Opinion: Should Sony Exit Hardware?

Some nice insights, but ultimately what it boils down to is that the PS3 is only one console generation. Think about how long Nintendo lagged behind, before bouncing back with the Wii. N got trounced by Sony for 10+ years straight before reclaiming the #1 position. PS3 is not going well, but every new iteration of hardware brings with it a complete reshuffling of the deck.

Interesting viewpoints all around.

Nevertheless, I find it a little funny that so many people have already have forgotten or discount that Sony completely dominated the console business with the PS2 for almost ten years when criticizing the PS3.

haha, Justin is my brother from another mother

Nintendo may have been lagging for a long time, but did it really hurt their bottom line? Their platforms are always profitable. That's the thing - Sony is a major global consumer electronics firm. The PS3 hardware has been a gigantic investment for Sony Corp and it's not going so well.

No doubt about it. Personally surprised it hasn't happened yet. The PS3 is going to bleed for a very long time indeed.

Are you kidding me?

Seriously...are you really kidding me?

Why should Sony drop out? Why should anyone ask a question as stupid as this? While it is true that Sony will have to cut the price of the PS3 sooner or later, no they should not drop out of hardware.

And Lane5, stop with the fanboy theatrics. Who the hell died and made you the decider of what will happen with the PS3? It's gonna bleed for a long time? Who decided that, you? Yeah, you can shut the hell up now.

Haha say what? It's bled to the tune of nearly 4 billion dollars so far this gen and is there any end in sight I think not. While the Slim maybe a good faith effort to get cost down that does not make up for the massive amount of overstock that needs to be sold and will likely only move with a cut. So they have to cut the price and cut into any potential for a profit anytime soon. Yes it will continue bleed for a very long time. I got a PS3 bro. You are simply preaching to the choir here.

Didn't the original Xbox bleed 4 billion dollars? I understand it was cut early in it's life, but that didn't stop MS from launching the 360.

Just sayin'.

Again Lane5, you're not a stock analyst. Get your head out of your ass. Yes, Sony has been losing money but they have been cutting losses on the PS3 lately. Did you not get the memo?

And Band1t, you're absolutely right. Microsoft bled money with the original XBox and somehow they came back with the XBox 360. But of course, the fangirls ignore that and attack Sony instead.

They may have been cutting, but yet they are still losing 10% or more per console. That according to Sony in May. Were well into this gen and where is the turnaround.

Chill, ulti.

It would greatly surprise me if Sony dropped the PS3. Hell, they were still supporting Betamax tapes until very recently if I remember correctly.

This has to be one of the most rediculos "news articles" I have ever read. Ok, so Sony has finally dropped out of the lead in the "console war" for the first time sense what? The original Playstation. And yes, Sony is still losing money on each PS3 sold, I think I read an article that said Sony loses on average $40.00 per unit they sell, this is down a ton from when the ps3 first launched. It's only a matter of time before Sony starts turnning a profit and thats what really counts. Not whethere in first place in a so-called war or not. Who Freaking Cares!! Granted, maybe it has taken longer than Sony had expected, but geez, you can't win at everything. In my honest opinion, it is way to early for Sony to give up on the PS3. And as far as Activison dropping Sony, you can't honestly think that would ever happen considering all 3 of sony's platforms that are currently on the market. It will never happen.

When, oh when, will the incessant bashing of Sony ever stop. While Sony may have made some mistakes this gen, the biggest would seem to be not sending out the 'please don't write bad things about us' checks. The era of infotainment and the desire for hits would seem to have relegated true journalism to depths now unreachable by the current crop of so called 'news' sites. To use your half hearted ,' the ps3 is a great machine' line to try and resolve yourself of any calls of 'fanboy-ism' does indeed fall short and by no measurable means, reflect the overall tone of the so called article. To be honest, you did absolutely get my hit however, so time to move on. And just out of curiosity, would not your last point, 'Cloud-based Computing" not apply equally to MS and Nintendo, or are they beyond the impact and reach of such technology?

Uh. Guys, relax. Sheesh. You're making PS3 fans looking like a bunch of asshats.

Keep it on N4G guys. Seriously.

Lane5, things may actually surprise you so stop acting as if it's the end of the world for Sony. It's very annoying.

if anyone should leave the hardware business it's microsoft - with the red ring of death and a 35% failure rate (out of the people that i know that own xbox 360 it's more like an 85% failure rate) - they are known as a software company not a hardware manufacturer, so they should stick to what they do best... and even that's questionable (vista anyone). sony's problem is it's price point not it's hardware. sony has the best of both worlds: great hardware & software, it's just too bad that not everybody can afford one. then again not everybody can afford a BMW or an apple computer either. also remember the 360 launched a full year before the PS3, what would the numbers be like had they launched at the same time. i'm sure microsoft is bleeding millions of $ fixing their inferior hardware... just sayin'.

Again, this is a business guys. No one's ignoring that MS lost money on Xbox. But MS has like $24 billion in cash right now. They can take that hit in order to use Xbox as a trojan horse to get into and control all living room entertainment. Sony had a similar idea with PS3, but taking that financial hit is much harder for Sony.

Right time to get a few things off my chest.

Firstly I would like to say that I am in no way a fanboy, i have an Xbox 360 and a Playstation 3.
I also have a Gamerscore of 57.000 so its safe to say that I play my Xbox 360 the most.

The thing that is eating me though is some peoples thoughts that the Playstation is under performing.

OK here is a few points to mull over,

1. The Playstation came out over a year after the Xbox 360 launch.
2. Its 8million console sales behind the Xbox 360.
3. Developers are only now getting to grips with the console, have you seen the games coming out in the near future?
4. It had a slow start due to problems with the new tech, mostly Blu-ray.
5. Blu-ray has had a bad time in the press but sold well enough to sink Hd-dvd.

These are just some of the number of little details that everyone knows. The Playstation 3 is 8 million in sales behind the Xbox 360, and it was a year later to market, to me for a years head start 8 million isnt a very big lead, and if 22 million Playstation 3s sold at the high price point is bad, i dont see it, what happens when Sony do lower the price? is 8 million really a big lead? also consider this, Microsoft have sold in excess of 30 million consoles, yes it looks impresive but, there have been 5 Xbox 360s in my house, 3 have died on me, one is my sons and the other is my new red one.
I know im not the only person in the world that has had a faulty Xbox 360, I know some that have had five or more die on them. My point is if I have had 5 consoles and say a quarter of my friends list have also been through around that number of consoles, is the 8 million lead really that impresive? even if you dont count the replaced Xbox 360s i have had 3, I know people who have also went out and replaced a console without sending it to Microsoft to get fixed.
So i guess what im getting at is as soon as Sony lower the price more people will be going for the more reliable console, it now has the games, the online service is functional and is getting contined support and upgrades.
i think that as soon as that price barrier is overcome than you will see that 8 million lead evaporate. To answer your question, no way in hell should Sony drop out, its just getting exciting and Sony are far from done.

You have to spend money to make money. Top analysts are predicting Sony will become profitable with relation to the PS3.

ok first of all i own a ps3 and a 360. i just got a new 360 because of that red ring of death shit that happens to every 360 because of their cheap parts. i play my ps3 evn more than the 360 because especially now that the economy is tight i feel like savin my money for something else. ps3 is very reliable and the whole downloading things like movies from the browser is just awesome. i love the wholewatching blueray on my ps3. sony will never dropout they are just starting and at the end theyr gonna come on top again. ooo yee if u have a ps3 n wana play the best in cod4 just message me my psn is euro0410 lol peec

oo look what i found check it out it will answer all ur questions http://www.industrygamers.com/news/xbox-360-will-fall-to-third-place-thanks-to-japan-says-pachter/

Yeah read it earlier but pachter talks out of his arse.

SeekingAlpha agrees it would seem. Today;


http://seekingalpha.com/article/146289-why-sony-s-ps3-will-continue-to-struggle

The PS3 is not in any danger trust me

www.industrygamers.com really don't what the hell they are talking about. They say "this is not Sony bashing", WTF!

ps3 is the best console out there and its gonna last with its 10 year life span

If this isn't a PS3 bashing article, I think I'm missing its point. After going out of your way to say you are not a fanboy, you precede to give a list of reasons why Sony SHOULD quit. You didn't really give any balance to say why they should stay in the game. Everyone's entitled to their opinion but let's not try to pretend to be objective.

Anyways, the Playstation brand has been profitable for two hardware generations. Maybe it hit a rough patch this gen, but who says it will stay that way? The world of game consoles is always shifting, and also, as someone above said, with each generation the market is completely different.

Chances are slim to none that Sony will be hurt enough this gen to drop out of the hardware business. They made the best hardware this generation, (and in my opinion the best first party titles), and have remained competitive with Microsoft at a higher price. The 8 million sales difference is not so bad considering the domination PS2 dished out last gen. For what it's worth, as a Sony fan I wouldn't ever want Microsoft to ever really fail even though it cost them billions. In fact I want as many game related companies to succeed as much as possible, to encourage competition. you know, 'cause I like games.

Xionpunk, this is an opinion piece, not a news report - who said anything about objectivity? And believe it or not, you can have an opinion without that opinion being seen as "bashing" a company. I don't buy into this fanboy bullshit. I'm too old for that. 10 years ago maybe I'd care, but now it really does not matter to me. I wish Sony, MS and Nintendo the best. I have NO allegiances, except to the game I'm enjoying at the moment, regardless of platform. I don't honestly think Sony IS going to drop out. But you know what? If I ran Sony I would seriously consider looking at transitioning SCE from hardware to software. The real money in this business is made on software, unless your name is Nintendo.

The faggot that wrote about 22 million PS3 sold what was his or her name??? Do all you Sony fanboys realize that out of the 22 million sold world wide 33% or more are only using the PS3 as a blu-ray player. Just check out the return on there 1st party game only 1 game sold a million resistance fall of man in the USA not world wide. So even when sony makes a exit with gaming the PS3 will still be used for blu-ray.

ThatKidisNice, no...you fail at life. There are people actually buying games for the PS3. Fucking dumbass.

Sorry, just seems like a bandwagon article - complete with dumb Dreamcast comparison.

This was actually a pretty good write up, VERY strong points. Alot of kids who literally are in love with the Sony Corp. are upset, but that is to be expected. In the real world amongst grownups who don't let their feelings get hurt when someone says mean things about their favorite toy, the article is on point.

He said reasons Sony SHOULD leave hardware, he didn't say Sony IS leaving hardware.
I know you kids love Sony but their simply aren't enough of you who are willing to put your money where your mouths are. No matter how well you guys think Sony is doing, no matter how great you think PS3 is, if Sony is losing cash hand over fist, they could possibly bail on hardware. I think it is more likely they simply will not make a PS4, but we shall see.

Oh the reason MS didn't give up after XBOX is obvious, they have money to burn. The reason Nintendo didn't give up is because even when they sold very few gamcubes, they made money off each one sold. Sony planned on once again dominating this gen, they over extended themselves, based on that, and they are STILL not making money on each PS3 sold. Even at 23 million sold, they are FAR behind what they planned on selling by this time in order to pay for the PS3 R&D. Bottom line Sony screwed up big time, you weirdos who get all upset when someone points this out need to make peace with it.

Thanks Darkie. Also, to all of you on here, we're being liberal and not filtering comments. Please be respectful of your fellow readers. Do not resort to personal attacks, racial or sexual orientation slurs, etc.

I know this article is an 'opinion piece' but if this is the opinion of journalists in the gaming industry then i weep for the future. Lets just leave out the fact that most of sonys 1st party titles are only possible on its console and that to port the likes of Killzone 2 and GoW 3 etc. would result in these being graphically generic. The only reason these awesome games are here today and coming in the fufture is because of this powerhouse console. Should they bow out (which they wont) most of the points listed in the article become moot because groundbreaking development would not be taking place.
I mean lets face it, most genres (FPS, Adventure, etc...) play roughly the same across the board and any leap made in gameplay can be replicated on any console. But the graphical superioty we see from the PS3 cannot be matched by any but PC.

Now i must confess that i am primarily a PC gamer and I did origionaly purchase that PS3 as a BLU-ray player. I have owned a 360 since launch and also own a Wii and can say without any doubt that i get great enjoyment out of every console i own. For me the 360 reliability was not a problem but all, i repeat all, of my friends had the RROD issue at least once. The Wii is the best family gaming experience to be be had no matter what age you are. The early 360 lineup was great and cross platform games at the moment are slightly better. But more and more i find myself playing my PS3 because every exclusive is outstanding both graphically and in gameplay while the 360's exclusives are mostly sequels that have no real difference from one to the next.

What were the stats people are giving? 30 million 360's sold in 3 years while Sony only has 22 Million in 2 years? If those figures are correct then the way i see it thats 10 million per yaer for 360 and 11 million per year for PS3. Now to me that difference is barely worth mentioning, its almost the f'ing same. This is competition at its best, not the slaying every one is talkiing about. And to put Wii in with these two consoles is ludicrous for it is a machine which is made with casual players of all ages and skill levels in mind to be played in a party ,not for the core gamer. They are merely adding that facet now that there install base is so large.

These articles and opinion pieces are not worth the pixels they are displayed on because all they do is cause further division and monopolising on console over another. And if Sony bowed out that is what there would be, a monopoly on the core gaming market held by Microsoft. And should that occur then the only thing to suffer would be the consumers as generic game after sub par sequel would continue to flood the market and all originality would cease.

Journalists should be promoting competition not undermining it. For competition breeds creativity and new experiances in gaming for all. I AM A GAMER. I dont care what console, PC, Handheld or phone i am playing these games on as long they push boudaries, give new experiances, and above all take me to new levels of enjoyment and awesomeness that i didn't know existed (im talking about you Uncharted). This should not be looked at as a war of the manufacturers but as a war on which you can have the most fun, a war that hopefully continues into eternity and no one ever wins. And a awr on how much fun i can have is a war i want to be a part of, because if that war ends and the only ones to lose are the gamers.

Did you forget that they have been working in the background on uniting the Playstation Network for at the very least a year and a half? The company’s overall strategy is to connect all their devices with the PS3 being one central junction. If they dropped the PS3 they would be effectively destroying a main component of their strategy. This interconnectivity is a way to get a leg up on the competition not only in gaming but also in the music, photo, and general consumer electronics space. Do you really think they are just going to drop that because they are losing money? It would cost way more money, not to mention time to reorganize a new strategy and begin moving the company in this new direction. Plus we all know Sir Howard Stringer has had a hard enough time getting people/departments to come together on this strategy. Do you really think his investors would let him make another huge shift? I don't. One final point is if you look at the history of Sony, they don’t support something and then drop in just because it doesn’t make money. They almost always push even stubbornly and support things till they are totally gone from public interest. Mini disc anyone?

I feel this article is extremely short sited and doesn’t take into account that Sony is a diverse company and that Play station is just one facet of their business and business strategy. Nor does it take into account Sony’s historical commitment to its formats or Sony’s historical willingness to lose money to make money. Every Playstation to date has come packed with technology that was just breaking into the mainstream or even still had a few years to go not to mention that to drop a Blu-ray equipped machine right as the strategy of having one in the PS3 is starting to pay off would also be silly. The better Blu-ray does, the better the PS3 will do.

First of all, I would like to thank James Brightman for his request to everybody to stop using racial or sexual orientation slurs. As a member of a minority, this is very important to me. I know that some of you are very opinionated (often I am too), but we need to respect each other here. Having said that, I must say that this is one of the few times that I have enjoyed the article and the responses equally! Many people have outlined some very insightful and interesting positions. Personally, I think (and hope) that Sony will not leave the hardware business, and you should too. Please remember that every time a producer leaves the market, the consumer suffers one way or another. That is just how the market works. I agree that Sony is in a difficult position due to many factors, such as unwise marketing moves, high price, bad economic times, etc., but I think that they are still in the game. I do think that the article perhaps goes a little too far to suggest that Sony might want to consider dropping out of the hardware business. I have been reading gaming blogs for several months, and I have never came across articles that even remotely suggest that Sony should drop the hardware business. However, I can't help but notice that the arguments used by the author are logical and plausible. Sony is indeed loosing money and it seems like their strategy has not been working. I don't say that because they are in third place behind Microsoft and Nintendo, I say that because they loose money. In addition, remarks like that of the head of Activision are rare commodity and one has to wonder the reasons behind such a serious statement. Why would Activision threaten in such a direct way a giant like Sony? Furthermore, I think that the article's argument about Apple is a strong one. Apple's strategy can be a decisive factor for the future of the gaming industry, and it seems like they are planning a very aggressive policy that will create huge problems for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Having said that, I think it is highly unlikely that Sony is going to leave the hardware business, at least for the time being. They have invested too much, and as several of you stated, Sony is planning on making PS3 the centerpiece that will unite all other devices and peripherals via PSN. I think that the PS3 slim and the price drop that I am pretty sure everybody agrees that will happen in 2009, will boost Sony's sales and will even allow them to catch up with the competition.

I find it concerning that a site called Industry Gamers is so ill informed on the subject. Perhaps a bit of Googling before the next article is in order.

The author forgot to mention that Sony's games division was the only part of their business that posted a profit last year and in doing so reduced the companys loss for the year substantially. PSN alone made a profit of $150 million, not bad for a free network.

Sony knew how much PS3 would cost to manufacture and how much they would sell it for and it has sold more per year than 360 even with a higher price point. The PS3 initially was also a vehicle to push Blu Ray over HD-DVD and it succeeded. Sony are making a killing from Blu Ray now and that business will continue to grow.

Losing $40 per console is insignificant as that loss is recovered through Blu Ray and/or game sales and Sony knew that would be the case.

If Sony were ever to exit the games hardware business, (which they wont), it would be a tradgedy for all gamers. Imagine being left at the mercy of Microsoft. They care about nothing but making money at the expense of the consumer. Knowingly launching faulty hardware just to get ahead of the competition is out of order from any company IMO. On top of that they continue to spit out misleading advertisments claiming that 360 is far superior in every way which is just lying plain and simple. Yet they get away with it with some poor suckers buying multiple faulty 360's and paying a yearly subscription for a service that is already funded entirely from advertising and downloadable content revenue. Why people continue to fall for and fund the MS way is beyond me.

I own Wii, 360 and PS3 and if anyone should exit the hardware business it's Microsoft. The 360 is like a poorly made kids toy compared to the other two. I had high hopes when I bought my launch 360 but I've never felt more ripped off in my life. Shame on Microsoft for stabbing it's customers in the back just to get one up on Sony. I will never buy another Microsoft product in my life.

@Get Real: While it's true that losses were slightly narrowed at the game division, Sony's game division did not profit. It posted an operating loss of about $600 million and sales for the year were down 18%. Not sure where you're getting your numbers...

Last time I checked Sony was doing fine. Just because they have competition this generation doesn't mean they should just flat out exist the hardware side of gaming. Sony has produced some of the best original IP's the generation and have plenty of exclusive AAA titles.

Hey Darkie, shut the hell up. This is a poorly written article that doesn't consider all factors. Love how you're in just about every article talking about Sony kiddies.

Stupid 360 fanbrat.

Good comments Darkie. I am always amazed how blindly devoted some people are to corporations that don't know they exist. These Kool-aid drinkers cannot objectively weight the pros and cons of their favorite products. The Playstation 3 is a great piece of hardware. I own a 60Gb launch model with real backwards compatibility. But c'mon guys... everyone, including Sony, especially Sony, expected the PS3 to come out and dominate like the PS2 did. Comparisons of the Xbox 360 to Dreamcast were all over the web. And here we are today, years later with what? PSN is better than it was but still lightyears away from XBL functionality. I gladly pay for XBL because it is packed with features and people and is constantly evolving. HOME I feel will never come out, or when it does it will be irrelivant. I was not impressed with the beta. I HATE --- seriously this makes me crazy -- the fact that there are constant PS3 firmware updates that take forever to download and install. XBL huge NXE update took like 3 minutes to install for me. Regular updates are mere seconds. No exageration there. Every XBLA game can be demo'd. Cant say that for PSN. In-game communications/messaging on PSN is abysmal. The price of the console is still too high for the average consumer. Don't regurgitate that old "cheaper than xbox if you bought everything" - the fact is that MS has smartly give the consumer choices. Get what you want. Get what you can afford. Just get something. You can call the Arcade model crappy or complain that you cant go online without the HDD but some people dont care about those options. Same with wireless network adapter. And yes, it is over priced but you have a choice to add it or not. Also, speaking of choices - I can choose whether or not to install my games to my HDD. No maditory installs. There are some good exclusive games for the PS3 but nowhere near as good and plentiful as I had originally expected. Looks like next year's catalog will be good - lets hope. It is also true that a good % of PS3 sales are for the Blu-Ray player alone. This fact always gets ignored when considering how well PS3 is doing as a gaming platform and explains why the lower attach rate. Hey 2009 digital downloads are calling. I just got Roku setup with Amazon Unbox and NetFlix watch instantly. I rented HD version of Hotel for Dogs (for the kids... really, ok I cried) and it streamed beautifully for 3.99. You have the ability to buy the movie and keep it in your online vault. I see this as the way things are going, not another expensive optical media. Finally, my last comment is this: throw in a F&%!ing set of hi-def cables and a cheap headset Sony if you are at all serious about selling your HiDef ONline experience. Xbox 360 came with HD/Analog combo cables, a remote and a flipping headset when I got mine. Get on your game Sony.

Yeah, i read the article, it is a fair article, you can see that sony is losing money bigtime, and will do for a few years with the ps3. but sony itself will use profits from other areas to balance this, for example, sony recentley, restructured itself and saved 11.1 billion,

i dont think sony will claim 2nd place in this generation but they wont go bust with this, they will push it!

throughout the comments i have an innocent opinion, but ultimolu is just a monkey on a period here, you are getting a bit touchy, its like they are saying that you are failing your self ultimolu,
calm down, ( and am gonna guess your gonna try and have a dig into me!)

The 360 has outsold the PS3 worldwide for 10 months straight now and the gap is rapidly widening with the 360 ahead by 8 million units. PS3 exclusives sell incredibly poorly while 360 exclusives break sales records. Demand for the PS3 is decreasing while demand for the 360 and Wii is skyrocketing, even in this bad economy. The PS3s only saving graces (the MGS and FF series) are now multiplatform.

The 360 has by far the biggest and best online community. COD4, for example, has had 11 million unique players on Xbox LIVE, with a mere 4 million on PSN. Halo 3 alone has outsold all PS3 exclusives combined. Halo 3 is still by far the most played online game over 1.5 years after its release. Multiplatform games sell 2x better on the 360 and run better on the 360 as well about 75% of the time.

The 360 gets exclusive/timed exclusive DLC for the biggest games of this gen (GTA IV/Fallout 3/Modern Warfare 2). The 360 has an 8.5 attach rate, while the PS3 has a 5.4. Even the casual Wii has a higher attach rate. Activision (the worlds biggest 3rd party developer) has threatened to drop support for the PS3 because it is just not profitable. That means PS3 owners can kiss the COD series goodbye. No Modern Warfare 3!


According to MetaCritic.com, the 360 currently has 15 AAA exclusives (games scoring an average of 89 or higher) that do not appear on the PS3. These games include: Gears of War (94), Halo 3 (93), Braid (93), Gears of War 2 (93), Mass Effect (91), GRAW (90), GTA IV: The Lost and Damned (90), Portal: Still Alive (90), Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 (90), Forza Motorsport 2 (90), Call of Duty 2 (89), Rez HD (89), Left 4 Dead (89), Fable II (89) and Peggle (89).

The PS3, in comparison, has a pathetic 5 AAA exclusives. LittleBigPlanet (95), MGS4 (94), Killzone 2 (91), MLB 09: The Show (90) and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (89).

Just a couple of comments.

Microsoft has already won the battle for our desktops. The last thing we want is to give them our living room. The world would not be best served if Sony were to fail in this battle for the living room.

Sony will do better once the economy improves. They have other businesses besides the Playstation. Sony was in trouble with their other divisions even before the PS3 hit the market. As it stands, the Playstation business is the one least-damaged by this economy. And its the one most likely to benefit once the economy picks up again. Giving up the hardware to go strictly software is a bit extreme and uncalled for. Look at all the software companies going out of business.

I tend to agree with Michael Pachter's opinion. Over the years that I have been following the gaming business, I have always found him to be one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry.

@Guinea : The problem is all your list on 360 is made up of DLC or XBLA small games. The ones which are left are shooters. PS3 exclusives are full games. If you take 85+ exclusives and full games, PS3 wins handily. You forgot Infamous, Motorstorm, flower, wipeout, warhawk, valkyria chronicles, demon's souls, plus dozens more 80 or 85+

Your list is full of non exclusives playable on PC, small XBLA games and DLC. The rest (a handful of full games) are 2 years old or more...

Halo 3 : 2 years old game,
Braid : XBLA small game,
Gears 1 : shooter and playable on PC,
Gears 2 : shooter,
mass effect : playable on PC,
graw : very old and playable on PC,
GTA4 Lost : DLC,
Portal : small game and available on PC,
Geometry Wars : XBLA small game
Forza 2 : old game, poor man's GT
COD 2 : very very old
Rez : XBLA game
L4D : not AAA (89), shooter and available on PC
Fable 2 : not AAA (89)
Peggle : XBLA small game

You see, 360 has nearly no exclusive that is a full game and is not available on PC. A few shooters, that's all...

360 had zero AAA exclusive in 2009 until now, PS3 had four (flower, MLB09, Killzone 2, Infamous)

i was shell shocked when i read the headline to this article, couldent imagine sony dropping out of the hardware game considering their responsible for changing the way people think about gamers (teens locked away in the bedrooms playing away) sony took a risk and because they thought the playstation and playstation 2 had sold millions they could charge what they wanted for the playstation 3 and their loyal fanbase (even my grannie knew what a playstation was) would cough up the huge asking price. i have all 3 current consoles as well as the handhelds (i love my tech ) and i play my 360 more due th the fact that its a lot easier to use online (xbox live is simply the best) and for the achievements, my ps3 is used for the exclusives (metal gear solid 4, resistance series,) and for the backwards compatibility (i have the original and still own final fantasy 7, 8 ,9) and finally my Wii is ocasionally used for the retro games (never finished alex the kidd) and the odd new game if it uses the wiimote to its full potential. people have mentioned about the 360's red ring of death and i am unfortunate to be a victim of it, i just got my console back :) and its one of the worst things about it which Microsoft have paid for "Microsoft will take a $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion pre-tax charge to earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 for anticipated costs under its current and enhanced Xbox 360 policies." so hopefully that will teach microsoft not to rush ahead. the achievenents system is a stroke of genius, if a game came out on all 3 machines n i played each one i would only play the wii and ps3 version once, the 360 version would get a playthrough and then some.id nit pick till i couldent get any more achevements. the trophy system is a nice idea but its not as good as the 360's which goes for the online experience which braingamer has explained without fault although since microsoft launched NXE i tend to find that it does run a lot slower then it did when we was graced with the blade system but i hear a update is planned which will address this problem.

This is just a bunch of Sony bashing BS i mean seriously profitability that only applys to the PS3 they did fine with the PSone and PS2 i mean and they will learn from this. and it just sounds like someone just wants all of the Playstation exclusive games to come to the 360 becasue they are jealous i mean the PS3 has some of the best game this gen coming out by march 2010

@GuineaPirate
the only reason that DLC for GTA IV is on 360 is because MS has to pay 50 million for it (funding a PS3 exclusive game from Rockstar) that is the only way that MS can get people to make games for them is to pay them and not even really take them away from Sony just get them released at the same time

Plus the PS3 is selling faster than the 360. at this point in the 360 lifecycle it had sold 19.5 units where the PS3 is at 22.9 units sold.

http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=PS2®1=All&cons2=PS3®2=All&cons3=X360®3=All&weeks=168

Ok that's it, ive been playing games for most of my life, since i was 7, im now 35. i've seen the industry grow and change over the years, to what it is today. i never bother to post blogs, never been my thing, but im getting sick and tired of this friggin website bashing the hell out of a company that has been a force to reckon with in the game industry. First it was the Tekken 6 article claiming that Tekken looked better on the 360, now this? unbeleivable. Sony leave? lol this guy needs to pull his head out of his ass,(props to ultimolu, he's right) i cant believe the disrespect Sony is getting from both publishers and consumers, botttom line is that they have contributed to the success of many companies, ever sine they released the PS1, and their still a goddam good company. oh and im not one of your so called fanboys (i hate that gay ass term) i play the 360 quite a bit, but only when im at my friends house lol. my son also has a Wii, which i play from time to time, buti hate the crappy looking games on nintendo's console. you know how many people i know have had the red ring on the 360? quite a few, my friend just replaced his recently, theres just no excuse for M$ to realease a console with problems like that, and does anybody ever mention that? no of course not! god forbid anyone would admit to it, id die of shock. like in going to invest my money in a console that might burn out on me, screw that, im all set thanks.That and i could care less about paying to play games online,and DVD's are going the way of the dinosaur, though their achievement system is nice. ok point is ive always liked sony, though when they fist came out i didnt think THEY belonged in the game industry, i quickly changed my mind when i saw how good a system it was. Anyhow its pretty obvious you people at N4G don't like Sony that much, well you guys better get over it, sony isnt going anywhere.

The all purpose Patcher article reply comment:

Patcher is right on the money/talking out of his arse on this one. Sony slipping to third place by 2015 is assured/not going to happen because of Sony superior/inferior library of games/build quality. Sony have shown great/poor innovation with their online services/control methods and this will pay dividends/cost them dearly in the years ahead.

I'm sorry/happy to say that Patcher rulez/sux.

Delete as applicable.

@krakdol

Nice job ignoring everything in my post except for the game list.

Now to begin, there is only one DLC in my list (TLAD) and that DLC has as much content as a full game. In fact, it may have more content than any other game released so far this year, when you add in the 6 new multiplayer modes it adds to the original game. You really cannot compare it to any past DLC for any game other than possibly Shivering Isles, because of the sheer scale of. There is no reason it should not be included in the list.

And why should Arcade games not be including in the list? How are they not worthy of AAA status? Just because the PS3 has no arcade games worthy of the list does not mean that masterpieces like Braid should not be in the list.

Also, this fight is between the 360 and the PS3. Of course Microsoft games are also on the PC to maximize profit. They are still Microsoft exclusives (for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Microsoft Games for Windows) or console exclusives and are hurting the PS3.

inFAMOUS, Motorstorm, Flower, Wipeout, Warhawk, Valkyria Chronicles, and all those others you listed are not in my list because they do not meet the requirements of an AAA game.

Furthermore, the age of a game does not change its AAA status. Halo 3 may be going on 2 years old, but it is still by far the most played online game on any console. It seems like you are trying to find any possible tiny reason to exclude 360 games from the list. You are failing.

And do not think I didnt notice you calling Forza the poor mans Gran Turismo. How exactly is that? Both Forza and Forza 2 have higher MetaCritic scores than the most recent (full) installment in the GT series, GT4. And Forza 3 is set to release this Fall and is looking great. GT5 STILL does not have a release date. That game would have to be nearly perfect to make up for the wait and live up to the hype. Unfortunately, I doubt it will even end up being AAA.

Since you ignored every other argument in my original post, I guess that is all there is to say.

Divide the total amount of 360 sales by the present lifetime (4 years) and you will get the average anual sales. 7.6 million per year isn't bad. Now do the same for the PS3. Divide their total sales by lifetime (3 years) and the yearly sales is 7.7 million per year.

Nice try though.

Units sold can be found at nexgenwars.com

I'm not sure who wrote this article but it's one of the best opinion pieces I've read in awhile. It gets across it's point without any fanboy nonsense. That being said, Sony will be hanging around the hardware business for atleast another generation. They will most likely still finish this gen in last place(if not worldwide than DEFINITELY in the US and Europe) but they'll have enough money for a next gen system. They just have to remember that the next gen will NOT start when they say it starts and if they want to compete more aggressively they need to price their products accordingly.

@THE 1 2 P, I wrote it. We have to iron out a glitch on the site. The author isn't showing on gallery format stories we do. Anyway, thanks.

Wonderful article and spirited commenting, bravo. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that all of the hardware manufacturers will get out and we'll all play on a unified device. Dennis Dyack prepped us with all of his talk of the commoditization of the industry and then we saw OnLive and we started thinking about Cloud gaming. Once someone figures that out, there won't be a real need for hardware. We'll just have it built into our TVs or we'll use a cheap device to access the software (so cheap that it won't be profitable to build a business model around making them alone). Commoditization happens to all industries eventually (who cares which movie projector my local theater uses, just give me a good old Zombie flick). Then we can bicker about what's really important: which games are better.

Was this satire? I disagree with nearly every point on this list, and you mention the exact reason why you're wrong on every section. Point 2 is the exception that proves the rule. Getting out of the hardware business will do nothing at all to change the fact that every company has to deal with the recession. This is hardly the time to just give up your business is it?

In my opinion sony don't even need to drop their price - they should just work on increasing the worth of their console by improving the software features. Add in ps2 emulation for europe, match (or better) the online features of the 360, and start giving away virtual downloads of some of their older AAA titles. Only net cost is software development and bandwidth. Simples.

@GuineaPirate

how exactly is a game that i can get onmy PC and play with a 360 an exclusive for the 360? i mean the game is the same and by owning a PS3 i can own Halo 3 on my PC and have inFamous or Resistance or R&C where of those games a person who owns a 360 can only have one so you cant really call the game that are on PC exclusive cuz anyone can still own them (unless they have mac) basically any game on the 360 that is worth getting i can get on my PC. Honestly if i had a 360 the ONLY games that are exclusives that iw oudl have are Gears 1 (&prob 2) Halo 3 and Fable 2. where as on my PS3 i have Resistance, SOCOM, Ratchet and Clank, Warhawk and LittleBigPlanet, and i WILL be getting GOW 3, Ratchet and Clank a crack in time and MAG all by next march so i mean there is just more on the PS3 for me to chose from and not that much on the 360 and if i really wanted any of those games i would just get them for PC