Jun 19, 2009

An Ultimatum to Sony

Categories: Sony

Tags: Activision | Playstation 3 | Review: PSP | robert kotick | Sony

activision

As reported by TimesOnline, Robert Kotick current CEO President of Activion had some choice words to send to Sony. If they don’t shape up, Activision is shipping out. They claim they will no longer support the expensive PS3 unless they lower the price of the console.

Here is what Mr. Kotick had stated: “I’m getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform. It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation”. “They [Sony] have to cut the price, because if they don’t, the attach rates are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony.” Asked about when support would cease he says, “When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP too.”

As idle as those threats may be this really says something to the consumer about the state of the PlayStation. Of course we love the absolutely gorgeous games, but we won’t have any of these games if developers start backing out. I can’t blame Activision or Sony for their actions since they are both in this business to make money, but it seems Sony may have been too ambitious with it’s PS3. Were we ready for such a powerful console or are they just repeating previous mistakes with other over ambitious consoles. Only time will tell.

Console_psx

If you are not familiar with the above picture it is because the system failed to make it out of Japan. This is the Sony PSX. It was a PS2 with PS1 compatibility, plus it was a Digital Video Recorder for recording live TV. It also had built in Video and Photo editing software. Just like the PS3 it came with different hard drive configurations and this sucker was expensive. The 250GB model was released for 79,800 yen (500 GBP, 728 USD).

Should we consider the life and death of the PSX of a sign of things to come if Sony doesn’t change their ways? I certainly hope that it doesn’t come to what Mr. Kotick was proclaiming, but I would love to see the price of the PS3 come down another 100 or so.

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