Sony To Reduce Price for PS3

[zippyjuan]

Sony cuts price of much-anticipated PlayStation 3, as video game wars heat up
By HANS GREIMEL (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
September 21, 2006 11:13 PM EDT
TOKYO - Sony Corp. said Friday it will lower the price of its much-anticipated PlayStation 3 video game console, heating up the competition in the next-generation gaming war against rivals Microsoft and Nintendo.

The announcement comes just days after Microsoft Corp. announced that it would roll out an external high definition DVD player for its Xbox 360 in an effort to match the PlayStation 3, which is due to be released later this year with its own Blu-ray DVD technology.

Sony will cut the price of its basic PlayStation 3 model in Japan to 47,600 yen (US$410; euro322), from an originally planned 59,800 yen (US$515; euro404.52). That puts the PlayStation 3 in the same range as the combined basic Xbox 360 and HD DVD player in Japan, where the duo will sell for 49,600 yen (US$427; euro335.40).

The price cut affects the basic PlayStation 3 model, which comes with a 20 gigabyte hard drive. Another upscale version of the PlayStation 3 will have a 60 gigabyte hard drive, but Sony is leaving its pricing to retailers.

The announcement could give the PlayStation 3 a badly needed boost in Sony's home market.

The launch of the product, initially planned for earlier this year, has been postponed twice. Earlier this month, Sony said it would delay the European release by four months until March.

The PlayStation 3 will hit stores in Japan on Nov. 11 and in the United States on Nov. 17, but Sony now expects to ship only 2 million units by year's end instead of 4 million as originally planned.

[Devhux]

Also, the 20GB version WILL have an HDMI port now -- just like the 60GB version. :)

Kutaragi revealed that in his keynote -- details found over on THIS (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/734/734010p1.html) IGN article (look towards the bottom).

[Thesifer]

This is about the only way they MAY have a chance. To lose a TON of money upfront. Still a big gamble now though.

[zippyjuan]

The estimated cost of just the parts (not including putting it together and shipping it) was once estimated to be like $800. Games will cost more to produce due to increased complexity. They say Nintendo will start making money right away on their system. http://videogames.yahoo.com/newsarticle?eid=482621&page=0 Sony figures to take a loss for at least two years. Say they lose $350 a console. If they make $10 a game (you have to allow for developer costs which will be fixed and distribution plus the retailer's cut which will be per copy sold and some titles will outsell others), each console owner will need to buy 35 games before Sony makes any money from that person.

[InfiniteNothing]

That is great news. Still no HDMI on XB 360 afaik. I think I'll buy one just for the Blu-ray player.

[hapoo]

That is great news. Still no HDMI on XB 360 afaik. I think I'll buy one just for the Blu-ray player.


They're releasing HDMI for the 360 soon. Along with a patch to enable 1080p.

[InfiniteNothing]

How? there are no digital ports. Link? 1080p upscaling is fine but I don't see why people wouldn't let their TVs do it.

[ryan_self]

This is about the only way they MAY have a chance. To lose a TON of money upfront. Still a big gamble now though.

Are you kidding? Who do you see them losing to? Certainly not the Xbox and its 10 games.

[Prngr44]

Are you kidding? Who do you see them losing to? Certainly not the Xbox and its 10 games.

I'm going to guess consumers. They're selling an $800 piece of equipment for half that cost and they won't start making money off of that customer until that particular person buys a bunch of games. I don't know how many 'regular' gamers buy 35 games. I'd bet the percentage is fairly low or at least would take years to get that big of a library.

[mcs328]

WII FTW!! I'm sure PS3 has a better chance at selling more titles than the Xbox 360.

[YellowCoffee]

I don't know why this matters much for us. The US prices are still going to be the same. If HD DVD comes ahead in the next-gen media player wars, then sony is going to be facing some hard times with their new system. I personally like the Wii, but that's my preference. I'm sure many people would opt for the extra power, graphics, and media player in the ps3 and xbox360, but I think the Wii's move to grab a broader market is a brilliant way to be profitable, while maintaining position in the console wars.

[CornMonkey]

sorry to burst your bubbles, but it seems the price drop is in japan only.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3153875&did=1

[hapoo]

How? there are no digital ports. Link? 1080p upscaling is fine but I don't see why people wouldn't let their TVs do it.


Best info available:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/microsoft-hdmi-cable-announced-sorta-173678.php

So far its still semi-rumour-ish.


The 1080p patch isn't really meant for just upscaling games (and i'm sure games will come out that natively render at 1080p). I believe its mainly for the HD-DVD drive thats supposed to come out, so the xbox can show the full resolution of the movie.

[hapoo]

Personally the only way I'd ever buy a PS3 (or any playstation for that matter) would be only for a cheap Blu-Ray player.

I don't know about you guys but I think the Wii looks like the funnest system this time around.

[Agent Plissken]

Say they lose $350 a console. If they make $10 a game...

I must point out that you arent looking at the whole picture.
PS2 took huge losses on the hardware when it came out, so did Xbox annnnd the Xbox 360. The loss per original xbox were in the high $300 range as well.
The point is... it doesnt matter.
They make huge profits off of games. The retailer's profit is tiny (depending on the title it could be as low as $5) A disk and packaging is only a few dollars, and any moderate selling title makes up its development costs several fold.
Dont forget about the cut Sony and Microsoft get on the games that everyone else makes for their systems.
And one more thing, lets not forget that for every Blu Ray movie Sony gets a cut for owning the rights to blu ray. :dead:
The winner will be whichever system the consumers and developers line up behind.

[Chgoman]

They generally don't plan on making much money on the console. They may loose a few hundred per console during the first 2 years or so, but after that they make a smaller amount per console over the next 5-6 years of selling it and eventually end up about break even or make a little money on their total console sales over the years. As others have mentioned, where the real money is made is in the games and they know that, which is why they are willing to take the loss on the console in the early years.

[InfiniteNothing]

Best info available:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/microsoft-hdmi-cable-announced-sorta-173678.php

So far its still semi-rumour-ish.


The 1080p patch isn't really meant for just upscaling games (and i'm sure games will come out that natively render at 1080p). I believe its mainly for the HD-DVD drive thats supposed to come out, so the xbox can show the full resolution of the movie.
I'd say that's way rumorish. There's no details at all and no official anouncment. And from what I've heard, none of the outputs on the xbox are capable of hdmi so it can't be enabled with a simple cable. You'd imagine with all the bad PR around about HDDVD without HDMI microsoft would anounce it if they could do it.

Every news report I've read says 1080p would be for upscaling and MS plans on continuing to output their games in 720p. My gut feeling tells me that the XB360 is too underpowered to do native 1080p games.

Lastly, almost no TVs have 1080p component inputs. So how is this 1080P of any use to anyone? 1080P doesn't even look all that great over VGA much less component. I think the tiny capacitance in the wires hurts data streams that are that "dense".

But I'm totally with you on the Wii. At this point I'd only buy the PS3 for Blu-ray too.

[InfiniteNothing]

I don't know why this matters much for us. The US prices are still going to be the same. If HD DVD comes ahead in the next-gen media player wars, then sony is going to be facing some hard times with their new system. I personally like the Wii, but that's my preference. I'm sure many people would opt for the extra power, graphics, and media player in the ps3 and xbox360, but I think the Wii's move to grab a broader market is a brilliant way to be profitable, while maintaining position in the console wars.

Well, the US customers like me just got a $100 discount on their bluray players.

[hapoo]

Every news report I've read says 1080p would be for upscaling and MS plans on continuing to output their games in 720p. My gut feeling tells me that the XB360 is too underpowered to do native 1080p games.

Lastly, almost no TVs have 1080p component inputs. So how is this 1080P of any use to anyone? 1080P doesn't even look all that great over VGA much less component. I think the tiny capacitance in the wires hurts data streams that are that "dense".



I agree, its too weak for 1080p, unless the game is really really simple.
As for the reasons for 1080p. I think its just a numbers game. Sony says they have it and MS needs to step it up. But it would come in handy with the HD-DVD drive.

As for the TVs, I went on onecall.com and easily found this Sony. Specs are kinda confusing though.



Sony KDSR60XBR2
Bigger, brighter and better than ever, the KDS-R60XBR2 redefines the high-definition 1080p experience with stunning detail and clarity.

# Full HD(1920 x 1080) Picture Resolution with SXRD Panel
# 3 SXRD Panels(R/G/B), over 2 Million Pixels Each
# Contrast Ratio up to 10000:1 with Advanced Iris
# 1080p Input, HDMI™ x2 (1080p) & Front Component (1080p)
# Full Digital Signal Processing with WEGA Engine™ HD
# HDMI In x2 (1080p); Component In; (1080i) PC In

I have no idea how sharp the picture would be though.

[InfiniteNothing]

I dare you to find another :P That's top of the line and brand new. It's a really tiny minority of TVs in peoples homes.

It would be pretty sharp but the color would be blah. There might be a bit of jitter too.