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IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon predicts that the "romance of the three consoles" will continue for another four years with the PlayStation 3 finally pulling ahead in the year 2012. It looks like the Xbox 360 will stagnate over the rest of its life cycle while the Wii will continue to lead the charge with Nintendo first party products and a legion of shovelware. Considering that the PS3 still has a strong set of familiar megaton exclusive titles yet to release (Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, Final Fantasy XIII), while its competitors have already drained their back catalogs, there isn't any real wonder why the PS3 would end up on top. The real question is why is it going take so long?

Patrick Seybold, director of corporate communications for SCEA explains, "There were two main barriers to entry [to the PS3] for consumers: cost and content, [but] we have addressed both of those." Indeed, the PS3 price cut made last year's sales shoot through the roof. New content including retro franchises and new IP will be popping up on the console very soon.

Even so, we believe Sony's dominance in that time frame has more to do with longevity rather than anything else. The PS3 is a machine designed to last ten years, but are the Wii and the 360 built this way? Microsoft launched the 360 only four years after the first Xbox; if history repeats, then by 2012 Microsoft would have already shifted their focus onto a new toy. Meanwhile, the Wii and its focus on the casual market might not really last that long. Casual gamers are called "casual" for a reason. Over all, we can see these predictions coming true, though we picture the PS3 taking over slightly ahead of schedule.

[NintendoWiiFanboy]
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