Sony’s decision to cut production and retail costs for the PS3, by first reducing it to a 40gb hard drive and secondly offering no backward capability with PS2 titles, leaves people wondering is the PS3 going to pull out its own ‘red ring of death’ due to the cheaper hardware?
With Sony getting throttled since lunch with what many felt were overkill features like the Blu-Ray drive, more expensive HDMI ports, and standard WiFi, has the Japanese giant implemented the best standard features of the newer “lite” PS3s? Originally the production cost of a 60gb console was estimated at around AU$800, with the 40gb brought down to AU$400. Instead of offering the 40gb without WiFi or Blu Ray as standard, they have taken out the console’s strongest appeal in PS2 compatibility. Fortunately for Sony, Microsoft is now feeling a PS3 sales surge and are on the back foot as Blu Ray has all but won the new video format war. And added to this is Sony’s title lineup for 2008 which is predicted to dwarf Microsoft’s.
My opinion, and a radical one for sure, is that Microsoft need to release their new console by the end of this year, mid 2009 at the latest, with Blu-Ray as standard. To overcome the multitude of disgruntled 360 owners who would be less than 2 years into the current Xbox’s life-cycle, Microsoft could offer a generous trade up system and full 360 compatibility.
So what of Nintendo’s Wii? Fortunately for Nintendo, but less so for Sony and Microsoft, that gaming console is in a totally different league, since it has defined and is pioneering next gen gaming in relation to harnessing non-‘traditional’ gamers instead of cutting edge graphics. In this respect Nintendo have not only succeeded over their competition, but have ensured that financially they will be around for years to come. Gaming culture, not hardware stats, has been revealed by Nintendo as the important pillar of any console maker’s future success.
Will 2008 be the year Sony finally begins to claw back its market dominance over Microsoft? My money says, yes!
Tuesday 15th January-2008
The Real McDady NextGEN Gamers
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