I will take a moment to point out that Sony really screwed up the developer community PS2 push, which is the backstory behind my comments about healthy ecosystem. Sony knew that developers were going to hold their feet to the fire on the PS3 developer launch and quite honestly Sony still managed to screw it up.

Enumerated responses:

i. Blu-ray whoop-de-doo? Yes, that is a big selling point. It’s two mints in one. Blu-ray has 50gb storage to HDdvd’s 34 (thus the potential for richer game content). Toshiba just came out w/ 3lvl HDdvd to boost cap to 51gb (only 1 more gig/BR, higher media prod costs, higher player complexity (to focus laser on 3 layers and through 2)). With the Xbox360 you can add on a HDdvd player for $150-200, making the costs of the systems the same. THE SAME. Add on wi-fi and the 360 costs more. PS3 has motion feedback from the controller, though not near as good as the Wii. 360? Nada. HDMI on X360? No. 1080p? Nunh-uh.

ii. Blu-ray and HDdvd players are not going to be $200 in a year. A $600 BR player comes out this summer. There’s a $500 HDdvd player now. $200 players won’t be seen for probably 2 years.

1. The flipside of that coin is that MS knew that they got clobbered by the PS2 and so rushed to market with the 360. They had a year to develop a base and work out bugs, so of course they have a big lead. PS3 will gain momentum. Sony is selling the system at a loss to hit a price point and gain a base; that is wise.

2. Healthy ecosystem? Huh? Reverting back to english, consoles always precede games. A console needs a couple good titles at launch and the promise of more. The PS3 has that. Plus, the PS3 plays pretty much all the PS2 games. Doesn’t help me, but means a lot to the teeming throngs who own PS2s. Will they migrate to a 360, where their old games are crap, or to a PS3? Remember before answering that once you get the add-ons for the 360, it costs more than the PS3.

3. Online – you may be right, I don’t have much info, so won’t comment.

4. Demographics – yes, the median age of the game player is increasing, e.g. me, what of it? Sony should be marketing Checkers for the PS3? I don’t appreciate a good FPS? More, varied titles will come. More female demographic? I’ll buy that – how much more? From 0.5% to 2%? 3%? The marketing should be oriented to that sliver of the pie? Further, has that 3% come on board because of Extreme Hula-Hoop III? Or has a larger segment of the female population found that they can enjoy RTSs, RPGs, or even FPSs? From the female gamers I’ve seen, it is the latter.

5. Games everyone likes. Like Extreme Hula-Hoop III. I think these are better characterized as games that everyone’s mother wants them to like. As such, it may be a slick marketing angle. Not to knock the Wii too hard, I think the Wii is a good entry-level system with a very innovative new controller. I like the Wii. If my wife wants to buy a Wii, that’s fine with me. But… 480p? What’s the point? That’s kind of 1996, isn’t it?

6. I don’t have a PSP, so no comment.

7. Then you go and lose all credibility by admitting that you suffer from fanboy-itis. Apple is such a religion to its advocates, they really dissuade from further considering what may be a very good system.

Sony can lose. Sony is currently behind. Sony’s product is markedly better, but does need more PS3 games (in addition to the billion PS2 games). MS will fight. They like to win, and they don’t care how. Sony can also win. They are far from sunk.

1) Microsoft went out and got some of the best game developers to develop for xbox360.

2007 has an insane game lineup:
Halo 3, Fable 2, Assassin’s creed, some RPGs in Japan from part of the teams that gave us Final Fantasy and Chronotrigger. Atleast 10 other killer games.
Microsoft was super agressive in buying or collaborating with the best studios like Bungee studios (i think the figure was either 18 or 32 million – not bad for the worth of Halo to Xbox) and getting super star developers/designers like Peter Molyneaux (Fable) to develop for Xbox.

2) Xbox Live has taken off amazingly well. In addition Vista means that PC users can join Xbox live.

Xbox live marketplace is already the #2 source for buying online video content.
Sony doesn’t stand a chance in online.

Sales is a bit slow right now but they are still reaching their sales targets (although a bit late) so why should they lower the price or change strategy ?

PS2 still outsells the next-gen consoles so it’s clearly a price issue for consumers and not a branding issue.

Including the Blu-Ray drive from the beginning is a must since adding components later has never worked in the past. If PS3 reaches its sales target HD-DVD is dead.

The Cell architecture may be PITA to develop for, but it is superior and it will show in games developed specifically for it. It can do things that is simply not possible on the other systems.

Bundling and branding PS3 with Spider-Man 3 will drive sales this summer.

One of the most startling things about the PS3 is the lack of associated titles. Nearly every game that has any interest to people is literally a port of an existing XBox 360 game. And yet XBox is already in a lot of homes PLUS they have badass games like Gears of War to boot.

The other HUGE mistake was the Blu-ray thing. I can understand why they went down this path, but it was flawed. So much of the PS2’s success was tied to the inclusion of a solid DVD; particularly in Japan. I remember when the PS2 was ablaze, reading several articles about how Japanese consumers were buying PS2 in many cases as a DVD player for its primary purpose.

Sony thought they could replicate the two for one again but this time there were two critical (and fatal) differences:

1. Blu-Ray hasn’t crossed the chasm…DVDs were mainstream when PS2 was rolling out, but Blu-Ray is not only an emerging technology, it’s quite possibly an obsolete one if HDVD wins out (as I think it might).

2. PS2 were priced so that a buyer almost felt they were getting a DVD player for free. While the PS3 is much cheaper than a standalone Blu Ray plus another next gen game console, it hardly “feels” to consumers like they’re getting a deal since they would otherwise be content to wait on getting a next gen DVD player for another year or two.

J