It’s been a rough week for the PS3, with news that it’s being outsold by the Wii leading a lot to believe that the PS3’s days are numbered. However, Sony might have some light at the end of the tunnel. According to a story on Gamasutra, Japanese business magazine Nikkei has published that analysts believe that Sony will report an operating profit increase of around 500% next year and recover from their current operating loss of 200 billion yen (thanks to Reuters for the translation).

The consensus report was that Sony was going to make around 400 billion yen worth of profits. The reason for this, based on averages from an analyst poll in financial information service Quick, were strong sales of LCD HDTVs in Europe and America, as well as high PS3 sales. But is this good for gamers?

If the PS3 succeeds in the market, it’s a sign that their development process is working. Creating a next-gen console is an expensive proposition, and console companies often have to be able to last for a few years before seeing a profit. Hence the prominence of Sony and Microsoft: both companies with enough business in other areas to make them last. If the PS3 is profitable, then we can expect to see games industry see fewer independent games as the costs of next-gen prohibit all but the most well-financed developing houses from producing. Which means better production values, but probably less choice.

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