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PS3 Price Drop Won't Happen Anytime Soon
1up is reporting on comments from SCEA's Jack Tretton, who responded to the question "Will we see the PS3's price drop?" with the point blank answer of not anytime soon. Mr. Tretton responded with what has now become the Sony party line: it cost a lot to develop, and gamers are getting a lot of machine for their money. Therefore, the high price is justified if you consider what is being offered. From the article: "By way of comparison, the PS2 dropped a hundred bucks in price during the first 550 days of its lifespan -- from $299 to $199 USD. Tretton's words would seem to suggest that the PS3's price point may take significantly longer than a mere year and a half to reach the same threshold. Given that scenario, one would really hope that Sony has some kind of ace-in-the-hole for keeping our collective attention (and purchasing enthusiasm) squarely focused on the PS3."
In before jokes that the PS3 won't be around that long!
"This thing does science so hard, you say, 'I've never seen that much science.'" -Sam
Sony's trying to find out if there really is no such thing as bad publicity.
While it may be true that a PS3 price drop from Sony is not in the near term, what about things like rebates? Technically a rebate or other incentive, like free games with purchase, are not price drops. I think it is a safe bet that if PS3's continue to lounge about on shelves as some have reported, we'll see some kind of deal sweeteners that effectively reduce the price of ownership for consumers. Once those sales plateau, then the real price drops will come.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Surprisingly the ebay prices are starting to drop. A half second look showed $289 plus $25 on buy it now, and that doesn't get socked with a 7% tax. So your talking about $50 bucks markup.
This story isn't really news. Everyone knows that, even at $600, Sony is selling the PS3 far below cost. It's an expensive product to manufacture that includes a lot of new technologies. It will take a while for their costs to drop. If Sony were to reduce the price, it would certainly increase sales. However, increasing sales and increasing your losses at the same time is not necessarily a good thing since it obviously leads to significantly more money lost.
There is always a fine line to walk when balancing your prices with your volumes. When every sale is essentially an investment in the future (for the company, not for the idiots who think buying a $600 console now is an investment for when there will be better games out), then that line is infinitely thinner. People can argue all they want about how smart Sony was to pick such complicated components for their console. However, that decision is in the past now and Sony has to make their future decisions regarding pricing based on the product they have.
And then there are the scumbags advertizing wii sports as 5 games..... (nintendo Wii + Zelda + 5 games!)
:)
God I hate E-Bay
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
Based on recent behavior you may think that Sony isn't the brightest company in the world, but they certainly know enough to not divulge even a rumor of a price drop until said price drop is imminent. Nobody pre-announces price drops, because the first-order effect of doing so is to reduce your current sales. With PS3s sitting on the shelves, do you think they want to bring sales to a complete halt while people wait for the price break? There are probably enough people doing that already on the assumption that a price drop will occur; that would be everyone if they knew the price was going to drop at a specific point in time.
Now companies do pre-announce price drops near to the actual change, in order to get people who might also be interested in the competitor to wait for their product, but in a narrow enough time window to not significantly harm their own sales at the previous price.
So basically all this means is that Sony is definitely not dropping the price this month. In three months, if they truly aren't selling and Xbox continues to build its lead, then you'll maybe see something.
The enemies of Democracy are
I brought this up one time in a forum and most people just blew me off, but I still believe it to be true. Some people say they will not get a PS3. Others have a wait and see approach. And others will "wait for the price to drop" (a lot). It's only a sliver which actually bought them.
So what's the problem here? With everyone WAITING for the ps3 to drop in price, no one is purchasing them so economies of scale will actually ramp up. Sony is probably already loath to produce units for much longer since they're already sitting on the shelves just about everywhere. Unless that killer game comes out pretty soon, the price hit for the ps3 may last longer than Sony anticipated - which would probably make the ps3 even more of a financial liability.
You're splitting hairs. Sony makes the same per unit whether a retailer sells it for 200% MSRP or 50%, or throws it out the window.
Not that the Japanese store discounts are insignificant. It costs money (albeit indirectly) to maintain inventory, especially in smaller retail stores, so they're just trying to get rid of the excess; i.e. it's probably a temporary thing given the initial "let's stock as many as we can in anticipation of non-stop sellouts!" But if this keeps up, it indicates retailers aren't shifting units and will thus stop ordering from Sony. That's when the shit will really hit the fan.
why? forty-two.
I was under the impression that the XBox360 was a far better value for $399. Especially since games look the same and that many game developers (including Carmack) are whispering that the 360 performs better than the PS3.
But then I realized that if you want to connect the 360 via 802.11, they want an additional $99 for a WiFi adapter!! Now we are up to $499 and getting to the PS3 price range. And WiFi is included with the PS3...
Heh. Do they advertise Rayman as 70 games, Monkey Ball as 50 games, and Wario Ware as... however many mini games it has? "Wii + Zelda + 200 games!"
The enemies of Democracy are
He doesn't want to piss off the early adopters or cause people to wait for the price drop, so obviously he's going to say "No way is there going to be a price drop." However, the reality is that the PS3 are not moving. Yes, they don't want to lose even more money on the consoles, but losing $400 as opposed to not only losing $600 but losing mindshare and losing the support of video game manufacturers that won't develop games if not enough people buy the PS3.
Reality dictates that unless there's a miraculous sudden spike of PS3 sales they will be *forced* to drop the prices.
Seriously, what did you expect? Look back before the PS2 price drop: mere days before, there officially wasn't going to be one. Then it happened.
Anyone would be shooting themselves in the foot to announce a price drop, especially for a product like this, anytime early. What are you expecting? "Yeah, a year from now, it's going to be $299. Why don't you all just hold off buying one til then?" This would kill their market. Idiotic self-deluding fanboy fantasies to the contrary, this isn't going to happen; but that doesn't mean they won't drop the price a year or two from now.
Right now they're sticking to the "this is worth a lot, you're getting a lot when you buy it" mantra, which, mathematically speaking, still holds true.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
I believe they are talking about Sony dropping the price. Retailers will always adjust the price based on market demand, in this case I guess they couldn't sell any PS3's the the cost to them from Sony hasn't dropped. That's what TFA seems to be about.
"reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
Amazingly, it seemed to work. Before I got my Wii, I kept an eye on the eBay prices. The Wiis that were advertising "Wii + 5 Games!" consistently sold higher than the Wiis that didn't.
All I can say is, I'm constantly surprised at how many gullible people there are in the world.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
It's still more honest than the Famiclone makers who advertise their 8-bit knockoff as a "9,999,999-IN-1" system because it has a version of Super Mario Bros. where you start on Level 1-2, a version where you start with a Fire Flower, a version where you start with 10 fewer seconds on the clock, etc.
The only place you can get non-bundled PS3s right now is supposedly Circuit City online - non of their stores have them instock.
:(
I could walk into Best Buy right now and get one. I went one day, and they had a dozen. I returned the next day -- when a shipment of Wii was supposed to arrive -- and all the Wii had sold in an hour, but they still had 11 PS3.
Online stores do still seem to be in short supply.
The Wii was tough to find until about a week or two ago but now Wiis are everywhere.
Where do you live? All the shops around here sold out of the shipments they got at the start of the week right away, and the online store trackers are only listing Walmart as having their $650 bundle in stock. I wish it was easy to find a Wii.
The enemies of Democracy are
But would you want to have to run Windows on this 1.5 terabyte fileserver? Or has Windows XB 360 been updated to be able to stream media from any HTTP or SMB server, not just Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition?
With the high price tag and the lack of games, not too many people are going to be burned by buying now.
to get me to replace my PS2 or add to my plethora of gaming options. I'm happy with my current - PC/PS2/NDS/X360/GCB setup. And counting all the great old SNES titles and other emulation games I barely have time to play if any - why do I need a PS3 or even want one? There's no reason really. Sony and it's partners have to convince me to buy it and they're doing a piss-poor job of that. A haughty, defiant attitude from Sony, exhorbant price tag and lack of titles doesn't cut it this day and time and I think we're going to see price drop if they can't get some great exclusive titles out in the next six months. They should have had the backwards PS2 compatibility thing ironed out by release and they definitely should have had a handful of -exclusive titles of high calibre- to sell the system in these first months. Unless they come up with the later they're not going to have a choice but to lower the cost of the unit to increase their base in the nextgen market. They've really screwed up on all fronts with the PS3 other than the superior firepower of the comnsole itself, which is what will save it eventually I think (if they get some games out) otherwise it's like a high performace, expensive engine in a pinto station wagon - what good is it?
Gaming for over 25 years
Wow your imagination is amazing ...
Playstation 3 Supply Surpasses Demand
PS3 in Stock, Wii Sold Out says Analyst
PS3 to miss sales targets by 25% - analyst
What are you babbling about? Every store that I've gone to looking for a Wii has had PS3s available. The Best Buy on the way home has at least 20 something in a stack. The Fry's also on the way home has at least 15. Even my local Costco is now selling PS3 bundles ($699 for the 60 Gig version, an extra controller, and Genji).
Meanwhile, no one has a Wii. At my local GameStop, the employees treat the phone with apprehension because of people still calling constantly to ask if they have a Wii.
Everyone I ask about the availability of a Wii says, "No, but we have these..." and gestures over at the PS3s. They are repeatedly unsurprised and often chagrined that nobody wants one, and most will agree that the price is a bit high or try to feebly up-sell you on one with a look that says they know that I'm not going to buy their pitch even as they timidly start into it.
The PS3 is a dog and will be until someone puts out a game that people care about (e.g. Final Fantasy XIII) or the price comes down. Meanwhile, if you've got Wii's everywhere -- put the dang things up on eBay for the rest of us already!!
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
...within the next year or so, and it's that damn blue laser. If the supplies get much more plentiful and the price on those go down, then the price on the PS3 can go down, too.
A re-design to remove the PS2 chipset would also result in a price drop, but that's probably not going to happen for at least a year.
So how long did it take Sega to lower the Saturn from its initial price? If Sony takes longer than that, I think they're screwed.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
Retailers are dropping prices because they're having trouble selling them. They're probably taking a hit at this point, just to shove them out the door. And since they had trouble selling and are taking a hit, more than likely, they will not be ordering as many PS3s from Sony so they don't get screwed over again.
Does anyone remember the NeoGeo? It was a great system around the time of the Super Nintendo. It was 24 bit as opposed to the Nintendo and the Sega at 16 bits each.. It did have a couple good games, but it was a complete flop. Why? It cost 600 bucks, and no one I know ever had one. It had a lot of power under the hood, but the price point was way too high. And now Sony is at the same price point. I have always loved my playstations, but 600 bucks is to steep just to play games, even if it does have other features. I can always use Linux on my home computer, after all..
Best Buy at Arundel Mills Mall, Hanover, MD. I counted 29... store associated said they had their last shipment Thursday, that was Saturday.
If you want the number, I'm sure you can look it up... bestbuy.com
Now, post as something other than AC.
Starmen.net
For some reason I read that as "Xbox360 plus Wii". Would the two of them cost less than a PS3? (Not sure what I'd do with a 360, though...)
"Not an actor, but he plays one on TV."
Did I "own" myself? You (I assume it was you, both are AC posts) asked for a location and number of a Best Buy that had machines in stock for more than a day. I provided one. Sorry to oblige!
I have also seen them (though to a lesser degree) at the local Target and EB Games at another mall. However, I did not ask how long they had said units, so I didn't thing it was relevant.
Starmen.net
Yeah, it's not like we see them around everyhere...
Oh wait...
Not that surprising really... Unless you live near stores that stockpile, it's not all that uncommon to walk into a Target/BestBuy/CircuitCity late in the afternoon and see a couple on the shelves.
I was noticing a few days ago that most of the above retail auctions on eBay for the Wii were going to Canadian bidders. It's hard to say now though, since eBay changed to not revealing the high bidder's user name. It's pretty clear that ones displayed as willing to ship to Canada are selling for more though.
From asking around, even in these Slashdot threads, it seems that if you live more than a half hour outside of a city in the US, you can get a Wii without any trouble now. THey've shipped so many of them, it's really not surprising that supply would be catching up with demand finally.
why aren't they dropping it in the US?
Still waiting for $299 USD.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
First off the 'Renew cards' are sold at retail, and often at a discount. I paid about $50 for almost 2 years of live since the old X-box Live cards were being clearenced (but they work for the 360).
Also Live is leaps and bounds better than the Free PS2/3 or Nintendo's network. I use Wifi on the Wii, and my DS, but if I could have a buy up option for a 'Live like service' I would do it.
To say you're 'content' with the free service isn't the same as 'they are of equal value' (Which is the assumption being made).
To say you're 'content' with the free service isn't the same as 'they are of equal value'
Of course not. But if I had the option of getting a PS2/3 style service for free on the XBox I, unlike you, would prefer that. The point is that no matter what level of service one desires from the XBox online offering, one MUST pay the $50 (or whatever deal can be trakced down. I didn't find any such deals and ended up paying %50).
Really? 'round here its the opposite. Everywhere I go I see Wiis sitting on the shelves, and they don't have a PS3 in stock. Pity your place and mine can't swap their stock around.
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
First, he's put out articles about the matter, which you (assuming you are also the AC he responded to) have yet to do. In fact, you also have yet to describe anywhere that is overflowing with Wiis.
The burden of proof is hardly on him. Even if you both present your anecdotal evidence, he still has three articles relating to smaller sales and in-stock PS3s.
You should follow your own advice.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
Yes, you are doing a very good job of that.
Exactly how does his statement regarding the named location of a store containing a stock of PS3s own him? Perhaps if you called the store, inquired as to their stock of PS3s, found they had none, and posted the entire conversation/phone number here for the edification of us all he might have. As it stands, we are baffled as to how his answering your question was an "idiotic thing to post".
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
While that isn't technically true (Live Silver is available which includes demo downloads, acheivement points, online leader boards, free expansions like the new Gears of War maps, etc...), In the spirit of this discussion I'll agree with you since if you want to play multiplayer online, you need to pay.
On a cost comparison basis though, one thing Sony fans like to bring up is the pay vs. free online service, but they seem to not mention the composite (non-HD) cables that are included in both Sku's. Souldn't that money for 1st party cables ($30 for Component or $60 for HDMI) also be included in the comparison?
I'm down. Seems like every freaking store in town here in Austin have PS3's laying around. My local bestbuy had 7 sitting there.
Been searching for a Wii for months. Stores wait until Sunday to sell them and lines form early. They sell out quick.
If I were a more trusting person I'd easily be willing to trade 2 new Wii's for a 20gb PS3. (or +$100 for a 60).
HDMI is an industry standard connector. Go to www.newegg.com and you can find a cable for $30, including shipping and tax that works just as well as the "Monster Cables".
Nice of Sony to include them in both the 20GB and 60GB models.
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
All consoles sales (and even sales in general) see a dramatic drop after Christmas. It's called holiday shopping, and very few people have much money to spend once it's over. If you take a look at the charts, at a site such as vgcharts.org, you'll see it in the data.
Another important thing to note is that while the Wii is doing about as well as the GameCube in the Americas, the launch data for both consoles shows the Wii is doing 4-5 times as well in Japan as the GameCube did.
I would also suggest you visit www.wiihaveaproblem.com. Aside from the humor of seeing the destruction the Wii remote can cause in the wrong hands, you will see videos of people playing games. A fair number of these people do not fit into the gamer demographic. There's also a video online of an old man enjoying the Wii at a retired persons conference (was it ARPA or AARP?). There is evidence of the Wii's appeal beyond anecdotes.
As it stands all three companies need to step up to the plate. As of yet, Microsoft is only beginning to get the right titles out for the 360, the PS3 is lacking anything that truly pushes its capabilities, and the Wii does need some games that take the remote to new places. It will be interesting to see who hits a home run first.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
Certainly a price drop would help, but a lot of what people are waiting for are good games to come out for the system. There is certainly lots of potential with the system, with it being the home of mega-hits such as Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, and so forth. However, with more exclusives getting away from Sony (such as Virtua Fighter and Grand Theft Auto), the more likely your average hardcore gamer is just going to wait until a price drop and/or the much-anticipated PS3 games to actually ship. (Well, that's certainly what I'm doing)
With the PS2, it was a no-brainer. You already knew that the Sony console was going to get all the big name games. Not so much with the PS3 anymore, and coupled with the high price, there's a lot of people sitting on the fence this time around.
-- jchenx
If a company were to offer no online multiplayer but to offer the above features would anyone enjoy it? The main (nearly only) reason to bring it online is for multiplayer.
The price for the cables? Yes, but not necessarily first party. If you're going HDMI, they can easily be found for around $10. If your stuck using component, then yes I think the only option is the proprietary PS connector on one end.
We can go back and forth on the exact worth of the consoles' features all day. To me, the PS3 20g is at least as good as the premium 360. So to my mind, for only $50 more (I'm counting XBL as being $50. That's what it cost me) I can get a blue-ray player which is a feature I wanted. For $150 more I got a bigger HD, WiFi, and card readers which are all valuable to me. Obviously different people will have different opinions.
It seems to me that it's a popular criticism on /. that the PS3 is doing poorly based on the fact that it can be found on the shelves.
The ps3 IS doing badly, relative to the Wii, but that ain't why.
HI, MY NAME IS ISAAC.
Sure. Many people sign up for Silver for the extra content on their offline games, and for Demos.
Nintendo also has many people using the Wii's online service despite the absence of online multiplayer games (at least so far).
We don't ignore that the lower cost PS3 exists, but the problem is all three consoles are affected by nearly equivalent factors, with some differences spread around. Comparing the unadorned, low-end of one console with a high-end, fully decked out version of another console is a shady endeavor at best.
It is true that if you want HD movies on the Xbox360, you need to spend $200 to get the adaptor. However, the PS3 (Either $500 or $600) does not come with the HD cable required to connect to a HDTV. That's $25-$60 if you want anything in HD at all.
The most important comparison between the consoles is the minimum requirements to get the experience they advertise. Wrangling about add-ons and how they can make any system expensive is disingenuous, because for the most part they affect all systems relatively evenly.
So, here's the minimum it takes to get you running.
Wii: Console ($250) [Comes with Remote, Nunchuck, Cables, Sensor Bar, Batteries and a Game]
Xbox360: Console ($400) [Comes with Controller, HD Cables, Batteries, and a Live Subscription for 1 month]
Game ($60)
PS3: Console ($600) [Comes with Controller, Cables, Batteries (assumed) and a free online service]
HD Cable ($25)
Game ($60)
While it is true that attempting to use the 360 and the PS3 for similar things will lead to them being approximately equivalent in cost (the HDDVD addon is $200), your statements about the Wii are largely inaccurate.
The NES, SNES, Genesis and TGX16 virtual console games can all use the regular remote. Only N64 and GameCube games require Classic or GameCube controllers, which for a GameCube owner isn't a problem as you'd already have some. Also, you can plug your GameCube memory cards into the system directly without having to purchase an adaptor. The Wii has internal Flash Memory and accepts SD cards for additional space. For a GameCube owner it costs nothing extra to take advantage of backwards compatibility, and the cost is minimal for anyone who wasn't ($20 per Classic Controller and per 251 slot Memory Card).
As for purchasing controllers for multiplayer, that argument is one which applies equally to all systems.
The "Maximum" cost of all three systems is therefore.
Wii: Console ($250)
3x Remote ($120)
1x Nunchuck ($20)
4x Classic Controller ($80)
1x Memory Card ($20)
1x GameCube Game ($20)
Total: $510
360: Console ($400)
HD-DVD AddOn ($200)
3x Controller ($150)
Live Subscription ($50)
Game ($60)
Total: $860
PS3: Console ($600)
3x Controller ($150)
HD Cable ($25)
Memory Card Adaptor ($15)
Game ($60)
Total: $850
As I stated earlier, if you wanted to use your Xbox 360 to watch HD movies the cost difference between it and the PS3 evens out. However, even callous assumptions against the Wii in terms of accessories still place it in excess of $300 cheaper than a decked out 360 or PS3.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
Anonymous Coward Sony Fanboy Troll ...
You do realize that no one believes anything that is posted anonymously without a link to a trusted source, don't you? You will have no influence on anyone and the Wii will still sell well inspite of anything you do; you will have no impact on anyone's purchasing habits and no one will buy a PS3 because of your baseless rumors.
It's cool that you like the PS3 and don't feel like a moron for spending $600 on a videogame system/movie player that has very few games or movies but you shouldn't lie about availability; in particular when you claim that the PS3 is sold out everywhere, or that the Wii is readily available, it is obvious that you're not being honest because (much like saying the sky is not blue) people are already aware of the truth.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was never sold separately outside Japan. It has always been bundled with either Super Mario All-Stars or Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. The facelifted versions of Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 were not sold separately until the Game Boy Advance era, and the facelifted versions of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels were never sold separately.
So... he posts a counter-example, then you call him idiotic and stick dogmatically to your original statement that he provided a counter-example for, instead of addressing what he actually said....
Way to keep the level of the debate high.
Huhm. See, last Sunday I got a tip that a local Best Buy was going to get Wiis in. Given that all the retailers around here flat out told me "If you aren't lucky enough to be there when we open the box, you're screwed," I decided to head over at opening time and try to grab one. Unfortunately, I had to work that day, which means I had to head in an hour before Best Buy opened. As I walked past (its on my way to work), I noticed an absolutely huge line outside.
So basically, the Wii is so scarce that people are still lining up for it an hour before the store opens here.
Yes, because with PS3 you can enjoy the huge library of Resistance and.... Resistance........
Oh wait, the PS3 lineup is even worse than the Wii's.
Seriously, what reality do you live in? I'd like to know because I've been trying to find a Wii, and apparently they're nowhere to be found in Illinois, but your personal reality apparently has them in stock.
But then you have to buy a second Xbox for playing games online. And do softmods still work on recent Xbox revisions? Or do most people know how to solder and own tools for soldering?
The PS3 actually has some more edge on both the Wii and the 360 because it comes with rechargeable batteries, while for the 360 you have to purchases rechargeable packs seperately, and i'm not sure if the Wii has an official rechargeable option.
Yes you did, don't feed the troll.
Game cube games need game cube controllers.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
You know, AC, spreading false information in order to create or maintain demand for a product is a crime in the United States.
Just sayin'
I bought one for $250 at CompUSA yesterday. No bundling, no warranty, no scalping, no waiting in line. I just walked up to the desk and asked if they had a Wii in stock. They had seven.
However, this was after I couldn't find one at Best Buy, Circuit City, or Costco.
Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
Funny... I live in LA. I had a hell of a time getting my hands on a Wii and still haven't seen any "lying around". Gamestop only gives me this when I try to look up the Wii. Strangely, when I go look at the PS3 I get this, so I enter my ZIP (90028) and discover I could have picked one up when I was in Pasadena earlier today, in Eagle Rock when I hang out with a friend later, or I could drive 6 miles to Baldwin Hills if I want to go to the nearest store. Where are these Wiis you speak of? I have friends who would like to find this mythical stockpile.
Actually I waited in line at 5 on launch day and got the 2nd to last one at the store I was at (Wii of course, who cares about PS3) :)
yes, but then you wouldn't have any reason to spend $80 on 4 classic controllers.
I could even see stores specializing in used games discounting the console when there are more games available. The margin they make on used games is so big that jump-starting it with some console discounts could make sense.
In fact, the more I think about it the more I wonder why used retailers don't attempt to take a slight loss on selling new consoles in order to "prime the pump" for their used market. The only two reasons I can think of are:
1. Greed - in the sense that they could easily afford to take a smallish hit on hardware considering the money made on used games.
2. Agreements with manufacturers - Maybe they won't get consoles shipped to them if they offer any significant discounts on new hardware. Sony, MS and Nintendo already dislike them for reducing sales of new games.
Intentioanlly offtopic but I can't ignore the sig.
:-)
:-)
You aren't going to give me a million dollars. Please note, all logic and paradox arguments you want to make aren't going to change the observable reality that you aren't giving me a million bucks. Among other reasons, you don't even have it to give
Also: per this argument, assuming you had it and were honest, you'd be forced to give it to me at some point and then immediately try to take it back (and then regive it, re-take it back, etc)....but as soon as you hand it to me, I'm hitting you in the head and running away with it
"Whether or not you believe me, I'm right" -RWF
In Houston, I'm seeing pretty decent availability of PS3s. Not hard to find.
On the other hand, local stores that I've asked get a delivery of Wiis and are sold out in minutes. I didn't expect it to stay like this, but it seems to still be pretty hard to find a Wii.
I didn't buy a GameCube in the last generation, and one of the factors in buying a Wii is hooking up with some old games from the N64, and playing some of the GCN games I missed. Really looking forward to that!!
-- "It's not stalking if you're married!" My Wife.
I understand where this guy is coming from, especially if he is in Canada. I think the Wii is selling far better here than in the US. At my local Bestbuy, they only sell them friday, first come, first serve, and people are still lining up outside the store by 6AM at the latest to get them. Its nuts! Regardless, I am sure I will get one soon, but its really tough. Cant get wiimotes or nunchuks either.
Go to Best Buy #431 in Fort Myersm, Florida. They've had at least 2 dozen in stock for over a week. Local Targets, EBGames, and ToysRUs all have them too.
Not a Wii (or even a DSLite) to be found for 40 miles.
Best Buy #431
Fort Myers, Fl
239-278-1298
Dude, we were still going through that shit a week or two ago. I'd assume it's still just as bad, but I was only able to get mine because I went to Toys R Us at midnight with a friend and sleeping bags, and we camped outside that night to be first.
'Yes, firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'
Well it IS sold out here in south miami. Wii's go as fast as they come in and it seems nobody has any PS3's. I want to play around with the cell processor and the PS3 isn't THAT expensive. My frigin video card was over $300 not to mention my AMD CPU which went for around $500. Lets get some perspective here.
I went to get either a Wii or a PS3 and all the personnel at circuit city could do was try to push their stock of 360's on you. Had a stack of about 40 or so in the aisle.
There just doing their jobs I guess.
If anyone in Miami/Ft Lauderdale can suggest a store to get a PS3 I'd appreciate it. Reply here. Thanks.
It's trivial to get a free game with the 360 at any store, so take another $60 off that.
And depending on the price of the console (new ones especially), it might take a lot of used game sales to make up a percentage discount on the console. Plus, won't the used market be minor for consoles that are relatively new?
The Best-Buy/Currys/[Insert your country's chain here] model where they make most of the profit on extended warranties, grossly overpriced cables and the like doesn't apply here, because they're normally sold at the same time as the console.
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Didn't they used to do something similar in the early Atari 2600 days (before my time, mostly); i.e. the games had minor variants that were counted as separate games?
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Ok I heard it was just Canada, but it's good to hear that we are all getting F'd LOL I couldn't even find Final Fantasy 3 for the DS anywhere, but I guess as a Nintendo fanboy thats good for them.
Bluray players still seem to cost around 1000US$ - without any cell processors. I think that should give a hint towards the real price of the PS3.
Considering The PS3 wasn't able to ship a million units to NA between black friday and New years (They announced a million out the door on the 7th or 8th), I wouldn't be surprised if the Gamecube outsold the PS3 in that period.
I live in a college town just East of my state's capital... and the Wii is impossible to find in at least a 40 mile radius. I think your comment applies for 30 miles from a major metropolitan area, such as a Chicago or Seattle. There are definitely none on the shelves around me, I've been trying to get one since launch :(.
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I disagree, but I suppose it's a matter of preference. I adore the fact the Wii60 takes AA batteries as Energizer makes 2500 mAh AA's and they last forever. They are $20 for a pack of 8, or a pack of 4 with a Travel charger. That puts them in the price range of a rechargeable battery pack for a controller, except they last longer, are multipurpose, and I can power more controllers for the same $.
If you want a propietary pack so they can't be used for anything else (like if your brother 'borrows them' for his CD player) MS makes 1st party rechargeable packs. Nintendo (currently) doesn't. There are several 3rd party ones for the 360, and some for the Wii are hitting the market shortly. The Wii ones I saw even have a ribbed rubberized grip on the outside.
What the PS3 has an edge on is that the rechargeable batteries are included, however they are not User replaceable, and you must charge them through USB. If you do it through the PS3, it must be powered while you do that. Personally I don't like it and would be much improved IMHO if I could switch out a dying battery as opposed to tethering myself to the system. Wires are so last gen...
Just sayin'
Oh, Shit! Someone warn Sony's PR group before it's too late!
Sony didn't include HDMI cables with either models. In fact, they didn't include component cables, either. So, if you want to play games in HD or make use of the BluRay player, Component or HDMI cables are a separate purchase.
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I wasn't disagreeing that Component or HDMI cables were a separate purchase. I was disagreeing that they cost $60 (or $100 as Monster and BestBuy would have you believe).
$30 cables work just fine, and are easy to find on-line, from reputable e-retailers (would that be e-tailers?).
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Just as an FYI. ... The wii does look interesting and I might get one at some point, but chose to go with the PS3 for now (mostly due to the game lineup).
Oh, and I didn't post anonymously, either time, nice Troll though.
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Apologies, didn't see the "Anonymous Coward" that slipped in that you replied to. Slashdot reparented the post to mine.
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If Sony can't drop the price... they can't do a bundled game without raising the price. Retailers don't want a bundled game, because the margin on the ps3 isn't very good. They need to sell games to make up for it, and with PS3's puny library, there isn't a chance that they want its most popular game getting bundled for free. If Sony pisses off the retailers, they're cooked. Well, REALLY cooked.
They DID do a bundle with ps2, remember? GT3 I think. That was cool, but the ps2 at that point was already price-reduced I think.
What they can do is offer voucher for free downloadable games - maybe a ps1 collection when they finally offer those on the ps3. I'm thinking all first party games or semi-first party games like Crash Bandicoot, GT1 & 2, Ape Escape, Legend of Dragoon, etc.
Excellent.
I'm going squeeze out of this one on semantics.
My signiture states specifically "If you can tell me whether or not I will give you a million dollars, I will give you a million dollars", the important subsection being "If you can tell me". It is notable that it is possible for me to give, or not give, a million dollars up until my death. As you have no idea who I actually am, you have no way of observing my death and thus rule out my ability to give you a million dollars. As such, you have no way of empirically observing the outcome of my proposition. You will be dead before an observation is made. As the situation will exist as both "I will give you a million dollars" and "I will not give you a million dollars" at the same time until observation, I thereby conclude that you can not tell me whether or not I will give you a million dollars.
In short the reality is not, in fact, observable. Which defeats your argument.
However, I will honor you by noting that this is perhaps the best attempt yet to put me miserably in debt, and as such I will improve the wording on my sophistic signiture.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!