Sony wants you to earn that PlayStation 3!

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jul 6th 2005 at 4:00PM }

Digging During a recent interview with Japanese economic website Toyo Keizai, ever-charming Ken Kutaragi had this to say about Sony's goal for the PS3: "for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else." In other words: Get a job! Get two jobs, ya lazy bums! Seriously though, is that their marketing plan? As tipster KD suggests, someone should start compiling all of the absurdities that fly outta this guy's mouth.

That being said, Kutaragi's comments continue to make us nervous. Just how much is the PlayStation 3 going to cost? What's the average gamer's breaking point?

[Thanks, KD]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kalam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

I dunno, call me a fanboy, but I still hold respect for this guy. Sure, what he says may sound wierd at times, but let us see the big picture here. The PS3 could be a make-or-break product, so understandably, Sony has to pull all the stops to try to create as much hype as they can. I mean, c'mon, probably hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on the PS3. So, if he's gotta say some things to help increase potential sales, then GO FOR IT! Ok, I'm done...*crawls back under his PS2*

Sam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

First, buy a Playstation 3. Next, feed my family.

bubba @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

This story is so old...it's been out on the net for like 2 weeks already.

Kenny @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Wow, I'm dumbfounded by the stupidity of the comment. He basically is saying the PS3 will be so expensive to purchase we will have to get second jobs to pay for it. No thanks, I'll pass.

Alkaiser @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Well, I as a member of the gaming media have this response.

I want people to look at the PS3 and say, "Hey, I'm going to continue working the same amount of hours, and then just buy the thing later when the price drops."

As clueless as Microsoft is about people in Japan, Kutaragi is about people in the US and everywhere that isn't Japan.

Ryuukuro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Is Kutaragi the new Yamauchi?

courtney @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Alkaiser your 100% right, we're just going to wait until the price goes down, like how I'm going to wait for the Xbox 360 to go down when PS3 comes out and when the PSP is under $150.

CapTn_InSanO @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

If the price is so high that I'll need 2 jobs, I'll just wait and buy the much superior Revolution at a lower price. I'll keep the one job I have thank you.

Dralt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Alkaiser,

Kutaragi is as clueless as a guy who sold more than 90M video game consoles in the US and more than 200M worldwide. No more no less.

Microsoft is as clueless as a company that sold 15M video game consoles in the US and less than 25M worldwide. No more no less.

We can all draw our own conclusions.

vakerorokero @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

"Kutaragi is as clueless as a guy who sold more than 90M video game consoles in the US and more than 200M worldwide. No more no less.

Microsoft is as clueless as a company that sold 15M video game consoles in the US and less than 25M worldwide. No more no less.

We can all draw our own conclusions."

So what you are saying is that the Ps3 is going sell millions again over the competitors even when his main PR guy is saying funny things like "working harder to afford it".

Too bad for europeans and latin americans who will pay near to $700 at least to get one of this.
I guess sony thinks "if people buy ipods for $300 we can sell this for the price we want".

I guess this will show how if market has matured from nerdy people that stand in line the first day to mass market who want something until the price is reasonable.

Danny boy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Do you seriously think that if the Xbox and the PS2 came out at the same time the PS2 would have sold that many? No-Way.

Pretty Obvious @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Exactly. Danny boy hit that on the nail.

OtakuCODE @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

The average gamer's breaking point is exactly the amount of the sum of the available credit on their credit cards. Americans will not take a second job, or even attempt to get overtime at their current job, to afford one. They'll just charge it. The average person has something like $11k in credit card debt. The concept of earning something is so entirely foreign that we're more likely to rally to the government to try to get them to subsidize our PS3s than we would be to get a second job.

t2ed @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

This makes me have even more appreciation for the people who do media training with this guy. No amount of training makes him any better. As I told a client one time, "It's tough to polish a turd."

I'm with you, Alkaiser. The only thing we can do is vote with out pocketbooks and not shell out $500 for the new toy. I'm talking big now, but we'll see how it is closer to launch!

Dralt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

The way I see it, the PS3 is an extremely fast PC specialized to play games.

In that sense, I am ready to pay up to $800 for it.
If the games end up being mind blowing, I am sure other gamers will pay as much.
I am not talking about people who don't have jobs or any disposable income.

saycheese @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

@ #13:

You see it wrong, Dralt !! Both in your posts # 8 and #13.

From gaming-age: forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=33628

I don't know if all this is correct, but I have seen several other articles that match up with the Xbox and PS2 numbers here, so here we go:
*******************************************
"All shipment figures as of December 2004.

PS2

19.47m Japan
32.86m USA
29.06m Europe

81.39 Total

XB

1.70m Japan (asia pacific- some discrepancy as sony and microsft count as japan, others count as Europe/Pal)
13.20m USA
5.00m Europe

19.90m Total

GC

3.78m Japan
10.11m USA
4.13m Europe

18.02m Total

*********************************************

So, the PS2 sold nearly 80+ million worldwide, no where near the 90 million you quote for the US alone, let alone the 200 million world wide. The 200 million worldwide figure is the total number of Playstation (PS1, PSX and PS2) games sold.

and coming to your post #13:
[quote]

The way I see it, the PS3 is an extremely fast PC specialized to play games.

In that sense, I am ready to pay up to $800 for it.
If the games end up being mind blowing, I am sure other gamers will pay as much.

[/quote]

You are wrong about the PS3 being a blazingly fast supercomputer, something which Ken Kutaragi and Noboyuki Idei of Sony tried in vain to convince Steve Jobs of Apple. Save your $800 and build a PC, and you'll get better value.

Quoted from the NYTimes.com article ("What's really behind Apple-Intel alliance: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/11/technology/11apple.html?ex=1120881600&en=a663b91397a5cbb5&ei=5070&oref=login ):

[quote]

As it happens, Intel's was not the only alternative chip design that Apple had explored for the Mac. An executive close to Sony said that last year Mr. Jobs met in California with both Nobuyuki Idei, then the chairman and chief executive of the Japanese consumer electronics firm, and with Kenichi Kutaragi, the creator of the Sony PlayStation.

Mr. Kutaragi tried to interest Mr. Jobs in adopting the Cell chip, which is being developed by I.B.M. for use in the coming PlayStation 3, in exchange for access to certain Sony technologies. Mr. Jobs rejected the idea, telling Mr. Kutaragi that he was disappointed with the Cell design, which he believes will be even less effective than the PowerPC.

[/quote]

RM @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Quote by (Dralt)
The way I see it, the PS3 is an extremely fast PC specialized to play games.
Ummmm,

Mr.Kutaragi himself said at E-3 that the
PS3 was quote, (NOT A GAMEING MACHINE), unquote.
So what is it?
overpriced and overhyped just like the PS2 was in its day.

supermexican!! @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Quote by (Dralt)
The way I see it, the PS3 is an extremely fast PC specialized to play games.

haha yeah an extremely fast PC withouth a freakin hard drive. wtf is up with that? and people swear that microsoft is in it for the money...haha since when did microsoft make you buy hard drives (that like 5 people own), and memory cards....? sony does that on purpose, because they know that their fanboys will fork over their hard earned money.

Leo Kasatonov @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

If its over 400$ i dont think anyone should buy it, that will give them a damn good message that they cant screw us like that. And excuse me the Playstation family is gaming machines, what the hell else do we want them for? I can get a 400$ pc that will probably do more crap than the ps3 will be able to do, besides play amazing games, which now as we know the ps3 isnt really FOR?!?!?!

Looks to me like xbox is going to crap on the ps3. Not because the xbox is awesome, or more powerful, but because ps3 is being thrown off a cliff.

playstation3 what the hell does that mean? Well its supposed to mean a GAMING DEVICE, thats all i want from it. There are millions of other gadgets out for whatever else it is i want to do, but i want my playstation to play the best damn games that are technologically possible, if it doesnt do that it should be a playstation3, should be a mediastation3.

Mr.Kutaragi FIX YOURSELF or i hope you go bankrupt and i will walk by you on the street and not give you a cent.

Dralt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

#15

My numbers were correct. I included all PlayStation units in the count.
The first PlayStation was not free. It was sold.
It conquered the market against strong competition.
So, all PlayStation units count to the credit of the clueless man you call Kutaragi.

Based on past experience, Microsoft has a lot more to prove than Kutaragi.

Secondly, I repeat that to me, PS3 sounds like a super fast computer completely dedciated to playing games.
PCs can run games, but they are general purpose machines, designed to run all sorts of things from Word to PhotoShop to scientific applications.
The architecture of the PS3 leaves no doubt: It's a machine for media processing and video games in particular.

The 360 won't be far behind in terms of performance, but give Kutaragi a break. He has achieved a lot and time will tell if he can teach big M a trick or two.
At E3 he already proved he knows how to steal the buzz with a platform that lags 10 months behind the 360.

Timmay! @ Dec 18th 2005 9:59PM

Quote by (Dralt)
The way I see it, the PS3 is an extremely fast PC specialized to play games.

Mr.Kutaragi himself said at E-3 that the
PS3 was quote, (NOT A GAMEING MACHINE), unquote.

An extremely fast PC my ass. The PS3 will do little to nothing compared to a real PC. So why the hell would I want to buy a PS3 when I've allready got an extremely fast REAL PC that I've built myself? I can see Sony trying to reach out to non-gamers, but why alienate the hardcore gamers who only want a frickin system that plays games?

The DVD playback was a very nice touch, but that was a distant second to the ability to PLAY A GAME for me. Microsoft's put themselves in the same boat. I'm not buying either until EVERYTHING, games and all, are available cheap used. On launch day, I'm buying a Revolution. At least Nintendo knows how to make an actual gaming console.