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60GB PS3 Price Cut Not Just a 'Fire Sale'
Heffenfeffer writes "Those excited about the $100 price cut that the 60 GB PS3 recently received should act quickly — according to an interview from SCEE president David Reeves: 'All they're doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July.' When asked if the 60GB PS3 would be no more after the fire sale, he confirmed, 'In America, yes ... what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD $599 version with one game.'" Meanwhile, the EU won't be getting the 80GB system at all. Instead, they'll be getting a new starter pack bundle pack with two games and an extra controller for the same cost as the current system on its own (£425, or $862). Update: 07/13 17:17 GMT by Z : Okay ... it's really challenging to understand what's going on when Sony as an entity is saying two different things. Despite the above coming from a Sony executive, it looks like this is completely untrue. Says a Sony of America spokesperson: "SCEA has reacted with puzzlement to the European perspective, suggesting that there may have been an incorrect interpretation. The spokesperson said, 'Those quotes from David Reeves are not accurate.'"
...and they were this close to winning me over with games like EchoChrome and LittleBigPlanet. Guess now I'll have more time (and Money) for Bioshock, Super Mario Galaxy, Assassin's Creed, Fallout 3, Metroid Prime 3, Mass Effect, Rock Band, Halo3, Hellgate, Starcraft II, Gears of War...
(get the point here, sony?)
That is the sound of another champagne bottle being opened over at Nintendo ...
Seriously. It starts looking as if Sony WANTS to lose Europe.
Even better is the admission that they're phasing out the PS3 model with "100% backwards compatibility" to replace it with one with "88%" compatibility. (I'm not sure what that 88% figure means, but it's what the guy said in the interview. Percent of games that work? Percent of PS2 emulated? He didn't say.)
Then there's this quote:
[GamesIndustry.biz:] But you're still asking people to commit GBP 425 to a games console. Isn't there a problem with the perception that that's an awful lot of money to shell out?
It is, but surprisingly, people are paying that amount of money for it.
It's like he's just begging for people to hate Sony. I don't get it.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
A $499 version can be purchased at Gamespot for $399 with a trade in of a PS2. This makes it the same price as 360 PRO AND it has the PS2 slimline chip built in. If you owned a PS2 you probably had a few games for it. This was a VALUE ADDED proposition for the PS3.
Then they had the get 5 BluRay disks promotion, which is another VALUE ADD tactic.
Now they are going to stick with the $599 price, drop the 'cheaper alternative' again and pull out the PS2 chip?
Somebody else needs to take the reigns or Sony will remain a distant 3rd this gen.
Why is it that every time you almost convince me to buy a PS3 do you have to do something like this? Well, I suppose thanks are in order, since even a $500 upfront cost is still kinda steep and I didn't quite have the disposable income to blow on that just yet.
All that said, I *will* likely buy a PS3... but not a nanosecond before there is a compelling game for it that will not be out for the Xbox 360. ( Yes, I'm looking at you, Square-Enix.) Hopefully, by then, the freakin thing will be at the $399 price point that I wanted in the first place.
It's only a fire sale when Sony is selling laptop batteries.
I don't even think Microsoft has to worry about Sony at this point. Sony's too busy shooting themselves in the foot over and over.
Apparently, the only reason their E3 announcements went over faily well, was because they'd paused to reload.
Microsoft would be better suited pricing the 360 core to compete with the Wii and reinvigorate sales in the premium.
(sales numbers have been falling off; they're pretty close to the limit on people willing to spend $400 for a console).
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
Incorrect.
The North Americian Playstation 3 (which contains the Emotion Engine) does support 1080p output.