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Sony Rejects PS3 Price Cuts
Despite hopeful comments by analysts, Sony has gone on the record (again) saying that it has no plans to cut the PS3's pricetag any time soon. Next Generation reports: "'PS3 prices and shipment plans for the future should be determined by market trends and competition. Sony currently doesn't have any specific plan to cut the PlayStation 3's price.' Analysts believe a price cut is inevitable, as the company struggles to catch Microsoft's early lead with Xbox 360, and the $250 Wii continues to sell as many as can be produced. However, Sony's plan has generally been to hold tight and hope that demand for Blu-ray drives will increase, by the end of this year." Relatedly, the company has outlined releases for the second quarter of this year on the PS2, PS3, and PSP systems.
Consumers reject Sony.
dig in your heals and hope no one catches on to that fact...
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
I wish all links spanned entire summaries.
cutting the price at this point wouldn't help game sales enough to offset the extra loss they'd be taking on each unit, because the library is still pretty sparse. might as well suck it up and sell whatever units are selling. when the really good games start coming out later this summer and fall, sales will pick up and I wouldn't be surprised to see a november cut of about $100
God Fucking Damnit
Of the 134 words in the summary, 24 were not part of a link. I'd post something constructive, the I could bare to rear more than 10 words of the summary (and we all know the golden rule about reading TFA). Sheesh!
They keep playing the old its my toy and if you don't want to play by my rules you can't play with it... But they don't seem to notice that not many people are willing to play with their toy based on their rules. This includes both game makers as well as customers. Over all I keep hoping that they will see the light and the ps3 will take off with both good games and good price... but untill then I will just keep what I have.
love the taste, hate the texture
Wait for demand for Blu-Ray drives?
Is there any demand, whatsoever?
Hell - demand for HDTVs isn't even all that high.
Regardless, I can watch HD movies via Comcast on demand, download them via XBox 360, or to a PC.
I have no problem at all getting HD content onto my screen.
Why should (most)people care about plastic discs anymore?
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
hyper-link much?
They claim that "PS3 prices and shipment plans for the future should be determined by market trends and competition." There is no competition for who can sell the PS3, so they can arbitrarily price it wherever they want. This is a simple supply-demand curve, and they have put the price level where supply far exceeds demand, and anyone who has been to a Gamestop, Target, etc. can tell you this. I asked an employee at Target if he had any Wiis and he laughed a bit and said "No, but I've got plenty of PS3s.
I don't understand why people are confused about the lack of a price cut announcement.
You don't tell the public that a poorly selling, expensive product is going to be $100 cheaper next month unless you want even lower sales for the next month. Lower sales for that month means even lower numbers of customers looking to buy software for the machine.
The announcement of the PS3 price cut will come the same day as the PS3 price cut (see PSP price cut as an example).
Consoles don't usually bring in revenue, no, but the PS3 is estimated to cost $800 per unit to get out the door but it's selling for $600. (The $500 model is discontinued.) Typically, the cost per unit is considered proprietary information so it's only an estimate. This means it's hard to pin down but I do believe this is the highest net loss per unit of any console ever. If they already have to sell a bunch of games and accessories (X) to break even, if they drop the price by another $100 they'll just have to have an average of each user now buy (X * 1.5) games and accessories.
They're bleeding on PS3 right now, so should they bleed more? I guess someone crunched some numbers and came to the same conclusion you did.
Putting on my tinfoil hat, I'd say these rumors of price drops that simply will NOT die are a combination of 1 part wishful thinking, 1 part wanting to make existing owners panic, and 1 part of helping to stifle sales as consumers who are on the fence about pricing would most certainly not want to buy if they anticipate a drop.
More Twoson than Cupertino
They have no reason to drive down prices. Right now, they're actually losing on units as-is. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that people are buying the hell out of them, regardless of the price due to it simply being a Playstation. I couldn't see them changing the price and going from losing a bit on each unit, to plain burying themselves with every purchase.
If Microsoft somehow purchases the Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo drives for 360 expansion, I believe Sony would be taking a swift kick in the nuts. I doubt Sony would allow it, and those sales would also allow PS3 to drop prices a bit faster as well... so MS may not do it for that reason.
"Please, shut up. Just when I think you can't say anything more stupid, you speak again." -Archie Bunker.
In related news, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is looking at layoffs of 10% of its workforce, with additional layoffs planned for Japan and the US. Of course, Sony says this has nothing to do with low demand for the PS3.
I've gone for the full 1080p setup over the last few months, which includes a PS3. Last weekend we had a few people round and spent a bit of time playing Gran Turismo HD and Motorstorm. Two of the guys have 360s and were pretty impressed by the jump in graphics quality. GT plays properly in 1080p, and although Motorstorm only runs at 720p, it is really breathtaking. I can't fairly comment on Xbox360 quality because I've never seen one hooked up properly - the PS3 looks rubbish connected through SCART or component at 576i resolution, and for Xbox360 that's the only setup I've seen. So my unfair comment is that really the Xbox360 is half a generation behind Sony/Nintendo. Other consoles that have tried the same thing have started well and kind of fizzled out once the competition got going.
:(
I know a few people thinking about getting a PS3, and it's not really the price issue that's holding them back but the content. Gran Turismo and Grand Theft Auto are two of the big games people are waiting for. Also a lot of places are still price gouging - the games seem to be £35 online but £50 on the high street. Some decently priced Blu-Ray movies would also be good. I found Tesco are selling them for £13 now, but most retailers are still around the £25 mark. Unfortunately I can't find Casino Royale or Planet Earth in stock anywhere
The Wii is being sold at a tidy profit.
You don't tell the public that a poorly selling, expensive product is going to be $100 cheaper next month
Generally you have the right idea but PS3 sales are actually not all that bad - it's currently at a higher sales rank than the 360 on Amazon, and has been since March 23rd when Amazon finally was able to keep stock around.
I think you are right about the day of announcement of the PS3 price cut, but would further predict that it will come the day after the day Microsoft announces a 360 price cut, which will of course be same day Microsoft also cuts prices. Sony and Microsoft are waiting til one does a cut before the other one, and both are enjoying higher profits (and unknoably lower sales) as a result.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I have no idea if Sony are doing the right thing, but people who thing the PS3 is just a games console aren't seeing things from Sony's perspective. Games are an important part of the lineup, but they're not the only one.
The editors don't even write the articles, they just click an extra button in firehose and fill in the "from the $department dept." field. Sometimes they stick a breezy little comment in.
Basically, it's digg with less content.
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
This isn't news. But several other things are also true. Among them:
Sony completely fucking blew the PS3 launch. There are simply not enough games that people actually want, and the price is astronomical so many people decided to wait for more games to be released. But the result of that is that there are less PS3s sold. Developers want to make games for consoles that people actually own, so they will be less inclined to make PS3 games. This won't result in many games being cancelled, but it will result in less games being exclusive to the PS3 - the installed base is less than any other console for which people are still making/selling games, so making a PS3 exclusive is guaranteeing that your profits will be reduced. Since there are less games, and less exclusives (which have traditionally been strong selling points - for example zillions of people bought the PS2 just for Tekken Tag, Gran Turismo, or a Final Fantasy title) this means that less people will want to buy the system.
If you can't sell games, you're not going to make the money.
Also keep in mind that Nintendo makes money when they sell game consoles. They don't lose it. So even if they sold less units they still wouldn't be losing money on consoles. This is why there's room in the industry for first place, second place, and Nintendo. But if Nintendo takes first or second place, I think there's distinctly less room left...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The FCC is mandating digital TV, not High Definition TV. I saw a cheap SDTV (14" CRT, digital, 480i) at a local big box store for $125. That meets the FCC's mandate and will allow you to watch all over-the-air programming, it just down-converts HD to SD.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Motorstorm (already out)
Metal Gear Solid 4
Killzone
Heavenly Sword
FF13 (despite recent headlines, 13 and 13vs are still PS3 exclusive for now)
Lair
Afrika
LittleBigPlanet
Home
Other than Heavenly Sword and FF13 (which will be ported, they announced it), I don't sense any anticipation to speak of for the rest of that list.
Going to be a cold winter at Sony HQ.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Sony needs to take their current marketing plan to the next level - "This is the incredible new Sony PS/3 - and YOU CAN'T BUY ONE!!!"
[Insert pithy quote here]
Not to nitpick, but you don't have to use HDMI cables to get more than 480p. Component works fine. Except of course in the case of the 360, where to get 1080p on their HD-DVD add-on and to upscale standard dvd's, you have to use their VGA cable. My samsung upscaling DVD player works over HDMI or component... and can go to "1080i" (big deal, I know...)
;) Too bad the MPAA missed it. Hell, I didn't even replace any of my VHS movies until they wore out or were lost to unscrupulous college buddies. :P Once my VCR finally dies, I guess I might think about replacing a few of my favorites to DVD... or to whatever's on the bubble by then... *shrug*
:)
since my TV is 720p/1080i, I do fine with component... even upscaling my old standard DVDs... (some of which look absolutely horrible......) And since the consortium of DRM fanatics have not chosen to implement HDCP, there's no real restriction over component (yet.) So, I use my PS3 over component (20GB... I'm not greedy)... and it plays Blu-Ray DVD's fine.. look great too. Although there's not much in the way of selection... considering I'm not buying any HD DVD/Blu Ray or whatever movie that I already have on DVD... there's just no point, at least for me. I bought CD's to replace my vinyl and cassettes. That's the last time I will ever re-buy something because of a format change. They got their 1 trip.
But the problem I think Sony has (besides being 100% asshole, just like Microsoft... how soon we forget) is their perception of how the game market is headed. The Wii is a perfect example of Sony (and dare I say Microsoft) "not getting it." I think their embracing of the "HD" Next-gen moniker and hype associated with it is entirely too premature (for both Sony and MS).... and this generation isn't about HD... which is why Sony's losing ground. If it truly were about HD, I think Sony would be in a better position because of their built-in Blu-Ray and B.C. that isn't totally borked. However, since Sony _is_ selling PS3's, the only real barometer as to the success of failure of "next-gen 1.0" will be when the PS4 and XBox720 come out...
Then we'll really see how much suck one company can withstand before throwing in the towel.
It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
The PS3 is $600 and includes a 60GB HDD, wireless and wired networking, and a blue-ray HD player (chosen for playing HD movies and for having a media type with enough storage space for games that will eventually exceed the storage of a standard DVD disc). The XBox 360 is $400 with only a 20GB HDD and to make it comparable to the PS3 you must buy a wireless adapter ($90.00), and an HD-DVD player ($190.00 and which Microsoft doesn't produce games on which means you'll be dealing with multi-disc games in the not too distant future). This brings the XBox 360 price up to $680. In addition the online play is not free ($40 for a year subscription), it is prone to overheating so an intercooler is almost a must (NYKO Intercooler $15). This brings the XBox 360 to $735. Furthermore, XBox 360 is going to increase the HDD capacity of the XBox 360 to 120GB to compete with the PS3 and since they use a proprietary drive this will cost you $180 whereas you can put any HDD in a PS3 (120GB HDD can be had for $53.00). This brings the XBox 360 to $915 and the PS3 to $653. If you decide the HD player really just isn't worth it then that still leaves the XBox 360 at $725 which is $72 more than the PS3. Then you add the fact that the PS3 is a single component vs. the now 4 components for the XBox 360 (The unit itself, intercooler, wireless adapter and the HD player) or 3 if you choose not to get the HD player. More components means more wires and more hassles and more space that is required. Plus, a single component looks a lot nicer in your living room rather than several. I realize the wireless adapter and intercooler actually connect to the XBox 360 but it is still more wires and more hassle and makes the console take up more space. Another nice feature of the PS3 is that you can install Linux on it making it a fully functional computer if need be. The PS3 is also quieter (barring the recent whine discovered in some of the new PS3s which will hopefully be fixed soon), a lot more backwards compatible and doesn't have the bad manufacturing quality of the XBox 360 (lots of people are complaining that they have had to replace their XBox 360 several times). So, how do you really justify the PS3 being more expensive than an XBox 360?
Why exactly did Nintendo reject an immersive world for a bare-bones cartoony poor man's version with little actual value to the player?
Because they found it unnecessary and only wanted to provide a way for the player to get "himself" in the game? Because it's easier to make a carricature of yourself from cartoony parts than a realistic representation because the latter will be held to a much higher standard and just a slightly different nose can ruin the illusion?
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
I'm about to give up on computer gaming.
You spend $50 on a title you end up disliking? Too bad. You can't return it or resell it. You can if it's a console game, however.
If I want to play an old SNES game, not only is my system still running (outliving 2 generations of computers), but I can buy another one for a handful of change if my old one breaks down.
If I want to play any of my old DOS (or even some old Windows games) they often won't run on my current version of Windows (XP) and almost DEFINITELY won't run on Vista. You can't buy a new computer with anything other than Vista, and Microsoft is going to stop selling XP by the end of 2007 (older versions are already locked away in the MS vault). When my current computer dies I likely won't be able to run ANY of my current computer games. Oh, and lose your CD key? Your game CD is worthless now.
This is also true not only with games, but the majority of computer software.
I'm losing faith in the future of computers. This is one of the few industries that actually oppresses its customers, giving us fewer and fewer choices rather than more and more.