14th March 2005, 4:07 PM
When you use the past as an example you have to look at all of the facts. You never do that, which is why you were so wrong about the PSP never having a chance against the Gameboy.
The PS2 came out a bit later than it would have if the PS1 were less successful because Sony had no competition to worry about. The Dreamcast was only a niche success and the N64 was dead. No Gamecube for a long time, either. Now, on the other hand, the only company that has a chance of taking the crown from Sony is releasing their next-generation hardware a whole year before they release theirs. Sony's official response is "that didn't work for the DC, so it won't work for the XB2", which is foolish and very much like Nintendo's earlier stance on the PSP (and still the stance of many a blind fanboy, yourself included). I can guarantee, however, that as soon as Sony sees Microsoft's impressive XB2 showing at E3, they're not going to allow any sort of delay for the PS3 and will release it as soon as humanly possible. My guess is that they'll try to get it out as early as summer '06 in Japan. Just a hunch.
Microsoft releasing the XB2 this year is probably the best thing they can do. Their hardware isn't nearly as powerful as the PS3 (reportedly) and they know that the PS2's head start was a huge help for Sony. If MS has a chance at taking the number one spot, this is probably it. They're gonna give it all they got and hope that everyone hops on board this holiday season. Whether it's a successful move or not remains to be seen.
The PS2 came out a bit later than it would have if the PS1 were less successful because Sony had no competition to worry about. The Dreamcast was only a niche success and the N64 was dead. No Gamecube for a long time, either. Now, on the other hand, the only company that has a chance of taking the crown from Sony is releasing their next-generation hardware a whole year before they release theirs. Sony's official response is "that didn't work for the DC, so it won't work for the XB2", which is foolish and very much like Nintendo's earlier stance on the PSP (and still the stance of many a blind fanboy, yourself included). I can guarantee, however, that as soon as Sony sees Microsoft's impressive XB2 showing at E3, they're not going to allow any sort of delay for the PS3 and will release it as soon as humanly possible. My guess is that they'll try to get it out as early as summer '06 in Japan. Just a hunch.
Microsoft releasing the XB2 this year is probably the best thing they can do. Their hardware isn't nearly as powerful as the PS3 (reportedly) and they know that the PS2's head start was a huge help for Sony. If MS has a chance at taking the number one spot, this is probably it. They're gonna give it all they got and hope that everyone hops on board this holiday season. Whether it's a successful move or not remains to be seen.