ORIGINAL: nekkid_monkey
Now don' t go thinking I' m cheering for Sony. Honestly I think they' re assholes the way they market their products. But at the same time I' ve never seen any company make the industry dance like they can. Those guys are good, and as insane as the PS3 price is you can bet they have a plan.
No doubt, but I believe that on of the MAIN reason for Sony' s dominance this last gen (their large margin of victory, anyway) was the support that they garnered from Japanese Developers. People all around the world have the utmost respect and appreciation for Japanese games. Sony' s stranglehold in this area is slipping away, though. Perhaps slowly, but assuredly.
Then next Xmas they' ll be sales giants again. This coming season is all marketing on the PS3 front. The PS2 can still carry the weight versus the competition easily.
Whether they' ll be the sales giant by next Christmas is debatable, but you' re absolutely correct that the PS2 can carry them along while we wait and see.
The PS3 price IS going to have an effect though. It' s going to make this console cycle a lot longer than last one. Sony going to need a lot more than 5 years to dominate the market this time around. But I' m still confident Sony will dominate... eventually.
I think, herein, lies more of a problem than a blessing for Sony. Can Microsoft offer a new system in 4-5 years (average console life-cycle)? Sure. Can Nintendo? You bet! And they most certainly will. Can Sony do the same thing? They
could, but would it be a smart move? If MS and Nintendo do, then they should, but I don' t think they will. I' m probably just blowing smoke out my ass, but hey...
$600?!? That' s $600 for a video game machine (I don' t care WHAT they say!)! That' s a LOT! Is it a bargain? I think it is, because I want Blu-ray, but for the average consumer? I don' t know. Personally I like the M$ approach. You don' t pay for the ability unless you WANT to. It also positions them to be able to follow market trends. If Blu-ray wins; VOILA, Blu-ray add on! I don' t think the Blu-ray/HD-DVD war will be over in 4 years, though. Unfortunately.