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With all of the Sony rumours flying around at the moment the standard ‘Sony does not comment on rumours or speculation’ seems to have become something of a mantra for their PR department. With talk of the PSP Go!, price cuts for PS3 and speculation of a redesign for their home console any thing more than this standard response has people taking notice. While the PSP Go! seems like a forgone conclusion now and the price cut still in question it is only the PS3 redesign that Sony have gone on record about. In a statement this week with CVG they said ‘We currently don't have any plans for a redesigned PS3’ and to Edge a UK press representative stated ‘We don't know anything about the system in the photos’. So looks like that is one piece of speculation we can put to rest. As to the price drop, reports this week have suggested that Sony is still making a $40 lose on every system sold. Despite annalists predicting of a drop of $100 dollars come autumn to be announced at the industry event next month it seems unlikely unless there are some hardware advancements on the horizon which will dramatically reduce production costs. Maybe we should be expecting bundles or added functionality rather than a drop on the RRP. In one final piece of Sony news CEO Howard Stringer has announced the evolution of PSN from a closed to an open platform. Whether this is primarily to include other Sony products or to evolve it in to an online gaming platform is unsure, but Mr Stringer’s statement seems to suggest part of the reason for this change is dissatisfaction with the growth of PS3, saying – ‘Next we will be expanding the PlayStation Network to hardware other than the PS3, because the number of PS3 units sold puts a limit on the scale of the network possible. Sony has a vertical structure for each product line, an organisational structure that resists change, so it will take time to achieve this network growth’. While I guess this won’t mean Flower on Wii or Warhawk on 360, it could be a sign that we may see PSN titles coming to PC or other online services in the future. Discuss this on the forums Sources - |
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