Feature: 'Analyze This: Redemption for Sony?'

In the latest edition of 'Analyze This,' Gamasutra's monthly roundtable that gives the industry's top analysts a forum to discuss the hottest issues, regular columnist Howard Wen asks our select group to comment on under-reported showings at E3 2006, as well as the showing from Sony. Among the various opinions and speculations, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter is surprisingly optimistic, as show in the following extract: "I don't think things are bad for Sony at all. The press really got this wrong: The 'cheap' version of the PS3 has the same 20GB hard drive and same component HD cable connectors as the 'expensive' Xbox 360. For $499, consumers get something that is essentially comparable to the Xbox 360 plus the ability to play HD movies. We'll see if Toshiba offers a peripheral this Christmas that is cheaper than it's lowest priced HD-DVD player (currently $429) out of affection for Microsoft. I sincerely doubt it. "So I don't think Sony needs to do anything meaningful. Their mistake was in offering two [versions]. They probably wanted to offer only the $499 version, but decided that people buying a PS3 to play movies might want the HDMI cable. They should have held off on announcing the more expensive [PS3] until holiday, and marketed only to videophiles." You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject, which includes ABI Research's Mike Wolf questioning the PlayStation 3's sustainability past the "early adopter" period, DFC Intelligence's David Cole calling Sony out for its "lack of confidence," and Strategy Analytics' David Mercer reminding us that it's not a strong E3 showing that sells products, but quality and marketing (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).