Sony Says PS3 Will Last Another Couple Years

[Steven Bogos]

Sony Says PS3 Will Last Another Couple Years

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida hopes the PS3 will continue to thrive due to its low-cost and expanding geographical availability.

The PlayStation 4 and the next-gen revolution that comes with it may be the talk of the town, but what about the humble PlayStation 3, that is being pushed to the wayside in favor of its newer, shinier brother? Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida isn't worried, and believes that the PS3 will continue to thrive for at least a couple more years. He states its low price, and expanding geographical availability as key reasons for its continued survival.

"There's still a lot of price difference in terms of the hardware and the games, and PS3 has been doing great - but it's not like everyone owns a PS3 already. There's always a group of consumers who come late in the cycle, people who wait for the price to come down."

Yoshida also talked about how the company is expanding geographically with the PS3 as well. He also reminds us that the PS2 was still supported by Sony long after the release of the PS3. He doesn't quite think the PS3 will last another 5 years like the PS2 did, but is hopeful for at least "the next couple of years."

"The demand from Latin America, for example, is really, really strong for PS3. So we'll have a parallel strategy with PS3 and PS4, like we had between PS2 and PS3. PS3 was launched in 2006, in the sixth year of PS2, but PS2 lasted for another five years. I don't know if PS3 will last another five years - but definitely for the next couple of years, because of the price difference, the great library of games and the publisher side being able to support both."

He also mentioned a rather unique phenomenon occurring with this generational transition, that is, cross-generation games such as Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4.

Source: VG24/7 [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-10-03-shuhei-yoshida-playstation-4-indies-and-the-xbox-one]

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[GundamSentinel]

Unsurprising, but still good to hear. It still boggles my mind how long the PS2 held on after the release of the PS3.

Personally, I doubt I will be buying many games for the PS3 that have a certain PS4 release, even though I won't be getting any of the new consoles at release. I'll just wait a year or so before I go into the new generation. I'll be needing my PS3 during that time.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I damn well hope so, i have my fingers crossed that most of the interesting games will be cross platform. I'm very glad that i get a chance to play Dark Souls 2, MGSV and The Evil Within and hopefully many more.

 

[Drummodino]

Since I'm highly confident that Persona 5 will be a PS3 exclusive (like how Persona 4 was a late PS2 exlusive), this is good news in my opinion. I'm sure plenty of games will be released on both systems for at least a year or two.

 

[mohit9206]

I am still one of the few people who hasn't bought a PS3 due to the sky high price in my country(its still $400).I wish the price would come down more so that i can purchase a PS3 to play Uncharted,LAst of US,etc.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

I am still one of the few people who hasn't bought a PS3 due to the sky high price in my country(its still $400).I wish the price would come down more so that i can purchase a PS3 to play Uncharted,LAst of US,etc.

May I ask which country you live in? And is there any way you could import?

 

[1Life0Continues]

I am still one of the few people who hasn't bought a PS3 due to the sky high price in my country(its still $400).I wish the price would come down more so that i can purchase a PS3 to play Uncharted,LAst of US,etc.

May I ask which country you live in? And is there any way you could import?

Probably Australia. [Edit: Nope. India. Apologies.]

The retail price for a new PS3 here is still upwards of $350. The 360 still retails new at around $300. The PS4 is expected to cost nearly $550 with the One slated for nearly $600. These are prices from EB Games, a division of GameStop.

Commonly known as the 'Australia Tax'.

 

[GoaThief]

I am still one of the few people who hasn't bought a PS3 due to the sky high price in my country(its still $400).I wish the price would come down more so that i can purchase a PS3 to play Uncharted,LAst of US,etc.

May I ask which country you live in? And is there any way you could import?

Probably Australia. The retail price for a new PS3 here is still upwards of $350. The 360 still retails new at around $300. The PS4 is expected to cost nearly $550 with the One slated for nearly $600. These are prices from EB Games, a division of GameStop.

Commonly known as the 'Australia Tax'.

$15+ hourly minimum wage adds a lot of perspective, however. In the UK it's less than half that yet the barebones PS4 is £350, which makes it more expensive in relative terms to the general public.

Australians aren't getting anywhere near a bad deal as some like to make out.

 

[1Life0Continues]

$15+ hourly minimum wage adds a lot of perspective, however. In the UK it's less than half that yet the barebones PS4 is £350, which makes it more expensive in relative terms to the general public.

Australians aren't getting anywhere near a bad deal as some like to make out.

That minimum wage is in line with cost of living in this country. Expenses aren't just restricted to electronics, that's just where the biggest difference lies.

I've said it before. No. It's not as bad as some would make out. But it's still worth questioning in the overall scheme of things. So much so that the consumer commission ordered an inquiry into the reason things cost so much more here in comparison, even taking into account our higher wages.

We pay dearly for our high wages though. Taxes are high (for good reasons mind, free healthcare doesn't pay for itself) housing costs are high, and general cost of living is high. The wages are in line with this, but at the end of the day, disposable income is still very hard to come by for the majority of Australians. So no, while the 'deal' isn't as bad as it seems, it's also not the land of milk and honey some others would think.

 

[naam]

This article's title makes Sony seem rather optimistic, considering practically everyone I knew on Playstation was on their second one. Then mine broke too.

 

[Idlemessiah]

"-There's always a group of consumers who come late in the cycle, people who wait for the price to come down."

Bam! Right there. Been waiting 7 years for this. The price point in the UK now is so close to going sub £200. That and pretty much the entire PS3 library can be picked up pre-owned means I can get the console, stock up on games and spend less money than just the console at launch.

 

[Colt47]

Even as someone with disposable income I have a hard time justifying buying consoles at the launch prices. I've wanted to get a Wii U to play all the interesting nintendo titles from the Wii as well as some of the Wii U ones, but the console is still painfully expensive for what it offers. That example even went through a price cut!

 

[Irridium]

Unsurprising, but still good to hear. It still boggles my mind how long the PS2 held on after the release of the PS3.

Personally, I doubt I will be buying many games for the PS3 that have a certain PS4 release, even though I won't be getting any of the new consoles at release. I'll just wait a year or so before I go into the new generation. I'll be needing my PS3 during that time.

Indeed. Having cheap hardware and a huge selection of games does that. A huge selection of games that's slowly becoming lost to time and will most likely be forgotten save for a select few, but hey.

 

[Nimcha]

I just bought a 12 Gig PS3 and upgraded it with a 320GB hard drive my dad had lying around, all for just under 170 euros. But now I think I maybe should have waited until the PS4 release for the inevitable drop in second hand prices...

 

[Dragonbums]

Under normal circumstances I would say "but of course", however seeing as how Nintendo was very quick to put the death knell on the original DS line to support the 3DS, I guess this is good news for Sony fans.

 

[Something Amyss]

You know, there was always some level of support that tapered off. But now? It's like they're afraid to let go.

Under normal circumstances I would say "but of course", however seeing as how Nintendo was very quick to put the death knell on the original DS line to support the 3DS, I guess this is good news for Sony fans.

Well, except Nintendo, it seems.

 

[Terramax]

I just bought a 12 Gig PS3 and upgraded it with a 320GB hard drive my dad had lying around, all for just under 170 euros. But now I think I maybe should have waited until the PS4 release for the inevitable drop in second hand prices...

Depends how much you were itching to play the games. I've you're going to get a few more months fun out of it, maybe it justifies the purchase.

 

[Roxas1359]

Under normal circumstances I would say "but of course", however seeing as how Nintendo was very quick to put the death knell on the original DS line to support the 3DS, I guess this is good news for Sony fans.

It's more so that it's not surprising really. Sony generally supports their old consoles for quite a while, even when the new ones are already out. This was the case with the PS1, and even more so with the PS2 seeing as they just discontinued production of them this year and that the last game for the PS2 was also released this year. I'd say that the PS3 has at least 2 or 3 more years left of support, which comes close to Sony's old promised "10 year life" cycle they were originally claiming when the PS3 launched.

One thing I don't like however is how quick Nintendo tends to cut support for their old consoles, because it's usually only a year after the new system is out for them.
Especially with how quickly DS support was dropped for 3DS support, because the DS could've kept going for a little longer.

 

[Dragonbums]

Under normal circumstances I would say "but of course", however seeing as how Nintendo was very quick to put the death knell on the original DS line to support the 3DS, I guess this is good news for Sony fans.

It's more so that it's not surprising really. Sony generally supports their old consoles for quite a while, even when the new ones are already out. This was the case with the PS1, and even more so with the PS2 seeing as they just discontinued production of them this year and that the last game for the PS2 was also released this year. I'd say that the PS3 has at least 2 or 3 more years left of support, which comes close to Sony's old promised "10 year life" cycle they were originally claiming when the PS3 launched.

One thing I don't like however is how quick Nintendo tends to cut support for their old consoles, because it's usually only a year after the new system is out for them.
Especially with how quickly DS support was dropped for 3DS support, because the DS could've kept going for a little longer.

It definitely could of. However the 3DS was struggling at the time, and I think in the long term it played an important role in making the 3DS a success.
Once Nintendo officially says they are cutting support for the DS line, most devs will simply go to the 3DS to make games or just not make games for the handheld at all.

The system did enjoy a very long lifespan, and the slew of new 3DS only games probably meant that the DS line was on it's death bed anyway. Nintendo dropping support just seemed to be the final nail in the coffin.