@cgoodno:
Ironically, I was going to mention 3DS. It took Nintendo almost a year before they cut the price and Nintendo offered early adopters a bunch of games.
Even then it was considered a failure and drop in demand. Imagine, mere months?
That said, 3DS consumers are generally younger of age and the handheld is bought by parents whom is mostly influenced by price and not where the direction of the platform takes like core gamers.
Ironically, Nintendo reacted to MS when they introduced both XBL and the idea of entertainment apps.
Wii has Nintendo Network and support for Youtube, Netflix and so on now.
That said, MS/Sony would be idiots not to react to Nintendo.
Does it matter anyhow?
Most likely a PS4 release will sell out initially, and any signaling of price reduction that early would suggest low demand and at the same time anger the early adopters. That is terrible marketing move.
I think that is rather implausible, but that is my opinion.
I think one thing is want, the other is can.
Can Sony release a console side by side with MS?
I think not, because of two things:
a) Sony's terrible financial situation
b) the current focus on current generation games from first party
c) PSN hasn't had a revamped in ages "suggesting" Sony hasn't seemingly thought of the future at all. There is no glimpse in PSN I can see for the future. ...
Kind of weird why MS wouldn't want the game on their platform. It's generally a profit for both sides so why not?
Unfortunately we only get one side of the story, and when the company went through a third party it was fine so I wonder if they pissed off somebody.
Sometimes I don't want to do business with certain people, because they tend to be more of a pain despite the potential for profit.
How did MS buy their way in?
From where I stand and the history behind the Xbox, MS had to seriously fight their way in unlike the other huge companies that had basically one-two hit wonders while entering into a small market growing with it.
If MS exited the console business, I don't think there are many companies that can take their place. There simply just isn't any company that can swallow multiple billion losses in hopes of getting it back late...
Yet, Sony are the one worst off and declining.
If you like gaming, you would want the industry to be able to support itself, not die as a niche market.
Ever heard of family XBL Gold plan?
It is $100/annually for 4 accounts. More information here:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/L...
I broke down, and bought a second Kinect with 4GB Xbox 360 since another $100 for a controller and console sounds like a great deal.
Then I bought Fable: The Journey and Star Wars Kinect. I'm regretting not getting Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012.
Considering getting XCOM and Dishonored, but frankly I just have too many games and no time to enjoy them at all... It just ends up in a backlog anyhow.
At least the Kinect gets plenty of use!
It's pretty simple why game industry is down and the answer is "lack of excitement".
When Apple releases it's next uber igizmo it's exciting, but I can't say the same about the games we have right now. Are there great games? Sure, but nothing that seems out of the ordinary.
Also, games has gotten way cheaper to boot and there is an abundance of them. I don't pay $40 for a game anymore, unless it is a huge hit game I really want ...
@EVILDEAD360:
I agree with you and the people screaming rip off most likely doesn't play online and therefore completely fail to understand it's value.
All they see is, I get free games here, I can play online occasionally and therefore it must be equal... NOT!
Each online network has it's strength, but they certainly aren't on parity yet. Not even close.
Forza has been very well received by the critics and I think the drop in price is more due to the competition. Recent games like Dishonored, Xcom and a bunch others which received very high marks all received a huge price cut to $25 or lower.
You really have to compare it to their peers and not to zoom in on a specific game. The target market for racing games are way smaller than shooters so yes, it will be impacted more.
There are several problems with what you are saying.
MS spreading out their potential market means it is more suitable for a family to own an Xbox i.e not the lone core gamer. On top of that, real gamers generally don't care about what else the console offers if what it offers suits them just fine i.e. PC can be used for casual games, but they still play core games on it.
It is about breadth in offering, and not how narrow your market can be.
yup, I guess millions upon millions of people are fanboys and stick for MS?
Isn't that just customers? You know business as usual, while the little zealots cry foul.
It's like the people complaining about CoD, yet they don't realize they are actually a much larger minority that just happens to scream louder and nobody really cares.
So far people are happy with CoD, and they keep buying it over and over and over....
Large companies like MS and Sony has almost no problems re-inventing what smaller researchers can come up with. That is what millions upon millions of research dollars can do.
However, let us not delude ourselves to think that MS or Sony would release a product, if the Wii didn't exist or wasn't successful.
Say what you want about the origin, but the end result was to attempt to copy a business strategy that worked great for Nintendo.
...
@darkride66:
In case you didn't notice, most other console manufactures seem to think they are only in the video game business.
That is a sure way to kill your business.
@NeverEnding1989:
You are absolutely right. Sony is in a very sh!tty situation. Products ain't selling, your bonds are worth very little and you don't have much products to propel you out of that downward spiral.
@Abash:
"Im guessing they will not be games that are large scale like AAA titles "
Nope. That is not what MS is saying. They are saying, the games released will not be a retail sold game.
It sounds like a free to play game that certainly sounds like a AAA game due to the hundreds of employees they are expanding the studio with.
@AAACE5:
Ironically, it was Phil Harrison that made PS3 do as well as it did. It was Sony's japanese arm *AND* Ken Kutaragi that screwed up the PS3 so badly.
... and the wast majority probably doesn't care.
Nobody has cared about 3D since forever!