Slashdot Mirror
Preview of Sony vs. Microsoft at E3
kukyfrope writes "After Sony stole the show last year with their dazzling game trailers, will actual hands-on impressions of the PS3 stand up to all the hype, or will Microsoft's second wave of Xbox 360 games (HALO 3 anybody?) show Sony why 360 is not Xbox 1.5." From the article: "While the Xbox 360 is off to a great start, Sony is not stupid. The company knows that the PlayStation brand name is extremely powerful, and that a lot of hardcore and casual gamers are waiting on the PlayStation 3 before deciding on a next generation console. In addition, if you want a cheap Blu-Ray player, the PlayStation 3 will be the only way to go. Stand alone units are looking to run $1500 or more, but it's unlikely the PS3 will release at anything higher than $500."
I am interested in what Sony will release about the PS3. I think a lot of PS fans are in for a big surprise. Sony is known for talking big and not delievering, Emotion engine anyone?
While I don't see it happening, it would be funny if they release more than one version, just like the Xbox 360. Are we going to see a crippled PS3 unit in terms of blu-ray, one that can only play games but not movies. To play movies, that will add on extra money.
With Sony's hype train show at E3, just trailers of games that they were toting as what "in game will look like". Is that what this years E3 is going to be like with Sony, just more smoke being blown up our ass? Or is Sony actually going to have something to show for.
I think it is rather interesting with the role reversals this time around. Last gen, Xbox was the late comer, but because of that was more powerful. You had the fanboys talking about powerful it was and how much better the graphics were. Sony fanboys saying more powerful doesn't mean better. Now, the PS3 is the late comer, most likely being the more powerful system. I can just see it now, the Sony fanboys saying the PS3 is more powerful and better graphics, the very same thing they hypocritically defended last generation. Oh, the fun of watching the fanboys, it always gives me a chuckle.
"After Sony stole the show last year with their dazzling game trailers, will actual hands-on impressions of the PS3 stand up to all the hype"
That E3 show set Sony back. The trailors were nothing more than CGI movies of what Sony hoped their games would look like. The hardware no where near resembled what will really be in the PS3.
Also the PS3 will not launch any less than $500 without absolutely massive losses per unit. The 360 at this point will have markdowns to around $250.
The PS3 will win this generation only if they can convince the average family that the PS3 is worth 2x the price. The normal fanboys will buy it no matter what the price, but these sales will be limited.
Another PC gamer that doesn't "get" consoles.
Yay.
"This is considered plagiarism."
i wrote a book, but i hope you learn something. Oh and please feel free to make corrections. its been a while since college.
the reason most electronics are sold at a greater cost early in their lifecycle is due to the fact that the company has to recoup the cost of r&d. think of all the engineers they had to pay to document, writeup, research, and test the tech... the cost for building the prototypes... and the cost of each of the parts. if there are custom parts; they need custom fabrication. they have to pay the factories for building the molds and machinery, etc... hence technology is usu expensive when first introduced. all technology passes on the cost to the consumer.
with game consoles, they usually sell the console at a loss in order to gain a greater user base. if its expensive less people will buy it early, and developers may decide to concentrate on projects for your competition if they have a greater userbase. the companies recoup the money lost in R&D/prototyping by charging developers a licensing fee. the licensing fee usually pays for use of unlocking codes[so that their product can actually run on the hardware], dev stations, and usually inclusion on official documents, press releases, and marketing. licensing fees for console games are higher than for movie media.
the blu-ray standalone drives are another thing. the hardware in a standalone bluray drive is different from a ps3. the ps3 contains hardware that can be utilized for other purposes to aid in decoding movie streams. in standalone drives, that hardware is missing and must be replaced by more custom parts. this requires more r&d to create and fabricate the hardware needed. since they cant pass that cost off to studios in the same way, they charge it to the consumer.
once blu-ray drive sales begin turning a profit [off the early adopters] and they have made back their initial investment, you start to see drive prices fall. once several different variations of bluray drives are on the market [drives for laptops, drives for ps3s and standalone drives] they may start using many of the same parts. this lowers the price since they can consolidate factories.
other factors such as failure rates or low yields may keep prices higher for a longer period of time. failure to create an adequate number of any one of the many parts can cause delays or product shortages. less product means less consumers will be able to buy. that equates to a longer timeframe for the company to start turning a profit; less time before prices drop.
so, lets look at [random company]. they make a version of the blu-ray standalone player. they want to make one of the earlier models so that early adopters will pick up their product and act as mavens for those that will later become interested in bluray down the line. if they can convince early adopters that their brand is superior, they will gain consumer trust [read: a larger marketshare/ profit down the line] unfortunately [random company] did not have a hand in the creation of the tech, nor do they own a movie studio or disc manufacturering plant. therefore the only revenue they receive will be from sales of players. they see no benefit from selling below cost.
the ps3 on the other hand is a different beast. because sony planned to create a game machine anyways, many of the specialized parts for gaming can be reused to play back bluray video. because sony also is one of the major developers of bluray technology, they receive royalties from every bluray movie ever made. therefore they have incentive to do whatever it takes to make sure that the movie format catches on. sony also owns a movie studio, and receives profit from sales of its movies in the latest high definition format that will be desired for owners of high definition televisions. sony also makes high definition televisions, so it receives profits from sales of its tvs which will pick up as more gamers buy HDTVs in order to fully experience their new consoles. since sony also is the creators of the ps3, the