Playstation 3 price slash

[f1seb]

It's here!! The PS3's are getting a 100 dollars price slash. Man how pissed are the people who bought them at launch some months ago on ebay.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/0....html

[C-Kwik]

The move is quite late for Sony. But we'll have to see if MS responds, which they probably will. Sony still needs a better line-up of games and as long as MS keeps aggressively going after games and keeps their price more competetive, Sony will likely still struggle to catch up.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I would hope that MS would make their system AVAILABLE before they worry about slashing prices.

I'd happily pay $475 for an Elite system.

If I could find one.

[sr20fan]

yeah, the price drop is here, and they are releasing an 80gig also.and for all the doubters, just wait till the end of the year. some of the good games are already out, but by the end of september there will be even more. if i didnt have to spend money on crap like speeding tickets and rent and insurance i would already have gotten one. just a matter of time for me though.

[f1seb]

I'm buying the PS3 and a 37inch LCDTV at the same time and this game:

[Zee]

"Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum,"

I love this part. So now instead of selling like 1,000 PS3s they are going to sell 2,000 . This is good news though seeing as I want to pick one up when the new MGS4 comes out.

[teddy]

The move is quite late for Sony. But we'll have to see if MS responds, which they probably will. Sony still needs a better line-up of games and as long as MS keeps aggressively going after games and keeps their price more competetive, Sony will likely still struggle to catch up.

Sony is going to have to release some high demand games before their sales are going to pick up. I also remember reading something that Microsoft said they won't be cutting prices, or at least not in the immediate future, but I know that MS is going to preview a slew of games at E3 coming up.

[C-Kwik]

I would hope that MS would make their system AVAILABLE before they worry about slashing prices.

I'd happily pay $475 for an Elite system.

If I could find one.

Try this. http://www.xpbargains.com/trac...elite

I found mine within a week of deciding to get one. They do sell out quickly, so you need to be pretty active in searching.

[brisknfade]

Jesus, that F1 game looks effin gorgeous. Im not one to really care about graphical capacity of games, I usually gravitate towards games with terrific style and game play instead of eye candy games, but GOD DAMN.

Well, I will pick that F1 game up for sure once I buy a PS3, about 2 years from now.

[f1seb]

Yeah the F1 game isn't all that great. It's more like a arcady feel to it, like the Gran Turismo games, try it out in circuit city if they have the PS3 on display, it has a playable demo in it. I thought it was pretty fun and on a HDTV it looks sweet.

[redtop91]

I would hope that MS would make their system AVAILABLE before they worry about slashing prices.

I'd happily pay $475 for an Elite system.

If I could find one.

I haven't been to a Best Buy yet that hasn't had one... But how much do you think the 360 will slash? $100? A 300 dollar Xbox 360 is hard to beat. Far better games, capability, and graphics than the Wii in the same price range? Sony is pulling a PSP with the PS3. My PSP slaughter's my DS in capability but the game library is lame as hell.

[bomb_xero]

hooray working at store that give 10% off

600-60=540500-50=450

i love my job

[aaronsnocker1]

sony can suck my balls maybe now they can focus on getting developers to hurry the hell up and get some playable games to market. goddam I hate sony sooo much

[C-Kwik]

Sony's stuck in a sort of pickle here. Their relationship with devs has changed greatly. There was much more anticipation from devs to see a greater rate of PS3 growth. At $600 though, consumers became a bit more reluctant to pull the trigger given the lack of content coupled with two competing systems that either had a good library of games and/or had a unique control feature.

The problem with the devs now is that the 360 in particular has a greater user base and is a fairly powerful system. The tools for developing on the 360 are more mature and dev support is great. Not to mention the ability to do most of the dev work for the PC platform without much more work. Throw in that MS is now financing some devs and allegedly even buying exclusivity and that puts Sony in even more of a bind.

And it's not an easy hole to climb out of. Given the smaller userbase, it would likely take a larger "bribe" from Sony to get a dev to look away from the 360.

The lower price helps, but I'm certain that there is a potential userbase waiting for an even lower price point so they can jump into any of the HD next-gen consoles. If the 360's price comes down, I think we will see a similar surge that were seeing in the PS3's sales right now. The question is, will it be sustainable by either company? I think the advantage would go to the 360 here, if/when the price drop occurs. It could end up being a losing battle if Sony tries to go into a price war with MS right now. So that leaves Sony with two things they need to improve upon significantly and soon. Dev support is probably the biggest.

The PS3 has some incredible, but untapped potential. But if devs don't have the time/money to try and use that potential and/or aren't given the tools, then devs will settle for making ports from the 360 or PC at best. Some may not bother with the PS3 at all. Sony probably needs to help out devs monetarily as well. Not necessarily paying them, but they can help to finance projects so that devs can invest more resources into using more of the PS3's potential. But Sony appears to have taken a position not to buy exclusives. IMO, it could kill them (PS3).

Throw in Blu-Ray support having banked heavily on the PS3, if the PS3 fails, then the current stand-alone Blu-Ray player userbase may not be enough to sustain itself against HD-DVD. Last thing Sony needs is for the movie studios to stop backing Blu-Ray.

To me, Sony gambled big. They convinced game and movie studios to back them based on PS2's success and the prospect of making both industries successful with this console. But Sony seems to have been content with that and didn't take aggressive steps when they needed to. While the initial price being such a burden might not have been forseeable, their reaction was rather benign when it was clear that the price was a hurdle for consumers. As far as I can tell, little was done to try and secure exclusives or invest in development of games. I think Sony can at the least put themselves in a position to share the gaming market, but they need to act aggressively and do it very soon.

[bmike818]

one word PS3 has bad online features -Future of gaming is online. I was going to buy a PS3 for Ace Combat 6, but since its coming out on the 360 with online play (yay!!) I think I am going to have to upgrade my white 360 into the new black ones. There are no games for the PS3.

[f1seb]

I think it's a little early to be writing off the PS3. This price drop will help them move these systems. I didn't even think of buying the PS3 this soon, I bought my PS2 2 years ago. But now I'll be getting one and so will my brother. Give it some time for the games to come out, the new Final Fantasy game will help boost sales, so will MGS.

[sr20fan]

I think it's a little early to be writing off the PS3. This price drop will help them move these systems. I didn't even think of buying the PS3 this soon, I bought my PS2 2 years ago. But now I'll be getting one and so will my brother. Give it some time for the games to come out, the new Final Fantasy game will help boost sales, so will MGS.

exactly what ive been saying. by the end of the year there will be some good games. now of course, they are not all going to be exclusives but heavenly sword is going to rock. hopefully mgs4 will stay exclusive. i hope they have some demos coming out for the ps3 games for e3. i want to try assassins creed, heavenly sword, and haze. Haze will rock.

[OldmanPurdy]

I was going to buy a PS3 for Ace Combat 6, but since its coming out on the 360 with online play (yay!!)

Same here, I would have bought a PS3 at some point if I had to in order to play AC6, but now its on the 360 (and the demo is out on the marketplace now!). The only others on the PS3 I would really like to play would be Killzone 2 and that FF7 remake thats been rumored.

[C-Kwik]

I think it's a little early to be writing off the PS3. This price drop will help them move these systems. I didn't even think of buying the PS3 this soon, I bought my PS2 2 years ago. But now I'll be getting one and so will my brother. Give it some time for the games to come out, the new Final Fantasy game will help boost sales, so will MGS.

The problem is, due to the lack of software, people are sitting on their money. Some may have a 360 or a Wii already, but those that don't are most critical. They may have the means, but need a reason to buy. While there are more titles coming to the PS3, the 360's library is expanding much faster. If this doesn't change and soon, many of the ones on the fence might get a 360 instead and those with other consoles already may just decide not to invest any money into the PS3. This just makes the problem of having a lack of games worse. This is why Sony needs to act now, before it gets out of control. Time is not on their side at this point.

[f1seb]

The problem is, due to the lack of software, people are sitting on their money. Some may have a 360 or a Wii already, but those that don't are most critical. They may have the means, but need a reason to buy. While there are more titles coming to the PS3, the 360's library is expanding much faster. If this doesn't change and soon, many of the ones on the fence might get a 360 instead and those with other consoles already may just decide not to invest any money into the PS3. This just makes the problem of having a lack of games worse. This is why Sony needs to act now, before it gets out of control. Time is not on their side at this point.

I don't think the time for Sony is as urgent as you make it out to be. This system isn't even a year old, still has what 4 months? The 360 at launch was also plagued with crap games if you remember. We should revisit this 12 months from now and see how each competitor is doing for a better assessment. Although I agree that Sony did make a mistake on trying to cash in on the success of the PSX and the PS2. Having such an expensive system at launch quickly reminded me of the days of the NEO GEO and what a disaster that was. Seems like they believed that the loyalty of gamers was pretty much written in stone. They need to know that newer gamers are coming along ones that never had a PS2 and are looking to buy their 1st console ever and they don't care about the history.

[redtop91]

The 360 at launch was also plagued with crap games if you remember.

You definitely need to get your facts straight if you are going to make a claim like this in defense of the PS3:

Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire - Average Score 3.7 http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/928385.asp

Genji: Days of the Blade - Average Score 5.8http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/929232.asp

I'm not even going to continue the list of craptastic PS3 launch games. And before you begin shouting Resistence lets remember that Resistance was not a launch game and came out 5 days after launch. Please don't make comments like that without researching first.

[C-Kwik]

Well, unfortunately for your argument, the launch games and where they are at in relation to launch is not entirely relevant. While there is an expectation that a newer console will have a smaller library of games, the challenge of getting to the stage later is that you have to contend with the products that are on the shelf right now. It may seem unfair, but that's the reality. Devs aren't going to sit on their hands to wait for the console to take off. And they are not going to find it easy to create games that utilize the PS3's capabilities if the userbase can't justify the cost vs the potential returns on their investment. A newer console brings a tough market for devs. The 360 has a bigger installed base and you certainly can't expect them to ignore the numbers.

When the original xbox launched, MS was certainly at a disadvantage despite the xbox being touted as more powerful than the PS2. While I didn't follow the gaming industry as much then, I can speculate, much of the same problems MS faces then is what Sony is seeing now.

I'm not sure that comparing in 12 months is a very accurate way of analyzing this. A lot can occur in 12 months, and most of it will likely be due to the work of the companies involved. I wouldn't expect Sony or MS to sit around for 12 months without trying to aggressively get games on their consoles and court for exclusivity. I feel that if Sony gets the upper hand or gains ground in that time period, it will be due to some aggressive moves on their part. But if they sit back like they seem to be now (I know they are working hard, but they are failing in many areas) then I don't expect them to gain any ground within 12 months.

Sony has the ability to turn this around. MS knows this. And that's likely why they seem to be unrelenting in trying to secure great titles and even go as far as charge off $1 Billion of future earnings to extend the 360's warranty to 3 years. This is a critical time for both companies. Neither can afford to sit back if they want to gain/keep the upper hand. In fact, the competition will probably be great for devs as it puts them in a position to negotiate to their terms if either console wants their game bad enough...especially as an exclusive.

[brisknfade]

Im curious, what major games and franchises does the PS3 have as known exclusives?If the only thing the PS3 has going for it is Metal Gear and Gran Turismo, then screw that id much rather pick up a 360.

[C-Kwik]

Well, obviously the first party titles, but MGS4 was just confirmed as exclusive despite Konami's statement that they may have to look towards the 360 (I think Sony and Konami must have reached some sort of agreement very recently). Square Enix's FF series are still exclusive (perhaps timed on some titles though), but SE still feels the price of the PS3 is still too high. I would think if this latest price cut doesn't obtain them the results, they may be forced to defect the FF series to the 360. At the very least as a multi-platform title.

[brisknfade]

Well, Final Fantasy and MGS is not enough for me to buy into one anytime soon. I will most likely buy one, but till it's down to 300 or less so that may take a few years. Especially so if they make a Kingdom Hearts sequel for it.

360 has many of the titles im interested going to it. Resident Evil 5, Silent Hill 5, Ace Combat 6, Halo 3, GTA 4, so on and so forth.

[f1seb]

You definitely need to get your facts straight if you are going to make a claim like this in defense of the PS3:

Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire - Average Score 3.7 http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/928385.asp

Genji: Days of the Blade - Average Score 5.8http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/929232.asp

I'm not even going to continue the list of craptastic PS3 launch games. And before you begin shouting Resistence lets remember that Resistance was not a launch game and came out 5 days after launch. Please don't make comments like that without researching first.

Ok there Xbox Fanboy.

Fact #1 Xbox 360 had s hit games at launch, such as GUN, such as Tony Hawks Wasteland, you don't consider games that didn't come out on the day of release launch day but if a game is released within 1 week of launch then I Not even 1 week later, we had Fifa 06 come out after Xbox's launch, another crapper game including Quake. So yes in fact Xbox 360 did also have crap games, the ones that scored high are ones that I don't give 1 dingle berry about and wouldn't buy them.

Fact #2Where am I defending Sony. Please try not to make it seem that I'm writing something totally different then I did. All I am saying is give a little time for them to get their stuff straight, it's not even a year since launch of the system and there are people here writing the system off as some kind of casualty.

Fact #3Again please read "carefully" what the people write on this forum. What you hear in your head as it seems isn't exactly what people post.

[f1seb]

Well, unfortunately for your argument, the launch games and where they are at in relation to launch is not entirely relevant. While there is an expectation that a newer console will have a smaller library of games, the challenge of getting to the stage later is that you have to contend with the products that are on the shelf right now. It may seem unfair, but that's the reality. Devs aren't going to sit on their hands to wait for the console to take off. And they are not going to find it easy to create games that utilize the PS3's capabilities if the userbase can't justify the cost vs the potential returns on their investment. A newer console brings a tough market for devs. The 360 has a bigger installed base and you certainly can't expect them to ignore the numbers.

Don't agree with you here. Let's go back to the Dreamcast days. When that system launched it was record breaking sales. It had a nicely installed user-base before the PS2 rolled around and it was widely said that the Dreamcast is far easier to develop games for than the PS2. Also the PS2 games at launch looked worse than the Dreamcast titles. None of this mattered since Sony destroyed the Dreamcast and reduced them to game maker/publisher. Plenty of Devs sat around and chose not to develop for the Dreamcast and decided to wait for the PS3, EA being the biggest one. None of this is happening to the PS3. So like I've been saying all along in these posts, just give it time, it's not as critical as some people make it out to be.

[redtop91]

None of this mattered since Sony destroyed the Dreamcast and reduced them to game maker/publisher.

You call me a fanboy with statements like these? Clearly you are new to the video game industry. I wasn't attacking you. I was simply stating that you should get your facts straight before blurting things out. Sony had nothing to do with the Dreamcast's demise. Everyone knows that. Where you surmised that it was Sony's doing that the Dreamcast failed is beyond me. So you have the opportunity to make an unbiased argument as to how you came to this conclusion.

[sr20fan]

sorry to interrupt the back and forth between you ppl, but has anyone been watching e3 on g4? the ms press conference sucked. the sony one, for what ive heard, rocked. i cant say it was awesome, cause i didnt see the whole thing. i just saw the last 15 min. at the end there was a killzone2 segment that was like 5 min oong, and it totally rocked. it was all gameplay, best ive seen since gears of war. and i havent even played that.

you should try g4tv.com. go to the feed and watch some of their vids. some of them are pretty cool.

[MinisterofDOOM]

None of this mattered since Sony destroyed the Dreamcast and reduced them to game maker/publisher.

Not really.Sony did not kill the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast died. Sony did not pull the trigger; no shot was fired.

Sega had already been in trouble for a LONG time, since shortly after the Genesis II. The Dreamcast was merely the nail in the coffin, and was caused by many, many more factors than just Sony.