Sony Firm On PS3 Pricing 84
Reuters has some last minute discussion on the high price of the PS3, as well as their plans for shipping 2 million units by December. From the article: "'We are very comfortable with the pricing we have announced and have gotten tremendous support from retailers for that price point,' Hirai said on the sidelines of the Dow Jones VentureWire Consumer Technology Conference. 'So it is full steam ahead with the pricing of $499 and $599.'"
That's good...Good, good for them (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, it's certainly comforting to know that the stores like the price.
I wonder if the consumers will.
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Price / Console differences (Score:5, Interesting)
What is going to entice you to but the PS3 Premium, as opposed to the Basic? The basic will have the HDMI port, a 20gig drive (versus 60 right?) etc... etc...
So what exactly will you be 'getting' that you just have to have for an extra $100?
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(gotta love dual meanings)
In other words (Score:5, Funny)
The REAL question is.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Kaz = Kerry (Score:5, Funny)
Department (Score:4, Insightful)
No we don't.
Re: In other words (Score:1, Troll)
In other news... (Score:2)
Consumers are weird. (Score:5, Insightful)
Fabulous new mobile phone, lots of bells and whistles = people happily pay $500
Fabulous new video iPod, lots of nice features = people giddily pay $500
Fabulous new game console, nex-gen features = people freak out, say $500 is way way too much.
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The most expensive iPod is $350. But the bulk of the sales come from the nanos and the 30 GB $250 version.
Most people wouldn't be able to tell you what the "next gen features" of the PS3 are, apart from "good graphics".
Contrary to what Sony wants you to believe, most PS2 owners haven't got a job yet.
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Wrong. I happy paid $450 for my new Cybershot camera phone. And I'm happy with it. If it had been $50 more, I would still have bought it. (The US version would have been, because I'd have had to unlocked it. I was headed for that before I found the european one cheaper.)
You have to remember that it's NOT just a phone. It's a phone, a
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But besides that, the thing with consoles is, if I spent $500 on a PS3, I'm not getting my money's worth until I spend a bunch more cash. Games are pretty damn expensive. Like $60 expensive. If I buy one game per month, you're talking $720. If I were to give a phone company $720 per year, you can be damn sure I'
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From what was said id think that the "fairly decent phone" that you'd get with a plan, would be equitable to, say, a PS2- the thing that you'd all but give away. Truth is, there is a whole market out there that is not interested in fairly decent. In point of fact, gadgets catch their eye; the new and (even somewhat minorly) improved whets their appetite; the latest fad pulls their pocket.
It is not inconceivable for someone to shell out $500
as usual (Score:2, Funny)
Such an interesting corner of reality the denizens of this site occupy.
Re: Price / Console differences (Score:4, Informative)
I haven't made up my mind yet on the basic vs. premium issue, but the benefits to my mind are an extra 40 gigs of storage and built-in wireless. As the apartment I'm living in right now is served only by whole-building wireless, the latter feature is pretty useful.
MS, where's the 360 price cut? (Score:2)
If you're wondering (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: In other words (Score:5, Insightful)
You are so correct. I would much rather the government just took my money at gunpoint, delivered a PS3 to my home whenever they got around to it, and called that a service.
Re: In other words (Score:2)
Good price (Score:2, Interesting)
To me the question is whether the console market is ready for something like this. It's big, expensive, powerful and hot (heat-wise). It sucks far more power than my Athlon desktop, including large CRT monitor, five hard drives, cable modem, router and other accessories (that's from the reading on my UPS). Something this powerful should have come al
I'm firm too... (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, for that much money the games better knock my socks off and the console better massage my prostate.
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Sorry, but the vibrating feature has been disabled. [google.com]
Re: In Other Words (Score:1)
Differences (Score:3, Informative)
The extra money gets you:
- 60GB hard drive
- Memory Stick/SD/CF card reader
- 802.11b/g wireless
Retarded (Score:2)
Happened with both the 360, and the PS2. Didn't happen with the Gamecube because they didn't cut the initial allotment by 75% before it launched! That should be illegal.
Its like saying, "Ok. We're going to release a million of these systems on launch day."
Then, "Ok, we're having problems. We're only going to release 500,0
Re: Price / Console differences (Score:2, Informative)
the 3 differences are:
1) HDD space
2) Integrated Wirelless NIC
3) Sony Mem Stick reader
that is it.
Does this add up to $200 to any one else?
Heh, of course the Wii has 2 out of those 3. A $250 system INCLUDES 2 out of 3 items that covers the difference between the $400 and a $600 verssions of another system, with the 3rd item rolling in around $20-40.
yah, somethign just aint right.
When the $400 version didn't have HDMI it sorta made sense to drop the extra $200, now it really just does not.
How on earth did this get modded informative?? (Score:2)
The difference between the "core" Ps3 ($499) and the "premium" ($599) is $100. Not $200. Microsoft is charging $100 for a 20 gig drive for the 360 alone. At that rate the 40 gig increase for the same price is definitely worth the investment in the long run.
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As for the PS3 supporting CF/SD/Memsticks I am honestly suprised, that is the first I have seen any mention of it. I am aslo suprised as memsticks is one of those things sony has tried to drag into popular ussage despite all signs to the contrary (could this be Sony actualy getting a clue? if so then I am glad for em).
Admitedly, a flashcard reader on a device with a HDD is kinda odd (unless you honestly are buyign into sony's "our
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I'd say it's not so much a typo as a lack of understanding, as you repeated the misinformation not once, but twice.
You are aware the HDD's in the PS3 are SATA laptop style drives, which are substantially more expensive than 20-40 cents a gig? A Quick Search of Newegg turns up a 60 gig fujitsu notebook drive at 92.99. Sony isn't "ripping you off" here as it's just a generic drive (re: not proprietary like the 360 drive) and can be easily upgraded with any size drive the user chooses, from wherever the use
RIP PS3 (Score:2, Insightful)
The people who are most excited about Sony's complete lack of credibility are the XBOX360 people and the Wii people. Sony's already lost most of it's fanbase, and by the time the ps3 is actually available, most ps2 owners will have already bought another console.
No News is... Not News (Score:3, Interesting)
Here's the deal: If something changes, it's newsworthy. If nothing changes, there is no story.
*yawn*
Let me know when the price drops $100-200 in a few years. That's the news I'm waiting to hear.
Re:Consumers are weird. (Score:4, Insightful)
A next-gen console with next-gen interface from Nintendo is half the cost of a PS3. At $250, it is more similar to the prices of previous consoles. than $500.
You might argue that the PS3, at launch, offers enough to justify the $500 price tag. With fewer launch titles than the Wii and the ability to play the 55 movies currently released for a format currently embroiled in a format war, I'm not convinced. [wikipedia.org]
Re:Good Price (Score:4, Insightful)
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Actually HD-DVD also uses blue lasers. The reason for the cost is because blu-ray uses a much higher data density which current DVD factories can't create without a complete re-tooling.
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Do you have a source for that?
Well, why not? (Score:1)
Replies are borked (Score:1, Offtopic)
too cheap (Score:1)
Didn't the xbox drop by $100 only 6 months after launch?
Price Drop (Score:4, Interesting)
Didn't the xbox drop by $100 only 6 months after launch?
In Europe the XBox was initially overpriced and it was hurting sales so they cut the price a couple of months later; this pissed off most of the people who already purchased a XBox so they were forced to give people coupons for games (IIRC everyone who paid the initial price got 2 game coupons). The fact is that if you cut your price too often, or by too much, you're only going to upset the customers who already bought your system.
Personally, I believe the best strategy is to reduce the price $50 (or add a pack-in game) every 12 months; then even people who buy the system the day before the price drop/pack-in will not be that offended. The problem (with the PS3) is that at $500/$600 it will take 6 years at that rate before the average consumer will be willing to purchase your product; in that time Nintendo could release the Super Wii Advance that is 4 times as powerful as your system for $200.
Re:One quote sums it all up (Score:5, Insightful)
"To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money -- and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it. --- AYN RAND
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odd examples you've picked. (Score:5, Interesting)
Personally, I would never pay more than about $300 for a mobile phone, and that's only if it's an all-in-one wonder like a Treo with built-in PDA/internet/bluetooth/flashlight/screwdriver/etc
Fabulous new video iPod, lots of nice features = people giddily pay $500
The current top-of-the-line iPod model (5G 80GB) sells for only $350.
Fabulous new game console, nex-gen features = people freak out, say $500 is way way too much.
There's no point in comparing a game console to a mobile phone or an MP3 player, though. That's an apples-to-figs-to-coconuts comparison.
For a meaningful, Braeburn-to-Red-Delicious-type comparison, one has to evaluate the PS3 in the context of other game consoles. No game console with a entry price above $300 has ever been a success--EVER.
What complainers! (Score:2, Interesting)
But nobody complains when a new cell phone comes out that costs $500. How many years is that phone going to last you? How much in monthly service charges are you going to have to pay? PS3 is free.
Nobody complains that Nvidia just came out with a $700 video card. It'll only be 6 months that that card is top of the line. Nobody is coming out with a higher p
Basic vs. Premium (Score:1)
For once Sony seems to have done something about their historically horrendous load times and allowed for a pre-load option, at least one some games. This copies a lot of the game data to the system to cut down on Blu-Ray accesses. Choosing this option for the 3 games the reviewer was testing took up nearly half of the 20gb drive so u
Different markets (Score:2)
How long a system lasts is largely determined by how well it sold, not by the hardware that is inside of it; consider that the PS2 was no where near as powerful as the XBox or Gamecube and yet still has more games being developed for it (and will likely still have development in 2008) whereas the XBox and Gamecube are (essentially) dead. A friend of mine
Re:Consumers are weird. (Score:1)
I'm a Wii (Score:2)
Re:This lack of forum threading is unbearable! (Score:2)
See that boldened part in the end? The number of the message? Just click it.
Re:What complainers! (Score:2)
Cell phones tend to have very similar functionality; their purpose is to call people. I can call anyone on any phone, and all the extra features are just gravy. So I can get $500 phone if I have money to burn and really like the extras, or I can just get a cheap phone and be done with it. Compare that to a game console, which is designed to play games, and where each console has a certain subset of games available only on that console.
Re:MS, where's the 360 price cut? (Score:1)
Gears of War (easily the best looking game I have *ever* seen, and amazingly fun to boot)
It's a good first sign that it's fun to boot, but I'd be more interested whether it's fun to play afterwards...
Re:This lack of forum threading is unbearable! (Score:2)
2. We had no warning whatsoever about the change.
3. Even when choosing "Threaded" in my view settings it doesn't display as threaded at all.
4. Clicking on the post # to view it alone and *then* reply to that message is not intuitive and is more work for the user *and* the server compared to the old way.
Slashdot is broken.
Re: this lack of forum threading is unbearable! (Score:2)
2. We had no warning whatsoever about the change.
3. Even when choosing "Threaded" in my view settings it doesn't display as threaded at all.
4. Clicking on the post # to view it alone and *then* reply to that message is not intuitive and is more work for the user *and* the server compared to the old way.
Slashdot is broken.
No shit, Sherlock. If you were to read the front page - specifically this story [slashdot.org] - before bitching, you'd know that the admins are aware of the problem, the
Re: Consumers are wierd (Score:2)
Hang on a mo... (Score:3, Interesting)
I paid GBP99 for my PS2, but that was late in its life.
I'm really pretty sure that it debuted at GBP299, as did the X-Box and the original PlayStation. I think the Saturn debuted at GBP399.
299.00 GBP = 570.145 USD (From XE.com)
Now, I'm aware that we tend to get pretty badly screwed on new electronics, but still...
(And also, this does rather suggest there is a market for this sort of thing at that cost level.)
Re:That's good...Good, good for them (Score:2)
Re: Good price (Score:1)
No, that just means that its not worth making. Though not really. To me, its definitely not worth the price. To others, its well worth it.
It's too bad we can't reply to threads (Score:2, Insightful)
Plus, given Sony's prior track record, and high record of first-release failure with tech (remember the first PS2 boxen?), why should we want to pay for such things?
Re:Consumers are weird. (Score:1)
Re:Hang on a mo... (Score:1)
Re:Consumers are weird. (Score:1)
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Re:Price / Console differences (Score:1)
Re:Hang on a mo... (Score:1)
and not forgetting we pay 17.5% VAT which is more than double the highest US sales tax.
Telling. (Score:1)
I find this quote very telling.
We've gone from "the next generation doesn't start until we say it does" to "the true test isn't until next Christmas when we finally have our act together". This isn't the attitude and strategy of a winner.
It's good to hear Kaz reiterate that they're on track for 2 million/4 million (although I tho