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Little to keep PS3/PSP fans happy at CES opening day

by Steven Williamson on 7 January 2008, 13:50

Tags: PlayStation 3, Sony Computers Entertainment Europe (NYSE:SNE), PS3

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Profits in next fiscal year

CES 2008 Okay so CES isn't a gaming convention, and neither Sony nor Microsoft usually use the event to announce big news, but nevertheless Sony's keynote speech was disappointing for gamers and brought little excitement for Playstation fans - in fact the PS3 or PSP weren't even mentioned.

We understand that Sony do have some software titles on show tomorrow, including Pirates of the Burning Sea, so perhaps they're saving their Playstation speech for then, but come on Sony we want to hear about Playstation's plans for the next 12 months, something to get us (or potential) consumers excited.

What makes the keynote seem even duller for Playstation fans is the fact that the Microsoft keynote was a buoyant affair with Bill Gate's and Slash on stage playing Guitar Hero III and at least some news on new content and services we can expect to see this year on Xbox 360.

Aside of the keynote though, Sony cheif exec Kaz Hirai has said that he believes the Playstation 3 will begin to make a profit soon.

At the event,the electronics company announced some impressive figures from the Christmas period, revealing that the PS3, PS2 and PSP had jointly sold approximately 3.2 million units and Hirai talked about the recent cost reduction in the PS3, saying that he believes that "great games, which draw consumers to buy the console, matched with declining component prices will hopefully lead to profitability for the PS3 and the company's gaming division overall"

As a result of the reduction in component prices Hirai believes that the PS3 will start to make a profit in the next fiscal year.

"We want to get to the positive side of the equation as quickly as possible," said Hirai.

"The next fiscal year starts in April and if we can try to achieve that in the next fiscal year that would be a great thing. We are going through the budgets right now. That (profitability) is not a definite commitment, but that is what I would like to try to shoot for."

With both Sony's and Microsoft's keynote speeches now over it's looking like there won't be any major announcements from either camp this year. Aside from the Slash/Bill Gate's gimmick, Microsoft's keynote brought news of a deal between them and BT to bring their IPTV service to Xbox 360BT to bring their IPTV service to Xbox 360 and a deal struck with Disney- ABC-MGM enabling them to offer Xbox live marketplace content from a wider range of channels.

UPDATE: 3pm GMT (07/01) - Skype on PSP Confirmed

Source :: Reuters


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