couldn't agree more
No More 60GB PS3 in the US after July?
- Thread starter Ben-Nice
- Start date
And gee, it's not that way across all consoles or anything..
I see you're referring to me. Actually I do plan to get a PS3 most likely oneday, KZ2 looks that good, and Blu Ray is becoming increasingly compelling as a movie format. However, I will most likely wait until 299, so I dont think any of this 499/599 mess really affects me.
I'm just making general comments.
Simplicity is better, I really think. MS for example, should drop all SKU's but the core and let the end user choose their own level of accesories imo. So I dont just apply it to Sony, hardly.
I think one SKU is a real positive for Sony. At least, the sooner this 60GB dies out and the 80 falls to 499 the better.
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Of any inside source I have, none of them are on the channel side... so I'm happy to say that that prediction was just simply my own analysis. But I wouldn't call it a hunch either - the way the PS3 is manufactured this time, we've suspected since the beginning that Sony would be introducing different improvements (mainly hard drive related) as the consoles aged. How they would introduce them into the channel without taking a charge for all their existing stock was unknown - but that was a mtter of grave importance, because that could end up being a *lot* of money... and you can't just sell the 60GB and the 80GB at retail together for the same price; consumers and retailers alike would not tolerate that.
Most of my articles and predictions and such on PS3 pricing and channel-related changes focus on the fabrication side with the trickle down effect it causes, so really I was just applying that logic to this situation. Sony thankfully confirmed it for us shortly thereafter with this whole debacle, but like when Tretton said they would"support both equally" at retail, I knew that was BS just because, well... that's not good for Sony from a fabrication standpoint.
I'm still solidly in the 60GB sells out, 80GB does like the PSP bundles of yore, loses the bundle, drops to fit the 'new' PS3 mainstream pricepoint.
They have to because if they don't position the 80GB - however ostensibly - as a higher value than the 60GB, they're facing a situation where the 60GB's will sit forever, and they'll eventually be faced with a write-off. The 60GB's have to be sold, so temporarily they're the only ones enjoying the cut. In the interim, $600 gets you a game and 20GB thrown in (yes, not a great value).
However many 80GB bundles they sell in the interim - small though the number will be - will help to absorb some of the expense from lowering the value of 60GB inventory. The part I bolded though is just to highlight that I don't think that Sony itself is cause of the confusion, but rather its execs... who don't seem to be on the same page.
Well said.
standing ovation
Regular
Sony is playing Hokey Pokey with PlayStation 3. 
You put this part in,
You take that part out,
You put this part in,
And you shake it all about,
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about.
You take that part out,
You put this part in,
And you shake it all about,
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about.
Personally, I think the whole PR side of things is vastly overrated. I'd wager that the majority of people don't read forums. don't follow up on Sony PR, and have no clue in general about negative/positive things of that nature that happen in the background. More than likely they just walk into that store and see that the PS3 has dropped to $499. End of story for them. I don't think there is any mass confusion.
For those that do follow forums and assorted PR announcements, it's also completely moot. Those types of people have likely already formulated an opinion in their head and will spin whatever negative/positive PR that gets put out in a way to further their beliefs anyways.
Long story short, there is no 'situation' here. I think y'all are reading into this whole thing way too much.
quest55720
Regular
They might not directly hear about the PR but they can hear about it from the press. If the media is confused the reports and stories they write will not be so nice. Look at the stories coming out of E3 nintendo destroyed sony and MS according to the main stream media. Yahoo even ran a story about the PS3 price drop being temporary. If you play your PR right people will hear about it. Look at those stories about the Wii in retirement homes ect. My own father who is 59 who has not played video games since the atari 2600 wants to try a Wii once I get it. He hears about others his age playing it and wants to see what the hype is about.
The classic example is when sony killed the dreamcast with 1 incredible PR even. Where they boasted about 75 million PPS and the PS2 was 10x more powerfull than the dreamcast. Then they showed the old man and FF ballroom dance demos. The media picked up on it and it was over for sega.
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quest55720
Regular
The dreamcast's library pissed all over the PS2 library for a long time. The US dream cast had the greatest launch line up ever. The dreamcast had many many great games. The PS2 had complete crap for the first year and still was selling like hot cakes thanks to that awesome PR show. It was the buzz about how damn power full the PS2 was. I remember stories about sony could not sell it in some nations because it was classified as a super computer ect. I still remember the buzz of the PS2 launch it was an off the charts in scale. I remember talking to my gamer friends who cited the sony PR as the reason as to wait for the PS2 because it was 10x more power full. The PS2 launch year was the best executed launch ever they built incredible momentum that never stopped starting with that amazing PR show. It was not the games that sold the PS2 the first 2 years it was the hype the sony PR generated.
well im sorry but your experience is niche. The Saturn flunked for the most part while the Playstation name grew from the mid 90s on. It was really about who had the most weight to throw around (brand recognition) and that was largely in favor of Sony. Sales of the Dreamcast had even died down (especially in Japan) as soon as a PS2 was announced as in the works, quite some time before any silly "super computer" or "5x the power of current day computer processors" references were tossed around. Infact sales fell so sharply the Dreamcast was discontinued not many months after the launch of the PS2 and with Nintendo and Microsoft in the fight as well they left all together.
By your theory of hardware superiority dominating console sales the PS3 should be selling like hotcakes while the Wii/PS2 should be all but finished by now and the Xbox1 should of sold far better. In reality the PS2 is still a huge seller due to its massive game lineup with new games still popping up frequently in the top 20 sales monthly, Xbox 1 wasnt really a success in any sense, the PS3 is selling quite poorly and the wii is taking over the planet. I'd also like to remind you the Xbox360, even in the US, has not to my knowledge broken any of the PS2s sales records despite having a one year unquestionable hardware superiority in the console world.
Its not hardware and flashy demos that sell consoles, especially not to the actual group that makes up most of the userbase who dont buy until they drop 50% of their launch price and live on a budget. It is games and brand recognition first and foremost. Sony had it as a home console platform, Sega didnt.
By your theory of hardware superiority dominating console sales the PS3 should be selling like hotcakes while the Wii/PS2 should be all but finished by now and the Xbox1 should of sold far better. In reality the PS2 is still a huge seller due to its massive game lineup with new games still popping up frequently in the top 20 sales monthly, Xbox 1 wasnt really a success in any sense, the PS3 is selling quite poorly and the wii is taking over the planet. I'd also like to remind you the Xbox360, even in the US, has not to my knowledge broken any of the PS2s sales records despite having a one year unquestionable hardware superiority in the console world.
Its not hardware and flashy demos that sell consoles, especially not to the actual group that makes up most of the userbase who dont buy until they drop 50% of their launch price and live on a budget. It is games and brand recognition first and foremost. Sony had it as a home console platform, Sega didnt.
Yup. With fantastic demos. Sony more or less convinced people to wait.
But the Dreamcast had a far better library for quite some time.
quest55720
Regular
The difference this time is sonys PR has been horrible and pricing. Sony has done very little right since E3 last year. While Nintendo has had an almost perfect PR campane and pricing.
This is about PR and perception not system power. That is why sony did such a masterfull job with the PS2 PR. Between the great 10x more powerfull line and the beautifull demos sony was able to convince the public the dreamcast was PS1 level. The dreamcast was as good as dead after that PR event. Even better the sony PR sold a record amount of systems with pretty much no good games for the first year. Sony this time around so far has failed the PR has been terrrible even worse the pricing.
Do we need to go over some of the great sony gems of the last few years? Talk of people getting a second job to buy a PS3. Or the great one about the PS3 would sell 5 million units with out games.
Looks like the 80GB model will be $499 eventually as well:
http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-52240.aspx
Just some analysts view, but makes sense to me.
http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-52240.aspx
Just some analysts view, but makes sense to me.
If there are 2 to 3 million 60Gb PS3 ( I have a hard time believing its that many) that need to be moved, I think the both skus will drop in price before the stock of the 60gb sku is exhausted.
2 to 3 million will last well beyond the Christmas holiday even if the PS3 is able to push more than 1.5 million PS3 in Nov and Dec especially in the presence of the $599.00 sku.
Well it should, as we've been stating such as the likely scenario since even before E3.
B3D > analysts
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