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Sony Drops PS2 Price to $129
Conradq writes "Effective immediately, consumers can purchase the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system for a suggested retail price (SRP) of $129.99. Previously the console was priced at $149. The company opted for a subtle reduction in price ahead of this years E3, instead of a more dramatic $99 drop."
But Mario and Tony's Black Van Emporium has been selling these suckers for $50 a pop. Sure, you can't take it back for service, but at that price, you just buy a new one when the old one breaks.
What I would like to see is Free as in Speech PS2s. Downloadable over the net, and fully compatible with all existing home appliances and operating systems.
Is that so much to ask?
Actually, anyone really serious about picking up a PS2 nowadays need only hold out until the PS3 release, and the resulting flooding of the used PS2 market.
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Looking back at the PS2 over the past six years it is staggering just how good Sony is.
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Sony and the PS2 has a chance of hitting 115-120 million by the time the system goes out of production in the next few years. The PS2 will most likely sell more units starting this year until the system goes out of production in the next few years than either the GameCube or Xbox did over their entire lifetimes.
The PS2 is a technological masterpiece. The PS2 hardware was pretty much finalized back in 1997 and just look at the new God of War 2 footage from GDC:
http://youtube.com/results?search=god+of+war+2&se
No wonder Sony's six year old console has been outselling Microsoft's new console by a wide margin in all three regions and this is before the price drop.
I really don't see it that way since Sony's sold more than 1 million PS2 consoles last year. I've read that in the time period since the introduction of the XBox 360, Sony still sold more PS2s.
abandoned in less than a year? you do realize that the PS1 production just ended over 5 years into the PS2's life span. the PS2 isn't going anywhere.
I doubt the PS2 will be abandoned within a year. They've only just stopped producing the PSOne, FFS!
No, there'll still be new PS2 games coming out for a couple of years yet - the installed base is huge, so it doesn't make sense for publishers to jump ship too early to the PS3 until the installed base for it gets bigger. Even when the number of new titles begins to taper off, there'll still be a huge back-catalogue of secondhand games to be gotten cheaply.
I see it like this: PS2 games won't start to taper off until the end of 2007 or the beginning of 2008. There'll still be quite a few titles coming out for a year after that. It wouldn't surprise me if there are still a few games trickling out in 2009! If you buy a PS2 now, that's still 2.5 years of new software to look forward to. Combine that with the huge back-catalogue, (much of it available very cheaply or secondhand) and it makes a lot of sense, especially if you don't have a HD TV or are a bit strapped for cash.
While it would be nice if the PS2 dropped to $99, there's no reason for Sony to cut that price if they are still selling like crazy. Might as well maximize that profit while you can!
Do you think when the PS3 comes out the same will happen on Ebay like it did when the Xbox360 came out? Remember the thousands of auctions where people were willing to pay thousands for an Xbox360? I wonder if the next time a next-gen console comes out if the same thing will happen. I've heard plenty of people saying they plan to pre-order 2 or 3 PS3s in hopes to double or triple their money on Ebay. I guess we'll see.
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And don't forget that over their lifetimes both the Xbox and GameCube have been pushed for sales by the PS1, which has averaged 80-85% of their shipments despite being a generation back and sitting next to the (obviously superior, even to an idiot) PS2 on many retailer's shelves. It will be very interesting if Sony can pull off that quiet trick again...
If staying over $100 is so stupid, how do you explain March's NPD figures?
Xbox 360 = 192,000
PS2 = 273,000
Xbox = 83,000
GCN = 63,000
Sure, there's an argument that the 360 could have sold more if they were better stocked, but are potential 360 owners really going to want a PS2 instead at any price?
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They're sitting back and raking in profits. People keep buying them, even at $149.
Considering how old the PS2 is now, and how little life it has left in it, this just serves as further proof that Sony is out of touch with the US market.
Considering sales, and the similar situation they had when the PSOne came out, it's clear that they're well in touch with the US market. PS2 is still outselling the Xbox360, and there's no reason to expect that it will stop any time between now and when the 360 exits the market.
The day the 360 came out, the original Xbox was dead. A big 'Fuck You' to everybody who purchased one in the last two years, simply because Microsoft was too stupid to figure out how to make a profit on the hardware over the long term. Buy a Microsoft console, and you get an average of 3 years of service out of the platform. Buy a Sony console and get an average of 10 years... You think parents don't see that when they buy a console for their kids?