The question is whether or not outselling the PS3 is more important than being profitable. If Sony is losing money and Microsoft is making money with a larger US installed base then why rush to stimulate more sales on a loss of total profits? Pachter already mentioned the Wii situation; had Nintendo priced their console at the $300 spot on launch and dropped the price later they might've made much more money than they did. Microsoft dropping its price to cause more sales of its system simply doesn't compute. Outside of September's gaudy numbers the lead built by the PS3 isn't so substantial. In fact, PS3 may not get the better of the 360 this holiday season. I understand this plays into your point that the PS3 will never catch up, but the assumption of the price cut is a bit juvenile. Sony made the price cut because they were getting signals of a slow death for their console and they needed to gear up and take blows in order to extend their lifespan and increase their future chance in the industry. Microsoft took a loss in their games division until what? 2007? 2008? It's not about swinging dicks, it's about financial health.

On the other hand; a $99 core console and $199 elite to coincide with the launch of Natal ($250 bundle?) would make a lot of sense. That is Microsoft trying to eek in on Nintendo territory and taking a loss might be more suitable in that regard. Microsoft blows its load without focusing on taking a share of Nintendo's hardware/software pie.

wow..............:|

Just thing, you will never get that time back that it took you to type all that :P

navyguy21

If I only had better things to do in my life. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, I know, but I thought I might gain something from this post.

Here is the current battle between the Xbox 360 and PS3 in terms of number of games scoring a collective 75 or higher on Metacritic. (green rating) (PS3 number of games in bold)

2009: 82 v. 74

2008: 69 v. 78

2007: 69 v. 46

2006:13v. 47

2005: 20

Here is my count of the exclusives coming out for each platform. Guaranteed is a guaranteed release in 2010 and exclusive title. Probable is a likely release in 2010 and a likely exclusive. Unlikely is a potential 2010 title and potential exclusive. All games listed have an assumed position of scoring in the 75 or higher range on Metacritic. (PS3 list in bold)

Guaranteed:

Mass Effect 2

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Alan Wake

Crackdown 2

Molyfail game

Rare game

Halo: Reach

Zeno Clash

vs.

Guaranteed:

MAG

Heavy Rain

God of War 3

Gran Turismo 5

3D Dot Game Heroes

Modnation Racers

Naughty Dog/Insomniac/Sucker Punch/Guerrilla/Lightbox game

MLB 10

Likely:

Second Rare or Molyfail Game

Metro 2033

Mistwalker game

Valve/Epic/Bethesda-iD game (Read: Prey 2)

Tropico 3

Random JRPG from Namco-Bandai/Square Enix

Kingdom Under Fire 2

Zeno Clash II

Project Gotham Racing Sequel

vs.

Likely:

The Last Guardian

Twisted Metal

Agent

White Knight Chronicles

Quantum

One Sony Online Entertainment game (Agency/Sucker realms/DC universe online)

Motorstorm 3 or similar game from same developer

FlOwer sequel or similar game from same developer

Pixeljunk game

Unlikely:

Ex Team Ninja douchette Itagaki game

Halo Wars 2 or similar game from same developer

Rockstar Exclusive

All Points Bulletin

Exclusive Harmonix game

Second or third Molyfail or Rare game (bringing the total up to four)

Second Valve/Epic/Bethesda-iD game

Theseis

Ninety Nine Nights 2

Huxley

vs.

Unlikely:

Eight Days/Getaway 3/SCEE exclusive

Second SOE game

Second ND/Insomniac/SP/GG/Lightbox game

WarDevil: Unleash the Beast Within

Zone of the Enders 3

Yakuza whatever

Final Fantasy versus XIII

Final Fantasy XIV

Kingdom Hearts 3

Atlus Exclusive

Exclusive from a PSP developer (Studio Cambridge, Sony Bend)

My count:

PS3 guaranteed exclusives: 8

X360 guaranteed exclusives: 8

PS3 likely exclusives: 9

X360 likely exclusives: 9

PS3 unlikely exclusives: 11

360 unlikely exclusives: 10

Eyepet/Singstar/Lips/NBA 10 purposefully left out.

Don't take my word for it, trust the critics, who gave Mario Galaxy and Bioshock more game of the year's than Modern Warfare. Those games were exclusives as well.

The point of MAG is to give players more tactical responsibility for how the match is handled. As most have said it will be a game that requires teamwork and flexibility. 256 players and squad breakdown are not some unnecessary selling point tacked onto a typical shooter. Socom, the game, was also more tactical than a lot of twitch based shooters or FPS currently on the consoles. The bar of entry to this game will be somebody who is more deliberate in their gameplay and more risky in their decisions. This means that a lot of the almost unnecessary handholding that you experience in other games will be gone in favor of appealing to a slightly more intelligent and slightly less instant gratification crowd.

Sorry if you aren't that way or simply don't want to be that way.

Is the point that laying out your plans on a forum for your future enjoyment of videogames somehow a therapeutic thing? Because I don't see a point.

Also, connoisseur.

Since it's been bothering me:

Whining about attach rates "plummeting" and it hurting the PS3 is illogical banter. Even if it sells solely as a blu ray player, which is a stretch, it's still going to have the same people buying it as a console and those same people buying it for games. A consumer will not say, "I was going to buy a PS3 for video games, but now that Blu ray has won I'll use it solely for that." The only potential logic behind the banter is the identification of attach rates, so one or two companies may lose potential profits on one release. However, that's a complete stretch and assumption that is hidden more in theoretical fantasy and mathematical impossibility than anything else.

I also want to add this...

Blu Ray could actually hurt Sony in the long run. If people start to buy the PS3 for the BR player only, it wont help software sales. Attach rates will plummet and game studios will be less likely to give the PS3 an exclusive if it cant sell games. The attach rate for the PS3 is already lower than the Wii, so.....

gromit007

Surely you can see the logical inconsistency in your statement.