SONY rules out PS3 price cut!!

[mafia_boy]

I just found this scouring some other news articles and felt it was very essential for all of us who were waiting and hoping that the price of the PS3 would be coming down in the near future. As you may already know from a couple of weeks back, Activision is considering pulling out of developing games for the PS3 unless the prices were starting to drop.....The truth is, it's not happening. Howard Stringer has just mentioned that in his rebuttal to Activision.

Link to News Story!!

To me personally, it's a case of swearing at SONY for keeping the price jacked up......I reckon until atleast GT5 is released and they can make many millions off the bundle packs.

What's your opinion on this matter??

 

[Moglet]

“I lose money on every PlayStation I make,” Mr Stringer said.

"You're fired"

 

[FoolKiller]

If they are planning a price drop in November why would he say so now? All that would do is kill sales until November.

EDIT: For the record, I cannot think of an Activision game I would truly miss. I think Wolverine is the only one I own on the PS3, and that is far from a top tier title.

 

[viejaloca]

Oh no, Activision!?
@ FoolKiller: They make Call Of Duty! It would suck for me if there was no more COD!
I heard in Car and Driver Magazine back 2 years that Sony already loses $100 for every PS3 sold and that was before price drops!

 

[kikie]

... but a PS3 is still much cheaper than a top notch gaming pc.
... and you don't have to upgrade the PS3 every 6 to 12 months to be able to play your favourite games.

 

[Shokz]

Yeah, that's what I don't get... For what the PS3 is, it's really cheap... Cheaper than the 360 if you compare them side by side.

I wouldn't miss CoD though, I get those on PC anyway ^.^

 

[FoolKiller]

Oh no, Activision!?
@ FoolKiller: They make Call Of Duty! It would suck for me if there was no more COD!

You know, I looked at this and then looked again at what Kotrick said. Aside from Kotrick also saying that musicians should pay him to put them in music games (obviously he was BSing then - 5 guitar hero titles this year) he is an idiot.

But then I notice that he said develop, not produce. Activision does not make CoD. They publish it. Infinity Ward makes CoD (well, every other one...and the uber-popular Modern Warfare). Similar for Wolverine, Raven Studios developed it, Activision just published it.

In order for Activision to prevent development partners from making PS3 games they would have to stop any titles that start on the Ps3 and then port to other systems. Then of course, the notion that Activision would willingly give up a potential 24 million sales (actually less when you consider people with multiple consoles) is just ridiculous

I heard in Car and Driver Magazine back 2 years that Sony already loses $100 for every PS3 sold and that was before price drops!

All systems lose money at launch (Wii being the exception). At launch early reports were as much as a $300 loss per console in the US. Since that time manufacturing has gotten cheaper and the price drops we did receive were covered by the removal of things like backward compatibility and flash memory card readers. The last analysis I heard was around Christmas and they believed manufacturing costs were going to break even by April.

If accurate, then a price drop now would mean more loss right when they were getting close to being able to make a profit. Thus the rumors of a PS3 slim have come out as a redesign would be a possible way to reduce sale price and still make a profit.


Anyway, do not worry about losing your COD. Bobby Kotrick isn't stupid, he just says stupid things.

 

[LaBounti]

Activision would stupid to pull out all development. Maybe if they try more to not be like EA they would do better.

By the way Sony could release a new sku. 500GB system with 2 free games plus $50 in PSN credit. Sell it for $699 and always have a buy one get one free. That way they could fool the public in to buying 2 systems for $350 each every time one is purchased LOL. I know its ridiculous and no im not serious.

 

[danjama]

Why should they drop the price its worth every penny, penny pinchers should stop moaning....if you cant afford it oh well

the same people that claim it costs too much probably spend £300 on other crap without even realising

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I don't think the sales numbers are bad enough to justify a price drop for Sony, or rather it would of no to little benefit for Sony.

 

[RacerPaul]

Why should they drop the price its worth every penny, penny pinchers should stop moaning....if you cant afford it oh well

the same people that claim it costs too much probably spend £300 on other crap without even realising

i agree with all your post except the 'if you can't afford it oh well'. that's a tad harsh, not everyone is as fortunate as those of us
who own this fine console

i'm hanging on to my job by the skin of my teeth at the moment. they've already asked us for volunteer redundancies before they
force them on us

 

[mafia_boy]

Why should they drop the price its worth every penny, penny pinchers should stop moaning....if you cant afford it oh well

the same people that claim it costs too much probably spend £300 on other crap without even realising

When you have a family/bills/house to pay off THEN come talk to me because I'd rather use my money for more IMPORTANT matters than a PS3. Just because you can splurge straight away and get it with mum/dad's credit card. It sounds to me danjama that you're a 'richie rich' type of person who gets spoilt a fair bit and is being a snob because someone else can't get it as easily as you and that just stinks of being an elistist pig to anyone that isn't on your level.

That being said, I waited and waited until the PS2 dropped price and got GT3 with it and the PS2 was out for about 2yrs when that happened. We're already at 3yrs with the PS3. And they can't BS with the "we lose money everytime", that USED to happen with the 60Gb's because the emotion engine cost so much to develop!! That hasn't been around in ages so that excuse is null-in-void.

i agree with all your post except the 'if you can't afford it oh well'. that's a tad harsh, not everyone is as fortunate as those of us
who own this fine console

i'm hanging on to my job by the skin of my teeth at the moment. they've already asked us for volunteer redundancies before they
force them on us

That's another reason too, the GFC is causing havoc with our employment situations and hence SAVING money from a cheaper PS3 would be good in these hard financial times for the working people. Some of us aren't as fortunate as danjama.

 

[FoolKiller]

When you have a family/bills/house to pay off THEN come talk to me because I'd rather use my money for more IMPORTANT matters than a PS3. Just because you can splurge straight away and get it with mum/dad's credit card. It sounds to me danjama that you're a 'richie rich' type of person who gets spoilt a fair bit and is being a snob because someone else can't get it as easily as you and that just stinks of being an elistist pig to anyone that isn't on your level.

Calm down a bit. It may have been an unnecessarily broad sweeping statement, but when I see plenty of people who ask me how I bought things like a PS3, a new car, etc and make the same amount of money as me, but then see that they smoke like three packs a day I believe his point applies. Sure, it likely doesn't apply to you, but there are plenty of people in this world who waste money on stuff and complain about things being too expensive. My brother and his wife do it all the time, but they are both doctors and one of them makes more than my wife and I combined.

That being said, I waited and waited until the PS2 dropped price and got GT3 with it and the PS2 was out for about 2yrs when that happened. We're already at 3yrs with the PS3. And they can't BS with the "we lose money everytime", that USED to happen with the 60Gb's because the emotion engine cost so much to develop!! That hasn't been around in ages so that excuse is null-in-void.

It was $599 at launch, when I bought mine, and you can now buy one for $399, usually bundled with games. They have removed those earlier costs from the price. But because they are still dealing with an expensive machine any further price drops would mean more monetary losses.

That's another reason too, the GFC is causing havoc with our employment situations and hence SAVING money from a cheaper PS3 would be good in these hard financial times for the working people. Some of us aren't as fortunate as danjama.

Yes, the current economy is affecting the ability of people to buy a machine like the PS3, but at a time when game developers have been laying people off do you think it is fair to Sony's employees to take further losses and possibly lose their jobs so that the working people can more easily own an entertainment device? Never forget that those big greedy companies are also a few thousand working people.

 

[CamryFan]

I now have an Xbox 360. If the PS3 was price competitive I would have bought it straight away. They just can't compete and if your not shifting consoles your not selling games, if your not selling games you ain't making money.

Wake up Sony.

 

[Boffin]

When you have a family/bills/house to pay off THEN come talk to me because I'd rather use my money for more IMPORTANT matters than a PS3. Just because you can splurge straight away and get it with mum/dad's credit card. It sounds to me danjama that you're a 'richie rich' type of person who gets spoilt a fair bit and is being a snob because someone else can't get it as easily as you and that just stinks of being an elistist pig to anyone that isn't on your level.

*claps* 👍

 

[mafia_boy]

Calm down a bit. It may have been an unnecessarily broad sweeping statement, but when I see plenty of people who ask me how I bought things like a PS3, a new car, etc and make the same amount of money as me, but then see that they smoke like three packs a day I believe his point applies. Sure, it likely doesn't apply to you, but there are plenty of people in this world who waste money on stuff and complain about things being too expensive. My brother and his wife do it all the time, but they are both doctors and one of them makes more than my wife and I combined.

Sorry, it was the tone of the post that got my hackles up.

It was $599 at launch, when I bought mine, and you can now buy one for $399, usually bundled with games. They have removed those earlier costs from the price. But because they are still dealing with an expensive machine any further price drops would mean more monetary losses.

If only it was that cheap here. A used 60Gb w/warranty is $679 currently at EB Games. A brand new 80Gb can be had for $688. The only way we get discounts here is through people selling them on Ebay, and that's still around the $400-500 mark depending on age/equipment.

Yes, the current economy is affecting the ability of people to buy a machine like the PS3, but at a time when game developers have been laying people off do you think it is fair to Sony's employees to take further losses and possibly lose their jobs so that the working people can more easily own an entertainment device? Never forget that those big greedy companies are also a few thousand working people.

True true, but at the same time if it's too high priced that not as many would buy it as you would when the masses do you still end up with the same bottom line.....losses. And not many people buying a PS3 will wind up in a bigger market share for the cheaper competitors (X360 & Wii) which still release the same games for the general public.

 

[Sureboss]

I now have an Xbox 360. If the PS3 was price competitive I would have bought it straight away. They just can't compete and if your not shifting consoles your not selling games, if your not selling games you ain't making money.

Wake up Sony.

They are offering a different product compared to MS.

 

[Joey D]

... but a PS3 is still much cheaper than a top notch gaming pc.
... and you don't have to upgrade the PS3 every 6 to 12 months to be able to play your favourite games.

A PS3, and any console for that matter, is also a whole lot less useful than a PC. You also don't have to upgrade a PC all that often, I'm still on the same hardware I bought last year and I haven't come across a game yet that I haven't been able to play. And even when you do have to upgrade a PC you are looking at a graphics card for the most part which isn't that expensive.

I really do think Sony needs to drop the price on the PS3, the economy is rough right now and people aren't making the same money they used to. I think that's why the 360 still sells pretty well despite having less features, it's a much cheaper way to next-gen game. If you only have X amount of money to spend you are probably going to try to make X go as far as you can.

And if Sony sells their console at a loss then they have terrible business practices. I can understand selling at a loss during the introductory phase to some degree but the PS3 has been out how long now?

 

[FoolKiller]

If only it was that cheap here. A used 60Gb w/warranty is $679 currently at EB Games. A brand new 80Gb can be had for $688. The only way we get discounts here is through people selling them on Ebay, and that's still around the $400-500 mark depending on age/equipment.

Where is "here" again? I'm sure you have said it before but I can't remember. Judging by the prices I am guessing AU. If that is the case then there is more to that price than what Sony is doing. Your entire gaming environment is screwed up.

True true, but at the same time if it's too high priced that not as many would buy it as you would when the masses do you still end up with the same bottom line.....losses. And not many people buying a PS3 will wind up in a bigger market share for the cheaper competitors (X360 & Wii) which still release the same games for the general public.

I don't disagree with what you are saying, but considering the higher tecnology level of the PS3 it is similar to saying that BMW needs to lower their prices because Toyota has a larger marketshare. For each product you can practically chart how price will affect sales and thus profits. But the chart is a curve. You can actually lose a certain number of sales at a higher cost but make more profit. Once you tip the balance though then your lost sales begins to hurt profit.

I can't pretend to know how Sony's business plan is working on this, or anything, but I have to believe that guys who are much smarter than me in this stuff, and with a lot more information available have worked out what they should do, and at least think they know what they are doing.

Of course, I would take a wild guess that all their figuring at the time was not taking into account the economic situation that we are in now. Part of me wonders if what we see as stupid now wouldn't have made sense had the economy not collapsed. Or are they making adjustments now when they had fully intended to drop the price by now, but the economy has made them have to take a different approach?

A PS3, and any console for that matter, is also a whole lot less useful than a PC.

I agree, but I have to say that it has gotten close enough that I can use my PS3 to work from home. I think Google deserves more credit than Sony for that though. I can also work from my non-smart cell phone.

There is still a lot that I can only do on my PC, but for the most basic needs a PS3 can do the job. Even more so if you install Linux on it.

And if Sony sells their console at a loss then they have terrible business practices. I can understand selling at a loss during the introductory phase to some degree but the PS3 has been out how long now?

After reading through some other articles talking about Singer's statements it seems like he actually said if they did a price drop now they would be losing money, not that they still are.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/sonys-stringer-dismisses-ps3-price-cutting-threats-by-noisy-act/

When asked about the logic of not cutting prices, Howard said, "I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make -- how's that for logic." True, until the 45nm Cell processor launches allowing for a cheaper, cooler running slim PS3 later this year, right Howie... wink, wink?

It is hard to tell by the way they do it what he said, but all other reports I have seen have added that (would) or [would] in there, which may mean that he later clarified his own statement.

Plus, as Engadget points out, the cheaper hardware isn't available yet, and if the 45nm chip will allow a price drop talking about it now will kill any sales until then.

 

[kikie]

A PS3, and any console for that matter, is also a whole lot less useful than a PC.

Quite true.

You also don't have to upgrade a PC all that often, I'm still on the same hardware I bought last year and I haven't come across a game yet that I haven't been able to play. And even when you do have to upgrade a PC you are looking at a graphics card for the most part which isn't that expensive.

That's not entirely true. A decent gaming computer is a lot more expensive than a PS3. Game developers - like SMS - are capable to make multi platform games which look as decent on the PS3/Xbox 360 as on PC. SMS's CEO Ian Bell, said in an interview with AutoSimSport that it is perfectly possible to make hardcore sims on a console. If you want to play a next gen pc game at a steady 60 FPS with the graphics of GT5p, you need a very, very expensive pc/graphic's card. Some of these cards are as expensive as a PS3. If you want to latest race games (like me ), you definitely need to upgrade your pc every 1 to 2 years, which isn't the case with the PS3.
A pc has other programmes/anti virus and an OS running on the background, which takes away a lot of the gaming power (I think).

I prefer a console over a pc but that's my personal opinion.

 

[Joey D]

You don't need the top of the line graphics card though, a GeForce 9800 will play a vast majority of popular games right now and you can get them for less then $150 and even as low as $100 with rebates. Yes the initial cost of a gaming PC is high, about $700-$1000, but upgrades are relatively inexpensive.

 

[Dazzla]

Has Sony PR ever admit to anything ever? They always shoot down rumors, and next month it is released.

Expect a slim PS3 and full software backwards compatibility by Christmas 09' along with GT5 of course.

 

[FoolKiller]

Has Sony PR ever admit to anything ever? They always shoot down rumors, and next month it is released.

Does any company admit to any rumors or speculation, ever?

 

[mafia_boy]

FK, I totally see where you were going with the BMW & Toyota comparison. In that light where you're comparing a 1 Series to a Yaris, yes it's like chalk & cheese. The BMW is more of a niche product. But the Playstation is not a niche product, it has always been a mass produced, marketed, and distributed gaming console.
Think back to PS1, it's technology was ahead of it's main competitors (3DO was around but too expensive) but it was priced the same as the competitors. That's what caused it to explode, sell like hotcakes and kill off the cartridge system forever. It hasn't occured with the PS3 this time around. Blu-ray WILL eventually be the market leader, but at the moment it's not the great wonder it could've been like the PS1, especially when Sony keep pilfering parts off it to keep costs down (bring back the emotion engine and backwards compatibility you mongrels!!) and making it a PS2.75, not a PS3.

And tell me about it, our gaming environment IS screwed up, always has been. I remember the days as a kid when the MegaDrive/Genesis came out and we were getting smashed for ADM games....$90-$100+ at times, back in 1990!! I was lucky, we found out about a guy who was importing games from Japan and US so I used to get them for 1/2 the price and months before ADM release. 👍 SNES/Super Famicom was the same situation back then too for us.

With the PC comparo, you don't even need to go all out to get great PC performance. A decent starter gaming tower will cost $300-400 to build, case & PSU included. That's running a 9500GT which is the most expensive part of the lot, and that can be overclocked to 9800 specs no sweat which allows you to play nearly anything on the market with a decent fps rate.

Compare that to the used $679/new $688 for the PS3 as I mentioned before and you start to understand why a lot of Aussie gamers stick with PC for a lot of their gaming needs. It's cheaper for PC parts here.

I'll continue to wait anyway until the price drops.....and wait.....and wait.....*drop the price already sony*.

 

[Casio]

It's still not a bad deal, not only do you get a Games System, but Blu-Ray player, Media Centre, Web Browser, free online gaming, free updates, 1080P output etc, etc. I paid over $700 for mine, and think it is well worth the money I pay for it.

The games aren't that expensive in Australia in comparison to other places, the system here is ~$700 and the games are ~$100, or 1/7th of the price of the system. In the US, the system is ~$400 and the games ~$60, which is even slightly more than 1/7th of the price.

 

[LaBounti]

I now have an Xbox 360. If the PS3 was price competitive I would have bought it straight away. They just can't compete and if your not shifting consoles your not selling games, if your not selling games you ain't making money.

Wake up Sony.

That just means you didnt really want a PS3 if you got an Xbox360 which means it doesnt really matter. It was your choice to settle.
Sony PS3 is basically one year in hardware sales behind MS. Sony carries 3 systems, MS 1. They are competing just fine.

When you have a family/bills/house to pay off THEN come talk to me because I'd rather use my money for more IMPORTANT matters than a PS3. Just because you can splurge straight away and get it with mum/dad's credit card. It sounds to me danjama that you're a 'richie rich' type of person who gets spoilt a fair bit and is being a snob because someone else can't get it as easily as you and that just stinks of being an elistist pig to anyone that isn't on your level.

Whoa. I have two kids and my own "debts" that I take care of. I had to use borrowed money to get my PS3 on 2 days notice in 06. I dont make bundles of cash. I dont drink or smoke or waste money. I just got another PS3 that I had to borrow money for when mine broke. But I'm paying my friend back in car drawings and thats time consuming lol. I do have everything I need and i spend money on things I need and things I dont need with extra cash. I dont rely on tax returns for anything so i was able to use that money for whatever. Just an example of all people are different and we dont have nice things because we are rich.

It's still not a bad deal, not only do you get a Games System, but Blu-Ray player, Media Centre, Web Browser, free online gaming, free updates, 1080P output etc, etc. I paid over $700 for mine, and think it is well worth the money I pay for it.

The games aren't that expensive in Australia in comparison to other places, the system here is ~$700 and the games are ~$100, or 1/7th of the price of the system. In the US, the system is ~$400 and the games ~$60, which is even slightly more than 1/7th of the price.

I've always felt like that. And the Fuel demo on Xbox live i was disappointed to see you need gold to download it. Thats bull.

 

[Peter]

Dammit, I was waiting to get a new one, but tough crap for me.

 

[jergto]

When you have a family/bills/house to pay off THEN come talk to me because I'd rather use my money for more IMPORTANT matters than a PS3. Just because you can splurge straight away and get it with mum/dad's credit card. It sounds to me danjama that you're a 'richie rich' type of person who gets spoilt a fair bit and is being a snob because someone else can't get it as easily as you and that just stinks of being an elistist pig to anyone that isn't on your level.

That being said, I waited and waited until the PS2 dropped price and got GT3 with it and the PS2 was out for about 2yrs when that happened. We're already at 3yrs with the PS3. And they can't BS with the "we lose money everytime", that USED to happen with the 60Gb's because the emotion engine cost so much to develop!! That hasn't been around in ages so that excuse is null-in-void.



That's another reason too, the GFC is causing havoc with our employment situations and hence SAVING money from a cheaper PS3 would be good in these hard financial times for the working people. Some of us aren't as fortunate as danjama.

well i dont know how old you are, but if you are younger then me (24), then it is your own fault for having kids at such a young age.
i bought the ps3 in december 31 2006 for $599, i will freely admit i also bought a 2 year warranty, so the price was $750. with my own $, i wanted it so i bought it. people seem to forget the price of most things is irrelevant if they can afford it/barely afford it and if they DESIRE IT AND WILL MAKE THEM HAPPY.
i would also go out on a limb and say i wouldnt mind being broke to have the things i want in life, you only live once anyways.

with that said, people that are crying for a price drop for a ps3 need to be slapped in the back of their heads.
i dont even want to go into a deeper rant about how the ps3 is worth more then the price dropped 399.
& i make government wages so i can say that i dont make **** for money.

 

[Boffin]

Dammit, I was waiting to get a new one, but tough crap for me.

wouldn't sending it away to get fixed fix the problem? Why would you need a new one?

 

[Peter]

I'd rather have a new one that goes for years, than send it in for $150 and get a pre-owned one that fails within weeks from a whole new problem.