The publishers seem to not be happy with game sales on the PS3, which is bad news for Sony. They’re threatening to pull some of their funding on PS3 games and dump it into Wii projects as a means of not being hit too hard by the economic climate. Sony already spends more money manufacturing a PS3 than they make in selling it, and seeing as how the PS3’s source of profit comes from publishing fees, the money a publisher must pay for the right to release a game for the PS3, this is serious business.

Hopefully it comes as a good enough wakeup call for Sony. The PS3’s only current SKU is  priced a bit high for a two-year-old console at $400, and is even moreso when compared to the Xbox 360, which shares a very similar game library with more exclusives and a similar online service. Not to mention, the only available PS3 SKU lacks any backwards-compatibility, which was available in previous  SKUs.

I’d expect a PS3 price cut in the near future. Or, if Sony decides it’s a better idea, they may go exclusive shopping. No matter what happens, though, I’m expecting a general, overall noticeable shift in publishers’ development dollars from the PS3 to the Wii. It’s only a matter of how big this shift is.

Oh, and by the way, I'm just one of a few active contributors to 4thPerson.com, where you can find more blog posts like this in addition to other content. And a podcast on the way. Check it out

The publishers seem to not be happy with game sales on the PS3, which is bad news for Sony. They’re threatening to pull some of their funding on PS3 games and dump it into Wii projects as a means of not being hit too hard by the economic climate. Sony already spends more money manufacturing a PS3 than they make in selling it, and seeing as how the PS3’s source of profit comes from publishing fees, the money a publisher must pay for the right to release a game for the PS3, this is serious business.

Hopefully it comes as a good enough wakeup call for Sony. The PS3’s only current SKU is  priced a bit high for a two-year-old console at $400, and is even moreso when compared to the Xbox 360, which shares a very similar game library with more exclusives and a similar online service. Not to mention, the only available PS3 SKU lacks any backwards-compatibility, which was available in previous  SKUs.

I’d expect a PS3 price cut in the near future. Or, if Sony decides it’s a better idea, they may go exclusive shopping. No matter what happens, though, I’m expecting a general, overall noticeable shift in publishers’ development dollars from the PS3 to the Wii. It’s only a matter of how big this shift is.

Oh, and by the way, I'm just one of a few active contributors to 4thPerson.com, where you can find more blog posts like this in addition to other content. And a podcast on the way. Check it out

Seems pretty obvious to any keen game industry follower.

"Seems pretty obvious to any keen game industry follower.

What the hell does this mean from Sony US senior VC?

“Everybody in the development community would love for the PS3 to be free, so they could just sell razor blades,” Dille said in an interview.

"

Way to get publishers onside by criticising them.  Well done Sony.

You'd think if you were a publisher going Wii would be the way to go. Highest install base and cheaper development cost = win win.

I think what the Sony exec is saying is -- developers want the console to be free, but if the console was free Sony would go bust and they'd have essentially slit their own throats, losing any revenue the PS3 potentially could make for them.

As far as I can see, the PS3 posts decent numbers. Sure it's lost an absolutely massive lead over the likes of Nintendo, but I'm not sure why people couldn't forsee that. The Wii has been a fantastic marketing job from Nintendo, and somewhat of a worldwide phenomonom (spelling? -- can NEVER spell that).

As far as I can tell, for a system that costs the most, in a recession, the PS3 posts staggering statistics, which just displays the strength a brand can have.

Sony aren't helping matters, they don't market anywhere near enough, and I'm sure this speculation about a price cut is killing potential sales right now. So many people are "waiting" for a price cut which might mean Sony have to do something, just to get those "cusp" buyers to break the cash.

Sony are damned if they do and damned if they don't mind. A few weeks ago they released a little spreadsheet that displayed the reason for the PS3 being the most expensive, and the community revoked it. If they drop the price, they stand to lose money simply because of how much is inside that box.

The PS3 is an amazing system. The price will drop this year. Even if it doesn't I think people are running out of excuses not to own one.

Whatever. Even if every third party pulled out of the PS3 (which, c'mon, let's face it isn't going to happen), I'd still be playing Killzone 2, flower, inFamous, Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2 this year. Hurrah!