Sony set to fight to retain lead in console market on all fronts

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 06 March 2007 11:01

Your IT - Entertainment

Reuters has quoted EA’s CEO as saying that Sony’s lead in the games console market might slip, but that’s not Sony’s gameplan by any stretch of the imagination.

Reuters has quoted Electronic Arts Inc.'s outgoing chief executive Larry Probst in an article that states 'the world's biggest video game publisher expects Sony Corp.'s dominance over the console market to slip in the current hardware war'.

It’s all good and well to make that kind of prediction, but it should come as no surprise that Larry Probst wants to go out with a bang, and what better bang that making comments about Sony, which despite strong sales of the Xbox 360 and the Wii, remains top-dog in the world of games consoles through the incredible, near-decade long success of the PS2, which is still expected to outsell the PS3 this year and in 2008?

Probst was quoted by Reuters as saying that “We expect that there will be a more level playing field this time around than last time”, with the Reuters report saying ‘said Probst, who expects Sony to win the new console war, but with a less commanding lead’.

Probst was also quoted as saying “I think the issue is that (the PS3 is) expensive. This should not have surprised anyone”.

In theory, Probst, who is the head of the massive games company, Electronic Arts, would have some idea of the games console market, creating games as they do for just about every games platform in recent history, including even the ill-fated Nokia N-Gage series of games oriented cell phones.

But Sony themselves are well aware of the massive fight ahead, and believe they will be the winners, with a product offering for all segments of the market, be it handheld gaming, last-gen gaming and next-gen gaming.

In an interview conducted with SCE Australia chief Michael Ephraim on Thursday the 22nd of February, the day of the Australian PS3 media launch, Ephraim answered some specific questions about the challenge ahead. You can read the entire interview at the link in the previous sentence, but here we list the most relevant questions – and answers.

To read them, please continue on to page 2!