Slashdot Mirror
Sony Firm On PS3 Pricing
Reuters has some last minute discussion on the high price of the PS3, as well as their plans for shipping 2 million units by December. From the article: "'We are very comfortable with the pricing we have announced and have gotten tremendous support from retailers for that price point,' Hirai said on the sidelines of the Dow Jones VentureWire Consumer Technology Conference. 'So it is full steam ahead with the pricing of $499 and $599.'"
'We are very comfortable with the pricing we have announced and have gotten tremendous support from retailers for that price point,'
Well, it's certainly comforting to know that the stores like the price.
I wonder if the consumers will.
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
Ok, I'm sure I can find the details online, but I've got a quickie question for those that will be buying the PS3 next week.
What is going to entice you to but the PS3 Premium, as opposed to the Basic? The basic will have the HDMI port, a 20gig drive (versus 60 right?) etc... etc...
So what exactly will you be 'getting' that you just have to have for an extra $100?
think before you write, it'll save me moderator points.
The retailers like it, Sony likes it, and two out of three ain't bad.
[Insert pithy quote here]
...after the "hardcore" gamers (who think the console is worth the price) have bought their PS3s, will the general public (parents who will buy a game console for their kids) be "comfortable" with the price? Heck... will they even find one in the stores, since Sony doesn't seem to be capable of building the machines in time? Yeah, perhaps the price right now is just a minor issue for Sony.
Like John Kerry before the midterm elections, somebody needs to stop these Sony execs from talking to anyone for a few weeks.
In accordance with E.O. 12958, this post is marked Unclassified.
from the going-to-have-to-bite-the-bullet dept
No we don't.
I keep telling myself I'm not the desperate type.
Rootofevil firm not not dropping 600$ on this overhyped kit when the revolu^wwii will be twice the fun for half the cash.
turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
Fabulous new mobile phone, lots of bells and whistles = people happily pay $500
Fabulous new video iPod, lots of nice features = people giddily pay $500
Fabulous new game console, nex-gen features = people freak out, say $500 is way way too much.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Welcome to Slashdot, where companies are evil for attempting to charge money for their products.
Such an interesting corner of reality the denizens of this site occupy.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
and the bizarre advertising campaign, I'm sure the success Sony sees this console will be despite its efforts rather than for them. It will sell a lot of them eventually, I'm sure, but that's more to do with all of the ISVs in their corner than anything else.
MS could really take some wind out of Sony's "sales" with a $30 to $50 price cut. A drop in price, plus the recent arrival of Gears of War (easily the best looking game I have *ever* seen, and amazingly fun to boot), and a little extra effort from the advertising department could probably take a much bigger bite out of the PS3 launch.
"False hope is why we'll never run out of natural resources!" - Lewis Black
How early adopters feel about the price, head out to ebay or amazon's product forums for the ps3 or your local BestBuy. Now, that's early adopters, they'll literally pay almost anything to get their hands on one. I've never understood why people make such a big deal out of the current price, up to xmas, they will have absolutely no problems selling every unit they produce. The REAL question is how quickly and by how much can they drop the price to start attracting the "average" consumer. If it's still $599 this time next year, they're doomed.
You have to remember that with Blu-Ray, the PS3 is easily worth more than Sony is charging, as evidenced by the fact that Sony is taking a loss on each one sold.
To me the question is whether the console market is ready for something like this. It's big, expensive, powerful and hot (heat-wise). It sucks far more power than my Athlon desktop, including large CRT monitor, five hard drives, cable modem, router and other accessories (that's from the reading on my UPS). Something this powerful should have come along in a couple of years, when the technology could have it be smaller, cooler and cheaper.
Firm on the fact that $600 is too-damned-much to pay for a gaming system!
Seriously, for that much money the games better knock my socks off and the console better massage my prostate.
"It's a tarp!" -- Dyslexic Admiral Ackbar
Re: Price / Console differences
The extra money gets you:
- 60GB hard drive
- Memory Stick/SD/CF card reader
- 802.11b/g wireless
It'll be hard to find a PS3 under $900 thanks to all the eBay entrepenuers that are camping out at stores right now. I wouldn't be surprised to see the high end ones go for over $1500.
Happened with both the 360, and the PS2. Didn't happen with the Gamecube because they didn't cut the initial allotment by 75% before it launched! That should be illegal.
Its like saying, "Ok. We're going to release a million of these systems on launch day."
Then, "Ok, we're having problems. We're only going to release 500,000."
"More problems. Only 250,000."
First they make you think that there'll be a PS3 for everyone that has money and wants one. Then you'll say, "I should get a PS3. It'll be hassle-free and easy to get."
Thats when they pull the old "you have to camp outside of a store for three weeks to have a shot at getting one" routine and you can either forget about it until three months later, or forget about it altogether (and lose your deposit).
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
The people who are most excited about Sony's complete lack of credibility are the XBOX360 people and the Wii people. Sony's already lost most of it's fanbase, and by the time the ps3 is actually available, most ps2 owners will have already bought another console. It only makes sense when you can buy a 360 and a Wii plus a Wii game for less than the unavailable ps3.
Here's the deal: If something changes, it's newsworthy. If nothing changes, there is no story.
*yawn*
Let me know when the price drops $100-200 in a few years. That's the news I'm waiting to hear.
They're going to sell out at that price anyway. With the production capacity the way it is they could probably sell it at a profit and still sell out.
How do we reply to people?! Slashdot is broken!!!!
They could have charged more for it (let's say $800) and they would still sell out the first batch of consoles. Then they could drop the price to something resonable 3-6 months later. Now the money is going to all the people selling them on ebay rather than Sony.
Didn't the xbox drop by $100 only 6 months after launch?
They could have charged more for it (let's say $800) and they would still sell out the first batch of consoles. Then they could drop the price to something resonable 3-6 months later. Now the money is going to all the people selling them on ebay rather than Sony.
Didn't the xbox drop by $100 only 6 months after launch?
In Europe the XBox was initially overpriced and it was hurting sales so they cut the price a couple of months later; this pissed off most of the people who already purchased a XBox so they were forced to give people coupons for games (IIRC everyone who paid the initial price got 2 game coupons). The fact is that if you cut your price too often, or by too much, you're only going to upset the customers who already bought your system.
Personally, I believe the best strategy is to reduce the price $50 (or add a pack-in game) every 12 months; then even people who buy the system the day before the price drop/pack-in will not be that offended. The problem (with the PS3) is that at $500/$600 it will take 6 years at that rate before the average consumer will be willing to purchase your product; in that time Nintendo could release the Super Wii Advance that is 4 times as powerful as your system for $200.
"To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money -- and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it. --- AYN RAND
Circumcision is child abuse.
Fabulous new mobile phone, lots of bells and whistles = people happily pay $500
. If the hardware costs more than that, I expect the carrier to subsidize it as consideration for my decision to enter a service contract with them.
Personally, I would never pay more than about $300 for a mobile phone, and that's only if it's an all-in-one wonder like a Treo with built-in PDA/internet/bluetooth/flashlight/screwdriver/etc
Fabulous new video iPod, lots of nice features = people giddily pay $500
The current top-of-the-line iPod model (5G 80GB) sells for only $350.
Fabulous new game console, nex-gen features = people freak out, say $500 is way way too much.
There's no point in comparing a game console to a mobile phone or an MP3 player, though. That's an apples-to-figs-to-coconuts comparison.
For a meaningful, Braeburn-to-Red-Delicious-type comparison, one has to evaluate the PS3 in the context of other game consoles. No game console with a entry price above $300 has ever been a success--EVER.
So Sony is selling their brand new console, which should last 5-8 years, for $599. And Slashdot is up in arms at how insane Sony is for charging this much.
But nobody complains when a new cell phone comes out that costs $500. How many years is that phone going to last you? How much in monthly service charges are you going to have to pay? PS3 is free.
Nobody complains that Nvidia just came out with a $700 video card. It'll only be 6 months that that card is top of the line. Nobody is coming out with a higher powered console any time soon.
But Sony is charging too much. Even though they are taking a loss on each unit. Right, whatever you say...
Not sure if the differences that Thansal points out are worth the price jump or not but from the latest review I've seen the 20GB drive could be used up within about 6 games.
For once Sony seems to have done something about their historically horrendous load times and allowed for a pre-load option, at least one some games. This copies a lot of the game data to the system to cut down on Blu-Ray accesses. Choosing this option for the 3 games the reviewer was testing took up nearly half of the 20gb drive so unless you tend to play one game through before starting another or actually like to stare at the "loading level" message you'll want as much hard drive space as you can get.
If there's a way to install your own off the shelf drive into the system after the fact that may be the better option unless you simply can't live without a memory stick reader.
Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
So Sony is selling their brand new console, which should last 5-8 years, for $599. And Slashdot is up in arms at how insane Sony is for charging this much.
...
... The PC allows you to select exactly what you want your system to do; for someone like me (who doesn't need 1920x1280) I'm happy with a $200 card and a mid line processor, other people will want a Quad SLi Geforce 8800 GTX to hold them over until the Geforce 9 series comes out.
How long a system lasts is largely determined by how well it sold, not by the hardware that is inside of it; consider that the PS2 was no where near as powerful as the XBox or Gamecube and yet still has more games being developed for it (and will likely still have development in 2008) whereas the XBox and Gamecube are (essentially) dead. A friend of mine (who was the biggest Playstation booster) explained to me his new found hatred for all things PS3 with "At $600 I said that I would wait for a decent price drop before I bought it, and then I noticed that everyone I knew who was going to buy it at launch was taking the same approach. If a large portion of the PS3's early adopters are waiting for a price drop, the PS3 could be one of the biggest flops in the history of gaming."
Now I don't (entirely) agree with his statement but I think it explains a lot of the anger and frustration.
But nobody complains when a new cell phone comes out that costs $500. How many years is that phone going to last you? How much in monthly service charges are you going to have to pay? PS3 is free.
Why not compare it to a car or a plane ticket while you're at it?
The PS3 is a game console so it should be directly compared to a game console
Last year people were bitching about how the XBox 360 was $400 and I know people who have yet to buy it because it was $100 too expensive; those are the same people who thing the PS3 is $200-$300 too expensive.
Nobody complains that Nvidia just came out with a $700 video card. It'll only be 6 months that that card is top of the line. Nobody is coming out with a higher powered console any time soon.
There is a different mentality with PC gamers though
But Sony is charging too much. Even though they are taking a loss on each unit. Right, whatever you say...
I didn't tell them they had to use an unconventional CPU architecture or include a HD-Movie player in the unit; there loss was their decision, not mine, so why do I care? All I want is the system to be at a price I am willing to pay (and $500 is not a price I'm willing to pay).
you forgot "half the resolution"
Ob. link to the most clever commentary on PS3 vs Wii pricing and markets.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
See that boldened part in the end? The number of the message? Just click it.
Circumcision is child abuse.
2. We had no warning whatsoever about the change.
3. Even when choosing "Threaded" in my view settings it doesn't display as threaded at all.
4. Clicking on the post # to view it alone and *then* reply to that message is not intuitive and is more work for the user *and* the server compared to the old way.
Slashdot is broken.
1. It didn't work that way before.
2. We had no warning whatsoever about the change.
3. Even when choosing "Threaded" in my view settings it doesn't display as threaded at all.
4. Clicking on the post # to view it alone and *then* reply to that message is not intuitive and is more work for the user *and* the server compared to the old way.
Slashdot is broken.
No shit, Sherlock. If you were to read the front page - specifically this story - before bitching, you'd know that the admins are aware of the problem, they know what caused it, they know how to fix it, and they've announced when the fix will happen.
It's not like it's buried in some obscure bug report or something, and it's not like they went and deliberately changed something without warning you. It's on the FRONT PAGE.
Parent
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
This is not a justification for the PS3 price. I think its high. But I do think this phenomenon is interesting.) Fabulous new mobile phone, lots of bells and whistles = people happily pay $500 Fabulous new video iPod, lots of nice features = people giddily pay $500 Fabulous new game console, nex-gen features = people freak out, say $500 is way way too much. Uhh... how did this get modded interesting? There are no $500 iPods. I know there are $500 phones but the only people I know that have these phones were paid for by their place of work. Most people that have $300 phones got them heavily discounted with a plan. Unless you were talking about currency other than USD, I am not sure where you got these numbers.
(UK reader here)
I paid GBP99 for my PS2, but that was late in its life.
I'm really pretty sure that it debuted at GBP299, as did the X-Box and the original PlayStation. I think the Saturn debuted at GBP399.
299.00 GBP = 570.145 USD (From XE.com)
Now, I'm aware that we tend to get pretty badly screwed on new electronics, but still...
(And also, this does rather suggest there is a market for this sort of thing at that cost level.)
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
I see the comments about people paying $500 for a cell phone. Well, the price you pay comes from how much you get in a tiny amount of space. I could also make the argument that people pay $3000 for a 1 carat diamond. That doesn't justify the PS3's price. The thing is huge, and most of the useful features are available on a competing console for $200 less.
Because then I'd say that Sony continues to not grok that we have other choices - xBox360 and Wii for example - that mean that $600 USD is indeed far too high, when we can get more cool games without a useless Blu-Ray laser device 90 percent of us don't need in the first place.
Plus, given Sony's prior track record, and high record of first-release failure with tech (remember the first PS2 boxen?), why should we want to pay for such things?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Sony Firm on PS3 Pricing
Great, cause I'm firm on not buying a PS3. This is a match made in heaven.
The richest of whom get slush funds, kickbacks, and bonuses... yeah, they really deserve it too!
A dictator won't hate the government but the rest of his country most likely will.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
I find this quote very telling.
We've gone from "the next generation doesn't start until we say it does" to "the true test isn't until next Christmas when we finally have our act together". This isn't the attitude and strategy of a winner.
It's good to hear Kaz reiterate that they're on track for 2 million/4 million (although I thought they were going for 6 million in March). I was concerned they wouldn't be able to do that given their current issues. Still, while they delay when the competition really begins, their competitors are raking in money, market share, and mass appeal.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
So how different are the PS2 and PS3...I mean...so it's a little more advanced...big deal...i doubt there was this big a jump in prices between the PS1 and PS2. For $500 you could get 2 PS2 right now...so this price is outrageous for 1 gaming unit.
What were the retailers thinking? That this unit is so special that people will just willingly hand over $500? I don't think so.
The difference between the "core" Ps3 ($499) and the "premium" ($599) is $100. Not $200. Microsoft is charging $100 for a 20 gig drive for the 360 alone. At that rate the 40 gig increase for the same price is definitely worth the investment in the long run.
No, the Wii doesn't. the premium Ps3 includes support for CompactFlash, SD, AND Memorystick Formats. the Wii is SD-only. If I have compactflash/memorystick cards I want to use with the wii, I'm SOL. And again...there is no $400 version of the Ps3. As for WiFi, the Wii includes it but has no option for wired access, as the Ps3 premium and core do.