Stringer sees PS3's momentum gain similar to the PS2

Coupled with a cheaper model and an extensive marketing push, the PS3 is positioned to have a very successful holiday season. And despite the PS3's bumpy start, which we recently chronicled, Sony's CEO Sir Howard Stringer believes the PlayStation 3 will be every bit as successful as the PS2 for the rest of the year and onward.

"The momentum shift and the energy behind PS3 in time for Christmas is extremely fortuitous," he said. "It was planned by the PlayStation group, but I think this momentum now -- particularly the number of games coming out, including our own as well as third-party -- is the same as it was with PlayStation 2."

However, Stringer admits it's taken awhile for developers to gain the full understanding of PlayStation 3 development, but it was no different than when the PS2 was still in its infancy. "It takes time to build a new format [and the PS3 is] not behind the curve compared to PlayStation 2 in terms of momentum," he added. "The amount of bandwidth and the processing power of Cell give game manufacturers a lot more work to do to use this system to its full benefit -- and it's taken awhile to do it. The same was true of PlayStation 2." With PS3 titles increasingly pushing the graphical and gameplay boundaries once thought impossible, we absolutely believe him.