Today's news of 8,000 staff cuts (plus another 8,000 temporary workers no longer being required) at Sony has elicited a rather ambiguous statement from SCEE in the UK.

Speaking to MCV, an unnamed Sony 'spokesperson' said, "In order to stay competitive in the accelerating global network environment, we will always carefully review and make structural changes, if necessary, in order to further expand and strengthen the PlayStation business around the world".

This tightly worded statement ensures that the organisation has the word 'always' to return to as shelter from questions such as, "Does this mean that there will be redundancies and factory closures within Sony's games division?"

What is certain at this time is that with Microsoft's strategy of price cutting and enticing bundles, and with Nintendo's Wii still selling in big numbers, Sony's board may well be looking at how to ensure that its former cash-cow of PS2 days can "stay competitive in the accelerating global network environment".