"I think that the public would like the cost [of the PlayStation 3] to be lower, there's no question about that," Stringer admitted to The Financial Times, noting Sony is researching cost-cutting measures for the $599 system.

"PlayStation 3 is following a particular trend of 1 and 2, and if you look at the history, this is very similar history," Stringer said. "It takes a long time for producers, and more time because of the cost factor, to embrace the full bandwidth of PlayStation 3--it's only using 20% of it right now.

"While people have not bought as many PlayStation 3's as it looks, it is no different from PS2 or PS1 in terms of percentage of sales and it is an experience that is dazzling," he continued. "People who play it, using only 20% of the bandwidth, are perfectly happy playing it and the games will get better."

The executive also had some kind words for the efforts of competitor Nintendo and its cheaper Wii, echoing similar praise from Microsoft last week. "Nintendo Wii has been a successful enterprise and a very good business model compared to ours," he said.

However, Stringer was quick to point out the success of Sony's seven-year-old PlayStation 2 hardware. "We're always compared with the Wii and compared with Xbox, but PlayStation 2 is selling gangbusters."

While Nintendo DS has reigned as the best selling video game system in recent months across the United States, Wii and PlayStation 2 have jockeyed back and forth for the title of top selling home console, consistently outpacing Microsoft's Xbox 360. Meanwhile, PlayStation 3 has been repeatedly outsold by Nintendo's aging Game Boy Advance.