Existing PS3 base is something like 16.9 million units as per their latest financial advice. If anyone read that advice, you'd see that the PS3 was not one of the major contributors to their losses, rather the strength of the yen and the TV divisions underperformance, although lower than expected sales of the PS3 obviously didn't help. As for the death of the PlayStation as a brand, I don't think so, but PlayStation as a stand-alone console? It's on the cards for all consoles really. Convergance occurs in all things, and it almost certainly will bring the death of the console eventually. Nintento saw the writing on the wall and has made itself a non-convergent device but with TV's now coming with internet connections, built-in hard drives and advanced processors, how long will people shell out any money on a separate console? Old mate Ken Kuteragi said in the early days of PS3 development that he'd like PlayStation to be a chipset that comes standard in TVs, DVD players etc. I think this is the way it'll go. PlayStation branded Bravias, HDD recorders and Blu-Ray players, not just Sony devices, but licenced technology. Same thing with phones, they now come with GPS, touch screens etc so it's not a stretch to suggest that the next PSP will simply be a chipset that comes in phones (and again, not just Sony branded phones, potentially). This is my prediction for 2012 though. Remember that the PS2 made most of it's money for Sony in the last five years of it's life. Their aim for the PS3 is surely to emulate that. No point stopping production now, they've done the hard yards in terms of costs(R&D, marketing etc), now they must simply do their best to ensure that, even at a lower price point, people want to invest in one. I'd argue they're not there yet....
I was about to compare the way Sony now, and Sega in the mid to late nineties differ, but it's really not worth it. If you can't see the blindingly obvious differences between these corporations then I don't think spelling it out is going to make a difference. That's what Trip Hawkins said.
Ha ha.... I forgot about that dude. He may have been a loon, but in the long run, I'm sure he'll be proved right. Nintendo know it, so they're playing a different game now while Sony and Microsoft engage in, to coin a Cold War phrase, mutually assured destruction.... In separate news, it's just hit 45.1 degrees celcius (114 fahrenheit) in Adelaide. That's bloody hot. I predict that the air conditioner is going to remain on for the next seven days....
If anything sony will reduce licensing fees for blue ray to spur growth. Convergence is bullshit and will never happen. I don't want a tv box that does my email, taxes, and plays games.
How, exactly? Nintendo are the main culprit out of the bunch to stick really tightly to first-party software, and it's not like they're putting the Wii into any TVs. Do you think Sony will bundle Wii hardware into Bravias? This console generation is the first in which massively distinct demographic interests have genuinely been evidenced, and you're saying that suddenly everything is going to go Wii and become the singular hardware platform? Excuse my incredulity.
Sorry, you've misinterpreted me. Sony and Microsoft are fighting to become the "standard" platform. Nintendo are betting that people want just a games machine and are happy to use their PC for media duties, as per Assembler's post. Sony and Microsoft are betting that you'll want to do everything through your TV. With that supposition, is it so stupid to suggest that at some stage in the future TVs will come with the technology built in? If one supposes this happens, it's likely to result in a single platform eventually. Now you get Netflicks streamed straight to your TV. Games won't be so far away. That's my prediction. You're free to predict a different future, that's the beauty of stargazing....
With due respect - yes. There are major, critical hurdles to such a thing becoming possible, not least all the major players deciding that they'll throw their bid for supremacy out of the ring and settle with the competition. Given that they've opted to spend billions on the current race, and are already doing so for the coming one, the chances of this happening are minimal. Add the idea of TVs costing significantly more for functionality that a minor percentage will take advantage of, and you've got a stillbirth in the making. Despite identical goals, and far more compelling reasons for industry-wide complicity, a common HD movie standard was not reached until recently. The idea that the console industry would reach such a standard, despite such obvious conflicts of interest, is daft on the face of it; it'd be like car manufacturers all deciding to use the same engine. Sega may now make software for Nintendo, but it'll be a cold day in hell when Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft come together to manufacture a unified hardware standard - especially given the Wii's dominance this generation.
Okay, point taken. We'll agree to disagree. I don't believe that the cost of R&D, marketing etc associated with the development of 'next generation' hardware (and software for multiple hardware versions) is sustainable. Something has to give. Will Sony and Microsoft fight to the death, will someone pull out. or will there be some sort of collaboration? It's an interesting prospect whichever way you think it'll go....
You're talking like this generation was about to end, even when the PS3 and 360 were released years ago, this console wars is just starting. The reason for Wii being the dominant in market was the price, it's basically a budget console. But this brings the thing that if a game developer wants to make a game and wants to include the Wii between the consoles it's released has to rewrite the whole thing to fit into Wii's tiny specs, while in the other hand with minor code changes it can make a game for the PS3, 360 and PC. I felt the Wii as some kind of transition console, but I think the real competition in the following years will be between Sony and Microsoft and I highly doubt some company will pull out. It probably will just end when the next console generation wars begins. BTW, there's no way you'll see consoles integrated on TVs anytime soon. Besides all standards-related issues, this would mean TV prices would climb up importantly (think about the costs of including a current-gen chipset with ALL the features of the console in the chipset), console portability would be totally lost (lots of people don't use their consoles in just one TV), if your TV died you'd have to change your console and movie player too!
Convergence on phones is even more bullshit. They'd need to make a phone that is a PSP, not licence out a chip. There's a reason Apple have locked down the iPhone so well.
Ah, but it's not just TV's that the chipset is incorporated into, it's DVD / Blu-Ray players, CD players, TVs, HDD recorders, Set-top boxes etc etc. I'd also argue that, without the costs of separate packaging and distribution plus some parts commonality (power supplies, ethernet connections, USB, HDD etc), the costs of incorporating console hardware into other products is not over-the-top as a percentage of the costs associated with buying TV's or blu-ray players or other AV equipment. Portability of the console is not a concern, because whatever TV you used would incorporate the console functionality. Just log in and your profile, games, media etc is already there. And all with the power of distributed computing (for which 'Life' on PS3 is simply an experiment), all those processors in TVs and AV accessories just waiting to be used by the connected community.... Mwwa ha ha ha ha (evil laugh). Anyway, enough bagging my 2012 prediction, make up your own so we can judge yours..... Dave.
The man has a point, though. I foresee Sony taking a huge dump. The PS3 was the only profitable part in Sony's bag in 2008. So, either the Japanese government will save their asses or they take a dive for the worse. No price cut will save their asses. And if they now make 50$ per machine......a donkey can do the math after a price cut. Of course in retro spect of the 2.9 billion $ loss for 2008.
I don't see huge changes for that moment, I think things will be mostly like now, the only things I see possible to happen are Nintendo releasing a new, more powerful console to compete with the 360 and the PS3, or maybe multiplayer gaming between consoles in non-exclusive games. Call me an optimist, but I don't see any company leaving the market for this generation.
I am sure that if Sony decided they would make money doing so, producing the "PSPPhone" by Sony Erricson would be doable. How good a device with the PSP form factor would work as a phone is another matter.
Nintendo will not relase a new console, but some add ons in the near future such as a harddrive etc. The new console will take 1.5 year longer.
People seem to forget that phones are deemed smart by consumers if they are small. This goes in against the very nature of handhelds, Big compared to the average cell. I don't see this happening.
I am now convinced that Gamesreview is a random sentence generating computer program that has been instructed to infiltrate Assemblergames. The current generation PSP seems like a bad candidate for integration into cellphone technology. The need for a UMD drive alone destroys its chances of that. Perhaps a next generation PSP on a Chip could be integrated into a phone and allow downloadable content and memory stick based games. I doubt that this is very likely either, but a much more realistic idea.
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Damn you ServiceGames, for some reason I couldn't stop laughing with that comment...
What I see happening is your the PC taking the place of the TV entertainment center. We may see devices that do what you say but usually such things remain oddities.
Actually, I don't want to rekindle my prediction-bashing, but David Reeves (SCEE) was interviewed by Eurogamer last week, and threw up a few little tidbits. Number 1 was that they have no plans for any gaming device with a Sim Card, but the second was as below: Eurogamer: Would Sony ever consider licensing out the PS3 technology? Could we see a Sony laptop or Blu-ray player, or even a machine manufactured by another company, which plays PS3 games? David Reeves: I wouldn't rule it out, but I haven't thought of it myself. We don't have any plans to do that. Reference: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/sonys-david-reeves-interview-january2009?page=2 Hmmmm....
