PS3 price point comments poorly translated

I didnt get a chance to read all the post here yet but let me say this. Some of you may not know the idea behind Blu-ray, but it isnt just for hd movie formats. If one disk can hold up to 50gigabytes of data and you have the ability to write and re-write to these disk... Well think about it, you will essentially have a 50gig hdd that can be easily transported and only cost 10% more that the price of current dvd's.
http://www.blu-raydisc.com/general_information/Section-13569/Section-13571/Index.html

Sony's idea behind this project is to create a new versitale media format use for backing up stored files (you can back-up up to 6 or more regular dvd movies one blu-ray disk). Even if hollywood movie houses do not take advantage of the HD capabilities right away, they may still be able to release box set and complete seasons of popular tv shows on a single blu-ray disk. Im sure many of you can see how this could be an asset to manufactures. I could say more, but I will ask you to follow this link and help your selves to more information about blu-ray.
http://www.blu-raydisc.com/

PS I am a PSfanboy but I dont come on talking out of my ass without facts and links unless I say otherwise.

#14 (Yellow Texan)

According to Heinrich Freiherr von Stackelberg (1934), when a firm enters the market first (Microsoft), they will choose their output but will not change that output when another firm enters the market (Sony). And that's as long as it's a duopoly. :)

Okay, couple of things, but keeping up with joystiq/engadget comments is troublesome, so probably my last post. Probably.

Silverback:
I didn't claim to know about whether DVD9 would be enough, simply claiming that it's already been stated that other feasible things clearly take more than a DVD9 and have been considered(multilingual games). Then just pondered the potential for more HD video content in games.
Secondly, I didn't say loads of great games were coming. Simply that the odds were high with all of the third-party developers that have stated support. Personally my favourite franchises are Metal Gear and Final Fantasy. MGS4 has already been announced, and I've not known Kojima to be half-arsed with a game. And a PS3 FF title has been declared, and with Square Enix's gorgeous cut-scenes, I'd rather see them in HD resolutions, something that wouldn't be plausible on a DVD9 (unless they went back to PS style 3-4 discs a game). That's not much, but it's a lot to me, and there's plenty of acclaimed developers working, we just have to wait until E3. And I'm not trying to sell you one, I don't need to convince you the games are there, just saying why I want one.
Someone who repairs PS2s for a living isn't actually likely to see many working ones, is he!? They didn't "bite a bullet", such a small percentage was affected when you consider the sheer number of PS2s sold, it was early in the development, and most people got sorted on warranty. Very few PS2 owners will tell you they've been screwed. Especially considering the far more plentiful killer titles on the system.

Kye:
I know what you mean about blu-ray movies. And personally I see it being a different issue to the success of the PS3. Blu-ray's fate hangs in the balance as much as HD-DVD. But as I've said before (here? maybe) digital distribution won't be plausible for years, and with big companies backing both BD and HDDVD it's almost a coin-flip. But if it fails developers will still have a bit more space to work with, how much that helps is yet to be seen.
Price is an issue that's tricky. If it's $500 I see no problem. $600 and it becomes far more questionable how popular it will be. Sony just needs to choose a price-point that won't make people regret features they're not using, and make hardcore users really appreciate the technology they're getting for their money. Same for price of games. It's not announced, we can only speculate, and I agree if they get that wrong it'll be a bumpy ride.

Anonymous Rep:
Not much to say, just that PS3 won't be strapped for games if full BC is available. Not much on its own, but if there's a half decent launch (Sony knows it needs to be showing up late) it's less clear cut that it has fewer games. If the price is that high I've already said there'll be problems, though if the advantages are marketed well to the general public, it should be less of a stretch that people will pay extra.
Shortage? Maybe, I don't personally know much about assembly lines. And I've come as much as everyone else to be critical of what they say, 360 could afford to have the poor launch (in terms of numbers and faults) that it did showing up early, Sony can't. But I don't think it's too impossible or implausible, given that most game/tech journalists have accepted these figures without too much criticism.

TOP 10 REASONS SONY IS SCREWED:

1)Sony is at a disadvantage price-wise to both X360 and Revolution. (not to mention the PS2)

2)Sony is at a disadvantage time-wise to Xbox 360, which has a full year head-start.

3)Sony is at a disadvantage in swaying the public to a debut DVD techology which is unproven, conflicts with another debut format, and will probably be seen as being unneccesary by most of the public who likes existing DVDs.

4)Sony has missed the PROMISED Spring delivery date in Japan.

5)Sony's PS3 technology will not be noticably better than X360.

6)Sony does not have an arsenal of must buy PS3-only titles and the majority of the top brands are either multi-platform or X360 console exclusives (Halo, Oblivion, PGR3, Gears of War, etc...)

7)Sony is at a disadvantage in attempting to mass manufacture a machine with two debut technologies; Blue-Ray and Cell. As the X360 launch has shown, even proven technology can be difficult to cope with in big numbers.

8)Sony developers are at a disadvantage when investing large development budgets for PS3. Especially in the first 2 years when due to its price and availability, the PS3 will be an "early-adopters" machine. Where is the profit motivation to create AAA games exclusive to PS3?

9)Sony is at a disadvatge in developing an online network to compete against Xbox Live, a system that took at least 2 years of testing to flesh out.

10)Sony is at a disadvantage because of the public's growing sense that Sony will intentionally exxagerate the PS3's abilities to garner press. They are losing credibility almost weekly.

I think Sony is in an awkward position with regards to the gaming capabilities of the PS3. Sure they have the name recognition and the user base of the gaming cummunity. They are relying on that. But the average consumer and I'd argue that most of the gaming community (folks that just play games) don't have a clue what blu-ray is right now. Most of us don't even know what Blu-Ray can or cannot do at this point. For Sony to come out with a 500 or 600 hundred dollar machine they are gonna have to market the heck out of Blu-ray and it's capabilities. They are gonna have to justify the blu-ray drive capabilities to gamers. I don't think Blu-ray movies are gonna be that big of a selling point. It certainly won't be as big a selling point as the DVD was in the PS2.

Henry (#51), you said, "There are 2 other points that are nagging me. There has been speculation over the cost and how much Sony will loose per console. One way to make up for that is of course to charge more for games. Wonder if they will try that?"
Sony will make money off of Blu-Ray movie releases, too. I think that's why they're hyping up the Blu-Ray capabilities so much: they expect income from PS3 game and accessory sales as well as Blu-Ray movie sales to subsidize their loses from each PS3 unit. Additionally, they'll sell on-demand media - movies and music from their connect store or their version of XBOX Live - using the PS3 to facilitate consumer interaction with that marketplace.
Remember, Sony doesn't plan to use the PS3 as just a game machine. Their projected revenues from the PS3 run through a number of promiscuous avenues.

Da'Cheez, the PS3 Blue-Ray is NOT rewritable. But, in the EXTREMELY UNLIKELY event that it is:

1) It baffles me that Sony hasn't mentioned it
2) The PS3 price is going to be $600+
3) The PS3 doesn't need an HDD

Antonious, I'm pretty much done with this discussion, and whilst I'd like to point out your follies, I'd be better off smashing my head against a brick wall. I've addressed almost all of the issues you've mentioned already, but that may have been on some Engadget blog.

Point is, I don't have the time for people who come along claiming "Sony are screwed, PS3 is going to fail, here are the following reasons I think this is the case. NOW PROVE ME WRONG". It's just not productive, I understand where you've gone wrong, in making smaller issues into a far grander statement of inevitable failure, ignoring all of the positives that the company has going for it, but I feel no need to try and suggest to you otherwise. Because no matter what I say, you won't budge an inch.

I have, I've been this way, that way, weighing up purchasing a 360, a Rev, a PS3, I've made my decision about my course of action based on what suits me. Now I'm running onto posts about 360s and going "360 is gonna get SO overtaken by sales of Rev and PS3", it's just not a good use of time, and doesn't provoke genuine two-way discussion like what Kye, for example, has been posting.

I will say about if PS3 being rewritable (possible as it was originally touted that the first players will have writing capabilities from the start, but not probable) then it doesn't need an HD, that it's a stupid statement, and other people who care more will probably tell you why.

Sorry Lee, it seems to me that you just dont have answers. At least people on Evil Avatar are making attempts and *yes* I am willing to budge on issues.

You are one of these people who voice their FEELINGS as if it were FACTS and then don't understand why people disagree with you. To put it bluntly: YOU ARENT ACTUALLY SAYING ANYTHING. If you want people to stop 'arguing' with you, then MAKE A VALID POINT.

That's all.

Regarding my comment that a PS3 doesn't need an HDD if it is rewritable... since two features are redundant, it doesn't make sense to justify the expense of two rewritable formats on a game machine.

I really don't think Sony is screwed in any shape or form,I am in the game industry I deal with people, and also the chooses they make. Right here in Texas, Houston to be blunt, 360s are starting to sit on the shelves. Go to game stop go to game crazy best buy any major electronic store they have 360 and they are not going anyware. Out of my shippment of 8 adv packs and 2 core packs that i got 2 weeks ago i have seven and two left. 360 is actually lacking in games the majority are 1st person shooter,games from EA witch really are starting to stink if you don't mind me saying so, and we have a ton of people everyday call about the ps3 and waiting for the ps3. Some of you might say, "Big deal they are going to be in for a sticker shock when it comes out." which might be true but i have to say that there are more fans of ps then there are fans of MS. besides a couple of games MS game line up could be found on everyother console, Halo is a great game one of the best i played, but it's one game it will get saturated after one year from when the new halo is released people want more then one game. Just look at how the 360 is doing in japan,it is rotting and taking up room that retalers need, this is not good for game developers, ie. it's expensive to produce the "next gen games" especially when there are only 600,000 or so people that own one this is a slim marketing line.I know alot of you are Hoping that the price statments are not true($599) then again alot of you are hoping they are, so you can make the argument that 360 will over take ps3.1st i can tell you that i highly doubt that the ps3 will be priced any higher then 499. which alot of people are expecting. plus i know that sony and nintendo, are going to have more exclusives then MS more games, and i think 360 in alot of peoples minds (middle america) is already less powerfull then the ps3, this was why xbox started selling in the 1st place. People would look at the sport games that they loved on the ps2 and then saw them on the xbox and said "wow,shinnier!" now
I really think this is going to be a though console war at least in the transitional fase when people and companies are getting use to things, but in the long run i see more and more things that you could only find on xbox like live and better graphics being emulated and stripped away by sony, which is alogical thing to do, If you competitore is doing well on the model why can't you? So when it comes to Blue ray, cell,1080p, whatever it's all going to come to the fans worldwide, is gears of war more going to sell well world wide, is metal gear going to sell better world wide, halo will do great in most places,but is that enough, if you answer yes, just know that there are people like you only waiting for other games on other consoles.

Sean, you work at EBGames or something like that right? Can you please name the PS3 exclusives you are referring to?

I am curious as two of my close friends manages two seperate Gamestops and neither one have this information. Let's gather the press while you reveal your newsbreaking story!

WHAT EXCLUSIVES?! STOP TALKING SHITE AND START TALKING FACTS!!

I love the Mom and Pop Wallmart. Alot you guys have a point. The pricing of the system is going to be MAJOR. Why would anyone pay $600 for a game machine that plays a format I HAVE NEVER SEEN in a store?.. The fact was the PS2 was right on time with the DVD player. Its competition which I thought was a better gaming machine (Dreamcast) didnt have this feature. And was only $100 less. So ANY consumer could see the value here, everyone wanted a DVD player the quality of the movie was in some cases, better than the theater. And like someone else said. Everyone could SEE the advantages of DVD over VHS. And You also didnt need to buy a NEW tv to take advantage of the medium. I know the average american is NOT going to buy a new HD TV, GAME CONSOLE, And SWITCH TO new media format that is going to cost them more. All in one Summer. I like sony and WE as gamers need the competition. But I hope they dont shoot themselves in the foot. By trying to force feed the general public a new format that is not needed. We dont know what thier goal is. But from most of the news releases, they are hyping that dang Blu-Ray way more than games. SONY PLEASE COME BACK TO YOUR SENSES. GIVES US GAMES, LEAVE THE BLU-Ray to Hitachi or someone else. You focus on bringing this beast to the public, at an affordable price. And maybe 3 years down the road see what HD market looks like. Then maybe re-release a Blu-ray version for those who want one.

Antonious. You are ignorant. Not once have I expressed opinion as fact. I've just laid it out, and said I'm following the games. I'm not criticising disagreement. As I said, others have been making far more open points, perhaps you should have read my comments instead of just straight up judging me. Maybe on Evil Avatar they have more time to waste arguing with someone on an anti-sony warpath.

As it stands, all I can do is advise you to read what I say before putting words in your mouth, and explain that without a hard drive PS3's hope of a media distribution service akin to 360's Marketplace will be impossible. You cannot download straight to disc. From all of your talk I'd think you would be aware of that. And you're not getting much onto puny memory sticks.

But that's it, I'm done acknowledging your ignorant posts. Take it as a victory over me, stupidity on my part, inability to "take you on" as it were, I don't care. Think what you like, I just don't suffer fools.

Maybe the less rational Sony fanboys will keep on at you, seems the target audience for your "discussion".

One other thing from reading these other posts we are all over the board. But here is how I see the Blu-Ray and the extranious extra crap Sony is packing into this machine that are hiking the price up.
1. If you want to use Blu-Ray you have to pay Sony, which as was mentioned is not something that I think alot of movie studios are willing to do.
2. Exactly how much space does an HD movie take up on a DVD? 50GB is alot of space I have a 20GB iPod and that little bugger holds alot of music at a reasonable quality.
3. Does all this extra space mean better or longer games or just shinier ones?
4. How happy will Toshiba, Hitachi, Pioneer, etc. be to be selling a machine they had to pay Sony to licence technology from for twice as much as a machine that Sony itself makes. Hmm. These companies cant cut the hardware price as low because they dont have a software library to sell to make up the difference.
5. Extra Crap - how many people have 1 TV that supports 1080p let alone 2 that want to hook up side by side to play games on? How many USB devices does a console need to interactwith at the same time? Why 2 GB ethernet ports? Most people wont use any of these features. I bet if the PS3 had been designed as a HDDVD drive with 1 ethernet port, maybe 4 USB ports, and 1 HDMI port it could sell for considerably less than it will.
It seems like Sony assumes its brand loyalty is so strong that they can do whatever they like and everyone will buy it? I for one am not on the bandwagon for any of this I dont think any one company should control the technology to a data storage medium.

AHHH METALGEAR ALL MOST ALL OF THE GAMES THEY SHOWED SO FAR, GOD OF WAR GRANDTURISMO,JAK AND DESXTER, DEVILMAY CRY, TEKKEN NOW PLEASE TELL ME ANYTHING LIKE THOSE GAMES THAT MS HAS THAT CARRY THE SAME CLOUGHT BESIDES HALO,ALOT OF FPS GAMES WITH NO KEYBOARD SUPPORT. YOU HAPPY NOW, I MEAN DAMN ARE A FLAMMING FAN BOY? I MEAN GOD, MS HAS SOME GOOD GAMES BUT GET REAL MAN THEIR IMAGE IS NOT THAT GREAT AROUND THE WORLD,AND SONY,AND NINTENDO ARE STILL BETTER KNOWN.

#67, gladly demonstrating the kind of Sony fanboy I was talking about. Classic signs being the lack of proper returns, and caps lock of course is a must. Just a blob of text.

Yours was slightly better articulated, though boils down to the same thing in the end.

seab o k,

Edit before posting.
phase, not fase
tough, not though

Anyway....I WISH there were 360's sitting on shelves near me (DC), then at least I would have a chance to make a decision to buy one. I haven't seen a 360 aside from a demo unit yet.

I think once November '06 comes and there is no PS3 (I don't see anyway it will be ready) and the 360 has some of those exclusive Japanese developed RPGs, expect the 360 to start doing a lot better in Japan.

Antonious,

I agree with a lot of what you say, but "6)Sony does not have an arsenal of must buy PS3-only titles and the majority of the top brands are either multi-platform or X360 console exclusives (Halo, Oblivion, PGR3, Gears of War, etc...)", IMO is way off. Ask any fanboy and they can probably rattle off about 20 exclusive titles they can't wait for.

SIde note:
The PS3 is NOT going to have the ability to write on a Blu-Ray disc whether or not the technology currently exists to offer that to the public. Does anyone remember how much DVD writing drives cost when they first came out? PS3 would be over $1000 by far if that is the case.

Lee said "It's a format that understands people want HD now, but that there's no feasible way that in the next five years there's going to be cheap enough hard drives, and high enough bandwidth internet in the average home for it to even be plausible to distribute excessively large HD video."

There's comcast digital cable which allows HD content (not true 1080p) to stream into my home for movies and television. And it's 5 bucks a month extra.

I just don't really see the point of upgrading my DVD collection. I can potentially see the benefit for gaming... but I'm not a fan of prerendered video or 'extras', or anything other than something affecting the game itself. None of these next-gen systems have the bandwidth for high resolution textures... so is there a real benefit? Longer games perhaps? Sounds interesting but Oblivion is way too big for me already, so is there another benefit?

Dont argue with fools, they scorn the wisdom of your words.

-Nasir Jones

Sean ok. Xbox does support a keyboard and mouse....

Check it out..

http://store.yahoo.com/yhst-8336782827841/smjoyfruseke.html

Uglypimp, streaming's pretty different from downloading. I don't know, if there's a valid system that streams purchased HD movies/series into someone's TV whenever they please, it might work. Quite an ambitious project though. Though I'm still not confident people will be too enthusiastic about buying a movie, and having it kept on a drive far away, that they access by streaming.

I'm no way gonna upgrade my DVD collection. Though I will buy the odd HD movie that I think it'll be worth it for. Big cinematic films, or Advent Children kind of thing, stuff that benefits more from the jump to HD.

Other than what you've mentioned, I doubt there's much beyond multilingual content (useless to you personally, more for the publishers convenience), but it's been said that there will be a need for more space by a number of exec's, exactly why or how reliable they are is yet to be seen.

Sticker Shock is going to kill PS3, at least for this holiday season.

Here's the scenario. Its Christmas, average people are buying gifts for other people. The kiddies want PS3 and they don't care how much it costs. Average consumer still doesn't have an HDTV yet. They get to the video game section and here's what they see:

PS3 - 600+ dollars for HDTV, Blue Ray, and a crapload of other stuff the average consumer doesn't need or want.

360 - 300-350 dollars for HDTV, DVD which they already have, and a decent looking gaming console.

Revolution - 150-200 dollars, looks just as good as the other 2 on their TV and promises a whole new experience, and games Mom and Dad played as teenagers all over again.

For the price of a 360, they could almost get 2 Revs. For the supposed price of PS3, they could get 4 revs. It looks just as good as the other 2 (on standard TV).

360 will have the biggest library of "Next Gen" games, and be at a relatively reasonable price point. I predict 360 will be the big seller again this holiday, but the Revolution is going to give it a run for its money.

Standing next to these 2 consoles, the PS3 doesn't stand a chance of selling, much less accomplishing sony's goal: Trojan Horse for Blu-Ray.

Its about time those arrogant bastards get what is coming to them.

Lee said "Though I'm still not confident people will be too enthusiastic about buying a movie, and having it kept on a drive far away, that they access by streaming."

Yeah, I think that's the major hurdle for direct download content distributors. I too am a little bit scared of that proposition, maybe as long as they let you download it again if you lost it? It's a pipe dream, maybe, but would definitely be the tipping point for me.

Playstation?....more like...GAYstation!

Has anyone mentioned that the PS3 has built in wifi? That costs an extra $99 on the 360.

Also it supports standard blue-tooth profiles. I don't think it's that big of a stretch to assume that you could use your standard blue-tooth headset with the PS3, for in game chat and during voice / video chat.

A lot of people have mentioned low HD penetration as a ps3 hurdle. I'm considering the PS3 as a reason to make the switch... it's a more "future-proof" console than the 360 (on paper).

.02

Uglypimp: True, without it I simply wouldn't. Though then you'd get people haphazardly deleting their collections for more space, as they can just download it again for no fee.

It's a tricky situation, which is why I just believe it'll be a few more years before society is ready for it.

crono: 360 is between $300-400, and PS3 could be anywhere between $400 (very unlikely) $500 (common favourite) $600 (other common favourite) and above. You're assuming too much. I too think that on paper 360 has a decent shot this christmas. Though launches are powerful things, I think both Revolution and PS3 will outsell 360, if only for christmas.

Appeal of a brand new console from two companies that have been solidly in peoples homes for ten years (or more in Nintendo's case?), pretty damn powerful.

I think Revolution's going to take the cake. I can criticise 360/PS3's decisions, but Nintendo seem to have hit the nail on the head, and I'm sure people will buy into it more than the others. Though too many will think that the weaker console will really make a difference, when in truth at standard definition the difference isn't likely to be astounding.

Mistranslation my ass. I'm French so I understood quite well what he said (and I just listened to the interview to check).
"On sera dans cette fourchette" (500 Euros) translates to "we will be in this price range".
There is absolutely no ambiguity or room for interpretation. Sony is obviously counting on nobody checking their facts.

Why people keep saying Xbox 360 $400, Microsoft didn't force you to buy the premium package. Limited Backward compatibility obtained from that HDD was not a necessity.

You could have, and still can get the Xbox 360 for $299.

Which is why I think Sony will be way out on a limb when it debuts the PS3 at a bulky $500 price tag.

Lee, Mal F4ct10n, Geostar I agree with you arguments.

sean o k - Seriously, its a lot harder to read in all capitals. If you want people to read what your saying try writing normally, with intelligence, and generous spacing.

kev - gaystation? Very original... Here's a ball, go entertain yourself now.

Back to the topic:

If the PS3 can justify it's price I might get one.

And even as a self-confessed Nintendo Fanboy if they fail to deliver then I'll be the first person to say they deserve cacti beatings. But it's alot harder to fail to deliver at ~£200 than it is at ~£600.

I am going to get a 360 eventually. When the price comes down and after Halo 3 comes out. For now current Gen graphics and experiences (not to mention retro fixes) are keeping me happy.

Funny thing - Me and the guys were talking about gaming the other night, and we got alot more excited about Double Dragon & Mortal Kombat 1 memories than we did about whatchamacallit current generation title.

Kye

ps - When I posted my second piece it was listed as #50. Now it's #35. What the hell happened to 15 entries? Unless they were advertising Iraqi mail-order brides couldn't someone have let them stand? Seriously I thought the net and America were all about free speech? Or isit only free when you agree with the person incharge?

One last thing - Joystiq, If it's possible I seriously suggest you give Lee at least one star.
He deserves it.

What's the star system about? Just if the blog-writers think that you're worthy of one?

And being a Nintendo fan must have you pretty pleased about the Revolution. I'm pretty damn happy I'll be able to play all the Nintendo games without breaking the bank too much.

To be honest, in terms of talking about games and having loads of fun, the N64 days probably come up more than anything, Mario Kart, Goldeneye. More recently the Super Monkey Ball minigames. Recently most games, even the really good ones, have become far more of a personal affair. Most of the decent multiplayer titles have their multiplayer online.

That's why I'm really looking forward to having a bunch of mates round and arsing around with the Revolution. Ace.

I agree with Lee, mostly. I will try to put up a comeback for Antonious' reasons for PS3's failure (unless he is blatantly right on something).

UPDATE!! I was just at the local EBGamestop when the Sony rep stopped by and told the store manager (who is also the regional manager) that he should expect a PS3 price of "at least $499, possibly more."

If that wasn't bad enough, there is more!

He also said, "also expect a higher than $60 price for PS3 games, perhaps as much as $65, this holiday season."

I SWEAR ON THE GAMING GODS THAT I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. I AM PUTTING MY ENTIRE ONLINE REPUTATION ON THE LINE. I SPOKE TO THE MANAGER NOT 5 MINUTES AFTER HIS CONVERSATION WITH THE SONY REP.

If anybody knows any Sony reps, please call them and confirm *or* call your local EBGamestop and ask the managers what they have just been told by the Sony reps.

Also while there, I picked up the newest GAME INFORMER which states that Xbox is seeking to undercut the PS3 not with a price drop on consoles, but on the games themselves. They hinted at a price drop to $40 on new games, with additional content available via paid downloads on Xbox Live.

Basically, yes. You get a star if the blog writer thinks you've made a comment worth deserving a star.

Don't ask which comments I've made that deserve stars because I dont know. Your comment could be informative, humerous, or whatever. I guess it depends on the writers taste.

I have seen some really good comments go by reward-less. And other mediocre ones gets stars. Go figure.
even worse is when some people get -stars :(
(although some do deserve them)

Actually Joystiq, what's your prodedure for star ratings? Do certain types of comments warrant stars more than others? Do you have a quota to fill? e.g. Only the five best comments this week will get stars? Is there a commitee that engages in a democratic vote? Does the blogger have sole authority of whom recieve what? Im curious.

Anyways

I am pretty excited about the Revolution. Hell, I might even do the whole camping out thing the night before it launches.

Funny you should mention MK64 & Goldeneye as those were the only 2 games I ever bought for my original N64. They kept me smiling for many years.

And although online multiplayers are all good, nothing beats slapping the control pad out of someone's hand the second before they pwn you :p

Lmao @ Antonious

"I swear on the gaming gods..."

Easy there fella. *he takes the coffee away from him*

I don't doubt what you saying but theres no need to run around screaming like that.

Lol. No really, I'm literally laughing out loud.

Ű

Actually, it may sound funny, but I'm being quite serious.

Games are the thing that Sony haven't commented on prices of. It is a bit worrying.

Being in the UK, even if it does come out as $500, that's approximately £280. Which is supposed to be the price of the 360 over here. So that extra hundred dollars over in the states likely means we're looking at £350-400. That'll hurt.

The usual overpricing associated with Europe might have to be reconsidered. Especially with completely region free games and a worldwide release. That's really going to encourage some importing. SCEE might have to consider not ripping off Europe like usual.

Ideally I'd have someone preorder it for me in the states, and holiday over there to pick it up to avoid customs tax. Sounds like a lot of effort for a console, but if I'm saving up to a £100 ($175) and getting a holiday out of it, it might not be a bad idea.

Why is this so hard to understand? WHY?!?!

Lets make it simple.

XBOX 360 COMPONENTS- 20Gig HDD $1 dollar
- DVD drive $1 dollar
- Multi-Core processor $3 dollars
- Everything else $2 dollars

TOTAL X360 PRICE: $7 dollars

PS3 COMPONENT COSTS- 60Gig HDD $2 dollars
- New technology Cell processors - $2 dollars
- New technology Blu-Ray - $2 dollars
- More advanced Network/Wi-Fi/Blue tooth - $2 dollars
- 7 USB ports - $1 dollar
- Everything else - $2 dollars

TOTAL PS3 PRICE: $11 dollars

WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL? With the Sony you are getting more advanced technology, but you have to pay MORE for it. Why is it so hard for the SonyBonys to accept this?!?!

Antonious, I don't have much time today to respond to everything. It's obvious that you get more once you buy a PS3, but it's your not so rigorous analysis what is flawed. Yes, if PS3 costs 600, the PNP underdelivers, games for it suck and are substantially more expensive than for 360, then it is of course doomed, and Sony probably knows it (I don't see a game price cut, since that is where Microsoft plans to get their profit from, let alone that Nintendo would automatically do the same to Xbox 360 by making their games cost $30).

On the other hand, if it launches for $500 + tax (which isn't ridiculous), with games costing no more than $65 (which is reasonable, considering blu-ray discs, but earning less profit on them), then it can healthily compete with the 360 in America (although significantly losing some ground). Europe and Australia will be different, as everything is a lot more expensive over there. Japan is pretty much a victory for PS3 already (alright, a 90% sure victory). As long as it has a small arsenal of good games (which they should, considering the delay) to compete with the bigger library of the 360, and it has free multiplayer gaming.

There is not much reason to believe it will underdeliver, or it will overdeliver, other than wild subjective speculation. If someone is going to respond with something about "TOY STORY/EMOTION ENGINE", then save it.

Keep in mind that for all those PS2 owners it will be hard to just throw away all their PS2 (and possibly PS1) games by getting a 360. The PlayStation brand is still very strong, and the Microsoft brand not so much. Xbox didn't have a wide array of game genres while the PS2 did; hopefully E3 will have some nice surprises for all of us.

I will elaborate more on this later.

Antonious, I hope that you understand that a "Sony Rep" is equal to Sony as The guy in the Coke uniform who refills the soda's in the break room. He is not gonna know any solid info about what sony's prices strategies are for the PS3 or its games before anyone in the media does. Im not discrediting you or saying that the game store manager told you a lie. For all you people who come on here just to get everyone all fired up, KEEP IT DOWN. Im not saying you people dont have the right to say what you want, Im just saying that you people... arent people.

Imagine all the time people wasted talking about this stupid subject, comments were wrong and mistranslated, and fanboys from all sides still regurgitate same shit they said even after they know this whole story was just plain wrong.

Just wait till E3; time can be wasted on this subject when the price is offical.

FOUR things that will shock the gaming world!:

1.) PS3 released as the same price as XB360 premium pack ($399)

2.) All the tech demos that ppl said can't really be done in realtime(like Lair, the most amazing one of them IMO) can be done in gameplay.

3.) Revolution releases between $99-$149.

4.) Revolution graphics actually look great(despite the rumored specs).

1) As for the Linux comments - Sony is KING of the DRM world, so WHY would they allow open source on their machines? It would be a hackers dream.

2) Sony DOES NOT want their PS3's used as Linux computers.. They make $$$$ on the GAMES / BR movies.. The computer geeks who are running 'whatever' on their new 'linux' machines wouldn't buy hardly any games/movies, ergo Sony would lose money on those people.

3) Sony is losing money on MP3's and Movies being torrented on the net (approximately 40% of Net traffic is now bittorrent related..lol). They want to LOCK down pirating/copying of movies/games etc with the PROPRIETARY BR format...

And btw, you can get LOTS of HD movies/football/whatever on satellite/cable right now for VERY cheap prices, so the HD disc's will soon be obsolete (why buy a movie for $30 when you can get it on demand for $5 anytime you want)....

And with TIVO units out there, there's a TON of HD torrents already floating around the net (so I've heard...LOL)....

Peace out kiddies....

$599 US + games... OUCH....

Kevin D:
Linux was in an official announcement. Google it or something.

People like to own things. You can get SD movies on demand now. People are still buying DVDs.

HD on disc suffers none of the compression artifacts of HD broadcasting ergo better picture.

boots, you said, "Keep in mind that for all those PS2 owners it will be hard to just throw away all their PS2 (and possibly PS1) games by getting a 360. The PlayStation brand is still very strong, and the Microsoft brand not so much. Xbox didn't have a wide array of game genres while the PS2 did; hopefully E3 will have some nice surprises for all of us."

People getting an Xbox 360 will not be throwing their PS2 and all their games away, unless they 'literally' throw them away because they are stupid. Just because they buy a 360 doesn't mean they have to throw out their old games.

Very good comments otherwise though. I would argue that if PS3 is $500 and games are $65, then Sony IS going to be in more trouble than you are assuming. Mainly because you can get next gen graphics and gameplay for less on the 360. (Slight edges in technology ignored for either console). I think the push to the BR out their IS going to hurt Sony because of the higher cost associated with the system and the games. NOT a good idea. Most gamers would prefer to get MORE games to play (cheaper games = more game purhases on the 360, not to mention XBL arcade downloads and such).

IF Sony can get their media download system to work easily and offer equal, or near equal, content the gap will be narrowed. I do not see how Sony can imply that they can offer anything near to XBL for free, and continue to do so.

"That does not make sense!"

MalF4c10n, I think boots is referring to the fact that many don't like to have all of their previous consoles hooked up to their TVs, especially if they have a proper Home Theatre set-up, that's already enough components.

And from an HDTV owners viewpoint (I understand this is a considerably small number at present, 7% or something) are getting less enthusiastic about playing their old 480i games.

Sony online will probably start charging, or have a silver service. If they don't and keep up decent servers, that'll be good, but I'm not holding my breath.

I don't think that sony is dumb enough to price itself out the market with the xbox 360 selling at $299-$399 (possibly $249-$349) and the nintendo revolution selling at $249. Anything over $399 would place Sony out the market for the average consumer. But with the addition of the blu-ray drive Sony might not have a chioce but to set the price at $599 due to the expense of the blu-ray drive itself.

I think Sony got to be crazy if they decide to sell PS3 for more than $500. I think $500 is the ceiling. I know I will not buy one if it goes over that. U know how much computer you can get for $500 these days? I am a cheap guy so what, I shop for everything using price comparison shopping site PriceComparison.com.

http://www.PriceComparison.com

I am waiting on the PS3 like everyone else are, and would love to see it below $500 please please please.

Zach