PS3 Prices in Europe Revealed 215
fistfullast33l writes "Ars Technica is reporting that the VP of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe revealed pricing for the Playstation 3 on a French radio show today. From the article: 'Strict currency translation suggests that American pricing may be in the range of US $605 to $726, but currency exchange alone can't tell the story. Case in point: the Xbox 360. In the United States, the Xbox 360 retails for $399, which is only 320 [euros] in exchange. Yet the Xbox 360 is priced at 399 [euros] throughout most of Europe.' The article goes on to speculate that 'the days of multi-console ownership may be coming to an end for many gamers' based on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 prices."
A Long Leap too far? (Score:4, Interesting)
The same is true of Blu-Ray as a whole. Numbers like $1000 and $1500 for simple players have been thrown around.
Either Sony bite a very big bullet and swallow hundreds of dollars in cost (which they probably are already at $599), or accept that it would be a minority console for several years until prices could fall - giving XBox 360, Revolution and HD-DVD a massive headstart.
Maybe this will be a nail in the coffin of Sony. I can't see any easy route out for them that will be acceptable to the stockmarket. Maybe they will be worth more in bits and someone will force that on them?
Why bother? (Score:5, Interesting)
This, of course, is really bad for sony with it's apparently much higher price, lateness to the game, and DRM shenanigans. The only way for the PS3 to come out a winner is because of anti-microsoft mentalities, sony fanboyism, or a really killer exclusive title. One of the big reasons Sony came to the forefront of consoles is because it effectively stole the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises away from Nintendo. Unless they can invent a breakthrough franchise a-la GTA or Halo that will be exclusive to them, they're essentially dead in the water.
Nintendo, on the other hand, has essentially re-invented the console for the Revolution. Not only is the controller revolutionary, but also the game distribution and game compatability platforms. The idea that I can buy one console, play both new games and old games, and not even have to go to the store to buy many of the games is going to put both the Xbox 360 and PS3 to shame. Because of this Nintendo doesn't compete directly with Sony or Microsoft.
Nintendo has more exclusive franchises, more backwards compatability, and will cost less. Even when you compare the 360 and PS3 directly Nintendo comes out ahead. Screw polygon count and cpu speed; give me my Revolution.
$500 US or bust (Score:3, Interesting)
Blu-ray (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:P$3 (Score:3, Interesting)
On the one hand, Sony could be pulling a marketing stunt; on the other, they could be trying to get the marketing willing to pay that much. I'd say they're more worried about sticker shock than turning around and surprising everybody "hey, guess what, we lied -- it's lower!".
In yer dreams. They set the price range, now they tweak what they put in the box (accessory-wise) to match their projections.
It would be just like Sony to make this a marketing stunt and come in below the wire?
More likely:it would be just like Sony to blow this one.
Re:$499-$599 ouch (Score:2, Interesting)
You need to remember that Microsoft were, and still are losing money on the 360 base units, so it's not difficult to imagine they took the opportunity to reduce this loss by pretty much forcing consumers to buy specific games and extra controllers as part of a fixed pack. The "shortage" was a way to justify only making available the premium packs on which they were just about breaking even.
Re:P$3 (Score:3, Interesting)
If the PS3 costs $499 you won't walk out of the store with out buying all of the same shit you have to buy for the Xbox 360 and you know it.
You won't walk out that door with out spending atleast $600+(console + game + tax) or $700+ for some basic shit and a game.
I don't think it's Sonys fault though.
Gamers think they NEED the most bad ass specs on the planet to have a good console. HD + 60+gig HDD + 3+ CPU/Cores running at insane speeds + Shit loads of Memory + NIC/WiFi + Some format of disc that is beyond DVD (Blu-Ray) and they want it all for under $400. Just listen to the way the fanboys talk shit about Nintendo. They act like the lack of HD is going to kill the revolution the same way the lack of online play killed the GameCube...... BUT WAIT online play had nothing to do with the GameCube. Not even a small percentage of people had xbox live and even less played PS2 online so uhhhh yeah.. Fanboys don't know SHIT about what they are talking about.
It's pure retardation.
Even if the PS3 costed what the Xbox costs to produce I doubt Sony could afford to charge $400 like MS does. Microsoft has a lot more extra cash to spare than the half broke mofos that be Sony. Seriously can Sony take that kind of hit for each console sold? And since the cost and time to develop games will be so much higher than last gen there we be much fewer games released which means much less profit in a much longer period of time.
Sony better pray for the best and hope their millions and millions and millions of fanboys (or is that just millions x 3 consoles each because of crap quality causing us ALL to buy 3 or 4 ps2's each.. I've owned 3 personally how about you?) are rich enough to afford this shit.
(mod this as a troll if you like because im drunk AND stuck at work all night because my roommate "doesn't feel like driving 10 mins to pick me up" -- that lazy pile of SHIT -- and my car is in impound until tomorrow..... grrrrr)
How things have changed (Score:3, Interesting)
Melissa
Not surprised.. (Score:3, Interesting)
The big problem though, is that even with those expensive changes, the PS3 titles havent managed to look all that different from those of their competitors (specially without a HDTV) and I can almost bet most (if not all) first generation titles will be released in regular Dvd's not blu-ray's.
This is the real reason why Sony decided to delay the launch until the costs could be reduced and more interesting launch titles were available, unfortunately the console launch can only be delayed for a time and although the price has dropped quite a bit (From $700 to ($600-$500)) it still manages to top the rest, additionally first generation titles still dont seem to use the PS3 hardware properly. (check out the gameplay videos at youtube.com) and I specially dont expect EA titles to do any different.
To make things worst Sony PR has been bombing fans with "target renders" and "realtime demos" of suposedly "possible" images for the PS3 (they even carried the tradition in the GDC with Motorstorm and a clearly prerrendered Ratchet and clank "preview") far, far beyond the capabilities of the earlier generations titles (KZ2, Motorstorm and maybe even MGS4 itself, etc.) IMO Big mistake, eventually all fans will realize the PS3 is not capable of delivering at THAT level at the time, they probably wont be very amussed.
High price, fraudulent imagery and advetising, no Killer apps (unless MGS4 is ready for deploy of course) and dissapointing First generation titles? the PS3 has a lot of work cut out in front of it. Lets see how the final launch goes in November (my birth month!).