Shiny founder has unflattering words.

Okay, let’s start with a little bit of a disclaimer:  this TNL contributor has not exactly been loving towards Davy Perry in this past.  I’ve said some rather inflammatory things that have drawn a fair share of ire.  Personally, I don’t see a problem with using harsh words in such circumstances.  If you conduct yourself in the fashion of a know-it-all blowhard with opinions that vastly exceed your life accomplishments, sharp criticism from the masses is par for the course.

As an aside, please keep your “pot and kettle” metaphors to yourselves.

Anyways, Mr. Perry has shifted his focus towards the profitability of Sony’s PlayStation 3.  Giving his keynote speech at the Games Convention Developer’s Conference, he said that there is absolutely no way that the PS3 will turn a healthy profit.  He based his belief on the assertion that Sony has now lost more on the PS3 than they earned during the five biggest years of the PS2.

He further explained his position:

“Because of the cost of making the PlayStation 3 and because they sold it at a loss, Sony basically has pretty much no chance of making money on the PS3, because it’s lost more money than they made during the entire peak of the PlayStation 2 - it’s not going to happen again for Sony.”

The glaring problem with Mr. Perry’s thesis is that he is measuring the machine’s profitability within parameters that are simply too narrow.  The consoles themselves might be sold at a steep loss, and the PlayStation name might not be as synonymous with gaming as it was five years ago.  Nonetheless, the PS3 has been instrumental in a much greater Sony victory:  the high-definition format war.

Assuming that this new format takes off in a manner similar to DVDs, the fact that Sony owns the medium translates into money.  A lot of money.

And let’s not kid ourselves.  A weaker portion of market share does not spell the end of a very strong Sony presence in the video game industry.  The market is constantly expanding, and from outward appearances, it seems that console life cycles are increasing.  It may not print money in Nintendo’s strictly-gaming sense, but the PS3 will, nonetheless, print a ton of scratch for Sony in its own unique way.

This blog article should be recognized as the sole opinion of the editor and does not necessarily represent TNL’s official position on the subject.