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PlayStation 3 Manufacturing Not Started Yet?
aapold writes "Despite reports to the contrary, Sony Computer Entertainment American president Kaz Hirai states in an interview on Gamespot last week that 'We haven't started manufacturing yet. Some of our ops guys were actually just in China, and also in Japan just reviewing the [production] lines and everything else. But they are, again, preparing as we speak to get the manufacturing going. We've not announced and we haven't set really a specific date to say, 'As of this day we're going to start manufacturing.'"
They are really pushing out the boat, don't get a PS3 have a girly PS2 instead!
liqbase
1) Decide to produce a game console.
2) Look at every decision Sony has made for the Playstation 3, and do the opposite
3) Profit
I think the internet has made it impossible for some people to like anything.
Maybe the reason the video game industry is seeing a slow down is that no matter what any company does we bitch about it. The small publishers are too small, the big publisers are to big, the inovative games are too inovative and everything else is not inovative enough... We need to grow up and quit this fanboyism and infighting, we all may have diffrent taste but we all want one thing, qualtiy entertanment.
I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain
If there are no products that compete with it. If people can't get a console, they'll possibly look to another console such as the cheaper 360 or (potentially) bargain Wii. Sony have received enough bad press over the PS3 in regards to price (especially in the UK where we get especially ripped off), copycat features and lowered tech specs.
The PSP shortages hurt Sony as lots of people bought the cheaper DS instead and as a result the PSP didn't get that vital early userbase.
Are you suffering from the misapprehension that Zonk is somehow making these stories up out of wholecloth? A lot of negative Sony articles are getting posted, but i suspect that's because a lot of negative Sony articles are being submitted. Zonk also posted the article about the marketing study saying "PS3 Predicted to Lead Market Through 2011." Note that no one congratulated Zonk for overcoming his anti-sony "bias," or argued how this study proved that all the other articles Zonk posted were wrong. Instead everyone criticized the study as being unrealistic and uninformed. Right or wrong the majority of the vocal slashdot crowd seems to have it in for Sony, and these are probably the same people sending in articles.
I think the ones constantly railing against Zonk's "tirades" and "favortisim" are the ones who are looking more and more ridiculous at this point.
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GS: Speaking of dates, its three months to the day from now that you guys are going to launch. - translated to : you guys are so screwed, you're never going to get ps3 released!
KH: Correct. Yes. - translated to : shut up, so we screwed up a few times, leave me alone!
GS: How are things looking there? - translated to : so is there any chance Sony can still profit from ps3?
KH: Everything's pretty much on track. - translated to : if I owned Sony i'd just scrap the whole project right now and begin working on PS4.
I've been following the "Jack Thompson Rule" when it comes to covering/reporting on/commenting on Sony in the past several months. Essentially Sony, like Jack Thompson, must be ignored unless the most recent news about them tops the previous news. For example:
Jack says something stupid: write a comment
Jack says something else stupid: ignore him
Jack kills a baby: write a comment
Congratulations Sony! You've gotten me to once again comment on your amazing incompetance.
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I hear this too expensive mantra all the time. Hell, I even subscribe to it. Yet I have had more than one of my friends tell me they are buying a PS3 when it drops. I am also beginning to believe that this is a common opinion amongst the non hardcore.
At least the people I know and hang out with (30ish with no children, tech jobs) have the disposable income to buy one of these things no sweat. Personally, I'm waiting to see what the games play like before I choose between a 360 and a PS3.
Also, the Euro market doesn't determine a thing in video games. Japan and the US do. Thats why almost ALL games are released in Europe last.
Yeah, 20 year olds might have enough money to one - but how many teenagers do you know who can manage their money effectively? How many 600 bucks "laying" around?
While Europe certainly does drive killer sales, it helps - and you have to remember, the margins for "extra" money are slimming - 600 bucks used to be relatively easy, but it isnt so much any more.
Now, we get to the parents - out in the stores shopping for a christmas or birthday present. They say they want a PS3 - but im sure their parents will hesitate with such a hefty price tag. i certainly would - im sure, as adults, they have somewhere else theyd rather half a thousand dollars. Car payments, debt, credit cards, etc. Many parents will buy it anyways - but how many will not? More than those that do?
You cannot rely on the hardcore to really drive sales anymore. the casual are more significant - and 600 is not casual. just look at standard PC sales - how many gamingmachines does Dell sell? Far less than the casual POS machines tehy kick out the door.
-Red
Guns don't kill people, "with glowing hearts" kills people.
Everyone who has the money and the desire to spend it on this system need not worry. It doesn't take long to manufacture a dozen consoles.
"And with Nintendo giving up trying to compete technologically by coming out with an overclocked GameCube with a pointer bolted on."
... a bunch of stuff that has little to do with games. You used the history repeating itself argument, so I'll throw it right back at you: The PSP had similar advantages. Look who it's losing to.
Worked for the DS. Enjoy playing all those FPS's with your analog stick.
"And with Sony selling 100+ million Playstation consoles on their first foray into the console market."
So?
"And with Sony selling 106+ million Playstation 2 consoles in their second entry in the console market."
So...?
Sony sold a bunch of systems. Yahoo. So did Nintendo. They lost the roost pretty quick. Heck, the N64 lost to a graphically inferior machine. Times change. For example, some systems are launching for $600 now.
"And now with the PS3 Sony is about to put out.. "
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Are you hinting that the PS3 is some sort of Vaporware?
It's real dammit. I believe in the blue ray!
Not if history is any guide. The PS2 was out for about 18 months before the first price drop of $100 (33%). Then, after 12 months it dropped 10%, the following year 16%, and finally 13% this year to its current price of $130.
If they could follow the same pattern in terms of percentages (and these numbers are rounded a bit), the PS3 price would drop to $335 in 2008, $300 in 2009, $250 in 2010 and $220 in 2011. If the Xbox 360 followed the same guide, we would see (premium - the core prices would be more like the PS2) $270 in 2007, $240 in 2008, $200 in 2009, $170 in 2010.
Of course, Sony could end up being a lot more aggressive if things start working out better in terms of Cell production, and if Blu-Ray manages to knock HD-DVD out of the movie market (I'm sure MS could hang with them easily, staying lower priced no matter what Sony does). If not, we could be looking at PS3 consoles costing a minimum $300 up to 3 years from now - that would seem to be something that would put a dent in PS3 sales compared to those Sony enjoyed with the much less expensive PS2.
Fact 1 - the PS3 will sell pretty much every unit Sony can produce this Xmas (if they can get it manufactured. It may be late, don't be suprised.)
... but this is still (basically) true.
/. forums about how "I played a PS3 at a kiosk at Game Spot, I wouldn't own one if they came free in McDonald's Happy Meals!!"
No doubt, the PS3 will probably be very difficult to produce and will be in very short supply.
Fact 2 - Everyone that has a PS2 and loves it (and also uses it as their primary game machine) wants a PS3. (Just as PS1 owners wanted a PS2.)
That's not a fact, being that I own and love my PS2 and have no desire to purchase a PS3 I am a example which negates your everyone claim. Ultimately, everyone I know that owns a PS2 and heard the price of a PS3 refuses to buy one, even the really rich (always early adopt) crowd; this might change 18 months down the road, but if early adopters do not buy the PS3 it will have disapointing game sales and it's "exclusive" games will become not so exclusive. The difference between a Sony system and a Nintendo system is people buy a Nintendo system for games that can only be bought for a Nintendo System (first party games), a Sony system is bought for games that can be bought (in theory) for other systems (third party games).
Fact 3 - No one outside of Slashdot (and maybe Digg) gives a flying crap about "root-kits".
This one is also false; most of the people who had their computer damaged were those with poor computer skills. When these people when to their geeky friends to fix their computer they found out about the rootkit. The average responce was "Why would Sony, a respected company, want to install a virus on my computer? I don't think I'll buy another Sony product"
Fact 4 - The exclusive (TRUE exclusive) PS3 games (FF XIII, MGS4) will sell PS3 units to everyone that didn't buy a PS3 at launch.
Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy have been finding their way to other consoles lately; these titles are not tied to Sony, they are launched on the market leading platform. If Sony is not leading in market share come November 2007 (which they probably won't be) expect to see these games delayed to be released on other platforms.
Fact 5 - Average consumers don't want to pay 500 or 600 dollars for a game machine. However, they will. Simply because it is PlayStation 3.
At one point in time you could say that Nintendo's consoles would sell because they have "Nintendo" written on them; brand loyalty is a very difficult thing to maintain in highly competative markets. Don't expect too many people to say "It has no games I want, and is really expensive, but that Sony logo is cool so I'll buy it"
Fact 6 - PS3 games, on the whole, will never actually look better than xBox 360 games, the video GPU's are just too similar.
I'd actually argue it is because we are dealing with diminishing returns on system power
Fact 7 - Fact 6 is meaningless, because people "Don't Care". All they will know is that PS3 games "Look frikin REAL, man!!"
Maybe, but at the same time animation is really becomming a problem in these "ultra-realistic" games. I don't remember the name of the game, but the screen shots for it are amazing but the video looks like crap because of how out of sync the animation is to the voice; rather than looking like normal (bad) game animation it looks really creepy. I'm probably alone, but was so offended (bad word for it) by how it moved that I couldn't play that game.
Fact 8 - Tech savvy people (such as slashdotters) will own all three new consoles anyway, and then lie in the
Maybe, I think you'll see a large portion of people owning an XBox 360 + Wii or a PS3 + Wii but I think the number of people who own an XBox 360 and PS3 will be pretty small. The reason for this is that the combined cost is insane ($1000), if you include basic accessories (like extra controllers) it simply is too expensive; also the number of games that are going to be exclusive is pretty small because the cost to develop games for XBox 360, PS3 and High End PC are so high that the risk is too great to release it on one platform.
I am too lazy for Google for a link, but apparently the time between the start of manufacture of the 360 and the launch was a scant 69 days. I think we all know how well that went. With under 90 days until the PS3 launch in Japan and North America I am not at all confident that Sony can produce the 2 million units they expect to be ready for launch.
I think Nintendo might steal significant thunder from Sony if PS3 shortages are a drastic as I expect by offering the Wii in quantity with the quality and quantity of launch titles that are anticipated. If a parent walks into a store around Christmas asks for a PS3 only to hear that it's out of stock looks at the Wii, the breadth of launch titles, the comparitive price, the innovative control style, the name Nintendo and the fact that it's in stock, well then maybe Nintendo can clean the floor with Sony. I hope NIntendo realizes this. Anyone who doubts that it might happen need only look at the success of the DS versus the PSP.
I would not count on brand recognition being a driver for sales. Sony has an awfully lousy brand reputation over here in Europe, and has earned that rightfully due to lousy customer service, expensive out of warranty repairs, lots of repairs etc... If you ask an everage person over here, they probably go for other brands first unless there is a real reason to buy Sony. Sony used to be good, but their quality has gone down the drain the last years once they centralized their repair network and once they started to treat their customers like John Romero wanted to have his customers in a famous ad...
I'm a parent, and I buy based on principal, as well as whether or not it's appropriate for a child.
Dropping $300 or more for a video game system that is obsolete before it's released is not only just a bad idea, it constitutes in my opinion, bad parenting.
It just fuels the "I want" mentality.
Until they can switch from "I want" to "I need, because of these logical reasons", it's not going to happen.
Parents who give their child everything they want, desensitize their children to the value of what they receive. Especially when they end up breaking the toy, because they don't care about it. It didn't cost them anything, not even effort, so why should they care. Chances are, they didn't even say thank you when they received it.
My children may get upset as they grow older, as they aren't going to get all the "latest" just because "everyone else has it", however they will appreciate what they do get, and take care of it - as it's the only one they'll get if they don't.
Who is general failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
All I can say to that is--- "Good", there needs to be more people like you out there. However, you are in the minority. Everything I have seen recently (and what my wife has seen as a person who deals with children and their parents every day) is that MOST parents would rather just blindly spend the money on what their child "wants" than figure out what they are spending it on. This is the same downward spiral of parental involvement that the ESRB is having trouble with: disinterested parents finding cheap babysitters in $600 devices without understanding what they are spending their money on. When it comes down to it, it really is a cheap form of childcare.
As far as you and your parenting goes, you read slashdot so that kinda takes you out of the general population pool: you're informed new technology.
http://www.tomandemily.com