in it for the long run....in a few years when PS3 is redesigned, and cheaper, who isn't gonna want one? Other than obvious biased fanboys who think owning only 1 system is cool.

Also as for the PS3-order to go....they are not that stupid....Kutaragi made that stupid comment, and Sony shot it down, and clearly said they weren't going to do that, and that EVERY game will work on EVERY PS3.

Man. It's getting significantly more difficult to take anything Sony says as kosher, if they can brazenly attempt to spin sales figures wherein the DS is outselling the PSP (by 5 to 1, in Japan), and say - using any combination of semantics - that the PSP is somehow winning.

Next we're going to find out that it only does "1080p" if 1080 pixels measured in a shape "Kind of like Mickey Mouse with scoliosis" and that Blu-Ray disks only hold 50 gigs if you use not only the top and bottom of the disk, but also the Magic Invisible Third Side We Really Manufactured in Dimension Q.

I realize that the majority of the people actually going to be buying these consoles don't give a rat's severed posterior about the PR and the speeches and whatnot, and are probably just gonna look at two things - games and price, but come on, damnit. You could at least >try< not to sound like either a man with the intelligence of a rectal tear or a disingenuous proto-weasel to those of us eating up the nextgen console info and read a sales figure or two.

I pray that the engineers behind the PS3 are better organized than the PR department, or I may as well expect Kratos to stick an entire salad platter up his ass every time I hit the Circle button.

the ten year cycle is common for sony. ps1 was available in december 1994 and sony only announced that production of ps1's had stopped in march 2006 meaning it had just over 11 years

the ps2 was launched in march 2000 so from ps1 - ps2 was actually 5yrs 4mnths

the ps2 likely wont stop production until 2011 or so but ps3 is launching in 2006

based on this, i think ps4 will launch in 2012 with ps3 stopping production in 2017

so yes, ps3 will have a 10 year cycle just like ps1 did but that doesnt mean its 10 years until ps4 is launched - likely 6 years

Nintendo sucks and Microsoft will not back down from the gaming market cuz bill gates will not let them (too many funds to quit). The price of the PS3 will come down after a year or two and the system is soo powerful and upgradable that it would take microsoft another 2 systems to even come close, the PS3 can easily last 10 years.....PS2 is already on its 6th year..going on 7th and is still goin very strong selling better than any other console still !!!!!...might i add that the PS2 operates at 250mhz...lol...sony kicks ass man. Nnintendo will never match anything sony has to offer because they just cant !! Ohh and also i have to say that i deffinately wouldnt mind trading in my PS3 5 years later for a newer PS3 with more ram and blu-ray burner and whatever else they come up with, or just upgrading it if possible, so it makes sense to upgrade a system several years down the road if you can with new features instead of buying a new system just because...the PS3 is too powerful to just get a new system after a few years..... nobody will match the PS3's procesing power before im dead prolly. .....didnt the original xbox only last about 2-3 years or so, maybe 4 tops... ???? hmmmmm


i was just responding to alot of comments btw

bobvid is right about what he means when he talks about "adoption rate". He is talking about consumers who buy the system without having owned a portable. If you don't understand what his point is, you really have no business writing on this as if you were some type of industry observer. This article is just proof of how blogs should not be viewed in the same light as traditional media.

The link bait titles and articles designed purely to get various fanbase elements up in arms is just a strategy to fuel traffic to the site. I wish game journalis was actually that....JOURNALISM. Instead it is more like the tabloids.

Way to continually lower the bar guys.

@5
ya just like it took me 10yrs to save up for my 700$ video camera
are we still on the whole price issue?

@#2
Total BS. Most of the older gamers I run across always say negative things about Nintendo and most of these gamers do not own a Gamecube and alot still don't have a GBA. But I am seeing more and more college kids getting DSes all the time and they are PS2 and Xbox fans. Bottom line is the DS lite is a good sytem and the overhaul has increased the attraction. Its not that people are buying two DSes because alot of people (including my little brother) cannot afford to get a second DS. The DS lite has mad ethe system desireable all together and bottom line is it is selling well.

wtf @ #13.

this console gen, i see wii on top, closely followed by 360. this is gonna be the generation where sony just dies in the console market. to the guys who dont think it can happen, just look at nintendo after SNES, they were OWNING the videogame market, but then got cocky and made a few bad choices, which game PS1 the upper hand. same thing is happening to sony. they are full of themselves, and i just see bad choice after bad choice. i dont know why at all theyre forcing blu-ray into all the ps3s, when they havent made a successful media EVER.

He was talking about the adoption rate during the first 17 months. We are well past that for both the DS and PSP platforms. Yes guys, the DS didn't do shit on day one. It took time before anything really interesting came out for the DS.

Once the DS had some interesting software, and then came the DS Lite, it was that one-two punch that really put the japan market into a craze.

Of course, the first 17 months don't mean too much, esp if you can't manufacture enough consoles to go around. All I know, I'm getting a Wii in the next 6 months, but a PS3, who knows.

Ah no Pizzacat. Look up the data on how long it took to get the GBA to a million units in Japan. The DS has outsold that.

Studies have shown that the majority of DS owners in Japan have never owned a portable or if they did it was a gameboy.

The DS is selling over 100,000 units a week in Japan. No one has ever seen anything like the DS sales phenemeon.

Only in America is the gba beating the DS in sales and that is because the gba is cheaper. Also the primary audience of the gba is into guess what pokemon. Most gba owners bought the system when it went into 100 dollar and under range.

The DS is in fact selling better then the gba did it's it's first two years before major price cuts.

Sorry Pizzacat the numbers show the DS to be Nintendo's fastest selling handheld. It could pass 100 Million if Nintendo ups the production.

Japan is going to explode when Pokemon Diamond Pearl break out later in September.

@Me

Funny that you laugh at how well the PS2 has sold with it's weaker hardware, then claim that the PS3 will win because it is "soo powerful". The 360 and PS3 are already being compared as equals, just a little FYI there. And guess what? Both the PS and PS2 were underpowered compared to their competitors. Why is Sony abandoning a successful plan and going after a niche market?

You may not mind updating your PS3, but I sure as hell would. The only reason I game is because I can buy a console and not have to update it; I'll just buy the new systems when they come out. Between "upgradable" consoles and microtransactions, I've had about all I can take with console gaming.

And unless you are 80 years old, I doubt "nobody will match the PS3's procesing power" in your lifetime... it's a fact that the PS3's power will be beat by the next generation of consoles (let alone PCs, which will have more than the PS3's power in 4 years time).

What is left to experience in gaming in 10 years? What haven't we experienced a hundred times over in current gen form? The same games are being played on the next gen consoles. What is the only thing that changes? The graphics, maybe a few more enemies on screen, the AI is a little bit smarter but the experience is still the same.
All those people who pick on Japanese RPG for being cliche ignore the fact that besides a few character names and a few plot changes, all FPS are the same game. Their only saving grace is to have a good multiplayer. If the industry goes on at this rate what will we be playing in 4-10 years, Halo 6, Final Fantasy 29, Killzone 5.
But regarding this story.
Publishers want to make sure there is enough install base for their games to sell. That might not be a feasible thing when you console is a sizable investment initially. It may be a good thing in the long run but you still have to pay for the console up front and that presents a barrier to a lot of the current install base of PS2 players. $499 and $599 presents quite a sticker shock to parents looking for christmas gifts.
Yeah, Sony has a responsibility to generate revenue for its share holders but you choose what to put in the console. You choose to put all bleeding edge technology in the console. You chose to sell the console at a "great bargain".
Just as Sony has a responsibility to its share holders publishers have a responsibility to their share holders to make sure their titles get into the hands of as many gamers as possible.

When did Microsoft say they'll pull the plug on Xbox?

Well actually Andrew for the first 17 months the DS and PSP were often neck and neck.

There is only a one week difference in the launch of the DS and PSP in Japan. Here are the week by week sales of DS and PSP with the total following the number of sales that week. As you can see in no way is the DS trailing the psp the first 17 months in Japan.

1 DS 462,000 462,000 PSP 171,250 171,250
2 DS 193,000 655,000 PSP 12/18/04 87,250 258,500
3 DS 224,250 879,250 PSP 103,250 361,750
4 DS 340,500 1,219,750 PSP 128,250 490,000
5 DS 183,750 1,403,500 PSP 61,750 551,750
6 DS 122,250 1,525,750 PSP 64,000 615,750
7 DS 57,000 1,582,750 PSP 70,000 685,750
8 DS 46,750 1,629,500 PSP 76,500 762,250
9 DS 43,500 1,673,000 PSP 52,750 815,000
10 DS 33,000 1,706,000 PSP 51,750 866,750
11 DS 29,000 1,735,000 PSP 42,250 909,000
12 DS 24,250 1,759,250 PSP 47,750 956,750
13 DS 29,000 1,788,250 PSP 54,000 1,010,750
14 DS 27,500 1,815,750 PSP 51,000 1,061,750
15 DS 26,250 1,842,000 PSP 46,750 1,108,500
16 DS 23,000 1,865,000 PSP 49,750 1,158,250
17 DS 59,000 1,924,000 PSP 40,750 1,199,000
18 DS 44,000 1,968,000 PSP 34,500 1,233,500
19 DS 28,750 1,996,750 PSP 31,000 1,264,500
20 DS 22,500 2,019,250 PSP 33,750 1,298,250
21 DS 85,750 2,105,000 PSP 39,750 1,338,000
22 DS 66,250 2,171,250 PSP 39,000 1,377,000
23 DS 63,500 2,234,750 PSP 26,500 1,403,500
24 DS 26,250 2,261,000 PSP 26,000 1,429,500

After the 61st week something interesting happens you start seeing the DS sell out on a week by week basis with over 150,000 units sold. This was starting in March which started to see the six DS units to one psp ratio sold.

Prior to that DS sales were about twice as many psps.

PSP sales have never been higher then 180,000 units a week even during Christmass time while the DS sold over a half million each December week.

PSP sales have quite frankly always been dreadfull. It has to be the worst selling Playstation ever.

Of course the US is starting to see the Japanese pattern of DS sales crushing psp by a figure of two to one. As time goes by in America six DSs should easily be sold per every psp.

Best comment here so far:

"nobody will match the PS3's procesing power before im dead prolly."

This man is either a master of comedy or has absolutely no understanding of how quickly modern technology advances. Or he expects to die before the PS3 is even released, in which case he might be right.

Sony fanboys and Tretton must go to the same dealers because the shit they smoke is way better than the shit they spew.

Joystiq, let it go. If you're so confident that the DS is the shit, then posts like this are redundant. Are you really that worried about the PSP?

The PSP is double the price and is selling huge... just not to kids. I for one would certainly not buy my kids a PSP. The DS is perfect for job, that's why the numbers are so high. Every PSP owner I know is at least 12 or 13 and up. There is hardly a "smack-down" going on... The DS sells to completely different markets, children being #1. It's obvious...

...but if it makes you feel better, than keep on rippin' on the PSP eventhough it's a huge success.

Even if Tretton were trying to skew the 17 weeks adoption rate as being non-gamers, he simply doesn't have any reliable marketing research to back the claim up. How does he know all those games are being picked up by former GBA owners? Do traditional gamers pick up Brain Age? The various millions sold between Brain Age, Brain Training, Big Brain Academy, and English Training are unlikely the same people who buy Wario Ware and New Super Mario Brothers. Nintendo IS expanding the market, and expanding it in the RIGHT way.

The PSP may also be expanding the market, but the method Sony picked isn't doing their business any good. Sony sells the PSP at a loss, to non-gamers, but then fail to offer anything for those non-gamers to buy to bring in positive cash flow. Everything they offer is geared toward the PS2 owner looking to take his PS2 game on the go. The non-gamers picking the unit up are ripping CDs and DVDs to it. Why buy a UMD when you can pull a DVD off your shelf and stick it into the memory stick? Plus, no developer is creating software that attracts individuals who are uninterested in the typical console faire.

As for the PS3 long term strategy, that isn't a viable option if Sony wishes to stay in the console race past the PS3. Before they can even start development of the PS4, Sony has to eat away at the massive debt they've built researching and producing the PS3. That may take anywhere from 3-6 years, depending on how quickly they can get costs down and how well the public responds to purchasing the unit. It is very likely Sony won't even be able to START PS4 R&D until around the time Microsoft and Nintendo release their next gen offering.

And toward the comment on the PS3's power, and how it is going to be incredible for the timeframe. Sorry, not going to work. PC's with twice the power will be half the price in a couple of years. The PC market will already surpass what the PS3 can do when Vista and DX10 cards are released and PC owners can already purchase processors that are much more competent than the Cell (Intel CoreDuo for example).

It also doesn't help that, due to the huge discrepency in software costs, that PC gaming is actually cheaper over the long term (periodic upgrades included), especially now that console software and hardware has ballooned in price. The price differential will only be further amplified if Sony DOES go with a modular, upgradable PS3, or releases overclocked versions along the lifecycle.

Sony is in for a huge uphill battle if they wish to stay in the game past 2012. They've blown their wad on the PS3 and they'll have a hard time reaching the break even point before they can even THINK of starting the next offering.

I think Sony must be talking about world wide numbers. DS is going crazy in Japan, but the adoption rate in the rest of the world is much slower. Remember that Japan isn't the largest market by a long way now. This is why X-box 360 still has a chance of domintating this generation, even with the Japanese ignoring it.

nintendo fanboys, I didn't say anything bad about your system, so calm down and don't bother calling me names.

@10
"DS is doing better than PSP pbviously....but I do beleive DS isn't doing as well as the Gameboy series (Original, Color, Advance)....I think Nintendo lost a fat chunk of the handheld pie this gen."

Of course they lost some of the handheld market this gen, this gen was the first gen where they had a proper, serious competitor.

#28: I don't think he's talking about anything specific. I think maybe he's just picked up that weird disease that Ken Kutaragi has, where he's forced to spew total BS every time he's asked about the company's systems.

That's really the thing I don't like about Sony. I really like their consoles (if I had to choose I'd probably get a PSP over a DS, and I just bought a PS2 about a week ago and had a PSOne before that), but all the crap and lies that the higher-ups at the company keep spouting just makes it really hard to take anything they say seriously.

Have you ever tried reading Joystiq... on WEED??

The market is very different than when the PS2 became the top dog. Microsoft has made some pretty large in roads in the gaming world and, contrary to Sony, has no debt and lots of cash in the bank. They can afford to operate in deficit, Sony cannot. There aren't going to be that many PS3 exclusive games this time around, as devs have learned their lesson. At best, I think, Microsoft and Sony are going to be a dead heat. Regarding software upgrades, I am sorry to say that Microsoft main business IS software. Sony is notorious for crappy software matched with their hardware. I am no a windows fan (Linux user), but I don't believe sony has the capability to beat microsoft when it comes to patching and upgrading their firmware. Look at the PSP. nuf' said. I will buy a ps3 and already own a 360, so I will enjoy both, but let's be honest: Sony is in big trouble. I hope they survive, though.

From the article:
"So we could say "Let's not spend a lot of money in software development and let's come out with a simple game that we can retail for low prices because I don't think that consumers will pay for the kind of technology that we ultimately would like to bring to them." I think the consumer rejects you. You have to go out and show them a state-of-the-art next-generation game. You have to go out there and invest $20-$30 million but if you do that, you're not going to be profitable and you're not going to be in business very long trying to sell those games at $29.99 or $39.99."

Wow, cause you know brain age for $20 is totally being rejected because it isn't state of the art next generation. This is exactly the problem with most of the games industry, assuming what gamers want is $60 interactive pixar.

Microsoft has debt, if by debt you mean liabilities repayable in a time frame greater than one year.

The amount is just not significant compared to their hoard of cash, and much of it isn't amounts that will probably have to be repaid (it represent unearned revenue instead...so they just have to deliver whatever their product is at a later date, generally speaking in Microsoft's case this represents recognition of subscription revenues over time).

The real question isn't whether a company is financed via debt or equity though...it's about whether the company has the cash flow required to continue operations without having operations hindered by lack of financing.

SEGA got to the point where they had a lot of debt, and no cash, and no one would give them more debt. Sony isn't there by a long shot.

They actually have significantly more cash now than they had in 2001, and more liquid assets (nearly twice as much).

Meanwhile, you shouldn't think about Microsoft's cash and Xbox's cash as being the same pool. Microsoft has many other uses for their cash, and Xbox is not able to continuously drawn on that. At Sony, Playstation is their only consistent money maker. At Microsoft, that is not the case, and if it loses money long term, they'll just stop doing it.

Oh Jesus, darryl has KIDS??

I just love it when Sony says something stupid. Dissing on Sony is so fun, especially when they don't have the brains to use real information (instead of some sales data that was probably only talking about PSP systems sold in Madagascar or something)

Two things....

1. Though most of us posters have for weeks or months decided which consoles will will buy from the next generation, aunt suckmycunt and jimmy firstgrader have not. Nov 05 through Nov 06 will be the PR wars. Which console has the best games and the best PR will win, but we can't predict that now.

2. The DS, as many have mentioned, sold bunk for the first many months, until some cool games came out. With a few launch games which will be really cool for the PS3, it will probably have the same thing happen. Ya, it'll sell out, but as soon as they start mass production and having them available on shelves in early 07, it's that PR machine that will sell them. And I do not expect those things to be sold out, until we see the next Halo-popular game, like a PS3 KOTOR-exclusive or something. What that title will be is anyone's guess. Only then will the PS3 become the thing. Until then all the extra hardware just means a higher initial investment.

I've heard this "10 years" thing before. Really? If the PS3 is going to be more like a PC, aren't PC's dinosaurs by the 6 year mark? But we're suppsoed to believe that PS3 will hang in there long after their specs are outdated? PS3 will be powerful, but not that powerful.

J.Goodwin -

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/06q1_sony.pdf

Familiarize yourself with that. Sony is in a cash flow hole and the ONLY positive cash flow in the first quarter 2006 is from Financing activities, which is classified as loans (short and long term), yet even the loans did not reverse the losing cash trend. Banks have a limit of what they'll loan out, and Sony is clearly starting to reach it. Sony is not bringing in cash from oprating and investing activities, and this has been the case over the whole lifecycle of the PS2. They have far less cash than they did at the beginning of the century.

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/2006/qfhh7c00000aksn4-att/qfhh7c00000aksoh.pdf

As you can see, significant cash defecites.

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/ar/qfhh7c000000g7z4-att/e_ar2003.pdf

Just to bring it back further. The only time Sony had positive cash flow was in 2003, and it was actually quite minor and failed to eat much into 2002 losses.

Also, the assets aren't as liquid as you may think. Cash and Marketable Securities, the only asset accounts that can be given a real 1:1 value have been stagnant for some time now (mostly bolstered by incresing debt). A massive chunk of current assets are tied up in inventories and accounts recievable, two asset accounts that are neither fully liquid nor easily tapped into to generate funds. To quickly tap those assets, Sony needs to sell inventory at cut-rate prices, taking a loss, and give discounts to convince customers to pay off debs early, also generating losses. Sony only has $8.8 billion in easily usable money to cover $26 billion in current debt. Sony will have to start tapping into long term securities holdings or renew the debt at higher rates, no arguing about it. They simply cannot turn their accounts receivable and inventory around quickly enough.

Sony's current debt to equity ratio is 70/30, which is not healthy and is why Sony's bonds have been downgraded regularly over the past few years. Any lower, and Sony is going to have to pay a lot more for any debt they need to accumulate in the future. Furthermore, Sony is reaching a dangerous position. Most debt comes with coventants that require certain ratios to be met, and most of Sony's key ratios are not pretty and are well under industry averages, meaning they may be required to pay off these loans early for breaking the coventants, something Sony cannot manage.

@ J goodwin

uh...okay, The way I understood was...

Cell costs 4 billion in R and D between Sony IBM and Toshiba.

PSP is selling at loss and DS is crushing them in the market they hold as a very high priority (Japan, rightly so being a Japanese firm) and Ds is outselling them in the US by 2 to 1

Sony isn't making any consistent returns in software sales through the PSP.

PS3 will sell at a huge lose and there won't be enough units sold to support strong software sales for at least 6 months after launch.

UMD movies are a dismay failure which hurts PSP sells as well.

Not to mention Sony in general being hit with 200+ million dollar back-tax bill by the Japanese government. Doh!

Exploding batteries = another 200 million

shareholders in Japan looking at Sony retarded because the financial outlook for the next 6 months to the year is suspect.

Sony bet the farm on PS3 and PSP. If the DS continues to steamroll the PSP into summer 07 and PS3 fails to ignite the world like Sony promised, heads should roll. Ken kutaragi should be sacked and kaz hirai and Phil Harrison should be demoted if not tossed out on their asses.

J. Goodwin - "you shouldn't think about Microsoft's cash and Xbox's cash as being the same pool"

Well, yes and no both to this. Microsofts main pool of cash comes from software licensing - with something on the order of 95% of all PC's on the planet running some form of Microsoft O/S. That, and the other little group of programs lumped under "Office" - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access... (Hey, anyone remember Lotus 1-2-3?)

Anyway, as a corporation, Microsoft decided to be THE leader in the Digital Entertainment Lifestyle, as they call it. That means Games for Windows (the stuff formerly known as PC games), Home Entertainment (console gaming), Mobile entertainment (Ever notice how many cell phones now run some form of Windows?), and now music with the new mp3 player.

Corporate philosphy is that they're going to make them all work together - and since it's all from one company, they can do this. That way you can be working on your PC - get an invite to play on Xbox - go play on Xbox and chat - while at the same time, someone else in your house is downloading music to their Zune - and then sharing their tunes with you as well. Since everything runs on Microsoft software or hardware, it all plays together well. (I'm using this as an example - it may or may not be 100% accurate, but you get the picture.)

Now - you've got an iPod, a Linux machine, and a PS3 - any chance that those three things are going to play nicely together? Right out of the box? Nope - I'm not saying it's not possible for them to do so, but it'd take work. And making it easier for the majority of consumers - thus earning brand loyalty (and more money, of course) is what it's all about. Since the Xbox 360 console itself is now profitable - and it's only new devices and games that are not (Live Vision Camera, HD-DVD player, Steering Wheel, etc.) the Xbox division is going to be around at Microsoft for quite a while.

striderhayasa -

I wouldn't throw Harrison under the bus for Sony's situation. He came in after Sony had dumped a huge chunk of cash into the PS3 and simply cancelling the project and pulling features would have resulted in larger losses. Now, Kutaragi, that guy is the main target for Sony's financial troubles. He runs the Playstation divisionl, was given far too much power, and has absolutely no financial restraint. This is why the PS3 budget exploded out of control like it did. No project should take 5 or 6 years to break even, especially in the home electronics division, and that is in straight line money. The discounted time value of money may show the thing breaking even (when compared to other options to use the money on) around when Sony stops production. That just isn't a bright investment.

Phil was put into this situation to try and turn Sony around. A ship as big as Sony cannot stop on a dime. Phil is stressed out, as has been shown by his behaviors to the press over the past few months, because he has to support a product he would have never greenlighted because he is the guy in charge. Phil would have more realistically given the Playstation division a quarter of what it spent to develop a PS3 and it would more than likely have turned out to be more profitable and reach profitability much, much faster.

Take it easy on Phil, it is Ken that you should be kicking in the shins.

Arrogent and uniformed, The great blunder called the ps3 is coming get ready to bend over folks because sony's bringing the rape.

Question for FSK405K
--------------------
Do you believe Sony can generate enough hype to convince people to spend at least $500 (not 'can they generate hype', just...can they generate enough)? What are they going to show people to convince them? There's no game (for the PS3) that currently looks better than any 360 titles, with the exception of maybe one or two games. So maybe they'll show the motion. How many games feature it? One or two. Meanwhile, the Wii gives you more control over 3D space through motion sensing.

The competition has at least one of the PS3's key features (each), and for cheaper. So for $500-$600, you get matching graphics to that of the 360, and motion that not only works with one or two games, but doesn't come close to the ammount of freedom the Wii gives you.

Then there's one competitor that's appealing to the general public already, with seemingly no hype of advertisements. You could try to make a case for the Wii that was given away on the Ellen show, but the general public became interested in the Wii long before that. Nintendo wasn't even trying, and they're bringing in the the non-gamers already.

I honestly don't think the Holiday season will help at all either. If "jimmy firstgrader" wants a next-gen console as a gift this December, which console do you think a relative will buy (if there's any on shelves). Will it be the $500-$600 PS3, or the $250 Wii. My guess would be the Wii, because with spending only $250, it leaves more money open for other gifts for the kid. The same could be said for the 360, if the kid is wanting better graphics.

Great deals during the holidays overrules expensive gifts MOST of the time (not all but most).
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I wasn't trying to be a jerk or anything either. I understand how many people can post long messages, and it comes across that way. I respect what you had to say, and I too believe that the PR coming this way in November is going to help sell consoles (to some degree).

I'm fed up of these pointless discussions, epitomised by the utterly blind and stupid at either end (played out by Darryl and idioteraser, in this case).

A few really good comments made, but lost amongst the crap.

Just wish Joystiq would stop trying to rile up the hate that causes this, hell, shame I doubt we'll see an update where they realise ADOPTION RATE /= SALES.

The guy could still be talking out of his arse but now you just look stupid by thinking the Japanese sales figures debunks his statement.

"that they're [M$] going to make them [PC games, console games, cell phones, & music] all work together" except for DRM. Bastards!

Someone should show this dumbass pics of people using their DS's and picto chat during their lame keynote earlier this week.

It always amazes me, in this day and age, when a company says it will take a year or more to "get a fold hold" in any market, of any type. There are only a few exceptions, like the DS or the iPod, which take hold eventually after a year or so of being available to the masses. For the most part there is no guarantee whatsoever that a product will take hold if it does NOT take hold within a few months of its much ballyhooed, much hyped launch. Such is the nature of things, fair or unfair.

Who says the PS3 is guaranteed a success one year later or more? Sony? We are a fickle bunch, we gamers, so is it not the height of arrogance to say we will without a doubt adopt this technology a full year after it is released? I as a gamer am insulted. This marathon strategy is a defeatist one; almost a concessison that the PS3 is doomed -- if not to failure, then to a highly niche market of gamers. The spectre of the CD-i has never been stronger.

The fact that Sony, which at the height of its arrogance assumed gamers of all ages would take a second job just because this system was being sold at a loss, is now changing its message mere months before releasing the most important game console of its history, speaks volumes about the disaster that is going on behind the scenes at this company. Wii pricing has surely thrown this behemoth for a loop, as has the dominance of the 360 in North America. The price cut in Japan, and the negative analyst response to this move, only confirms this. NO? Not true? A company that freely bragged its system was worth every penny suddenly cuts the price -- without warning -- in one of the most important markets in gaming is not suspect? Pure BS if you deny this.

This is not to mention the 360, a system that undercuts the PS3 in both price and online capability. The "me too" syndrome that pumps out of the PS3 this week at TGS is undeniable and sad. Sony, with its billions to spend, could not innovate any more than a slightly motion sensing controller that looks exactly like the one I just played Tiger Woods 2005 with on my PS2?

It boils down to this, and I apologize beforehand: You are a fool if you spend more than $400 for a console in this day and age. A complete fool. When November rolls around, there will be no system on the market that offers more gameplay, online play or enjoyablility that what has already existed since last year or is immediately available on November 19. Exclusivity is no longer a factor. Graphics are no longer a factor. Price and gameplay are.

Save you money and enjoy gaming. Or, get walked over by an arrogant gaming company that will be irrelevant in one year, which, ironically, is when the PS3 will "just be getting warmed up."

To all those people saying that Microsoft should release a console every 4 years, and that there is no way PS3 will last 10 years. You do realize that is draining money out of you pockets having to buy a console evey four years instead of 6. Sony builds there consoles to last more than 4 years, and supports them for longer than that. The PS2 is still outselling the 360 worldwide, and that is on its 6th year compared the the xboxs 4th. Anyone who says the PS3 cannot last 10 years is a fool, and I know when I invest in their consoles, that I am getting a quality product that will not be cut off after only 4 years of support.

Next-Gen-Gamer (#44),

Yes, Nov & Dec and probably several months after that will be owned by Wii. I'll probably get two of them, myself. But I've been watching a lot of game footage from TGS and know that I am also tempted to get a PS3. Until I see a Review from someone or someplace I respect, it's just a temptation and not a purchase for me.

The PS3 in general though, has a capability to get a new group of people playing, just like I know a huge number of people who bought XBox's just to play Halo who would never have touched my GCN or a PS2. The question I would like to know, and which I think everyone here ought to examine, is, do you think Sony or one of its 3rd parties is or will produce a similar game IN TWO THOUSAND SEVEN OR EARLY EIGHT that will do the same for the PS3.

Lair will be a fun interlude, Lost World will be a fun variation on Quake (any version), Resistance will be much better version of Doom 3, and FFXIII will be FFXIII. But who knows which of these or some game not yet publicized will be the Wii60 killer?