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i really don't know about a 360 release of MGS4, though i guess anything is possible. I don't know if they really lost touch with poorer gamers as much as they are just trying to be too much. Gaming console, multi-media hub, blu-ray player, etc. That being said i love the Blu-Ray player, i love the multi-media options and i love the games, now that they are getting some quality ones. Yes the price is steep on the console and yes it needs to come down, but when i bought my PS3 for 350 bucks, my thinking was even though its more expensive than the 360, my console has a much lower failure rate so i am paying a bit more for quality hardware, though since then the 360 has taken huge strides to try and fix this, though it should have never been such a huge issue in the first place if proper testing had been done.

All in all, Sony needs to shore up their marketing aspect and start pumping more and more resources into games, which is and should be the main selling point of the console. They have the games to be the best, they just need the marketing behind it.

Their marketing was weak and still is. Their commercials were pompous. And their price was ridiculous. I almost wish BlueRay lost out, just to watch them revel in their bad decisions.

The games are getting better, but in the case of MGS4, us 360 owners will always wait because they always eventually release it on xbox. They have in the past and they will eventually, no matter what they say.

They lost touch with us poorer gamers and thats a shame.

i dont see too much problem with their SKU changing, hell microsoft has done the exact same thing though their bare bone SKU is a lot cheaper than i guess the barest bone SKU for the PS3. My big problem with switching SKU's is they stopped completely selling one with BC. They could have had a cheaper SKU without BC and a few features missing (USB ports, card readers) and then ALSO kept a bundle out there with BC, 4 USB ports, card readers, the works.

As far as the gaming, i think they are finally starting to get quality games but it is all about what you put behind them marketing wise and i hope that improves.

If you ask me, I have this feeling that Sony got a bit too cocky.

In no particular order:
- We have a ten-year plan for the PS3! (For quite some time, the PS2 was faring better than its successor, and doesn't seem to slow down all that much, even after two years of being "obsolete.")
- One SKU has BC, the other doesn't! (Never made sense to me.)
- Blu-ray player! Cell processor! Let's take a bet and add unproven technology to the console! (I know Blu-ray won the HD disc war, but still, that was a huge bet.)
- New SKU! Emotion chip has been removed, software emulation for some titles.
- 600$ for a console? We don't care, our product is so awesome that people will work more to get it! (This one in particular really bugged me; it's like they think they're doing a favor to society.)
- RRIIIIDGE RAAACCEEER! (Sorry, couldn't help it.)
- Hey, maybe our console was a bit too expensive, so here's a new SKU again! Less expensive, has almost no features in it!
- The SIXAXIS has no rumble in it, because tilt and rumble can't co-exist. (*looks at Wii Remote* Just admit it; you don't want to pay for a patent you infringed upon.)
- Another SKU, just for the Hell of it!
- We added force feedback back in! Buy it seperately!

Okay, so I know I exaggerated there, and probably got one or two facts wrong, but that's the impression I have of them this gen.

With all their spinning and undecisiveness, I feel that the PS3 has an identity crisis. Sony being a multimedia company, they might be trying to blur the line between video games and other entertainment a bit too much. Remember, the PS could read audio CDs and the PS2 DVDs. I think they crossed the line and got too mixed up with Blu-ray. I mean, the machine was presented as a cheap Blu-ray player with gaming functionalities in some places!

I never really disliked Sony as a console manufacturer and publisher, but this time around, they made so many mistakes in the first few months alone that I was completely turned off to the idea of the PS3. They better get their game back together, because we need the competition for the industry ot thrive.

their release was less than stellar but since then their titles have really gotten a lot better and they do have some amazing exclusives still on their system. MGS 4 being one of the best games i have ever had the pleasure to play. That sucks about your PS3 jpage, you are in a huge minority of failures.

Dude. I completely sympathize with your quarry. Sony isn't the same giant it was a few years ago and, in fact, I agree that they should let the PS2 fall to pasture. I don't see much of the ads whenever I watch TV. I don't think I've regularly watched TV in, well, since about two months ago. I watch what's recorded and that's pretty much it.

Viva la Sony!

I was a huge sony fan, but the PS3 release finally pushed me over the edge and I walked away from them. I don't care about blueray and I really didnt see the value in paying 600 for a system that crashed 3 times in store while I played it.

And since then, they're price still doesn't feel good, BlueRay still isnt important to me. (Like I gonna replace my entire DVD collection). And even though MGS4 was pretty and "the best game ever" i still wasn't compelled.

I may be on my own but i saw their initial release as a slap to the middle class. So why all those suckers were out shooting each other for PS3s I was sitting at home playing the same games on a 360.

i am from Texas and from the tv i have watched, which granted is not much i have yet to see any and from the friends i have talked to around here it seems to be more of the same. But also where are the more unconventional ways of promoting? Where are the sackboys at disney world? (sorry just throwing it out there), where are the people in malls dressed as sackboys pimping the game, where are the release parties, where are the bundles outside of japan? There are more ways to advertise than just tv. Where are the ads at movie theaters?

I don't want Sony to go balls blazing without thinking but at the same time, there are times where you just have to eat a lose to make a profit in the future and i think lowering the console price is a perfect way to do that. Eat the loss on the console now but gain so many new customers that you gain profit off the periphs and games you can sell to them. The main thing is getting the customer through the door and the best way to do that is a cheaper price point at the door.

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I'll start just by saying, I'm not 100% sure where you are as I've been seeing LBP commercials all over the place, and Sony has been doing a good job to spread out where the commercials are being shown from station to station. Watching Cartoons with my Niece, and I'll see a commercial for it pop up at least twice within the 30 minute show, and maybe 5 times within an hour. If I'm sitting back and watching Heroes on NBC or South Park on Comedy Central, I'll see commercials for it there too. Sony seems to know what they are doing in at least getting them out there, though it might just be your area isn't seeing them much or just have really bad timing for when they are on. Here, it seems like they are making sure they do target both the casual person who has a kid and wants to play around with them, or a person who is more hardcore and has the time to put in the detail that the game needs.

On the price front, Sony as of June I believe finally started making money on the PS3 with the high sales of MGS 4 and just games in general finally getting a push on the system. Not going to say things are perfect there, but it is what has caused them to have to hold off on a price drop for so long. Nintendo started off low, and was selling so much it didn't matter to them. Microsoft....well they have more money then they know what to do with, so what do they care if they lose a little by dropping quick or going out early. They got in the game to begin with in an attempt to compete with/beat Sony, and that still remains a good portion of what they are trying to do (though I will say the focus has shifted now that they have found out that the whole "selling games" idea is actually working).

With Sony finally making money, they can start to afford to take some hits and take some chances, but no company is going to just go guns blazing into things. Sadly, as you pointed out with Sony losing a great deal of their exclusive content, and even on Multi-platform losing to Microsoft in terms of "exclusive DLC", Sony has a lot of hard choices they are going to have to start making. They still have a few big titles; God of War 3 will sell millions without a doubt, FFXIII Versus is still exclusive until otherwise stated, but the real big problem they face is that they aren't really pushing as many "Just with us" sort of titles. Let's face it, there are always going to be fanboys, and with fanboys comes the nature to want to rub things in other fanboys faces. Loose that face rubbing ability, and you start losing a lot of your support. Sony is starting to lose the face rubbing battle, as what few things they have as you said aren't becoming nearly enough.

PS2 wise...I think they are just pushing that so much because it was the best system of its generation, and alot of people still have one. The BIG flaw that Sony made was taking out the ability to play the PS2 game son the PS3, as it greatly hurt many people wanting to spend the money for such a high cost system and not be able to play the games they have collected over so many years. I still find myself going back to my PS2 and throwing down a few games or RPG's that I wanted to relive, and there are still the casual gamer who really just likes what they have. I'm not sure how good of an idea it is for Sony to keep pushing the PS2 for sales points like you said, but I think even that is starting to stop.

This is just my general outlook on the situation. I still have my PS3 and I love it. Between what games that are just PS3 that I can play, and just how nice things look even if it is a Multiplatform. I made my choice for the PS3 and I'm sticking with it.

did you think that maybe Sony wants to phase itsself out of the market?????? jk, no, they're just sucking hardcore right now

For what it's worth, I just turned on the TV and was immediately greeted with a LBP ad. So they are doing something.

hey dude i am still a HUGE sony supporter, i love a lot of the games they are putting out and i totally love my PS3, but even as a staunch supporter i still have to question their motivation at times. Trust me, microsoft has not gotten to me, if anything i still feel the PS3 has the better lineup this holiday year, I just think Microsoft does a much better job of pimping and promoting their games.