Win a Free PS3 or TWO Wii’s!
You can win either a PS3 or two Wii’s*. All you have to do to win it is answer this question:
Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Hirai recently said the PlayStation 3 will have a lifespan of 10 years, and called it a “fantastic value†at $600. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
Here is a linky to the contest. Be sure and read the other answers, some were great. Here was mine:
I disagree, because the PS2 was also supposed to last 10 years and it launched at $300. Not only that, but Microsoft will have the Xbox 3.0 out in 4-5 years which will blow away the PS3. And for $200 less than the PS3 you can get an Xbox 360 which will have many of the same games on it.
Go sign up, then cut and paste your answer into the comments below so we know what your answer was.
Most of the “agree” answers were blabbering on about the PS3 being a great value because of Blu-Ray movies. Well, I hate to break it to these people, but to 90% of the population that doesn’t have an HD television, Blu-Ray movies don’t mean dick. Not only that, but even many of the 10% early HD adopters (like myself) aren’t that hot to buy into an unproven media format for movies. Sure, I might rent a few Blu-Ray discs to see what it’s all about, but no way am I converting my DVD library to that format until and if HD-DVD is dead as a doornail. Sony wants to force gamers to be early adopters of their movie format, and I think that’s crappy.
Footnotes:
* What exactly is the plural of Wii? Weeze? Wiixen? Wiiwii?
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Alright this is more or less what I said: ( I closed the stupid brower)
It is unfortunate that Sony is losing focus on the gaming industry. It is understood that the hardware might last 10 years, however the technology will not. Something better will come out in less than 5 years and people will flock to buy it. Selling a system at 600 dollars will cause people to wait until it lowers it price and force people to flock to Nintendo and MS.
Comment by Jaime — October 18, 2006 @ 7:38 am
Their PS2’s barely last 3 years on average, and they actually think the PS3 is going to be sturdy enough to last 10? Or do they expect us to slap down $600 more than once? Even if they reduce the price in 2 years to $400, it will still be the most expensive console on the market because by then MS will have dropped the 360 in price to sub $300, possibly as early as next year. And you’re right on the money about it getting outdated. MS will release the next Xbox console no later than 2010, I guarantee it. No one knows what kind of computing technology will be out by 2010, but I am willing to bet that it’s going to kick PS3’s ass no matter what.
I agree with you that a lot of people are going to wait for a price drop on PS3, and that is going to be bad news for the gaming industry. I see the average consumer holding on to their PS2 for at least a year, maybe two. I see a drop in game sales coming. I also don’t think that many Joe Average’s are going to go out and buy a Wii or a 360, I think that Sony has a name brand that defines gaming for a lot of people, and they will either pony up the dough or wait until the price drops. This is why I think we’ll see a depression in overall game sales (not counting the handhelds which I see as continuing to be strong).
I think Wii and 360 will capture a lot of the hardcore gamer market and I also see that same group later on buying a PS3 when the price comes down. I think Nintendo and Microsoft will both make a lot of money and be profitable, but neither one is going to sell 100 million consoles like the PS2 has already done and will continue to sell. I predict that the 360 will have sold 10 million units by the end of this year (they are already around 6-7 million), and by the end of 2007 I expect they will have sold around 20 million Xbox 360’s. I think the Wii will sell around 2-3 million by end of year, and probably 11-12 million by end of 2007, assuming the Wii controller is a hit. I think the Wii will be a much bigger hit in Japan than it will be in the US, so I expect maybe 65% of those sales to be from Japan. I think the PS3 will sell 1.5 to 2 million tops by end of year (they will sell out, but that is all they’ll be able to put on the shelves), and maybe 6-7 million by end of 2007, with 4 million or so of those sales coming from Japan. I see PS3 as possibly being a huge flop in Europe, they’ve already pissed off a lot of Eurogamers by delaying the European launch twice now, and European gamers are notoriously frugal, I don’t see many of them splashing out for an overpriced console. The PS2 will continue to sell well, keeping Sony afloat as long as they keep putting out games for it.
By mid to late 2008 or so, Sony will have caught Microsoft in number of units sold, and the PS3 will be the dominant console in terms of marketshare. Sony will have lost a bunch of money by now because of big losses from selling their hardware at a loss, and from the high cost of the unit itself meaning that gamers will buy fewer games. Their cash cow of the PS2 will now be too long in the tooth to keep bringing in the money and covering the PS3’s losses, but by now the installed base on PS3 will be enough to sustain Sony. Will will trail in at third place, but Nintendo will still be making money hand over fist because they will have a higher avergage # of games sold per console sold, since Nintendo fans are pretty fanatical and buy a lot more games. Nintendo will stay in the green for sure. By 2009 Nintendo will be ready to release either an upgrade for Wii or some kind of backwards-compatible Wii replacement. Microsoft will also have made a ton of money by 2008, and they will have had price reductions by now that will make their console start to become popular among Joe Average. They will be a strong second-runner, keeping much closer to the PS3 than the original Xbox did to the PS2.
By the end of 2009 the marketshare percentages will be around 42% PS3, 33% Xbox 360, and 25% Wii. The most profitable console will still be the Wii, however, and Microsoft will be the 2nd most profitable console. This won’t matter much for that generation, but it’s going to mean a lot more in 2010 because MS and Nintendo will both have had the funding and market goodwill to allow for an even more powerful system to release in late 2009 or 2010. 2011 at the latest. I see Nintendo probably making the first move in that generation, possibly as early as 2009, but for sure by 2010. Microsoft will have the next Xbox ready for launch by late 2010 or 2011 latest. Sony will still be trying to ride on the PS3, having lost too much money to go through all that again for another new console unit. The PS3 will eventualy be profitable but they will lose a lot of their third party developers who will jump to MS or Nintendo on their new consoles in the 2010 era. Either Nintendo or Microsoft will end up having the dominant console from 2010 - 2015. Sony has lost the war!
Comment by virtuadept — October 18, 2006 @ 9:48 am