RUMOR: PS3 Sony’s Last Console
- Scribbled on October 25th, 2008 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Industry News, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rumor Mill, Sony PlayStation 3
We speculated over a year ago that Sony was quietly dropping its plans for a PlayStation 4 because not only did the company sell its Cell chip manufacturing to Toshiba, but also reduced spending for the next-gen Cell chip.
Now, CinenaBlend is speculating that Sony could be dropping out of the console business not only due to losses in the PlayStation division, but the overall recession worldwide.
In a story by rte (among many others) Sony’s operating profits are expected to drop by an inexcusable 65%. Competition has been stiff. And even though many reporters blame the Wii, it’s actually Microsoft’s Xbox 360 that has been eating into Sony’s gaming sales. It wasn’t the Wii that the PS3 lost Devil May Cry’s exclusivity to, nor was it the Wii that gave gamers an alternative for games like BioShock, Eternal Sonata, Unreal Tournament 3 and Fatal Inertia. Said games helped give Microsoft an edge in giving gamers a cheaper console option for the same gaming titles…
…But at this rate – failing economy, cheaper competitor consoles, lesser third-party exclusivity – Sony could be heading the same route of Sega and simply hanging up the console fighting gloves altogether. Between less than stellar sales figures, extremely costly research and development, and the cost of production, the PS3’s only saving grace for Sony, at the moment, is the PS2’s strong selling power for the entire PlayStation brand. Besides, ending a console run with such a prestigious piece of equipment as the PS3 certainly isn’t a bad way to go out.
What do you think? Let us know.
Related article: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Finances Tell A Tale Of Two Consoles
October 25th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I think it has been good for us consumers that Microsoft has had to stay ahead of Sony.
I hope that continues and this rumour is found to be incorrect.
October 26th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Sony not having a PS3 at $249 or $299 is indicative of them wanting to pull out of the console race. They really don’t want to compete at this point, if they really did, they would of price the PS3 at either of those price points for the holidays. Tying the PS3 to the albatross format known as Blu-Ray certainly doesn’t help much. If Sony were not so pig headed 2 years ago and released a DVD-ROM based PS3 for $299 and undercut the 360 by $50 at the time, they would be winning the console war right now, and yes, they’d be beating the Wii. I remember when the Sony name meant something in the console world, then the PS3 came out at that ridiculous price and everyone turned their backs to Sony, a company who let the power get to there head. Maybe if the held off forcing a format down our throats till the next generation (2012ish) and simply domitated this generation they could of gotten away with it. Oh well, at least Nintendo was smart.
October 26th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
If they were to do a price cut, it would have been $400. $249 or $299 would lose even more money than they have this year.