PlayStation 3 Launch Was on Verge of Disaster, Sony CEO Says

[Junaid Alam]

PlayStation 3 Launch Was on Verge of Disaster, Sony CEO Says

Sony CEO Howard Stringer told a Wall Street Journal conference that the PlayStation 3's launch teetered on the brink of disaster.

"Two years ago PlayStation was on life support," Stringer said during the Wednesday event, adding that high development costs were almost "catastrophic" for the company.

Today, however, the picture is brighter, given Blu-Ray's format victory, a lowered price and less paltry gaming lineup.

Stringer pronounced himself "very pleased" with the console's technical performance and said the format victory over HD-DVD saved him from being blamed for "Betamax 2."

Despite claims from some quarters that digital downloads will supersede physical media altogether, Stringer said consumers will not eschew physical media for a long time.

CVG.com [http://www.next-gen.biz/]

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[NotPigeon]

May I be the first to say "No sh*t?"

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Damn, beaten to it.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

Hahaha. Yeah. PS3 has... roughly 13 million sold, compared to 26.5 million by the Wii. No matter what they do, they're consistently being outsold 2-to-1. Sure, 13 million is pretty good, but that's only 20% of the home console market. What happened to the days of dominance, Sony? How do you explain this plummet to your shareholders?

 

[Larmo]

they made it practically unavailable and no one had a reason to buy it besides 2-3 games, of course that would practically kill it.

 

[Dectilon]

Hahaha. Yeah. PS3 has... roughly 13 million sold, compared to 26.5 million by the Wii. No matter what they do, they're consistently being outsold 2-to-1. Sure, 13 million is pretty good, but that's only 20% of the home console market. What happened to the days of dominance, Sony? How do you explain this plummet to your shareholders?

PS3 costs twice as much though

 

[stompy]

Well, no shit... damn, beaten to it...

 

[Skrapt]

Hahaha. Yeah. PS3 has... roughly 13 million sold, compared to 26.5 million by the Wii. No matter what they do, they're consistently being outsold 2-to-1. Sure, 13 million is pretty good, but that's only 20% of the home console market. What happened to the days of dominance, Sony? How do you explain this plummet to your shareholders?

The wii is less expensive and appeals to a larger childrens market, of course it's going to outsell the PS3, it's outselling the 360 too

 

[Sibren]

What I never understand is why console developers keep making the same mistakes. They rush out this console while there are no games yet and then they act suprised that it doesn't sell. This has happened with many other consoles, and yet it seems as if the management doesn't realize that people want a console TO PLAY GAMES!