After the Playstation 3’s first-year failures to the Nintendo Wii, it appears that Sony execs are plotting behind closed doors to bring the system back stronger for round two. Last week came speculation that a price cut for the $600 system was in the works, and on Thursday came the straightforward announcement that more games are on the way.
Speaking before 7,000 shareholders, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said the company expects an additional 380 games for PS3 in the coming year, which will be key to resuscitating profits for the company.
The PS3 hardware was sold below cost to consumers, making Sony’s gaming division not only unprofitable, but a fiscal burden for the rest of the company to keep afloat. In the past business year, the gaming division spent $1.88 billion more than it brought in, leaving investors shaky about the future of the PS3. A raft of new titles could help turn the division around. “Attractive game software is the key to accelerate PS3 growth over the next year,” Stringer said at the shareholder meeting.
Two-hundred of the new titles will arrive as traditional boxed software, while 180 are slated for over-the-Internet releases. Currently, there are about 60 boxed PS3 titles and another 50 available over the Internet.
