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Sony to Lose $413M in Video Games Unit


TOKYO (AP) -- Sony will lose about 50 billion yen ($413 million) in its video games business this fiscal year, and recovery won't come until the arrival of more games to play on the PlayStation 3 machine, a company executive said Thursday.
"The main point is that the PS3 will still be producing operating losses," Senior Vice President Takao Yuhara told a small group of reporters at Sony Corp.'s Tokyo headquarters.
On Wednesday, Sony reported that losses for the January-March quarter widened to 67.6 billion yen ($563 million) from a 66.5 billion yen loss a year earlier, largely on launch costs for the PlayStation 3, which went on sale in November in Japan and the U.S., and in March in Europe.
But Sony, which makes Vaio personal computers and Walkman portable music players, forecast a record profit for the fiscal year through March 2008 at 320 billion yen ($2.7 billion).
Booming sales of flat-panel TVs and digital cameras that have been lifting sales are expected to continue and boost Sony's earnings in coming months, Yuhara said.
Although PS3 losses are expected to shrink with cost cuts this fiscal year, the key lies in having Sony and outside game-makers produce attractive games to play, which fully exploit the machine's expensive technology, he said.
"What's most important is software," Yuhara said. "In every region, our software lineup will be strengthened."

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April NPD Sales numbers are out. They sold 82,000 PS3 units.

Xbox360 sold some 127,000 units, but that is still pitiful.

*shrug* maybe they needed a bigger goat...

for a $600 machine, it's sales curve is higher than 360's was after an equal amount of weeks on shelves.

don't forget that 183.000 persons preferred a last gen ps2 buy neither.


but heck... this thread is about next gen... with a possible price drop later this year and a fistful of system sellers on shelves close to it, together with the prospect of a free online experience and a blu-ray player to go with it... let the holiday sales begin!

Congrats on passing the 500 post mark, Brains...

i think ps3 is cleary winner in technology. HOwever, i think everyone has their own preference.

It's hard for me to choose. For shooter i like playin the xbox. BUt for RPG's i enjoy playin them on a playstation

I keep up to date with these consoles. I for one, own a 360, but don't own a PS3.

The Xbox 360 is the winner for me. It's clearly doing better than the PS3 in nearly every aspect.

yeah... like in reliability and value for money for starters?! :sarcasm:

PS3 has a better potential simply because of the blu ray. Better games will be available for it without needing an external drive.