The PS5 price hike is the final mistake for Sony and the PlayStation – Reader’s Feature

metro.co.uk:

A reader is frustrated at Sony’s decision to increase the price of the PS5 and argues it’s the turning point in their rivalry with Xbox.

I think when people look back at this generation and try to pinpoint where exactly Sony went wrong, they’re going to zero in on PlayStation 5 price hike that was announced this week. As the cost of living crisis gets worse and worse it takes a special kind of business person to think that raising the price of their luxury goods is the answer. People can’t live without heating; they can live without a PlayStation 5. Especially when there’s a cheaper alternative just desperate to take over.

I’m no fanboy, but Microsoft must be rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of Sony being forced into raising the price, as they almost immediately announced they aren’t going to follow suit. Microsoft are rich enough that they can take a hit, but Nintendo has said they won’t raise their prices either and they’re smaller than Sony.

The absolute worst thing though is the fact that America isn’t getting a price rise. Does that mean that the rest of the world is paying to keep their prices low? If everyone had a price rise, would it have been a smaller one overall, because it would’ve been more spread out? It stands to reason it would’ve but of course Sony will never admit that.

For years, decades really, Sony has been hyped up as this marketing genius, aloof from the games industry so that even when they mess up, like with the PlayStation 3, they still look like the classy one. That’s partly because Microsoft has always seemed happy to be seen as the loud, crass American newcomer but all this year it’s Sony that’s looked like the one without a clue.

Not only has their communication been bad but they’ve