Hirai: PS3 Slim sold at a loss, but business profitable overall

Hey, they're selling a quality product. They started out selling it at the lowest reasonable price, taking a loss on every system sold. And now that production costs have dropped, they've cut the price again to appease consumers and developers, once again eating the loss on every console sold. And, once again, it's a great product! Hell, I'd like to say that they even have great customer service, but I've never had to call them. Launch 60 gigger still kicking. I like these guys too.

Well jack... I dunno where they will be... But if I'm in a time of need, I'll rage quit my ps3 and turn on the 360. Afterall, I bought a new tv stand with a shelf to hold the PS360 setup I have going on, and the two consoles are sitting side by side!

Where will Sony be in my time of need? The same place, Microsoft, Nintendo, and everybody else in the world will be. Minding their own business. That's fine with me. You sell me a quality, reliable, feature-packed piece of machinery, and I will be happy to give you my patronage as long as you keep up that standard.

Mr. Powers,

I will be sending you a friend request. I would be honored if you were to accept it.

Bring it on, sir. But, I warn you, your friendship will only be rewarded by a sound shotgun lashing in the desert wastelands of Helghan.

It's reported it cost nearly $800.

Anyway, this is specifically about the PS3 Slim. It has a completely new body, which means new machines to produce the PS3 Slim, new packaging, new marketing...a lot goes in to this.

I dont see that as a Price drop....they just removed the 60GB and put in the 120GB...its not even the SAME "elite" bundle as last holiday or 4 months ago for that matter....if anything it just opens the Window for MS to push out a 250GB Model of their own with the 250GB HDD standalone costing around $180

In my mind that was funny, you have to imagine me saying insignific8nt you c8nt just repeat it to yourself a few times, it sounds better every time.. Just want to stick my head out of the window and call everyone an insignific8nt c8nt, , I guess its just my engrish humour ..

What is elementary school btw ? does that make me more l33t ?

Now if only you were getting paid to predict this then joystiq can put you in the front page.

But what about the Xbox360 price drop? I have a PS3 but with the new Xbox Elite at $300, I think I'll be picking one up later this year. I know a lot more people will do it the other way around, buying a PS3 for cheap while they already have a 360, but I think it could be pretty even, especially this holiday season.

I laugh at your punditry. Contrary to popular belief, people like games more than they like slimmer consoles.

if only your name was pachter...

What if I paid Dave $.01/prediction? Would you all start taking his rampant prophesying more seriously?

I predict Obama and Chuck Norris will personally hunt down Bin Laden and will feast on his entrails.

@ Dave,

While I see a sales increase, especially short term for PS3, I think the overall figures for PS3 and 360 will pretty much continue on at their respective distances between each other for the remainder of this console generation.

chuck norris jokes are old and played out.

@toadstool I doubt it, only because every1 in america ( I KNOW NOT EVERYONE ) has a 360 of sorts, or 2. The PS3 is that sexy lady in the corner you've been itching to nail, but havent told any one. You keep banging you 360 because you love her, and she's been there for you... but something mysteriously erotic about that asian box over there...

lol... sorry getting carried away

anyways, I see more ps3's moving in america, because less people have them

Alas, Paul was found dead in his room today. Initial reports state that the cause of death was a swift round-house kick to the neck. No motive has been established. Police do not believe it was a robbery, though it was noted that his sense of humor seemed to be missing.

Have mercy!

hard for me to admit that. Since I don't own one and other than playing a few exclusive games, it does nothing for me that my 360 isn't already doing at a lower price.

Your 360 plays Blurays?

No, the 360 still is. I would much rather have built-in Netflix streaming, larger gaming communities, and a better online service.

like play blu ray? lol and don't start with the "i get hd movies on netflix."

cuz i didnt say hd movies...i say Blu Ray©

I own a PS3 BTW, I've had it since it hit $400 (got it solely for Little Big Planet), and I couldn't give less of a shit about Blu-rays, and yes I have a 1080p TV. They're too expensive and the quality increase isn't that great except in very dark movies. Dark scenes are much better, but bright scenes aren't much different unless you sit too close to your TV. Blu-ray is not a big deal.

so ummmm yea....I bout a PS3 first...THEN a Wii....THEN a 360....the ONLY games worth the purchase of a 360 to me were Gears 2 and Fable 2.....yet I spent $400 on an Elite....the way I see it if you are a true gamer you will buy a system for only a handful of good games.....and thats what I did

Can your Xbox play Blu Ray? A new blu ray player can run from $150+ easily, so having the PS3 be both my gaming console and my blu ray player for my entertainment system is a fantastic deal to me. It comes with wifi and bluetooth built in, while you have to pay $40+ to get wifi on the 360 (unless you buy the new bundle coming out). The online is free as well (even though I would happily pay for a more robust and overall better online experience like Live, I'm happy it's free right now). Plus, your Xbox won't be doing it at much of a lower price when the PS3 drops to $300. I know I'm coming off as a Sony fanboy right now, but the PS3 really is a good value deal.

yes, it plays blu-ray just fine, looks fantastic. You noobs think you need a disc to play blu-ray, lol. If I couldn't, I would neither bother with them nor feel like I'm losing anything. Blu-ray is an overhyped waste of money.

Then I'd say you need glasses. There's a huge difference.

Ehhh... Everything the 360 does the PS3 does as well (and then some). Like streaming Netflix? Install a media server on your computer. Like playing online? Play online for free on the PSN (which is getting better and better almost every day). Like watching blurays? Why not just pop one into the PS3 and watch that shit. This proce drop makes the decision even more clear (in my opinion), and that is, regardless of the games for each system, the PS3 is the better choice.

Shadow you are saying that the best overall entertainment value (notice the word entertainment) is the 360?

Well I have to disagree, you may have had an argument a few weeks ago but now you're just being silly. Even if (when) the Elite drops to $299 you still get more for your money with the PS3.

Better yet just enjoy both, but don't lie to yourself and everyone else.

@oolz you 360 Plays blu-ray fine?? Ummm I thinx you are shitfull is that how they say it? yes?

I'm sorry, but anyone who says the difference between Hi-Def and Standard Def movies isn't that great is blind or stupid.

Wait. I take that back. I'm not sorry.

lol...the word "shitfull" has now been added to my personal vocabulary. I encourage you all to follow suit.

Gigg, I think you're fooling yourself. You're looking at it from gamer/enthusiest perspective, but to the average consumer, the 360 will still win out because when they add things to the console, they're adding things that people know and want. Netflix, check. Twitter, check, last.fm, check. Those are buzzword items today that the average consumer can find value in having. Blu-ray still doesn't carry weight with the average consumer because most of them simply can't see the difference or justify paying for it when they can and that's the only REAL value-add that the PS3 has right now.

Of course, there are those of us with Netflix that rent BR movies... but since you pirate them I guess you wouldn't consider that.

yea HD=SD is true...if YOU ARE LEGALLY BLIND!!!!

Chris D. : You're more than welcome to come to my house and we can watch any of the blu-ray movies in my collection. I've got about 30 and counting and I don't own a blu player or ps3.

Don't doubt what you can't comprehend.

I can comprehend Pirating just fine....what I CANT Comprehend is how you can say you 360 can play Blu-ray Disc Movies when the 360 doesnt have a Blu-ray player.....if indeed you are talking about Streaming Blu-ray Rips thats NOT the same thing...Clearly that would be like saying "I can play VHS Movies on my Wii" when in fact its a STREAM of a RIPPED VHS....

I'm sorry, oolz, but Blu-Ray (tm) by definition is a physical disk format. Therefore, in order to watch Blu-Ray (tm) movies, you would need some device with a physical Blu-Ray (tm) disk drive. Even if your next door neighbor has a Blu-Ray (tm) drive in his computer, and is ripping the movies to an external hard drive for you, when you watch them on your computer, you're no longer watching a Blu-Ray (tm) movie and more than watching a movie you downloaded would be considered watching a DVD.

But, if I'm wrong, and there is indeed some way that you're watching your collection of 30 Blu-Ray movies on your 360, please enlighten us all. Inquiring minds want to know.

Damnit, I forgot a (tm).

its annoying when people compare blu-ray playback with netflix... if you don't live in the states, this feature for the 360 is non-existant and not everyone has unlimited downloads to stream/download HD content freely. Personally for me, the ps3 having blu-ray puts that ahead of the 360 because I want to watch HD movies. Had HD-DVD won and the 360 continued it then I know which way I would have turned.

Blu-ray movies are coming down in price now and the argument against it gets less and less(about time!)

PS3 could have a feature such as streaming hd content at some point, whether it is as robust as netflix, im not sure but what i do know is that the ps3 does not need an add-on to play HD quality movies...

oolz.. I am going to rush out and buy a games console so I can use twitter, even better screw my laptop let me sit in front of the tv with a 360 (does it even support keyboards like the ps3 ? ) and use a controller to try and write a message on twitter or on facebook.. Do you see the flaw in that plan ?

Also you forget the PS3 has a browser, it supports you tube, it supports facebook, you can connect usb/wireless/bluetooth keyboards and mice into it and use the built in web browser what else was there ? Oh yes blu ray is a big deal a lot of people have bought a ps3 solely because it plays blu ray films..

Didnt Sony announce that more features such as facebook integration are also being built into the ps3 (probably under the rumoured ps cloud) ?

What else ?.. well in Europe & in Australia we have something called playtv - watch and record live tv, we have vidzone which is a live music channel which smacks the crap out of last.fm and thats being released world wide.. Sony will be releasing its movie store world wide also..

Also lets not forget acess to PSN is free, hey I might not have cross game voice chat but I can turn on my ps3 play any online games and not have to worry about my subscription running out.. This is a massive deal does netflix work for silver members ?

Also built in Wifi, Gigabit ethernet connection, blue tooth connection the Picture gallery program, life with playstation, anything else I am forgetting here ?

completely unrelated:

copying iso images (large files generally) from a vmware instance of linux with 2 x file backed disks will cause the physical machine to drastically slow down just fyi, its been a painful experience, also synergy/quicksynergy is an awesome awesome tool (share your mouse and keyboard between computer/laptop over tcp/ip its just kick ass)

@ Oolz: "They're adding things that people know and want. Netflix, check. Twitter, check, last.fm, check. Those are buzzword items today that the average consumer can find value in having."

Buzzwords..... You ever heard of the Internet? I'm sure most people have. All of those things you mentioned can be accomplished with any old run of the mill internet browser..... Which the PS3 also includes!