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PS3 Japanese Price Drop 'Ridiculous'
Gamasutra reports on comments from a Japanese analyst group, characterizing the pre-launch price drop for the Japanese market as ridiculous. From the article: "Meanwhile, Naoki Fujiwara of Shinkin Asset Management suggested that the price reduction was 'negative for the short term because the company may not be able to sell enough consoles to cover an instant loss caused by the price cut.' The PlayStation 3 was already expected to be sold at a loss, with Sony allowing up to five years to recoup the costs. Shares in Sony fell 1.9 percent following the announcement, although this coincided with a generally poor day for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and may not be entirely related to the price cut."
The PS3 is just ridiculous in general... MS:Cairo = Sony:PS3
Well, I guess when you're Zonk, you have to find some way to make a price drop after eight months of bitching about price seem like a bad thing for Sony anyway.
So they are selling the PS3 at a loss yet:
the company may not be able to sell enough consoles to cover an instant loss caused by the price cut.
What the? Wouldn't selling more units mean more loss if the thing's sold at a loss per unit?
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
I have misgivings about Microsoft as much as the next Slashdotter but given the Xbox 360 has already seen price breaks in some of its games and it has a price that I more typically associate with something that I "play" with. I think I am going with Microsoft this time. I might get a Wii as well, because I find it offers much better multiplayer games for parties.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
It may be a loss, but they make it up in volume, goddamnit!
Apology to Ubuntu forum.
The cheaper of the two hardware variations was originally priced at ¥59,800 ($515) but was reduced to ¥49,980 ($430), at the same time as a HDMI video port was also added to the unit.
That's an improvement, but $430 is still very high for a game system! Yes, yes, it's also a Blue Laser media player, but since I had no plan to buy one of those, I still think of the PS3 as a vastly overpriced gaming system.
As a side note, given that Dead Rising for the X-Box 360 apparently requires HD to dispay some of its text properly, the implication is that I'll need a whole new TV just to play some PS3 games. Since I had no play to buy an HDTV either, that's yet another cost. No thanks.
This may be the first generation of consoles since the 8-bit era that I don't jump into!
Revive the Constitution.
Of course it's ridiculous. Why do the Japanese get a price drop and the rest of the world has to pay $600(or similiar in different currencies)? It seems like Sony is desparate to get marketshare and has carelessly discarded the rest of the consumer base.
Fallout 3 will suck.
I mentioned this on a Wii thread (after the price was announced) to be mostly ignored (because I'm AC and Wii threads become huge) but I always suspected that the Wii was priced at $250 (American) because they're anticipating a price drop from the XBox 360 in the near future; if they were at a smaller price (say $199) they might not be able to cut the price further.
Now, I could be wrong, but if Sony is cutting the price of the PS3 (whether in Japan or North America) it would encourage Microsoft to cut the price of the XBox 360; wouldn't it be odd to (after all these months of speculation) see the Wii at $199, XBox 360 at $250/$350 and PS3 at $450/$600 come november?
Reductions in price are always good. For the sell more and sell more games idea I'm not too sure, if we believe the marketing then the PS3 is meant to do everything and be a "media centre" and everything else, I think that even from what's been coming from Sony I've not seen them pushing the games
I've actually been thinking of getting a PS3 (or at least looking into it when they come out). I've heard that it can run linux and that the hardware seems pretty good. If I could get Fedora to work on it I could run it on a LCD HDTV and use the USB ports for the keyboard and mouse I could get one and a new HDTV cheaper than I could just buy a new PC. Even better it'd be subsidised by Sony and they'll lose money because I'll never buy a game or use any of their services.
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
1. Import region-free Japanese PS3s
2. Sell Japanese PS3s
3. ???^WPROFIT!!!
For me the selling point of the PS3 is that I can be pretty sure I will get some interesting games from Japnese developers, perhaps the next Ico or Katmari Damacy. And since the PS3 is region free (in regards to games) I am not even at the mercy of game developers to bring ports over to the US.
Also Blu-Ray is going to provide a much better display that DVD's even on lower end equipment - I have an 600x800 projector and 1080i content downsampled to that device looks MUCH better than DVD's. You don't have to buy a 1080p display to take advantage of the PS3 (or 360 for that matter), a 720p screen or even less will do quite well.
It all really boils down to games of course, but the Blu-Ray player is a powerful incentive and a reason I'll be getting the PS3. I don't think $100 players by next christmas is realistic; probably still more like $300 by then.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Why do people believe in these "region free" claims?
Both Sony and Nintendo(before Nintendo corrected their mispoken PR person) heads said that "region free" support was up to the developers/publishers. In other words, companies can decided whether or not to let their games work on -- still region encoded -- consoles from different regions.
Does that really sound like being REAL "region free" to you? Because it sure doesn't to me.....
Not sure what it should be called, maybe "region friendly"?
I do believe it's better business practice to run out of the product you're selling and backorder instead of not being able to sell what's on the shelf. That is, unless for every unit of something you sell, you're losing (net long-run) money rather than gaining money.
The Wii will have plenty of games that will look great on a SDTV...
Cel tel carriers subsidize handsets & sell air-time...
:-/
Free razor, you buy the blades...
Sony subsidizes the PS3 & wants to sell content...
---
All examples of tried & ture business practices
So, what's newsworthy here?
Or... is this another "sponsored news article"...?
With only 100 000 PS3s available in Japan at launch, even people who would pay $600 for a console will not receive one. However, there will be plenty of Wiis available. This was designed to stop gamers from buying a Wii, encouraging them to hold off purchasing a next gen console until a PS3 is available. If Sony had not dropped the price, a lot of Japanese gamers would purchase a Wii and then consider purchasing a PS3 when the price dropped. Barring a miracle for Microsoft, the Xbox 360 will not be a factor in Japan.
Sony should just have one SKU and price it about $450. The two SKUs for the Xbox 360 have not helped Microsoft move consoles, it's just confused things. In the mind of most people the Xbox 360 is $400 not $300/$400 and the PS3 is $600 not $500/$600. Sony knew it would be expensive to include the Blu Ray drive and so they are going to pay through the nose to get it into millions of households. I think they would have been better off if everyone had agreed on a single high definition DVD format and they had taken their share of the profits.
Wii = 280$CAD
Xbox 360 = 500$CAD (Xbox360 core = 400$CAD, still 120$CAD more expensive than a Wii)
PS3 (20GB) = 550$CAD
IMHO, it's the Xbox360 that's overpriced. No wonder nobody's got one here (people rent them, nobody buys them).
For those that haven't clued into this already, the PS3 isn't about gaming - it's purely about Sony trying to win the next HD DVD format war...period. Owning the patient/rights to the Bluray format standard going forward (*if* it beats out HD-DVD) will be worth SOOOO much more money to Sony than the PS3, PS2, and all games combined. Sony owned the DVD format rights, which is why Microsoft did not include DVD playback support in the original Xbox (you had to buy the DVD remote separately). Because everytime you offer something that plays DVD movies, you have to put the DVD symbol on the drive and pay Sony money. Microsoft avoided paying Sony for every Xbox produced and passed that charge on to the consumers (and just to those who wanted it).
:) Screw Sony and their crappy Bluray format. In fact, this price break 'just for the Japanese' is BS. Mainly because the Japanese are so prideful and stubborn about their games and where they were made anyway. Americans, well we just play games that are good, regardless of who made them. Well you know what Japan? Fine - two can play that game: Buy Xbox 360, Support HD-DVD, Buy American!
:)
Sony's strategy is to use the demand of the PS3 and the market share it creates to OWN the next HD DVD format and thus support their company for years with the royalties it will bring (much like they have survived this long with DVD and CD formats). They really don't care about games or gaming (other than to sell more) - it is all about the Bluray.
As far as HD-DVD, it's easier and cheaper for manufacturers to retrofit their plants to produce HD-DVD than it is to produce Bluray DVDs. To burn HD-DVDs at a manufacturing facility, there is a module that can retrofit your existing DVD equipment to make HD-DVDs (cheaper). However, to make Bluray DVDs - you have to buy all new equipment (expensive). Sony knows it has an uphill battle, but if PS3 games build the demand, and the PS3 penetration gets decent marketshare - they can convince DVD manufacturers that the extra Bluray plant initial costs will be worth it.
For me personally, it's all about the Wii/360 combo!
Seriously, if national pride is gonna get called in, we do have a significant market here.
Even if US games work on your imported Japanese console, are local Blu-Ray movies going to play?
From what I've heard, game region locking is optional for the publisher, but Blu-Ray movie region locking is still there.
Besides, good luck trying to import one of those 100K launch units.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
The fullscreen is handled by the computer, basically it is being cropped a little with bars at the top and bottom - as you noted the absolute resolution availiable is still only 800x600, so something has to give!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley