@Greeny83: I totally agree that the sales of the PS2 helped them stay afloat, but that's also because they made some very expensive decisions regarding the PS3 that it sounds like they're smartly avoiding with the PS4. Think about it though: the PS2 was supported and manufactured almost all the way up until the introduction of the PS4. If you're a parent or somebody who doesn't play games that often, there's not much incentive to upgrade. So yeah, the PS2 was definitely helpful in keeping Sony going while they were being hurt by how expensive the PS3 was, but I also think it'd be crazy to say that it didn't also negatively impact the PS3's sales in a pretty significant way.
I think that even if the PS3 weren't so expensive, it still would have struggled. The launch titles just weren't all that impressive. Not to say that the 360's launch lineup was any better(because it wasn't), but it did have a year headstart, which mattered in this case. Add to that the lackluster ports and inferior versions of multiplatform games, and the PS3 would have had a hard time regardless of price. And even if the PS4 has a "perfect" launch, there will still be people that wait to upgrade. Better to keep your previous console alive and get money out of those people than to stop supporting it and not bring in that revenue.
Gotta tell ya, this is why I don't like Sony's strategy of supporting old consoles for as long as they do. Their heart's in the right place, but it just means that it takes FOREVER to wean all those PS2 users off that system and onto the PS3. They've already said they'll try to do the same with the PS3, but they really shouldn't, and I say that as a PS3 user. There should be about a year where my PS3 is still kind of relevant, but past that, cut it off and get people to upgrade. If you don't force people to upgrade, a lot of them won't. I think the success of the PS2 really hurt the PS3 for a while because of this.
The PS2 is arguably the only thing that kept Sony alive for the first 2 or 3 years of the PS3's life cycle. And the lack of support for an old console doesn't necessarily mean that people that are on the fence will upgrade, especially when that console already has huge library of older games that can be bought for low prices. Sony could have very easily became the next Sega if not for PS2 and PS2 software sales.
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