PS4
Image Credit: Sony (PS4 hardware)

Sony is planning to continue support for the PS3 gaming system for at least the next few years while fans wait for the PS4's price to drop. President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Shehei Yoshida recently did an interview with GamesIndustry International in which he confirmed the PS3 will be around "for the next couple of years." Yoshida said the reasoning behind the continued support for the PS3, including new games, has to do with fans' past reactions to console upgrades. When the PS3 was first introduced, demand for the PS2 kept going for another five years.

Yoshida said he doubts the PS3 will be around that long, but does predict it will be here a while longer. The PS4 is scheduled for a November 15 release date and will start off at $400, but many gamers are not in a hurry to make the console switch. Kotaku.com considers the PS3 to be "very much a viable console." Hiroshi Kawano, the president of Sony Japan, said in an interview with Weekly Famitsu,

"It's been seven years since the release of the PS3 and the console continues to sell at a constant pace, plus we have many upcoming titles."

In his interview with GamesIndusrty, Yoshida said he is expecting the price of the PS4 to have a great influence on keeping the PS3 relevant for at least another year. "When we launch PS4, its $400 -- versus PS3's $250, or $200 for the new 12GB model. It's half the price. The number of titles available for PS3, in the library is huge, and especially those great games which were released a couple of years ago are now available at a much cheaper price. The whole cost of ownership if you're a gamer is way lower on PS3 compared to PS4."

When Yoshida was asked how much longer he believed the PS3 would be in circulation he said, "PS3 has been doing great -- but it's not like everyone owns a PS3 already. There's always a group of consumers who come late in the cycle, people who wait for the price to come down. We're expanding geographically as well. The demand from Latin America, for example, is really, really strong for PS3. So we'll have a parallel strategy with PS3 and PS4, like we had between PS2 and PS3."

"PS3 was launched in 2006, in the sixth year of PS2, but PS2 has lasted another five years," Yoshida continued. "I don't know if PS3 will last another five years -- but definitely for the next couple of years."

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