Sony has said all along that the words “future proof” were etched into the PlayStation 3’s master plan from the onset, and judging by the complexity of the hardware, that case can certainly be argued. If you think that it will be enough to extend the competitive life of the console to around 10 years or so, well then, you are in good company. Speaking to Next-Gen, Codemasters’ CEO Rod Cousens echoed that sentiment:
“I really do think it’s going to be a ten year cycle and I do think that’s something that’s been overlooked when people are fairly dismissive of certain hardware platforms.”
More on this (as well as my opinion) after the jump.
He reasons that Blu-ray’s recent edge over HD-DVD combined with the historical evidence that Sony’s successfully traveled down a similar road with the PS2, shows that it would be unwise to underestimate the house that Kutaragi built. In the words of Cousins, Sony is on the cusp of going on the offensive and taking back what they consider to be rightfully theirs:
“I certainly think it’s premature to dismiss Sony because I believe that they’re only now showing signs of ramping up and that shouldn’t come as any surprise to people given the trail of to be released dates of Wii and 360 and given the price points that they were coming in at, and given the lack of software supporting the format. I believe all those ingredients are starting to merge and I would expect Sony to have real momentum over the coming years.”
Will the PS3 enjoy a longer life than the PS2? It certainly could, but it would ultimately come down to two very important things: the future cost of the console, and the continued availability of games for the system that people want to play on it; taking into consideration they are made to begin with.
The major point of contention is whether or not it will even matter four, eight, or more years down the road. Microsoft and Nintendo will certainly have introduced newer hardware long before this ten-year span, and it would be laughable to think that Sony isn’t also hard at work on the PS4 at this very moment. It would be prudent for Sony to focus with laser-beam precision on the present.
The strength of the PS2 was undoubtedly reflective of the competitiveness it showed all along, and was not due to the “just wait and see what we will do in the future” mentality that Rod Cousens is talking about. MS and Nintendo are more than formidable at this point, and the PS3 has the most to lose right now. Tomorrow will take care of itself.
[Via CVG]
