Analyst: PS3 to dominate 2008 as media-hub console

If you’re done debating about the future of consoles being either based on motion-sensing or high def, analyst Piers Harding-Rolls has something new to bring attention to. He believes that the major deciding factor will be the ability of a console to be a mutli-media entertainment set-top box. He points out that the PS3 might make its comeback by 2008, especially since Sony is promising support for multi-media. If Harding-Rolls is right in this, then Sony‘s “PS3 is more than just a games console” adage fits to a Tee. Read more for his forecasts.

For analyst Piers Harding-Rolls of Screen Digest, the future of consoles isn’t much of motion-sensing or high def, but could be something else entirely.

Harding-Rolls believes that, at least for 2008, the major factor that can make waves in the industry is the ability of a console to be a mutli-media entertainment set-top box. Here’s a quote from Harding-Rolls:

One of the market shifts to watch out for in 2008 will be the continued evolution of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 from games consoles to multi-media hubs. Now that these multi-media services – online video, IPTV, digital terrestrial TV and PVR functionality – are now available or poised to come on line in different markets, this ‘hub’ strategy is emerging as a key console battleground for Microsoft and Sony.

This echoes pretty well the two-part piece we had earlier this year (pt.1, pt. 2) on “the battle for the living room” waged between the PS3, 360, and Apple TV.

Regardless, Harding-Rolls points out that the PS3 might make its comeback by 2008, especially since Sony is promising a lot of exclusive content, and more importantly, support for multi-media. Which by the way, we could be seeing tomorrow in the form of PS3 FW 2.10!

If Harding-Rolls is right in his forecast, then we just might see the fruits of Sony’s labor over making the PS3 appeal to consumers as “more than just a games console” by next year. Which isn’t all that surprising, if you consider that the PS3 has already been named as the “Gadget of the Year” for 2007.