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Fewer PS3 Units Tomorrow Than Hoped For?

Gamasutra is reporting on the possibility that there may only be 150,000 - 200,000 PS3s available tomorrow. Kotaku has heard that this may stem from removal of the 20 GB units from the shipment to the U.S., though this is just speculation at the moment. Several bloggers have noted that their local videogames store has notified them of lowered availability, so it doesn't seem that this is outside the realm of possibility. From the article: "'Due to the limited initial installed base of the platforms, we believe the financial impact over the holiday period will be more significant for hardware manufacturers and video game retailers (such as GameStop) than for software publishers.' In addition to predicting a strong push for Xbox 360 products due to a shortage in PS3 supply, Sebastian also says the newly launched consoles may not have as significant an impact on holiday sales." A reader also wrote in to mention the cost that Sony is sucking with each of these units. Apparently, the company is eating about $300 for every PS3 sold.

94 comments

  1. Good Lord by drinkypoo · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Eating $300? On one hand I don't want to buy any more Sony stuff. On the other hand, if we all bought them and used them for non-gaming applications (or at least didn't buy any sony-licensed games) we could put some serious smack down on Sony. On the gripping hand, it would still increase their installed base, and that of Blu-Ray, which I also want to fail because Sony is associated with it.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Good Lord by EggyToast · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even more interesting is the fact that I don't think I've spoken to a single person who is actually buying the machine to play. Everyone's just buying them to sell on eBay, for "mega profit."

      Which, of course, makes me wonder -- if people only want it to sell on eBay, who's going to buy it on eBay?

    2. Re:Good Lord by Reapman · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes... just like all those that bought the XBox to "stick it to Microsoft" really hurt them. Sony would love to sell each and every one of these, don't fool yourself. Sony will make a unit regardless of if you buy it at least initially. If it sells they loose $300. If not, they loose what.. $1000? (no sale of unit, plus loss)

      I hope by wanting Blu Ray (however it's spelt) to fail, your also not supporting HD-DVD right? Blu Ray failing hurts more then Sony, they're just one of the partners in that.

    3. Re:Good Lord by GrayCalx · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, if we all bought them and used them for non-gaming applications (or at least didn't buy any sony-licensed games) we could put some serious smack down on Sony.

      Its kind of like communism, while it sounds good on paper, its just not going to work. And I know the same discussion was held multiple times here on /. when everyone wanted to bring Microsoft to their knees by buying Xboxes and 360s. AFAIK it didn't work.

      I think the counter-point was that the money is lost when they build the machine, so you buying it is giving them at least some of their money back... but we don't need to go down that path again. :)

    4. Re:Good Lord by Chosen+Reject · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So Sony creates a $900 machine and sells it for $600. They lose $300 if you buy it. If you don't buy it they lose $900. Yep, if you buy one, you will really show them who is in charge of economics.

      --
      Stop Global Warming!
      Just say no to irreversible processes!
    5. Re:Good Lord by Binestar · · Score: 1

      Or, you could not buy it and cost Sony the full $800

      --
      Do you Gentoo!?
    6. Re:Good Lord by DoktorSeven · · Score: 5, Informative

      Thank you. I do not get people who think that by buying a product, they are somehow hurting a company. They've already accepted and budgeted the loss from a sale of a console. You're not going to hurt them by doing this.

      You hurt them by *not buying it in the first place*. They are *not* prepared to eat the total cost of the console, and therefore *not buying the console at all* would be the proper way to hurt the manufacturer.

      As for Blu-Ray, Sony is the one fully behind that. HD-DVD would be the competing (and in my eyes, superior) technology. Sony is trying to wedge BluRay into the market by selling their gaming consoles with this technology to artificially create a user base, which is reprehensible, and typical of Sony's evil marketing schemes as of late.

      --
      This is a sig. Deal with it.
    7. Re:Good Lord by Broken+scope · · Score: 1

      Ahh, but it removes a potential of several hundred dollars worth of games over the next 2 to 3 months. If sony didn;t sell it to him, they would sell it to someone who is going to buy games and accessories for it. It would be one thing if no one was buying these, but since the demand is more high, buy a PS3 but no games would hurt sony more than not buying it, because they WILL sell it.

      --
      You mad
    8. Re:Good Lord by Pharmboy · · Score: 1

      Which, of course, makes me wonder -- if people only want it to sell on eBay, who's going to buy it on eBay?

      Fanboys, and there are plenty of them who will blindly buy it.

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    9. Re:Good Lord by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      They're not prepared to eat the $300 either. They expect to make it back on selling Blu-Ray Movies, and the licensing fees from PS3 Games, which are supposed to be some of the most expensive games yet. Eventually they will get the manufacturing cost down, once the blue lasers come down, once the rest of the blu-ray drive comes down, and once they figure out the software PS2 emulator and get the PS2 hardware out of there. Until then they're losing money each time they have to make a console.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    10. Re:Good Lord by Wdomburg · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That only works if production outstrips demand. Until that happens, it's more like "Sony creates a $900 machine and sells it for $600. They lose $300 if you buy it. If you don't buy it, someone else does, along with accessories and games (like Sony is banking on)".

      Not that I advocate buying a machine you don't want just to stick it to a corporation. They may be out $300, but you'd be out $600.

    11. Re:Good Lord by bumchick · · Score: 1

      Dude really. Why are you so bitter?
      BluRay is no more proprietary than HD-DVD, it is fully backed by a consortium of companies that has *MORE* members than the competing HD-DVD group. BluRay has initial manufacturing kinks, but why is HD-DVD "in your eyes" superior? It holds less data, and is less robust to scratching than BluRay - seems those would be the only two measures of quality of a *data storage medium*.

      Please stop spewing random hatred - it is in your interest as a consumer to have multiple companies competing for your money, which is what is happening. Sony's done stupid/evil things, but the PS3 is not one of them

    12. Re:Good Lord by blighter · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I think your theory only works if they decide to stop producing them before the guy who wants one and will buy the accessories gets one.

      Otherwise, when you buy one Sony takes a $300 loss, but eventually they fabricate and sell one to the guy who will buy the accessories, games and what-not. And at that point they get to say, "hey look, our install base is huge, only a truly foolish game producing company wouldn't make a game for us!" And perhaps their software-sales to install-base ratio will be a bit lower than they might expect, but the huge install base will likely lure more development and thus people who might be on the fence will also fall into line and buy the unit, creating a cycle that leads to the success of the PS3.

      If you don't buy the unit at all, you're right the guy who wants one for the games gets his much sooner and so Sony recoups their losses on that unit much sooner BUT they will sell far fewer units and thus perhaps lose the developer support or at the very least not dominate this console generation.

      At least I hope they sell far fewer units, I hope there aren't too many people willing to shell out for this POS, but then again nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the public...

    13. Re:Good Lord by Fozzyuw · · Score: 1
      Which, of course, makes me wonder -- if people only want it to sell on eBay, who's going to buy it on eBay?

      Professional sport athletes, movie stars, business moguls, etc. Or I should say, their agents/assistances' are doing it for them. These are the kinds of people who will pay thousands of $ for a system that costs $600. Because 1) they can. 2) they want the latest 'cool' thing 3) Have kids they want to please 4)possibly enjoy it themselves (but not likely).

      It kind of reminds me of that rich German who payed a couple hundred grand for some Ultima Online account who had a huge castle and such, just to show he had wealth online as well as in real life.

      Cheers,
      Fozzy

      --
      "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
    14. Re:Good Lord by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 1

      In a sense, you're right. But think about it this way:

      1) If people don't buy them:

      Sony eats the cost of making the consoles.

      2) If people buy them, but never get any games:

      Sony loses $300 on each console, gets an artificial signal to build more consoles, and then eats the cost of making those additional consoles. Game industry starts to learn the difference between "market share" and "real profits".

    15. Re:Good Lord by Wdomburg · · Score: 1

      I think your theory only works if they decide to stop producing them before the guy who wants one and will buy the accessories gets one.

      That's why I said, "That only works if production outstrips demand." :)

    16. Re:Good Lord by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      But $900 > $300, and buying a console increases their market share and makes the PS3 look better to developers (even if game sales end up not reflecting the PS3 you bought) and Blu-Ray look better to studios (even if movie sales don't reflect the PS3 you bought), and in any event helps PS3 marketing trumpet their continuing-to-be-sold-out super-popular console that you aren't cool if you don't have (even drinkypoo owns one!) Compare the financial damage done to Sony if they have to manufacture another console, vs. if their console flops due to lack of market share and all that R&D moolah and bet-the-farm-on-Blu-Ray strategizing doesn't pan out.

      There is no conceivable way in which you do more harm to Sony by buying one of their consoles than by not buying a console. So if you hate Sony that much and want to hurt them, don't buy the console. If you really want to hurt them, try to discourage the non-fanbois interested in the console not to get one by telling them how Sony has shafted customers recently.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    17. Re:Good Lord by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      "They've already accepted and budgeted the loss from a sale of a console. You're not going to hurt them by doing this.

      They budgeted for you to buy the console AND 3 or 4 games. Not 0. Yes, it would hurt them.

      "You hurt them by *not buying it in the first place*. They are *not* prepared to eat the total cost of the console, and therefore *not buying the console at all* would be the proper way to hurt the manufacturer."

      The price of an unsold item would drop until somebody picked it up. Then, in theory, they'd go pick up games as well. If you buy a system and do not purchase games, that loss is done. If you skip purchasing the system, they'll recoup the money down the road... mabye not as much, but it'd still happen.

      Yes, you can hurt Microsoft or Sony by buying their system and never buying games. The problem is the numbers are really really small.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    18. Re:Good Lord by Turken · · Score: 1

      Actually, the real problem in this whole thread which nobody seems to realize is that if someone buys a PS3 but without any games or movies "to hurt sony," the real hurt is going to be on THEM, because they just spent $600 on a really big expensive paperweight.

    19. Re:Good Lord by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Boy you're right about that. At least the PSP could be modded to play ROMS and home-brew.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    20. Re:Good Lord by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sony will never die, and the PS3 will never fail. This can be attributed to two letters (or the same letter, repeated):

      FF

      As long as Final Fantasy is on the system, doesn't matter how expensive it is, it'll sell, and sell tons.

    21. Re:Good Lord by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Considering the size of the PS3 "ons" is like, what, 3 units?

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    22. Re:Good Lord by Reapman · · Score: 1

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Associat ion

      Really? Just Sony? Ya your right, I never heard of those other pipsqueek companies before either..

    23. Re:Good Lord by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 1

      When you buy a PS3, you get a (really powerful) processor, a hard drive, a graphics card, and some accelerometers. What if someone figures out how to salvage these for alternate uses? (E.g., sells the hard drive, rents out supercomputing time, etc.) Then, it would be a much smaller loss per purchase, or perhaps even profitable.

      And if it is profitable to do that: bye bye, Sony.

    24. Re:Good Lord by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's true... I don't care about the console... I care about Final Fantasy...(except 11, because online is dumb :)

    25. Re:Good Lord by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      People who don't want to camp out in front of stores just to get a console, AKA people with more money than time, perhaps?

      Just a guess...

    26. Re:Good Lord by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      You say tomato, I say BluRay is better than HD-DVD. Just because you're not personally in favor of BluRay doesn't mean Sony's trying to force some sort of undesirable format on the market. Granted, they've done that with a lot of their proprietary media, but BluRay was developed by a consortium of which Sony was merely a part. If you really want to punish the sort of behavior you're describing, then don't buy BluRay OR HD-DVD, because the only reason the formats weren't merged in the first place was ego and stubbornness on both sides.

    27. Re:Good Lord by HappySqurriel · · Score: 1

      Final Fantasy X sold 7.93 Million units world wide on the PS2 and Metal Gear Solid 2 sold 5.59 units world wide on the PS2 (the two games everyone uses for this argument); even if you assume that no one who owned Final Fantasy X bought Metal Gear Solid 2, and that people who bought these games bought the PS2 for these games, that would mean that 13.5 Million PS2s were sold for these games. To put this in perspective, both the XBox and Gamecube sold over 20 Million units and the PS2 sold over 100 Million units.

      The fact is that even if Sony can maintain exclusivity over Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Tekken and Soul Calibur their sales are not ensured to be greater than about 15-20 Million units; Sony doesn't make these games and they are likely to show up on other consoles in one form or another. If Sony really starts to trail the Wii (as an example) it is quite possible for Square Enix to make a (real) Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest game for the Wii, exactly like they have for the Nintendo DS.

      No publishers are loyal to a particular console, they are loyal to their stockholders; if they can make more money by producing a Final Fantasy game for the Wii then they could by making it for the PS3 the game will be produced for the Wii.

    28. Re:Good Lord by DoktorSeven · · Score: 1

      Wow. Where do I start?

      Okay, I don't like HD-DVD either, really, but given Sony's backing of technologies like UMD, MiniDisk, SDDS, and Betamax, I think it'd be a good bet to back HD-DVD over whatever Sony supports.

      Okay, it's not just Sony behind BR, sue me. But they seem to be the biggest backer, given that they're rolling out a game system designed to artifically create a user base for the format though gamers wanting to just play games on the console.

      And in a sense, yeah, you could say that just buying the console and nothing else would also hurt various other ways, but come on -- what would really hurt worse, making some of the money back off of selling machines only, or *not making hardly any money at all due to almost no one buying*? I think the latter. All that time designing, creating, manufacturing, advertising, gathering support from third parties, and *nothing comes of it*? Talk about something that could ruin a company. We are talking about Sony here, so complete ruin isn't really much of a possibility, but man, would it still hurt.

      Okay?

      --
      This is a sig. Deal with it.
    29. Re:Good Lord by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually it will be a 600 dollar linux box. The possibilities are endless. With the HD output and bluray (for what that's worth) I'm thinking media center.

    30. Re:Good Lord by donaldm · · Score: 1

      The following Ars Technica story give more detail http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061116-8239 .html however it still is what is called "rubbery figures" in that it is a so called "technical estimate" which is based on something but that something is not defined, however they do have a nice shiny chart to the tune of Sony loosing $240 (about $60 difference). The best way of determining truth here is get a cost breakdown from Sony and they aren't talking not that I blame them. Personally I do think they are taking a hit per machine but in dollar terms I don't know.

      When I see the following quote ""It's common for video-game console makers to lose money on hardware, and make up for the loss via video game-title sales". The article always looses credibility since it really was Microsoft who actually did this not Sony (they did make a small initial loss on the PS2 though) or Nintendo. A typical urban legend quote that seems to be dragged up a lot especially by blogger's and games writers to lend credence to their stories.

      Still if you believe the article and really hate Sony and would like to make them loose money then you best get out there and purchase a PS3 after-all this is what happened to the Xbox to the tune of over $4 Billion. On a more serious note if you are going to buy a new console then which one are you going to buy since all the vendors want your money and patronage and to be brutally honest don't give a damn about you.

      My recommendation to anyone is to buy the console that you can afford which has the games you like and can also afford.

      --
      There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
    31. Re:Good Lord by IrquiM · · Score: 1

      The fact that they are using blueray for ps3 games is not only to force the public to buy blueray products. It also gives you the possibility to create bigger games that you can put on one CD. As game development moves forward, 360 owners will have a hard time changing DVDs or using half of 360 processing power to uncompress gamedata, while ps3 can store raw data on the blueray discs.

      Why blame Sony for using bigger discs to store games on? Using HD-DVD discs for ps3 gameplay was, I bet, never a possibility ;)

      --
      This is blinging
    32. Re:Good Lord by Weedlekin · · Score: 1

      "Yes, you can hurt Microsoft or Sony by buying their system and never buying games."

      But not as much as you hurt yourself. To make Sony lose $300, you have to lose $600 (it is lost because you are buying something you never intend to use), so you hurt yourself twice as much as you hurt Sony. I don't know how much MS lose on each current XBox-360, but I'm willing to bet that it's a lot less than they cost at retail, so once again to hurt Microsoft, you've got to hurt yourself a lot more. It's a bit like standing in a swarm of bees and letting them sting you because you really hate bees, and know that every sting will kill one, or letting a bully punch you in the face until his hand hurts, and then sitting in hospital after extensive facial reconstructive surgery thinking "Hey, I really showed him. I bet his knuckles will be sore for days...".

      "The problem is the numbers are really really small."

      That's because not many people are stupid enough to throw six hundred bucks down the toilet to make Sony lose half that (while increasing Sony's market share figures, and therefore the number of games companies and movie studios that produce content, thus providing more incentive for others to buy a PS3) when they could also hurt them spending $250 on a Wii, or spending nothing and not buying a console at all.

      --
      I'm not going to change your sheets again, Mr. Hastings.
  2. Sony's Plan by keithpreston · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1. Lose Money on Each System 2. Sell less systems, create marketing hype 3. Systems become cheaper to make 4. Finally meet demand 5. Profit!!

    1. Re:Sony's Plan by gregtron · · Score: 2

      Or they could cut out the middle men and just sell over ebay for $1200 a pop.

    2. Re:Sony's Plan by Pharmboy · · Score: 1

      I had a similar idea: Sony pre-sells the first 10,000 to 30,000 units on eBay, which gets a ton of cash, then you donate the excess over normal price to a worthwhile charity, which helps them and gets you good PR value.

      They cut out the profiteers, get the boxes to the fools willing to pay anything to get them, help some people/organizations, get some good press. Everyone wins. Except the profiteers.

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    3. Re:Sony's Plan by tuffy · · Score: 1

      How about:
      1. Sell few systems to customers
      2. Third parties lose money making games for system, since there's few customers
      3. Third parties abandon system for ones that do make money
      4. Customers abandon system for ones with more games
      5. Sony abandons system - takes big loss

      For a system like the PS3 that relies heavily on licensing third party games to be profitable, not getting systems into people's living rooms is a major problem.

      --

      Ita erat quando hic adveni.

  3. Re:figures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Damn man, I know people want FP, but slow the fuck down and type in English!

  4. Re:figures by forrestf · · Score: 1

    more like im doing 15 things at one here at work,, anyway, i think the ps3 will do OK if they can get the supply up to the demand, tho them blu-ray drives and the cell processors i hear are hard to make and the process is not yet streamlined to a good point.

  5. Re:figures by kinglink · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You forgot the biggest problem, if the parts are hard to break and new, how do we know they will still work 1 year from now? The answer, they probably won't. If you thought the 360 had hardware failure, wait until Blu-ray starts dropping left and right.

    The numbers are awful, but if the failure rate is as high as I expect it's going to be a sad sad day for Sony/consumers.

  6. Am I dissapointed? by linuxg0d · · Score: 1

    Yes. Am I surprised? No.

    It's surprising how demand for these are so high and production is so low. I mean, just yesterday we read about millions of iPhones coming for EARLY next year... but PS3, which has been anticipated is going to launch with a paltry number of units? Seems to me that Sony don't really care much about their customer base.

    Well, not so much the base as the loyalty. Good bye Mr. Sony, hello Mr. Wii.

    1. Re:Am I dissapointed? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Am I dissapointed? Yes. Am I surprised? No.


      Rumsfeld, is that you? Go look for a job instead of posting on Slashdot!

      All the best,
      G.W. Bush
  7. FEWER? by Rydia · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What, are they going to have negative PS3s?

    1. Re:FEWER? by Quaoar · · Score: 1

      Well, considering they lose $300 for each one they sell, perhaps it would be better to lose -$300...

      --
      I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
    2. Re:FEWER? by GrayCalx · · Score: 3, Funny

      Just make sure not to hook it up to your friend's real/positive PS3. If they collide the universe ends.

    3. Re:FEWER? by C_Kode · · Score: 1

      Well, considering they lose $300 for each one they sell, perhaps it would be better to lose -$300...

      At a loss of -$300 for each PS3 not sold they will be billionaires in no time!

    4. Re:FEWER? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 1

      Yeah, to get one on launch day, you're going to have to have 1) your pre-order ticket 2) a sweet place at the front of the line of people waiting overnight 3) $600 4) A PS3 to give them so they have one to sell to you.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  8. Extrapolating by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, at E3 there were going to be a million, then they had to reduce it to 400,000 a few months before launch. Then the day before, the announced there would only be 200,000. So I'm expecting them at about 6pm to say they only have 100,000 in retail stores, then at 9pm, they'll announce that due to an error some boxes did not have a PS3 placed in them before shipping, so really stores only have 50,000 or so, and then at 11 they'll announce contract dispute with retailers, meaning only 20,000 will be allowed to be sold, and at midnight they'll announce that the North American launch has been delayed until March 2007.

    Don't say I didn't warn you.

    1. Re:Extrapolating by eclectro · · Score: 1

      Don't say I didn't warn you.

      I'm not worried. I will still get the empty box I can sell on ebay for a fortune!

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    2. Re:Extrapolating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Our school newspaper (The Penn State Daily Collegian) had a caption under the front page picture of people camping out in front of Best Buy: "The store will ony get 26 PS3 units, 20 are 20 GB units and 6 are 60 GB units. There are only 5,000 in the world."

    3. Re:Extrapolating by stuffman64 · · Score: 1

      Hah, I saw that too. The guy at Best Buy said it was the other way around with the units, however- 20 60GB and 6 20GB.

      --
      --- At my sig, unleash hell.
  9. You think? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fewer units than WE hoped for, or than SONY hoped for?

    Though personally I don't care anymore. I'll wait for the price to hit $250.

  10. Mod parent up! by SoapDish · · Score: 1

    I wish your comment had line breaks, because it is really insightful!

    I suggest people mod it up anyway.

  11. The Real Launch? by miyako · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm really not that upset about the shortages of available PS3s. I want one, but really, those guys that I saw with their tents set up outside of best buy on my way to work this morning, tents covered with a layer of ice- they want it more than I do- and so that's fine.
    The thing is, I do wish sony would just come out and admit that this isn't really so much of a launch as a preview. Then they could tell us when they are going to really launch- launch as in, if I were to stand in line for 3 or 4 hours I would be able to get one. That's the thing, I would be willing to stand in line for several hours- maybe even camp out- if I thought there was any sort of reasonable chance of getting one. The fact is that if I lined up in front of best buy this evening and tried to get one at 8am tomorrow, I would be probably like the 20th person in line to NOT get one.
    I will stand in line for the Wii though- not that I want it more than the PS3 (I'm actually slightly less excited about it, because until I actually have a chance to play it I'm still just not sure how well the wiimote is going to work out) but because i know that I might actually have a chance to get one.

    --
    Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
    1. Re:The Real Launch? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haven't you seen the Red Steel commercial? The Wiimote is going to work out shittily. All it took was one commercial to kill all interest I had in the wii.

    2. Re:The Real Launch? by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      those guys that I saw with their tents set up outside of best buy on my way to work this morning, tents covered with a layer of ice-

      I would love to be there when the last dude gets one, and all the losers who camped out for days behind him still go home empty-handed. A good round of "laugh at the huge losers" would be a lot more entertaining than any PS3 game.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  12. $300? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we assume every game sold earns Sony $20, then each of these PS3s would need to have 15 games sold. Drop it to the more realistic $10 (or less) per game in fees, and we're talking like 30 games/system sold to break even.

    I'm not saying it's not true, it just seems unlikely. Sony can't realistically expect to get 30+ games sold/system.

    My word to post anonymously was "consoles". What're the odds?

    1. Re:$300? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      AFAIK the cost of games is supposed to go up by like $15. I'd assume that $10 of that is an increase in licensing fees. Then again, it remains to be seen what will actually happen.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  13. Of course... by Cervantes · · Score: 1

    Of course they're shipping fewer units. They know they're not going to beat the 360 or Wii heads up, so they're hoping to create an artificial shortage and get some news stories about frazzled geeks sitting outside the store for days to buy one, or spending thousands on eBay. Unfortunately, that's the only kind of publicity the PS3 is likely to get, other than a lot of people renaming it "PS teh suXXXor"

    --
    If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
    1. Re:Of course... by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      thanks for the name, but we're already calling it the Piss3

      --The Sony Sucks club

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  14. Linguo to the rescue! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    Hello,

    This is Linguo, the Grammar Robot. I see that you are trying to communicate with people on the Internet. After reading your message, it's obvious you either suffered a severe epileptic fit while trying to type or you need help making your message clear.

    Assuming it's the latter, here are my suggestions. You wrote:
    I knew this would happen, it too new of techongly, the parts for the ps3 are hard to make, and thuis sluppy is short, this could really hurt sony

    You probably meant to write:

    I knew this would happen. The Blu-Ray technology is too new and hard to manufacture, creating a limited supply of PS3 consoles and other Blu-Ray players. The lack of units for sale could really hurt Sony.

    Had you been coherent enough, Slashdot would have been blessed with clear but obvious statements that look like a desperate attempt to boost your karma. I hope for your sake that you were indeed suffering from an epileptic seizure and are smarter than you appear.

    Regards,
    Linguo
    1. Re:Linguo to the rescue! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dear Someone Better Than You,

      Due to the apparent inability to spell the word "their" in the original post, such errors are not limited to the "finer points" of English. The submitted excuse is not valid and cannot be accepted by our systems. Please submit a valid excuse. Thank you.

  15. There still are 20 gigs by rjhubs · · Score: 1

    I fear this rumor is untrue, well at least where they say there will be no 20 gig units in the U.S. The gamestop near me claims they only have 20 gig units.

  16. Hardware, not Software? by MeanderingMind · · Score: 1
    Due to the limited initial installed base of the platforms, we believe the financial impact over the holiday period will be more significant for hardware manufacturers and video game retailers (such as GameStop) than for software publishers


    I fail to see how having fewer PS3s availible has less impact on the potential sales of titles for the system. It looks to me as a "everybody loses" situation, with this being the most positive way to word it. Better than, "Hey, some of you are slightly less screwed!"
    --
    Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
  17. The shortages are due to the fact that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the PS3 is so powerful, there can be only ONE.

  18. Re:figures by Pharmboy · · Score: 1

    Let me guess: You live in China and your job is to translate all those instruction manuals into English?

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
  19. Re:figures by flitty · · Score: 0

    Imagine the lawsuit payout you'll get this time around for the lasers that break, like the ps2 settlement! Keep your receipts kids, hell, tape it to the system, the blu ray laser might cost $599 to repair. On second thought, the ps3 battery might explode into flames, better keep that receipt in a fireproof safe. from 1 million to 200,000? I'd be fired if I only performed at 20%!

    --
    Whether or not there is some sort of god, I'm not supposed to say/god is a word and the argument ends there-Smog
  20. 20GB PS3s are still shipping. by shadowzero313 · · Score: 1

    The Fred Meyer by my house has a confirmed 2 60GB and 2 20GB shipment of PS3s.

    1. Re:20GB PS3s are still shipping. by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      4 units does not a shipment make.

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  21. Microsoft's has significantly lower costs by ConfusedSelfHating · · Score: 2, Interesting
    http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35 784

    The difference between the cost of the parts of an Xbox 360 and a low end PS3 is $482.55. Even with manufacturing costs and other costs getting the system to the store, in order for Microsoft to lose as much money per console as Sony they would have to price an Xbox 360 at $99.

    Microsoft makes over 10 billion dollars a year in profit. They can afford to lose money in the short term for long term profits. Video on demand is going to be huge. Once they get a large install base, they can start providing video download services for other electronic manufacturers. You could buy a Toshiba DVD player which has video on demand provided by Microsoft. Microsoft and Toshiba would each make a few pennies for each download that the customer makes. There will be competitors, but that's business. While Sony has Blu Ray as its huge potential market, Microsoft has video on demand.

    If Microsoft wanted to really screw Sony, they could have a one day sale with the Xbox 360 premium and a copy of Gear of War for $299. If they feel like it, throw in a year of Xbox Live Gold and a copy of Project Gotham Racing 3. Or a Core system with a memory card and a copy of Project Gotham Racing for $199. Nov 16 would be a great date. Right between the PS3 and Wii launch. It would cost Microsoft money, but it would steal thunder from their competitors. Of course, it's too late now.

    It will be interesting to see whether the PS3 is worth $499 for the low end model. I honestly believe that people will buy the Wii regardless of what it costs or what the other console makers do. You're either a Wii fan or your not.

    1. Re:Microsoft's has significantly lower costs by Psychotext · · Score: 1

      I'm wondering where the inq got the current number for the MS BOM. The last one I saw is detailed here: http://www.linuxelectrons.com/News/Hardware/200511 24115105551

      Anyone know if there is a more up to date one somewhere?

      --
      People that believe in their opinions don't post AC.
  22. You think the U.S. has it bad? by Thwomp · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Taiwan will only have 500 units for the whole country! Granted there are only about 23m people living there but still... why bother?

  23. /. ticker for PS3 by HockeyPuck · · Score: 1

    What's with all the PS3 articles? Is this the only thing /. can come up with to report? Actually, they're all the same article "5 days left..." "4 days left..." "shortage article #1" "shortage article #2"

    WHere's the news? Change the Tagline to:

    News for PS3 Owners. Stuff that doesn't matter.

    1. Re:/. ticker for PS3 by dlc3007 · · Score: 1

      Gee... I dunno. Maybe there are stories about the PS3 in the "games" section of /. because this is the GAMES section of /.
      I realize that is hard to comprehend.... news about games in the games section of an on-line discussion forum. Think about it for a bit and get back to us, will you?

    2. Re:/. ticker for PS3 by ukpylot · · Score: 1
      News for PS3 Owners. Stuff that doesn't matter.
      No, no one who reads this wants a PS3 so it should be News for Sony Haters. Stuff that doesn't matter.
    3. Re:/. ticker for PS3 by hurfy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      C'mon even my local paper had 2 PS3/Wii stories today. Including a decent description for the features of both. This is Spokane i would hope that a nerdy site would outgun us on gaming 'info' ;)

  24. Re:figures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do us all a favor and actually work at work, instead of typing broken sentences on slashdot.

  25. Well my "inside" source says... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I mentioned this in another thread, but my brother works at one of the local Toys R Us stores, and he received their PS3 shipment yesterday.

    They got three.

    Apparently they are supposed to receive another five today.

    They have around fifteen or so pre-orders, so needless to say he's going to have an interesting weekend at work.

  26. .. or not do anything and still see Sony screw up by jchenx · · Score: 2, Interesting
    If Microsoft wanted to really screw Sony, they could have a one day sale with the Xbox 360 premium and a copy of Gear of War for $299. If they feel like it, throw in a year of Xbox Live Gold and a copy of Project Gotham Racing 3. Or a Core system with a memory card and a copy of Project Gotham Racing for $199. Nov 16 would be a great date. Right between the PS3 and Wii launch. It would cost Microsoft money, but it would steal thunder from their competitors. Of course, it's too late now.
    I was thinking the same thing, but now I believe that not doing anything is really the best idea. Sony has already screwed up many times, so much so that it's almost expected to have "bad Sony news" at least once a week. There's already a ton of excitement (user generated too, not hype) over Gears of War. Retailers have already come up with their own discounts and bundles, to entice disgruntled gamers who didn't get a PS3. Officially coming out with their own bundle or price-drop probably won't improve things all that much more already, but it does come at great cost.
    --
    -- jchenx
  27. Since when is Taiwan a country? by MooseTick · · Score: 1, Funny

    I thought you were owned by China now. That means "your" country only has 500 PS3s for 1 billion people!

  28. Re:figures by Kelbear · · Score: 1

    Forrestf posted first @02:29pm

    Pharmboy typo-critiques @02:55pm

    Forrestf rebutts Pharmboy @02:36pm

    It looks like the experiment was a success!

    http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/1 6/0337230

  29. Re:figures by The+Eagle+Maint · · Score: 1

    To this point, I would also like to note that the manufacturer's warranty on the PS3 is only 90 days. The Wii's is 1 year. Might want to consider those service plans when you pick up your system tomorrow.

  30. Sony has more than just number of unit issues. by Drakin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Today's the 16th. One day before launch.

    We finally got 1/3 of our (reduced) allotment of launch date PS3's in. The other two are who knows where.

    No launch games have been delivered, nor have any of the accessories.

    Sony, in it's infinite wisdom, seems to have given ever box it's own purchase order number. Which means that the carriers make no attempt to keep all the boxes together, which they would with a single P.O. number.

    So, we have 2 PS3's. No games. No accessories.

    Nintendo however has nearly doubled our launch allotment of the Wii.

    1. Re:Sony has more than just number of unit issues. by Premo_Maggot · · Score: 1

      Where do you work? That would help a little.

      --
      Good karma sticks to me like velcro on a piece of plexiglass.
      Move along, citizen.
    2. Re:Sony has more than just number of unit issues. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      We finally got 1/3 of our (reduced) allotment of launch date PS3's in. The other two are who knows where.

      The other 2/3 fell off a truck.
    3. Re:Sony has more than just number of unit issues. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was driving around to a few stores tonight to research the PS3/Wii situation.

      Target:
          o Wii
              + an area for Wii was reserved already
              + acessories were for sale
              + they had a free disc and a DVD for one cent (this was amusing to pay at the checkout, i was tempted to use my debit card, but i found a penny in my pocket)
          o PS3
              + PS3 demo unit was on display and working
              + i saw no accessories or games
              + the employee said 6 units were going to be for sale tomorrow, which presumably were spoken for since there was a small group of about 6 people out in front of the store
      Best Buy:
          o Wii
              + I saw no sign of anything Wii related yet (but they had a gamecube on display)
              + the manager had no estimates of how many Wii they would get
          o PS3
              + a PS3 unit was on display and working
              + I did not see any reserved space for accessories or games anywhere yet
      Circuit City:
          o Wii
              + an area for Wii was reserved with a few empty boxes
              + one accessory was for sale (tote bag)
          o PS3
              + i did not find anything on display inside for PS3
              + there was a small crowd out front with tents and such
      EB:
          o Wii
              + Wii unit on display and working, playing Excite Truck
              + anyone who wanted to play it had to give their ID to the store clerk (presumably so you don't run off with the Wii controller)
          o PS3
              + employee said the pre-orders for employees were pushed back to offer PS3s to their pre-order customers first
      Toys R Us:
          o Wii
              + A large area was reserved for Wii stuff, but there was only some signs and a single (empty) Wii box
              + they were not sure if they would have additional units for sale on Sunday beyond the pre-orders
          o PS3
              + I saw no sign of any PS3 stuff on display yet
      Wal-Mart:
          o Wii
              + a small games area reserved for Wii
              + above it, a TV screen was showing a video loop demo of how to use the controller and such
          o PS3
              + a PS3 unit was on display, but it was frozen (including some graphical glitches)
              + a sign at the electronics cashier stand said they "regret [they] may not recieve the expected quantity of 10 units, but over the next 3 weeks [they] will receive additional shipments to fulfill the *original* quantity of 10".

      (i tried to nicely format this with ul/li, but the comment filter kept telling me i didn't have enough characters per line)

    4. Re:Sony has more than just number of unit issues. by Drakin · · Score: 1

      I work for a Wal-Mart in Canada.

      The remaining units (20 gigs. The previous 2 were 60 gigs) arrived within roughly 30mins of the store opening. All were sold out as soon as they were in the department. No idea when or how many PS3s should be expected in the short or long term. Games and accessories also arrived with this shipment.

      Nintendo on the other hand, has delivered us all the Wiis we've been allocated for launch (27, up from the original allotment of 15) as of today, and has confirmed another 21 will be arriving within the next 2 weeks.

  31. Re:figures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Exactly why I don't buy Sony products anymore. A $500-600 piece of hardware shoud be guaranteed to work for at least a year.

    My PS2 broke after 4 months. With a little Photoshop magic, I was able to "extend" my 90-day warranty to cover it. It then broke again, 2 weeks after I got it back. It then broke again about 4-5 months later and I haven't touched it since. I've also Photoshopped receipts for a few of my friend's defective PS2s (all of which no longer work now).

    Broken DVD players, CD changers, car head units. No exaggeration, 4 out of 5 Sony products that friends or family own are broken at least partially. I try as hard as I can to plead with family and friends to stay away from Sony. Sony makes shit quality products now, with crappy warranties. It's sad because they used to make quality stuff.

  32. Re:figures by StikyPad · · Score: 1

    if the parts are hard to break and new, how do we know they will still work 1 year from now?

    What?!?!

    "Goddamnit, I can't break this controller. How the hell am I supposed to calculate the expected lifetime if I can't even break it in the first place?"

  33. Surely it's obvious... by ciw42 · · Score: 1

    ...to everyone that Sony are only releasing the bare minimum number of consoles to keep the public's interest in their latest console?

    At launch they're losing so much on each unit sold that they're no doubt just waiting to build demand before starting larger (and therefore lower cost per unit) runs of the necessary high cost components.

  34. Re: Fewer PS3 Units Tomorrow Than Hoped For? by TheRon6 · · Score: 1

    Fewer PS3 Units Tomorrow Than Hoped For?

    I doubt that considering I've been hoping for NONE. So unless Sony has started making their PS3s out of anti-matter (which, by the way, is more plentiful and cheaper than PS3s) then they will probably exceed my personal expectations.

    --
    Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?
  35. Re:figures by IrquiM · · Score: 1

    Depends on the legislation of the country!

    --
    This is blinging