Sony: PS3 price cut not due to 'market conditions,' more social networking features on the way

I really don't see why there's such a high demand for cross game voice chat. Is it really that nessecary? "Oh wow, I can talk with my friend who's playing Killzone 2 while I play God of war 3!" Really? Is it nessecary? I don't know. I just don't see the point of it.

The point of cross game chat is that a lot of games either don't support voice chat at all or support it poorly (e.g. Hot Shots Golf only has voice chat in 2 player games, not in games with anymore than 2 players which is insane). Plus it would be cool!

They had this planned 12 years ago, its just that nintendo copied them, and made the wii $250, sony had the price drop first, they just didn't announce it until a week ago

You're not being a very good CEO. You're meant to say how amazing PS3 will do during the 10 year lifecycle and that the PS2 is still the most popular console of all time.

Cross-game chat is a bad idea in some situations. When playing multiplayer you should be talking to your teammates - not your friend who is playing Oblivion. That said a universal chat would be nice - if it was disabled during multiplayer games. During singleplayer - or other activities on the console - it'd be nice.

k, sony, you were getting me back with the great announcements and good statements, but this is 1 of those crazy ones...

IMO, the MAIN reason the ps3 price was cut was due to market conditions.
had the ps3 been selling more consoles than the 360, the ps3 price would not have dropped.

but its not the only reason:
sony its okay to say that by slimming down the ps3 we have saved money on manufacturing costs and we are therefore passing the savings along to you.

we want to hear that stuff.

its MS who makes money on every 360 sold to date and may still be charging to much for the console.

A couple of things. First off wasn't the Facebook and Twitter interface mentioned at least 6 to 9 months ago by Sony in a round about way. Unless this is part of Firmware 3.0 that is coming next week and has been held back as one of those oh by the ways after the update. As for the Facebook updates I would assume you would have a list of options since an update can go from:

- playing (insert game here) on the Playstation 3
- playing (insert game here) online on the Playstation 3
- used logged onto the Playstation 3
- earned (insert trophy) while playing (insert game here) on the Playstation 3
- earned the online rank/medal/basge of (insert rank) on (insert game here on the Playstation 3

That is just the start and from a marketing standpoint would give free advertising of the Playstation 3 and the game you are playing where it is a AAA title of a downloaded PSN title.

As far as the cross game chat I thought in my readings that MS had politely told Sony to shove due to the possibility of a patent that it was holding and that is why Sony is unable to come right out with it but sorta told developers to add it in if they want. Would a better work around be adding Skype to the PS3 and using that in the background of the game is you want cross game chat. With soon to be 3 versions of PSP's with Skype and a PS3 with Skype it would add to the overall functionality of the PS brand. The problem would be would the PS3 have enough RAM to run both a game either online or offline and Skype in the background? This way Sony has the MS work around. Since the PS3 has its own signature online (see Hulu and Joost) Sony/Skype could have any PS3 signatures go through a Sony DNAS server.

If I need to talk to someone I just send them a little text. I'm not one for having these large conversations with anyone while I game. I can certainly see why some people would love the feature but I didn't use it on my 360 and I wouldn't use it on my PS3. It's just not something I give a damn about. Maybe I'm not a social gamer or whatever but I play games to play not talk to people about a cool album they listened to or what broad they nailed this past weekend. I never really sent voice messages on the 360, either. It was usually just a quick little text.

For those that really want it badly I hope you get it. I really do ... You deserve it and if it's technically possible on the system there isn't a good reason in hell why it hasn't been implemented yet. It's just not something that I care about. If I chat with someone it will be in the particular game I'm playing otherwise a text will suffice. But, thats just me. I don't play a lot of multiplayer games anyway.

so, this widely anticipated price cut in lieu of slagging sales and a recession economy isn't, in fact, due to the reasons we all foresaw for a year now.

Oh, sony, you act just like a politician.

I agree with Griffin. Get the out of game voice chat working first, then focus on social networking. Heck, I would have preferred that to Home even.

Hopefully, if they insist on these these social networking ideas, that they will make Home more worthwhile to me, because at the moment, I don't use it more than once in while.

I just hope these social features have nothing to do with Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace integration. We have the web browser for that and it keeps the system (and XMB) clean of unnecessary extras.

This is a good politician trick. Yes, Sony has always planned on a Slim edition and a price cut, the key is the time table for those to happen you can believe were accelerated due to competition between MS and Nintendo with help from the economy tanking. It would be very hard convincing anyone that getting hammered in every major market besides Japan is an ideal condition especially after the mindset Sony had at the beginning of this console lifecycle.

Being able to cut cost by 70% but having to pretty much give it back to the customer is not something you do from a position of strength. You only have to look at Nintendo to see if you are in a position of strength that cutting cost is definitely not needed.

The thing is, Sony has reacted every since they released the PS3. A few areas they have tried to separate themselves from the competition but Sony is still on their heals and haven't touch solid ground yet. Will $100 cut and new design do it for the PS3. Maybe for the hardcore, but Nintendo has already shone price is not the only thing driving the market.

I get the demand for universal voice chat, it's a very nice feature, even though I would rarely use it. I don't care how good of friends we are, I am not talking to you while I am zoning out in Wipeout or SSHD.

I'm afraid that if we stuff too many features in the consoles then it'll divert the focus of what they're truly about - video games. I understand competing to be the best home entertainment system but where is the limit?

Right now Microsoft is focusing so much attention on how they can add, or integrate, more features onto Xbox Live that they're going to lose they're demographic. So much so that, according to this years E3, not much is happening for the rest of 2009 and throughout 2010 in terms of games. Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, is all well and good but if you steer away from the video game market, as Microsoft is slowly doing now, then begin shifting over to a different industry because that is not what the video game market is about.

I fear the same might happen with Sony. PS Home in itself is a social network that potentially opens much more than what Facebook or Twitter have to offer.

Before you early ps3 slim adopters buy extra controllers on ebay, playtrade, or what have you, know that a fresh batch of fake controllers has hit the market. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mji_PLB7Tb0 for more details

By other social networking features does that mean the Free Realms for PS3 will coming soon so not only will there be Home (Where the European Home gets a lot more free movie swag) but another under utilized application.

And are the social networking applications going to be Son'y version of Facebook and Twitter or whatever else pops up that can only be used in Home if you buy the computer at the Mall for $5 but also need to buy a internet connection to use in Home. Oh and it can only be viewed in Home or it will be filed under Life on PlayStation where only PS3 can view it and customization is crap just like the weather and news channel that is there.

This should be the Sony tag line "Planning and implementing". How many times have we heard this line over and over again.

It was stated at GameCom that Sony did not want to do one big XMB or major firmware update at once but gradually. So is 3.0 the start Sept 1 and we will hear more at TGS with Oct 1 being the launch of GO and 3.something released then too.

To me it would seem with two major console revisions within 30 days of each and a big push for the GO and what looks to be a very promising offering of content for the next 7 months that Sony would really being pushing more. PS3 started out as not just a game system but the entertainment hub and now is getting pushed as a game system even though it now has Bravia Link a feather that should have been included with the Heavy PS3 at launch.

I want a marketing job at Sony were you can say and do whatever you want and no one in the corporate of shareholder structure cares.

Anyone who believes this drivel deserves everything they get. Of course the price drop was a reaction to (A) dwindling sales, and (B) the overall market.

The PS3 was simply overpriced relative to its competition, in an environment where people are reluctant to hand over money. The Slim is a much better proposition.

Sony, MS, Nintendo? Please shut up. The only people who believe you are your fanboys.

Even when Sony does something right they screw it up with a bad comment

More like desperation?

"but heck -- we'd be content with just being able to, y'know, talk to each other regardless of what games we're playing."

THANK YOU! A Statement on that would be so awesome SONY!