@apujanata, I get the feeling that MS is relying too much on their leading market, while Sony went more worldwide. Also for countries in eastern europe not only is it that price is a very important factor but also for many of them this may be their first step into consoles: when somebody does their first steps into this world, seeing how pc gaming is falling, I'm assuming they at first won't be inclined to spend a lot, at first I'd assume they would go for the cheaper things (ps2/wii) and only after getting satisfaction from that go deeper. This is why I always kinda agreed with Sony on their not rushing out with ps3: while the US wanted next-gen since 2005, there's a big world out there and an increasing number of countries starting to do reasonably well, countries which have a great potential for providing profit if they can be drawn into the console hardware maket. For all these countries a 100euro ps2 coupled with some great cheap platinum games could be a great first step into the to them new world of consoles. For example a few months ago I saw a mall having an expensive hdtv thrown in with a ps2 + a copy of a fifa soccer game. Things like that or Wiis given away at tv/radio contests are a great stepping stone. And all these people growing up on this have a bigger chance of going into a brand they trust as it becmes both more affordable and with better support. That is why even though I myself am a technology enthusiast eagerly awaiting new features in hardware/software as a business strategy Sony's approach makes much more sense to me and I think all the people who kept sayng that Sony should have dropped support for ps2 to promote ps3 in the last year aren't making sense for a company that's in it (also?) for profit.
At the end of the day it's not about a console war as we like to say, but about companies being able to produce and sell at a profit. For that there's no need for there to be a "winner" console. Any company that can make a box and sell it making a profit is the winner and will obviously continue to do that no matter how many of them there are. I've long been surprised that no big company has started making simply pcs repackaged and marketed as console devices after some customizing. Also one big thing that's bothering me: I hear of *absolutelly* no data of Russia. Are they buying Wiis? Are they buying ps3s? ... Russia+China could easily have their own consoles as it seems to me they have no shortage of both power and smart men...
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I get the feeling that MS is relying too much on their leading market, while Sony went more worldwide. Also for countries in eastern europe not only is it that price is a very important factor but also for many of them this may be their first step into consoles: when somebody does their first steps into this world, seeing how pc gaming is falling, I'm assuming they at first won't be inclined to spend a lot, at first I'd assume they would go for the cheaper things (ps2/wii) and only after getting satisfaction from that go deeper. This is why I always kinda agreed with Sony on their not rushing out with ps3: while the US wanted next-gen since 2005, there's a big world out there and an increasing number of countries starting to do reasonably well, countries which have a great potential for providing profit if they can be drawn into the console hardware maket. For all these countries a 100euro ps2 coupled with some great cheap platinum games could be a great first step into the to them new world of consoles. For example a few months ago I saw a mall having an expensive hdtv thrown in with a ps2 + a copy of a fifa soccer game. Things like that or Wiis given away at tv/radio contests are a great stepping stone. And all these people growing up on this have a bigger chance of going into a brand they trust as it becmes both more affordable and with better support. That is why even though I myself am a technology enthusiast eagerly awaiting new features in hardware/software as a business strategy Sony's approach makes much more sense to me and I think all the people who kept sayng that Sony should have dropped support for ps2 to promote ps3 in the last year aren't making sense for a company that's in it (also?) for profit.
At the end of the day it's not about a console war as we like to say, but about companies being able to produce and sell at a profit. For that there's no need for there to be a "winner" console. Any company that can make a box and sell it making a profit is the winner and will obviously continue to do that no matter how many of them there are. I've long been surprised that no big company has started making simply pcs repackaged and marketed as console devices after some customizing. Also one big thing that's bothering me: I hear of *absolutelly* no data of Russia. Are they buying Wiis? Are they buying ps3s? ... Russia+China could easily have their own consoles as it seems to me they have no shortage of both power and smart men...