Sony's Stringer: PS3 Is "Out Of The Woods"

PlayStation 3

At this time last year, all we ever saw were reports of doom and gloom revolving around the PS3. There was everything from the inquisitive whispering of, "maybe Sony really won't win this generation" to the screeching ravings of the alarmists; "oh my God, the PS3 is dead! Sony is going under!" Of course, all of it was ridiculously premature considering the system had only been out for a couple months, and now, just about all the naysayers are either quiet or completely silenced.

After a very strong holiday season in which Sony managed to move 1.2 million PS3 units in both North America and Europe, it seems everything is progressing smoothly. The price of the hardware has dropped, some of the first examples of top software are already here (Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Unreal Tournament III, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, etc.), and the biggest titles are yet to come. And now, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer has told Reuters the PS3 is "out of the woods" and continuing to climb.

"PS3 has now gone past XBox on the Christmas market. It's moving into its own as it gets into higher bandwidth ... PS3 is out of the woods and beginning to hold its own," he said.

It took over a year, but it now finally seems as if the PS3 is officially out of the gate and running right alongside the competition. With manufacturing costs halved and the prospect of better software (and perhaps even better hardware) on the way, the turnaround between January 2007 and January 2008 appears to be a full 180 degrees. Let's hope it continues!

1/28/2008 Ben Dutka