Games coverage, silly journalist type people

I’m beginning to think games journalists are just dumb-dumb-dummies these days. Nobody can ever seem to quite understand what sony’s saying when they say that a console has a 10 year shelf life.

They talk about the PS4 here and perpetuate the whole “PS4 in 2016” line.

That’s NOT what sony means when they say their consoles have a 10 year shelf life. Look at their history.

PS1, released in 1994 at around $300-400. It stopped being manufactured in something like 2004-2005 with its price around $50. 10 years later. It was replaced, though, about 5.5 years later by the PS2 in 2000. Games were still produced in a small trickle until 2003 or so, and the hardware was manufactured and used as a budget entry level system until about that time.

PS2, released in 2000 at $300-$400. It is still being manufactured and will continue to be so until 2009-2010 and will possibly drop as low as $100 or so by then. Games will likely continue to be produced until around 2009. See the prior SNK story about how they’re satisfied with the PS2 and will stick with it until then. The PS3 though will replace it in 2006 and the PS2 will be relegated to a budget/entry level system for the next 3-4 years.

Following that pattern…
PS3 will be released in 2006 at $500-$600. It will be manufactured until around 2016 with its cost dropping steadily until it’s probably around $200, maybe lower. Its replacement the PS4 will be released somewhere in 2012-2013. It will continue to be sold though for the first 3-4 years that the PS4 is out and will be reduced to a budget gaming system. Games will likely continue to be made until 2015 or so.