Well, it finally happened...again...

[corn619]

Sony is starting to look like Atari did in the 80s. It doesn't take much to put a company under these days. All it takes are a few bad decisions mixed with a bad economy and bye bye. And Sony has made one bad choice after another. Its a shame because they make well made hardware.

[marurun]

Sony has a rather mixed relationship with hardware quality, actually. First gen builds of the PS1 and PS2 were known for problems and in recent years their consumer product durability has gone in the toilet. Sony's Vaio computer line, in the late 90's, was one of the most trouble-prone computer brands in Japan.

[Niode]

Its a shame because they make well made hardware.

Really?!

I don't think i'm ever going to buy anything Sony branded ever again. Everything I've had from them has been absolutely shocking. PS1 - broke. PS2-DREs had to soft mod it just to keep playing games on it. Minidisc player, buttons stopped working on it after just a year. Sony Trinitron tube bust after just 2 years. Sony walkman - disk read errors after just a year. VCR - seek errors(aka it chews tapes up if you try to rewind them) after 1 year. Sony Hi-Fi CD player - refused to read any CDs - got laser adjusted by professional - lasted another year before the drive mechanism gave up the ghost. You get the picture. Everything I've ever had that was Sony has lasted for the warrenty period then died. The only things that have lasted longer have been the consoles, but with them it's just a matter of time anyway. Maybe i'm just really unlucky but it's enough to put me off the brand for life.

[Ack]

And there was the exploding Sony VAIO battery problem...

[corn619]

Everything I bought from them was tough to kill. I admit my first PS1 sucked but, my old 10 CD changer lasted over 10 yrs and played damaged discs that most other players would not play. My DVD burner never fucked up on me after years of abuse. My PS2 is still going strong after 8 years and my PS3 looks and feels very well built. I guess what should have said was out of all the consoles this generation the PS3 has the best build quality. Sound like you guys have more Sony experience than me though. I never owned a DVD player PC or TV from them

[corn619]

And Niode, you should have learned your lesson after the third time. You know the saying of fool me once, fool me twice I'm sure..

[marurun]

I used to have a Sony Walkman. The headphone jack got flaky after a couple years and then the exposed circuit board on the back of the 2-band equalizer cracked and that stopped working, too. Thing is, the back of the board was inside the door for the cassette slot. How the hell could it have become cracked? I was always careful inserting and removing my cassettes, because I didn't like them getting damaged, and damaging them was too easy to do.

[nick944]

I think Sony need to realise that people simply can't afford the PS3. Sony are hemorrhaging money right now due to the simple fact that the PS3 is far too expensive for most people to buy. If the PS3 doesn't sell units then software sales (where they make all of their money, since the PS3 is still sold at a loss) take a hit as well.

Well I really don't think people should be complaining about the price very much any more. $400 is a resonable price, it's what the 360 pro sold for and under the cost of what the elite was. I'm really unsure whether I will keep my PS3 if they axe the playstation brand since I just paid a lot for the system... I don't want to make conclusions but who do you think will fill the gap if it does happen? There has usually been three or more systems in each generation, who would jump into the console market?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I think Sony need to realise that people simply can't afford the PS3. Sony are hemorrhaging money right now due to the simple fact that the PS3 is far too expensive for most people to buy. If the PS3 doesn't sell units then software sales (where they make all of their money, since the PS3 is still sold at a loss) take a hit as well.

Well I really don't think people should be complaining about the price very much any more. $400 is a resonable price, it's what the 360 pro sold for and under the cost of what the elite was. I'm really unsure whether I will keep my PS3 if they axe the playstation brand since I just paid a lot for the system... I don't want to make conclusions but who do you think will fill the gap if it does happen? There has usually been three or more systems in each generation, who would jump into the console market?

im betting my money it would be Apple. W/ the way they are going w/ the iPhone/iPod touch it seems like a natural follow-up move.

[MrPopo]

I dunno, if Apple really wanted to make a good game machine they'd need to put in buttons, which is the opposite of the direction they've been going in.