Both the 360 and PS3 will have long lives. The current downturn may well extend them. The Wii may of hit its peak this year but again the downturn may extend it depending on how HD fairs this year.
For my money the Wii is still the most overpriced stock, the PS3 is on shaky ground but anything over 6000 is still a possibility. The 360 looks very likely to now overhaul the PS3 permanently having had another good year. Basically this was the holiday season Sony needed to make the move. Microsoft pounced first again and knocked Sony off balance.
Sony and Microsoft should now be concentrating to some extent on grabbing the new market that Wii has created and enticing them into HD. They have not cracked it yet but this has to be a goal.
If I was to look into my crystal ball...
I would suggest that Sony will continue to reduce cost from the PS3 and extending its life even beyond the 10 years will be a goal. This will probably lead to a reduction in development on the next console. With the prospect of a late price cut they may try to mimic Microsoft's success but unfortunately they can never leave behind the fact the PS3 was more expensive to develop make and sell in the first place.
From the Microsoft end I actually think they will increase cost by that I mean they will increase functionality. For example this year I expect to see an Elite with very similar core specs to the PS3 i.e. Wi Fi, Blu Ray for example. Like Sony I think Microsoft are going to be happy to play the long game.
The Wii would be the console which is probably now the most likely to introduce a new console before the other two. Interestingly that could put them in the situation they then have the most expensive console. I am not sure what pressure this will put on the other two though, I guess that will depend how much market share they can claw back over the next few years. On the other hand I think they may even go down the DSi route introducing non backwards compatible functionality but trying to maintain it is the same machine.
All in All another interesting year on the horizon.
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Both the 360 and PS3 will have long lives. The current downturn may well extend them. The Wii may of hit its peak this year but again the downturn may extend it depending on how HD fairs this year.
For my money the Wii is still the most overpriced stock, the PS3 is on shaky ground but anything over 6000 is still a possibility. The 360 looks very likely to now overhaul the PS3 permanently having had another good year. Basically this was the holiday season Sony needed to make the move. Microsoft pounced first again and knocked Sony off balance.
Sony and Microsoft should now be concentrating to some extent on grabbing the new market that Wii has created and enticing them into HD. They have not cracked it yet but this has to be a goal.
If I was to look into my crystal ball...
I would suggest that Sony will continue to reduce cost from the PS3 and extending its life even beyond the 10 years will be a goal. This will probably lead to a reduction in development on the next console. With the prospect of a late price cut they may try to mimic Microsoft's success but unfortunately they can never leave behind the fact the PS3 was more expensive to develop make and sell in the first place.
From the Microsoft end I actually think they will increase cost by that I mean they will increase functionality. For example this year I expect to see an Elite with very similar core specs to the PS3 i.e. Wi Fi, Blu Ray for example. Like Sony I think Microsoft are going to be happy to play the long game.
The Wii would be the console which is probably now the most likely to introduce a new console before the other two. Interestingly that could put them in the situation they then have the most expensive console. I am not sure what pressure this will put on the other two though, I guess that will depend how much market share they can claw back over the next few years. On the other hand I think they may even go down the DSi route introducing non backwards compatible functionality but trying to maintain it is the same machine.
All in All another interesting year on the horizon.