Sir Howard Stringer is a jolly jellyroll of a man.Wealthy in ways most of us cannot imagine.In fact, when he speaks money actually falls out of his mouth, which is why his interviews are so rare (and coveted!) It is therefore amusing to read his words and imagine the tinkle of coins, because his words are rarely worth anything.In this GameSpot article, S.H.S. tempts us fence-sitters with a price-drop by Holidays'07.

Gee, there's an idea.

Let's get deconstructing, shall we?

Sony chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer has told the Financial Times that he is aware that there is "no question" that consumers want a lower price tag.

Something Kaz could've told him two years ago, but they didn't "communicate" so good.

Stringer praised the success of rival Nintendo's latest console, the Wii, saying that the company "has been a successful enterprise, and a very good business model compared with ours."

Nintendo is, in fact, an older company than Sony. And the vast majority of that history has been manufacturing games. (Sure, there was that crazy carefree period in the 60s, but let bygones be bygones...)

However, he vehemently disagreed that the Wii was more fun to play. "No, no, no, no," the executive replied to the question.

Difficult to know for sure when you can'tfind oneon store shelves to purchase. That's not a sign, is it? Now that they've established the Wii has outSOLD 3 to 1?

He also attributed much of the difference in sales between the two consoles as due to the fact that the Wii was significantly cheaper,

O RLY? YA RLY.

and that the two systems were "complementary and supplementary," to each other, and not in direct competition.

Absolutely true. There is no competition. On any level. Including annual profit forecasts. And user play-time.

In light of this, Stringer confirmed that Sony would be looking to cut the price of the PS3--he gave no specific amount, but indicated that the company was looking to make a decision about this before the holiday season. He said, "[The amount of the price cut] is what we are studying at the moment. That's what we are trying to define."

Here's a start: Lower v.intr.

1. 1. To move down:
2. 2. To become less; diminish:

Stringer added that current games for the console were using only 20 percent or so of the machine's capabilities. "Once they use the full bandwidth the games experience is stunning...it's dazzling."

And this is where he's off the tracks, over the bridge, and into the gully. Precisely what games are you playing, Sir, that have let you see 100% of the system's capabilities? Precisely how good a programmer are you to reverse engineer the code in your head by watching a demo? Precisely what mathematical degrees do you posses that allow you to do more than read and regurgitate a report that says "Lair: Processor loadrunning at average 20%."

Now, it's been weeks since I wrote these comments on the original story, and we've had the Price Drop Bait and Switch voted Most Disappointing E3 announcement. It's no mystery that the Sony Executives and Sony PR don't exactly eat in the same lunch room together. Each finger is oblivious to t'other. The HotSpot had it right on, Sony was trying to fake-out Microsoft, and MS is all: "pshaw to that, son!" The Elite360 offers more default storage, enough content to fill it RIGHT up, and all the visual accoutrement you could ask for. Sorry PS3, see you in 2008... probably.

-V-

(Anti-Fanboy disclaimer: The only console I do not own at the moment is a PS3.I have very nearly bought a second PSP on more than one occasion to sit next to my v1.5 and two PS2s. Glad I waited for the Slim!)