Discussing real possibility. Sony leaves the race, who covers the hole?

[Lagslayer]

With the current setup, There might not be anyone to fill the gap for a while, so they would just gravitate towards other systems. The Xbox 360 fills pretty much the same niche as the PS3 did, but the Wii doesn't have faulty hardware. Then again, most people have a PC anyways, and you can get most, if not all the good games from the PS3/Xbox360 on that as well.

 

[Tony2077]

they won't die or disappear not anytime soon anyway

 

[Random berk]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Sega or Atari try and jump back into the race, although I really doubt Sony is going to stop.

Does this mean we get a Dreamcast 2? Because I will burn Sony HQ to the ground in a heartbeat.

On a realistic note, a Microsoft monopoly on console gaming suits me fine.

The trouble with that it, without competitors, what motivation do they have to keep making games to the highest standards that they can? Without the risk of people going over to Sony or Nintendo, because they have better games, they'll just get lazy and stagnate. You'd get the situation that Nintendo is already guilty of, where they're just releasing the same few tired games every couple of years.

 

[city cider]

well, that was one of the dumbest hypotheticals I've ever read. Apple wouldn't bother coming in for shit and Sony won't bout out. Nintendo wouldn't lift their game cause they are already making gazillions and not even trying hard for it.

If sony died, the gap would be taken by microsoft. what a sad day it would be

 

[Puzzlenaut]

Apple. Just as another "fuck you!" to Microsoft and PC gaming.



In seriousness, that is unlikely, and I am damn glad of that fact because the industry doesn't need another fucking aimed-at-casual-audience piece of shit console.
They can keep their damned apps.... grrrrrrr...

 

[gigastrike]

I don't see Sony leaving the console race, but I'll give my input regardless. The most obvious would be Apple, but Apple already has plans to break into the videogame market, and it doesn't involve consoles. I suppose I could see Sega making a return, or another eletronics company making a debut, but it's also possible that no one will fill the void. Nintendo and Microsoft already dominate the market, and with the next Nintendo console possibly being re-geared towards hardcore gamers, and...wait...

What if Nintendo fills the gap as the second harcore system, and the majority of the casual market falls to IPhone games? Everyone moves up a notch, and IPhone games finally reach the point where they gain some recognition as legitimate games.

 

[Vault101]

Apple, most likely. They've already expressed interest in creating a console, and are getting into the hand-held market at the least with the iPhone and iPad. They have the capital, interest, and commercial motivation to step in.

I know that some seem to think Sony falling through isn't going to happen, but you have to remember: We aren't talking about Sony as a company collapsing here. We're talking about shutting down their gaming division. Sony does a lot of other stuff, and with PS3 sales being as lackluster as they are, the last few PSPs bombing like the Fat Man, Move being a commercial wash-out, and now the very real chance that they are going to lose billions on a security breach that they didn't think to prevent, I can see the Board of Directors at Sony pretty much going, "Well, F*** this guys, let's do something else," and moving on.

do you think apple would affect PC gaming at all?

because I dont wanna have to get a friggen apple product to play my games..

 

[Katana314]

I think Apple might get into console gaming unintentionally, like they did with the iPhone. Also, Valve might get more expansively involved through some iteration of Steam. In the next console generation, we might consider "Steam" to be the third competitor.

 

[zehydra]

Sony doesn't need the PlayStation, and if it shows that they can't run it successfully (the PSN has been a trainwreck over the years), I would not be surprised if they drop it, or maybe hand it off to somebody else.

Personally, I'd love to see somebody new in the console race, it could revitalize the whole industry.

 

[Hitman Dread]

There's no need to fill in any void. Microsoft and Sony both compete in similar markets in the global market.

The real question though is what will become of Japan's market, where the Sony and Playstation have always been vastly different markets, and Microsoft has been non-existent.

 

[Belated]

I really hope Sony doesn't leave the race. I didn't get a PS3, but we need a console company out there that has decent policies. Sony registers your DLC to your account AND your console, but lets you register it to six consoles at once and change those consoles online. Micro$oft registers your DLC to your account and your console, and only lets you register it to one console at a time, and you can only change which console it's registered to once a year. Sony PSN is free, Micro$oft XBL charges you $60 a year to play games hosted on random people's internet connections. Also, if you let your Gold subscription run out and leave it that way for three months, you'll never ever be able to buy back Gold status for that account ever again because Micro$oft permanently, arbitrarily blocks it from Gold after three months.

Now it's true that all corporate giants are evil at heart. But it would be nice to have Sony around to choose from in the next console generation, because I want a company to retreat to if Microsoft continues their trend of terrible policies.

 

[YawningAngel]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Sega or Atari try and jump back into the race, although I really doubt Sony is going to stop.

Does this mean we get a Dreamcast 2? Because I will burn Sony HQ to the ground in a heartbeat.

On a realistic note, a Microsoft monopoly on console gaming suits me fine.

The trouble with that it, without competitors, what motivation do they have to keep making games to the highest standards that they can? Without the risk of people going over to Sony or Nintendo, because they have better games, they'll just get lazy and stagnate. You'd get the situation that Nintendo is already guilty of, where they're just releasing the same few tired games every couple of years.

Which suits me just fine because I don't play on consoles and want the entire idea killed off. Long live the PC!

 

[babinro]

I see no real reason why there 'needs' to be 3 consoles on the market.

Xbox and PS3 have always attracted the same style of gamer while the wii branched out. I see no reason why Xbox and Nintendo couldn't stand alone for consoles as PC will always fill that high technology desire that the PS3 delved into.

Personally...I'd love to see playstation abandon the console market and switch to games for all platforms. It seems extremely unlikely that PS would leave the game over something this small. I place this akin to massive vehicle recalls...it'll set the company back a lot, and they will need to work on PR to get people back and feeling confident, but they are far from out of business.

 

[Death God]

Saga probably or maybe even Atari. Though it seems likely Nintendo isn't going over big right now either so maybe Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft will be replaced with a whole new generation of game designers with a new outlook on games.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

If they do go out of business, at least in the gaming section, i can see more PS3 users getting a gaming PC or something

Please elaborate? What defining feature of the PC other than graphics and mods can it offer?

By the way this thread is very unlikley, however Sony will make a shit load of money selling most of its franchises to the free market.

EDIT: Also i do like the idea of an Apple Console, maybe it won't start off as a console, really just a digital media centre for all your music/movies/iphone games that can be played on the big screen, with some minor graphical details that Apple won't mention when its released.

 

[Torrasque]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Sega or Atari try and jump back into the race, although I really doubt Sony is going to stop.

Sega? I doubt that.
Apple MIGHT if they wanted to combat Microsoft on absolutely everything, but that would just be silly imo.
Whatever happens to Sony, they're going to feel this kick in the yams for many years to come.
But then again, their a huge mega corporation that makes a fuckload of everything. So we'll see.

 

[TheAceTheOne]

Yeah, this is a real possibility. Then again maybe Northern America blasts off into space and settles on Mars, thereby causing Microsoft to leave the race.

That sounds like a plot for a book.

OT: I'd say... Hm... Capcom. Why? No reason.

 

[Poofs]

I think Valve might do it, they deffinately seem ballsy enough

if not them, maybe Blizzard

 

[deserteagleeye]

I don't believe Sony will drop out of the race just yet but I do believe they will get a bit desperate to maintain their credibility. Maybe start "turning tricks" with Apple for a couple hundred grand. <~~ dark imagery

 

[Echo136]

I seriously, SERIOUSLY hope Sony doesnt pull out of the games market. God, that would be depressing.