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As the video game industry heads into its next console transition, a lot of hype is being placed on the future systems, and the past systems are soon to be forgotten. After the release of Xbox 360, it has been documented that Microsoft actually loses revenue for every original Xbox sold. On the other hand, Sony has dropped the cost of their PlayStation 2 from $149 to $129 in order to keep the PS2 in the spotlight.
Now that Sony has outsold Microsoft and Nintendo in console and game sales for the past gaming generation, they are in a very good position for the release of the PlayStation 3, which is expected to have a huge role in this year's E3. Many people are asking how Microsoft will react to Sony's price cut. Usually, Sony and Microsoft match each other's price cuts, but because the Xbox 360 is already released on the market, Microsoft can either cut the cost of the Xbox to $99 to make room for Xbox 360 or just wait for the Xbox to sell out on its own. Because it has been said that Microsoft loses money for every Xbox sold, it is known that have stopped the production of the original Xbox.
Other than Microsoft's claim that the Xbox 360 will get a cooler, faster processor in 2007, business is looking inferior to what Sony has in store for the public in this year's E3. Sony has also lowered the price of their most popular games, like God of War and GTA: San Andreas, to $19.99.
But wait! What about Nintendo? Recently, Satoru Iwata, president of the Japenese company, said that the first title for the Revolution (now known as Wii) will not cost more than $50, compared to Sony and Microsoft, whose games are set at $60. Satoru says that flashy graphics only raise the cost of the systems and games; Nintendo will stick to its innovative-games-over-beautiful-graphics motto and is expected to be the cheapest system of the next-gen consoles. Further information released on Wii is that it won't have a built-in or attachable hard drive; rather, it will use 512MB of flash memory, USB ports and SD memory slots for memory.
Personally, I cannot wait for the release of Nintendo's Wii and the new Zelda, which is scheduled to be released later this year. I'm not going to talk much about Nintendo's Virtual Console concept, mainly because it's not free, but emulators and ROMs are. Sony has been in the industry long enough to know what they're doing, and they will be a big presence in E3 '06 despite the enormous price tag placed on the PS3, its peripherals and software. In my opinion, Microsoft is confused. What do you think? Email me.
Thanks for reading!
yea, its been a while.
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