[ManuVlad3.0]

PS3 to have same launch price as PS2?

Report says Sony will price the PS3 under 40,000 yen, raising speculations that it might launch at the same price as its previous two consoles.
Last week, the quoted Mainichi Daily News Sony Computer Entertainment officials as saying said the PlayStation 3 would be priced at under 50,000 yen ( $465.58 ). Now it appears that the console may be even cheaper when it goes on sale next year.

Today, Japanese Web site Impress PC Watch reported that SCE has told its business partners that the PS3 will be under 40,000 yen ( $370.28 ) at launch. The news has spurred speculation that the company might be launch the machine with the same the same price it set for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Both machines were priced at 39,800 yen ($368) when they launched in 1994 and 2000, respectively.

Sony's PS3 will be competing with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Revolution in the next-generation console wars. When it launched in Japan in 2002, Microsoft's current generation Xbox was priced at 34,800 yen ($322). The company has been shaving down the console's cost since then, and it currently sells at 17,640 yen ($163)--nearly half its launch price.

Nintendo's GameCube made its debut in 2001 at 25,000 yen ($231)--the lowest launch price of the three current-generation home consoles. The GameCube continues to be the lowest priced console on the market, currently marked down to 14,000 yen ($130). Nintendo has never priced any of its past consoles higher than 25,000 yen at launch, which could well be the same case for the Revolution. During E3, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that he hopes to "keep the Revolution at a price range that anyone can reach out for, and nothing as high as 50,000 yen ($463)."

By Staff -- GameSpot
POSTED: 05/24/05 01:37 PM PST

[cthellis42]

"Reports saying" means very little right now. Plus, conjecturing the final price of the PS3 based on yen won't even translate anymore, as they broke their PS1/PS2 habit when they brought the PSP across the ocean.

We'll know when they tell us, basically. And we certainly won't know before the 360 is out. (And likely their launch plans/price will adjust as they can, depending on how the 360 launches, so thinking about things now...)

[jvd]

eh no reason to get all excited there is around a year to 10 months time before it launches .

[london-boy]

Here's hoping that in 5 years, they learned that one british pound is not one american dollar.

If they learned that, PS3 might actually be cheaper than the PS2 (when it launched) over here in the UK.

But then again, i think they're far too busy stuffing transistors and squeezing Petaflops from processors, to check the latest exchange rates...

[Mordecaii]

Well, if Sony told their business partners that the PS3 WOULD be under 40,000 yen, then I would hardly call that speculation... and since their usual launching price is 39,800 then I'd say that's entirely possible.

[wishcraft]

it will be about the same price because the ps3 was slightly cheaper to produce than ps2.

[cthellis42]

Originally Posted by wishcraft

it will be about the same price because the ps3 was slightly cheaper to produce than ps2.

Gee... um... it was?

Ah, I remember the good old days, playing through all those fun PS3 games! Good times, good times...

[Shifty Geezer]

Yes. $5 billion on RnD doesn't add anything to the cost :P

On a related note, if PS3 costs more than XB360, will that be seen as the more=better premium by Joe Public. Two consoles, one costs more...must be better?

As has been said here elsewhere, people buy the console they want, not the console that's cheapest. Having the pricier hardware, especially if 10 months earlier everyone was saying it was the more powerful system, might make PS3 more appealing to the buying public?

[ralexand]

Originally Posted by Shifty Geezer

Yes. $5 billion on RnD doesn't add anything to the cost :P

On a related note, if PS3 costs more than XB360, will that be seen as the more=better premium by Joe Public. Two consoles, one costs more...must be better?

As has been said here elsewhere, people buy the console they want, not the console that's cheapest. Having the pricier hardware, especially if 10 months earlier everyone was saying it was the more powerful system, might make PS3 more appealing to the buying public?

Maybe but the games also have to look noticeably better.

[wishcraft]

Originally Posted by cthellis42

Gee... um... it was?

Ah, I remember the good old days, playing through all those fun PS3 games! Good times, good times...

IT WILL.. or.. maybe I forgot to say "probably" will (notice the WILL, as in future) because I read in or heard somewhere (news) that the ps3 is as or cheaper to make than the ps2.. so that's why I didnt get whyy people thought it was gonna get so expensive even though it is cheaper to produce than ps2.. I'll try and get a source/link soon when I find it

[ralexand]

Originally Posted by wishcraft

IT WILL.. or.. maybe I forgot to say "probably" will (notice the WILL, as in future) because I read in or heard somewhere (news) that the ps3 is as or cheaper to make than the ps2.. so that's why I didnt get whyy people thought it was gonna get so expensive even though it is cheaper to produce than ps2.. I'll try and get a source/link soon when I find it

It's possible since it doesn't look like its including an harddrive, the emotion engine was also a custom cpu, and the gpu is using off the shelf pc tech. One thing I wonder is how much is going to cost them to produce blue ray drives.

[london-boy]

Cause Cell is not custom, and RSX is somewhat cheap?! Oh and the XDR, all the connections... Yeah PS3 will surely be a Bargain Bin kind of price!!

[talyn99]

cthellis42
Senior Member



Joined: 15 Jun 2003
Posts: 4094

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 11:46 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wishcraft wrote:
it will be about the same price because the ps3 was slightly cheaper to produce than ps2.

Gee... um... it was?

Ah, I remember the good old days, playing through all those fun PS3 games! Good times, good times...

• Yes, he got me there too. Cheaper to produce.