PS3 Just Hitting its Stride, says Tretton

PS3, according to one report, just passed the Xbox 360 in worldwide sales. The momentum for Sony's console hasn't been quite the same here in the U.S. where the Xbox 360, helped by Kinect, remains ahead by several million units, but Sony Computer Entertainment head Jack Tretton is more than confident in the PlayStation business.

Speaking to Fast Company, Tretton asserted that PS3 is just now "hitting its stride," and he expects much more growth in the years ahead. He also believes the investments made in technologies like Move and 3D will ultimately "reap dividends on for many, many years."

"We're not in cruise control mode; we're still in growth mode. Fortunately, it's been steady growth for the last four years, and we anticipate strong growth again in the next fiscal year," said Tretton.

Tretton also commented on the NGP, which may not make it out in 2011. The portable has yet to be assigned an official price point by Sony, but there's some speculation that it'll be more than Nintendo's 3DS ($249). Interestingly, Tretton said price isn't as important as we all think it is.

"It's not to say the price of the platform isn't a consideration, but I don't think price makes or kills a platform," he said regarding consoles in general. "Something that's lousy, that's very inexpensive, is not going to be successful, and something that's pricey will ultimately find its audience if there's enough value there."

I'm glad to hear that the Playstation is gaining ground on the X-Box. While I love the X-Box, I've always had a Playstation since they came out. I just hope that with this new success they get the much needed hardware updates that will let them compete with X-Box in terms of server space and connection speeds.