As Sony gets ready to bleed profits following their announcement last week that they anticipate a 57% downturn gamers are now speculating that the PS3 may be the last gaming console from the Japanese game console maker. In an editorial on Blend Games William Usher claims that the current PS3 model could be the last. We think that they are way off the mark. This is what they had to say.

Things haven’t been going over too well in the Sony camp since the launch of the PS3. While it sold faster than the PS2 in comparison to its launch, the PS3 has been a financial pain in Sony’s side for the past two years. The added state of the rest of the economy have finally culminated in Sony seeing 10% of their market share value drop rapidly. So what does this mean for the PS3?

In a story by rte (among many others) Sony’s operating profits are expected to drop by an inexcusable 65%. Competition has been stiff. And even though many reporters blame the Wii, it’s actually Microsoft’s Xbox 360 that has been eating into Sony’s gaming sales. It wasn’t the Wii that the PS3 lost Devil May Cry’s exclusivity to, nor was it the Wii that gave gamers an alternative for games like BioShock, Eternal Sonata, Unreal Tournament 3 and Fatal Inertia. Said games helped give Microsoft an edge in giving gamers a cheaper console option for the same gaming titles.

It also wasn’t the Nintendo Wii that stiffened sales for the PS3 so much as it was the Xbox 360 preventing the PS3 from selling the way it could have. This is not to say that Sony would have gained any ground against Nintendo’s ferocious little Wii had the 360 not been around. But it certainly would have afforded Sony far less competition in the hardcore gaming market, which they are fighting for in direct competition with Microsoft.

But at this rate – failing economy, cheaper competitor consoles, lesser third-party exclusivity – Sony could be heading the same route of Sega and simply hanging up the console fighting gloves altogether. Between less than stellar sales figures, extremely costly research and development, and the cost of production, the PS3’s only saving grace for Sony, at the moment, is the PS2’s strong selling power for the entire PlayStation brand. Besides, ending a console run with such a prestigious piece of equipment as the PS3 certainly isn’t a bad way to go out.

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http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Editorial-PS3-Could-Be-Sony-s-Last-Console-13024.html