In one of those surreal gaming industry moments, a war of words has erupted between an analyst and Sony over the future of the PlayStation and Sony's plans for the PlayStation 4.
A story in the financial times quotes Nomura Securities' analyst Yuta Sakurai, who commented on the recent shuffle of the Sony hierarchy: The appointment of Hirai could be the start of a shift from hardware to software, I cannot now imagine a PlayStation4.
Mr. Sakurai believes that Kaz Hirai is a predominantly software focused manager and that his appointment has additional significance. He also suggests that the relationship between Kaz Hirai and Phil Harrison, president of SCE's worldwide studios, will shape the future of the PlayStation brand. Mr. Sakurai seems to believe that Sony may follow Sega's model and become a software provider, leaving hardware altogether.
Sony has reacted surprisingly fast and has seen this as an attack on the PS3 and states, Following the launch of the PlayStation 3 just a few weeks ago, and witnessing the huge consumer demand for the product, I think it would be rather short-sighted for anyone to predict there might not be a next generation of PlayStation product. It could be argued, of course, that the demand for the only 200,000 PS3 units available at launch could not be used as an indicator of the system's future popularity but the final decision rests with the public this holiday season.
