Official Playstation 3 Price reveiled!

[Phil]

IMO I think Sony has done quite a smart move: By making everyone believe PS3 is twice as powerful and a hi-tech supercomputer, everyone (including analysts: see the Merryl L. analysis! - I'm sure Sony loves them for that) are shouting that Sony is going to up the price at least ten fold in order to avoid bankrupting themselfs. Then everyone sees Microsoft, thinking it's at least affordable what they're offering this christmas and that PS3 is going to be too expensive anyway... and then BANG, you have Stringer hinting that the price will be within what we've been used to for the last 10 years from them! And everyone starts to think "WOW, for $400, I'm getting a hi-tech CELL processor, a blu-ray super hi-definition next gen player, KillZone roxxorz graphix!!111".

^^ And for those that didn't get it, that was ment to be exagerated.

 

[groper]

Is anyone really surprised?

Who here honestly didn't believe Sony would launch the PS3 at the same price as the Xbox 360? Quick show of hands.

I was expecting a price about 400 $ but no cheaper because i was thinking that cell is expensive hardware.
That proves that If we take out blueray then we have a lower-end/cheaper game hardware than xb360.
So Sony has the possibility to sell cheaper and lose some money , at the beginning , just because the blueD is still expensive.

 

[Powderkeg]

That proves that If we take out blueray then we have a lower-end/cheaper game hardware than xb360.

That's one hell of an assumption with absolutely no evidence to base it on. I see no reason to think the PS3 without bluray would be cheaper than the 360. It still has a CPU that requires a far bigger investment to put it into production, it still has more expensive RAM, it still has a more complex motherboard and it still has more input devices.

Nothing there suggests it would be cheaper than the 360 without bluray.

 

[expletive]

By the time the PS3 launches a 360 core will be at least $249, maybe $199 if necessary. Given the constant barrage of innuendo on Revoltuion affordability, i would expect that console to be no more than 249, maybe 199 as well. This is sounding like the price will be somewhere around $350, thats still at least $100 less for Nintendo and MS. IMO, anything above $350 really starts to work against Sony. Not sure why this announcement is news or that a $349 price point should be 'worrisome' for nintendo or microsoft.

Not to mention the amount of losses that pile up the lower this PS3 price goes. With Sony its very fine line to walk...

 

[NRP]

Wow.

I guess this news doesn't bode well for those expecting PS3 to be released with increased performance specs above what was already announced.

Can Sony really afford to lose hundreds of millions (perhaps billions?) of dollars this next gen just to get Blu-Ray established? I hope it's worth it.

 

[Sis]

Why is this the "Official Price"? I would have expected in that case literally an MSRP.

.Sis

 

[drpepper]

Wow.

I guess this news doesn't bode well for those expecting PS3 to be released with increased performance specs above what was already announced.

Can Sony really afford to lose hundreds of millions (perhaps billions?) of dollars this next gen just to get Blu-Ray established? I hope it's worth it.

Why not? Sony has made huge profits out of PS1 and PS2, another half a billion dollar investment to entrench the Blu-Ray market will be well worth it, and a drop in the bucket as far as Sony is concerned.

 

[Powderkeg]

Why not? Sony has made huge profits out of PS1 and PS2, another half a billion dollar investment to entrench the Blu-Ray market will be well worth it, and a drop in the bucket as far as Sony is concerned.

They would lose a lot more than just a half billion. If they lose an additional $30 per system for just the first 30 million systems that's a $900 million loss. They would lose more money at first, and would continue losing money longer than they had planned for.

They aren't alone in Bluray, they are alone in the PS3. They don't need to over-push bluray, and they can't afford to lose significantly more money on the PS3 than they planned for.





And speaking of Bluray, how closely is it's copy protection methods related to their CD copy protection? If they were planning on using similar rootkit software, they may have a major delay in Bluray introduction.

 

[Titanio]

Stringer said no such thing..

..unless someone can give us a direct quote. This sounds like an exact regurgitation of stuff said in the earlier Hollywood Reporter article a few weeks back, in which Stringer was not directly quoted as giving that range. A movie exec quoted in the same article said that - probably his speculation - and the journalist said it again, but not Stringer.

 

[drpepper]

They would lose a lot more than just a half billion. If they lose an additional $30 per system for just the first 30 million systems that's a $900 million loss. They would lose more money at first, and would continue losing money longer than they had planned for.

They aren't alone in Bluray, they are alone in the PS3. They don't need to over-push bluray, and they can't afford to lose significantly more money on the PS3 than they planned for.

My point was, what ever money they've gained from the previous installments could be used towards the manufacturing of the PS3. Obviously you have to spend money to make money so the investment will be worth it. What else are they going to do with the money they earned from this generation. I have no doubt that they'll recoup their costs associated with the PS3, it may take longer, maybe a year more than the PS2, but they will make a profit if Sony plays their cards right and stay the course.

Sony may not be alone on the Blu-Ray front, but they'll need all the push they can get. Even though HDDVD has lost much of its ammunition, they are still a formidable opponent as far as Sony is concerned. I suspect Sony will also want to give MS no reason to include an HDDVD in their X360 in the near future.

 

[Npl]

And speaking of Bluray, how closely is it's copy protection methods related to their CD copy protection? If they were planning on using similar rootkit software, they may have a major delay in Bluray introduction.

Youre really trying to take anything as bad omen, dont you?
The reason there was a rootkit is that CDs dont have protection, its a quite horrible attempt to introduce one.

 

[Powderkeg]

My point was, what ever money they've gained from the previous installments could be used towards the manufacturing of the PS3.

That would be true if every division within Sony were profitable and each had it's own completely seperate funding.

But as long as Peter (PS2) has to pay for Paul (Movie division) it doesn't work like that.

That and Sony may be about to lose a whole ton of money on the whole rootkit fiasco. Texas alone is asking for $100 per violation (copy) that Sony distributed in the state.

 

[Powderkeg]

Youre really trying to take anything as bad omen, dont you?
The reason there was a rootkit is that CDs dont have protection, its a quite horrible attempt to introduce one.

No, I'm trying to find out and explain why I want to know. Nothing more.

If I thought I knew the answer I wouldn't have asked the question.

 

[Carl B]

This news is old, and IMO does not constitute a price tag for PS3. It'll be official when Kutaragi or a SCE representative announces it - until then this is just ballparking on Stringer's part. It's not that I expect it to actually devaite in price mind you, it's just that Stringer tossing out numbers in an interview does not constitute an official price for a product five months from launch.

 

[avaya]

Stringer says Sony should be able profitable in Fiscal 2006. This is the basis for ML's assumption that PS3 will not be subsidised and will sell at cost.

SCEI/Sony Pictures (SPE) FY2006 critical dates

March 2006 Japanese Launch(?): SCEI PS3 (-)
June 2006:SPE: Da Vinci Code (+)
July 2006: SPE: Spiderman 3 (+)
Late 2006 US/PAL Launch(?): SCEI PS3 (-)

Big factor is CE, it’s 75% of revenues. A modest turnaround in CE would yield massive profits. Sony Pictures should be heavily in the black for FY2006, this should offset all PS3 Japanese launch losses – Da Vinci Code looks like it’s gonna be an event.

It is conceivable that Sony could be posting a profit for FY2006, a lot depends on CE. Sony Pictures could well be on target for profits of at least $250m+ with their 2006 movie line-up and that’s gonna be critical in offsetting PS3 losses of a billion (which assumes subsidised PS3 price $300-400, ML reports BOM ~ $500).

 

[rabidrabbit]

What big blockbuster film could be released on Blue ray disc in time for PS3 launch?

Charlies Angels (or not )

 

[pc999]

Depending on the release date it may even combat a equal priced XB, I guess at that time we will see a Halo movie + Halo game and I am sure that they will do all they can to lower the price of XB, inded these gen is very interesting, tatical wise.

On the other side they are also stressing Nintendo hard, as even a 200$ console will not seem that cheap anymore.

 

[Platon]

More interesting than the introduction price is the time it will take before they lower the price tag. In the long run I do think that that is the biggest issue to achieve huge mass market penetration...

 

[Brimstone]

Sony has also tapped nVidia to supply the graphics engine in the PS3, and it's going to be a whopper, with nearly double the rendering power of the top graphics card that nVidia now supplies to PC gaming enthusiasts.

So the RSX is more powerful than any nVidia GPU currently available.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I think that's one of those ill-informed statements that's muddling up the different quotes from various sources. We've heard this before but no-one here excepts it as real. More likely RSX is faster than two top-of-the-range-back-then 6800s SLI'd, or at the very extreme 2x G70 SLI'd, which is unlikely unless they've done some amazing magic. 2x the top-end G70 is extreme beyond belief.