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New PS3 and Revolution Info at GDC
GameDailyBiz has a talk with Jamil Molena, the Director of the Game Developer's conference, about the upcoming event. Some interesting stuff about what to expect out of the event, as well as some happy news about the Sony and Nintendo keynotes. From the article: "BIZ: What can you tell us about Phil Harrison's keynote? Will we finally get some new information on the PlayStation 3? JM: The answer is yes. In general, platform providers have a unique opportunity at the GDC to share knowledge with and inspire the people who will make or break their consoles, namely the game developers themselves. With that in mind, this GDC keynote, along with the Nintendo keynote by Satoru Iwata, have both been in development for several months, and contain significant editorial value and developer takeaway."
The PS3's price is probably the most critical factor as to if it succeeds. Hardly anyone will buy a $700 console. I'm wondering just how much of a loss Sony is willing to take. Of course, Nintendo's Revolution will probably be $200 and still make them a profit. I like a powerful system, but I'm not rich, so the Revolution w ill probably be the first next-gen system I buy.
In general, platform providers have a unique opportunity at the GDC to share knowledge with and inspire the people who will make or break their consoles, namely the game developers themselves.
If these developers are interested in either of these consoles, then they already have dev kits and official support from the "platform provider". These consoles are coming out this year; it's not as though someone is going to be in one of those presentations and suddenly decide to make a launch title.
The only significant thing about these keynotes is that the information in them won't be under an NDA. The rest is PR BS.
I...I'm attacking the darkness!
FOR THE ELEVENTY BILLIONTH TIME, THE PS3 WILL NOT, NOT, NOT, NEVER COST $700 OR $900 OR $1000 MSRP.
That article about the ps3 costing $935 (or whatever) to build is flawed in so many ways. Sony owns the specs to Blu-Ray, and won't have to pay royalties. The price checks were done a year and a half before the anticipated US launch date. The price was for ONE machine, not HALF A MILLION machines; ever heard of economics of scale? Sony OWNS THEIR OWN FAB PLANTS, and will manufacture their own motherboards and ram, at a minimum, and they may manufacture the Cell processor (and simply pay royalties and consulting fees to IBM in exchange for BPOs). These parts are all "next generation", and will come down in price rapidly. Sony can sell it for whatever they want, even if MSRP is less than build cost, as it will be made up in long-run manufacturing costs and licenses for software titles.
Ugh.
Shut Up. The PS3 will at absolute most cost $499. And it will probably be more like $449 or $399. Write it down.
Sony is NOT stupid. For one, they can take a HUGE hit on each console sold if they need to in order to get it into people's hands. For two, they probably won't have to sell it below price if they do their own fabbing - certainly not for very long. I can't believe when everyone's saying "No one will buy it if it's $700", and then thinking sony doesn't know that. Jesus.
Mod parent down.
~Will
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