Sony has lost over $3 billion on the PS3

[Sub-Zero]

Think you paid too much for your Playstation 3? Don't expect any sympathy from Sony.

In the company's fiscal 2008 annual report, Sony revealed that they've now lost roughly $3.3 billion (that's billion with a B) on the Playstation 3 since its launch. That breaks down to $2.16 billion in 2007, followed by a notably smaller but equally daunting $1.16 billion loss in 2008.

The reason? Pricing the console below its production cost. That's right - that hefty $599 you paid for the PS3 back when it first launched was significantly cheaper than the cost of producing it in the first place, and while the retail price has come down some, the losses keep piling up.

Investors have reason to sweat. In a statement, Sony claimed "the large-scale investment required during the development and introductory period of a new gaming platform may not be fully recovered." They went on to note that they've invested a great deal of money into R&D for the console, a sum they might not be able to recoup if the PS3 "fails to achieve such favorable market penetration."

Sony fanboys should take heart, however. Losing money on hardware is relatively common in the video game biz, as companies routinely lower prices to sell more units and thus stimulate software sales. Sony's game division saw a 26% sales spike last quarter, a trend they expect will continue on the strength of strong exclusives like the recently released Metal Gear Solid 4 and the upcoming sequel Resistance 2.

But will it be enough?

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[ATiC3]

I think they will do well with Tekken 6 coming out this year... although, I don't think just one game or just a few exclusive games will boost up their sales... .. I really want some exclusive games for the PS3 that are coming out this year.. that don't mean I'm buying the console for them.. that'd be a real waste of money... I think the XBOX360 is doing really well, though. 

[aa250]

I'm careful about Sony when I first bought the PS2 when it first came out it died in like a year the lens didn't work anymore first it wouldn't play Playstation 1 game. Got me a second one it was about to die so I traded it for the slim one no problem. I never had problems with Gamecube,X-box and X-box 360, but Sony I always had problem even when the first PS came out. There loosing money because PS3 is to high now I got out and get me one right now, but I cautious on what I spend my money so I am going to wait a little longer. I'm going to see if the price drops in 2009.

[Theendgamelv3]

I'm careful about Sony when I first bought the PS2 when it first came out it died in like a year the lens didn't work anymore first it wouldn't play Playstation 1 game. Got me a second one it was about to die so I traded it for the slim one no problem. I never had problems with Gamecube,X-box and X-box 360, but Sony I always had problem even when the first PS came out. There loosing money because PS3 is to high now I got out and get me one right now, but I cautious on what I spend my money so I am going to wait a little longer. I'm going to see if the price drops in 2009.

Most companies lose money on their hardware as stated in the article. I never had a problem with my PS1 and PS2 started to have problems towards the end of the last gen, but I can still play it fine for the most part. A 360 is not a bad system, but its failure rate is still high and I still have to pay to play online. These two reasons stop me from buying a 360. I mean the 360 has some games I want, especially in the JRPG department (why  developers are making JRPGs for a system that is dead in Japan is beyond me). Sony dropped its prices already, I don't expect them to do it again any time soon. If you think about it, you pay for Xbox Pro (350 bucks) and you get a 20 gig HD and you have to pay for live (50 bucks) and unless you're close to the router, you would need a wireless network adapter and that runs 100 bucks for the xbox one. In total you could easily spend 500 bucks on a Xbox 360 to get the most out of it while the 40 gig version is 399 and you don't need to pay to play or a wireless adapter. Since Sony is coming out with its XMB next month it will be able to do most of the features that live does with regards with friends and stuff. In the end, the 360 can be as costly as the PS3 IF you want the most out of the system. Look at it this way, that extra 50 bucks you pay for, you get a another 20 gigs and free online play over the 360, that is not a bad deal.

The PS3 is one expensive machine for Sony and it is true that it WILL take them awhile to get recover their losses, but with Blu-Ray winning the format war, exclusives and great multiplats starting to come out, they could come out being ok.

[nick09]

You guys don't even know the features its a super computer/console/media center that has eight processors(is that in the 360?) of course it costs more than the 360 it has more hardware. The 60GB version last year when the parts were estimated they cost about 1K in hardware(thats why they are still in the red ).

Just to let you know these features are coming out during E3:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=191641

So yes when firmware v2.4 is released you will get this so called in-game XMB and you will be able to play your own music during playing a video game, you will even be able to go into the PSN store to download stuff while you are playing the game according to the article.

If I were you I would try watching a dvd on the ps3 with a HDTV and the dvd would get scaled very nicely to 1080i. Heck I watch a widescreen movie of Rush hour 3 scaled down to 320x240 that I played from my ipod video and was blown up to 1080i and it was a good quality for the scaling.

[EXCh33ky]

The PS3 has the least amount of units sold of the new gen consoles. Wii is first, Xbox360 is second and PS3 is far behind being third

[Worksa8]

The PS3 has the least amount of units sold of the new gen consoles. Wii is first, Xbox360 is second and PS3 is far behind being third

True, but people will always argue thinking that sales mean better console. They are all unique, and better/worse in varying areas. Sure you have to pay for Xbox live, but it is also the best online play out of the three. The Xbox has A lot of games now, but the PS3 will have more later on as they stop just porting them from the 360 since it was out longer. The PS3 has eight processors, and someday they will be put to good use, even if it doesn't use them all with current games. The wii has interactive play, the best customer service, and low failure rate, it also had unique titles, yet it has weak hardware support....
And so on, and so fourth...

It's a personal choice, and as with all personal choices there will always be people that are ignorant and will tell you that by buying one system, your an idiot.

[Worksa8]

Oh, and too all these people throwing up this "eight Processor" stuff, I thought I would let you know quantity is not always quality, look at the processor POWER of them, and compare them. The 360 may not quite have the processor power of the PS3, but it runs rather close, and it doesn't have eight of them XD

[ExShadow]

The PS3 has the least amount of units sold of the new gen consoles. Wii is first, Xbox360 is second and PS3 is far behind being third

i dont blame you for your opinion after they are expecting much for a low rate system i mean c'mon ps3 600 while xbox360 450 basically the same graphics wat up wit dat 

[Worksa8]

The PS3 has the least amount of units sold of the new gen consoles. Wii is first, Xbox360 is second and PS3 is far behind being third

i dont blame you for your opinion after they are expecting much for a low rate system i mean c'mon ps3 600 while xbox360 450 basically the same graphics wat up wit dat 

Well the reason for that is they have that built in HD/blueray crap on the Ps3, that honestly does not do much for most people, although some do like it. The 360 has that as a optional costly add on instead of making you buy it when you get the console. The graphics are pretty much the same, but people see the more powerful hardware on the PS3 and think that means they are going to get better graphics then the game developers can currently make....not true.

[Nutty-Da-Kid]

im not sure if this will help u guys out but read this, this guy develops games for ps3 and 360 and says 360 is better in many ways and he givs good reasons u might want to check it out.

http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-348-1.htm

[Worksa8]

im not sure if this will help u guys out but read this, this guy develops games for ps3 and 360 and says 360 is better in many ways and he givs good reasons u might want to check it out.

http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-348-1.htm

There are people that develop games on multi platforms that will argue the same thing in reverse as well. It remains a personal thing, some want HD, some don't, some want Free online play, some want payed online play with extras and such.....and so on....

EDIT: Even the same people that wrote that article, changed their views in the year later re-write. The PS3 is improving, that is for sure....

[nick09]

I like the fact that I can freely replace the HDD(I'm gonna get a 500GB ) and the fact that I can install linux without the possibility of bricking the console as sony had it as a option ever since the ps3 was released.

I have the orginal 60GB with the hardware emulation(80 GB's have software emulation) and oh yeah to my best knowledge the 40GB ps3 model can play ps1 games(based on the region you buy the ps3 from).

I have not gotten any problems with my ps2 or my ps3, but if you have any I wish luck that you can get it fixed.

[Violent Ken Masters]

I think they will do well with Tekken 6 coming out this year... although, I don't think just one game or just a few exclusive games will boost up their sales... .. I really want some exclusive games for the PS3 that are coming out this year.. that don't mean I'm buying the console for them.. that'd be a real waste of money... I think the XBOX360 is doing really well, though. 

Personally I feel meh about Tekken 6. It looks like Tekken 5 with added characters in added moves.

They could have just renamed it to Tekken 5:DR2.

The only thing that's appealing to me is it progresses the plot.

As for me I haven't really gotten problems on my ps3, but oblivion freezes a bit too much. 

[♦ßlôödÑinjå♦]

I think Sony should just start producing supped DOWN ps3's Then they can spend less money on the productions on the ps3.

[[Asian-Jesus]]

I think Sony should just start producing supped DOWN ps3's Then they can spend less money on the productions on the ps3.

That's what the 20GB model was for.

[Nutty-Da-Kid]

I think they will do well with Tekken 6 coming out this year... although, I don't think just one game or just a few exclusive games will boost up their sales... .. I really want some exclusive games for the PS3 that are coming out this year.. that don't mean I'm buying the console for them.. that'd be a real waste of money... I think the XBOX360 is doing really well, though. 

Personally I feel meh about Tekken 6. It looks like Tekken 5 with added characters in added moves.

They could have just renamed it to Tekken 5:DR2.

The only thing that's appealing to me is it progresses the plot.

As for me I haven't really gotten problems on my ps3, but oblivion freezes a bit too much. 

yea tekken 6 basically took combo ideas from vf5 u can tell.

[nick09]

I think they will do well with Tekken 6 coming out this year... although, I don't think just one game or just a few exclusive games will boost up their sales... .. I really want some exclusive games for the PS3 that are coming out this year.. that don't mean I'm buying the console for them.. that'd be a real waste of money... I think the XBOX360 is doing really well, though. 

Personally I feel meh about Tekken 6. It looks like Tekken 5 with added characters in added moves.

They could have just renamed it to Tekken 5:DR2.

The only thing that's appealing to me is it progresses the plot.

As for me I haven't really gotten problems on my ps3, but oblivion freezes a bit too much. 

Try cleaning the disk of thumb prints as that happened to me when I was playing Army of Two, as the blu-ray laser is smaller and is blue, thus how blu-ray disks got their name.

I think Sony should just start producing supped DOWN ps3's Then they can spend less money on the productions on the ps3.

They are worth it as they have more than one purpose. Movies, music, and games.

If they remove the blu-ray drive that would bring the ps3's down at least 100 bucks. But then again how are you gonna play the games?

The PS3 also supports these formats of digital media files:

    * Images
          o BMP
          o GIF
          o JPEG
          o PNG
          o TIFF

    * Audio
          o AAC
          o AAC Low Complexity (unprotected)
          o ATRAC
          o Audio CD
          o MP3
          o MP4 Audio
          o MPEG-4 Part 3
          o SACD
          o WAV
          o WMA

    * Video
          o AVCHD (mts)
          o AVI
          o BD Video format on Blu-ray disc (Region Locked)
          o BD Video format on DVD-ROM
          o DVD Video (Region Locked)
          o DivX
          o Motion JPEG (w/Linear PCM)
          o MP4
          o MP4 AVI
          o MP4 DivX
          o MP4 Part 2
          o MP4 Part 10 (AVC/H.2648)
          o MPEG-1 (w/MPEG Audio Layer 2)
          o MPEG-2 (w/MPEG2 Audio Layer 2, AAC LC, AC3(Dolby Digital), LPCM)
          o VC-1 (wmv)
          o XviD

Just to let you guys know.