PS3 Slim Hardware Confirmed

[betan]

They are targeting both Arcade and Wii crowd. They may not be in a great position for especially the latter, but that shouldn't prevent them from trying.

 

[patsu]

Ok, I think that's stretching it a little - but even then, that's presuming Live Gold and the U.S. In Europe or in Silver, there's no Netflix, right?

Yes, packaged movies like Blu-ray is still outselling downloadable movies due to its much larger distribution.

They are targeting both Arcade and Wii crowd. They may not be in a great position for especially the latter, but that shouldn't prevent them from trying.

Ah yes. Targeting and trying (or happens to buy by chance) are different things altogether. Don't mix them up. >_<

 

[phenix]

Both the Arcade and Elite already effectively have built in hd movies players, they just happen to call it Netflix instead of blu-ray, and it happens to also work on the $199 unit as well. Hence, both the $300 Elite and PS3 are definitely competing against the $199 Arcade. You can bet the same audience is looking at all three machines and buying based on budget. Or the more savvy folk will just get the $199 Arcade, and snag an hdd online for $30.

I am not sure you can call Netflix movies as HD. At least not the ones you can watch on your Xbox360. I may be wrong though.

 

[joker454]

They will always compete for dollars spent in the general sense, even including PC, PS2, Wii, PSP and DS. But that does not mean Sony is aiming PS3 at Xbox 360 Arcade folks (What for ? ). If they are buying budget, they may also prefer to rent games and buy used games more.

I think they are. Anything that takes away a PS3 sale is the enemy, and a 360 Arcade sale potentially means one less PS3 sale. They can't possibly be ignoring that threat. The extreme budget people will just be staying with PS2, the rest who are looking forward will definitely eye the Arcade along with the $300 alternatives. I mean face it, it doesn't take much extra money to make the $200 Arcade mostly equivalent to the $300 Elite, just a few minutes on the web will net lots of hdd deals.

Mod Note: PS3 Slim Hardware Discussion

Umm, oh yeah, I like the new Slim also

 

[patsu]

Sure... doesn't mean Sony wants to target at Arcade crowd. It's easier to target Elite first and still be successful. The type of people you attract may be different. For the low cost market, they can play with PSP 3000 and PS2.

 

[fallguy]

Both the Arcade and Elite already effectively have built in hd movies players, they just happen to call it Netflix instead of blu-ray, and it happens to also work on the $199 unit as well. Hence, both the $300 Elite and PS3 are definitely competing against the $199 Arcade. You can bet the same audience is looking at all three machines and buying based on budget. Or the more savvy folk will just get the $199 Arcade, and snag an hdd online for $30.

Not even close. I dont have a netflix account, so its not "effectively" the same. Also, you cant buy a movie, and download it on an arcade. You can buy a Bluray movie, and keep it. Feel like watching it again in a year? Go ahead. The arcade also cant download movies... dlc... whole games... or demos. So trying to claim that the arcade is competing with the $300 crowd, is silly.

 

[patsu]

He's saying someone savvy can buy Arcade first and then upgrade later. He's also ignoring the better Blu-ray quality. The key problem is this price sensitive customer is likely to rent games and buy used ones. Sony can choose to grow its market in other ways (e.g., via Blu-ray). At the end of the day, if Sony continues to make money, I don't think they are after owning the entire market. In their view, the lifecycle is still early. The 3 vendors may increasingly move in different directions.

 

[obonicus]

Both the Arcade and Elite already effectively have built in hd movies players, they just happen to call it Netflix instead of blu-ray

Is it built-in if you need to subscribe to two separate paid services?

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Both the Arcade and Elite already effectively have built in hd movies players, they just happen to call it Netflix instead of blu-ray, and it happens to also work on the $199 unit as well. Hence, both the $300 Elite and PS3 are definitely competing against the $199 Arcade. You can bet the same audience is looking at all three machines and buying based on budget..

Not in Europe where we don't get Netflix... MS should maybe try to do something against it now, with a cheaper PS3 finally gearing up?

 

[patsu]

Is it built-in if you need to subscribe to two separate paid services?

Ha ha... in any case, Sony can take their time with the price sensitive users and diehard 360 fans. There are better match/targets elsewhere in the mean time. From NetFlix CEO's comments, many NetFlix customers enjoy Blu-ray too.

 

[obonicus]

Actually, to the board Bretons, is the inclusion of iPlayer significant? No one's really talked about it at all.

 

[patsu]

What in the world is an iPlayer ?

 

[upnorthsox]

Is it built-in if you need to subscribe to two separate paid services?

Make that 3, the ISP has his hand in your wallet too and with bandwith charges he may be a double dipper.

 

[joker454]

Not even close. I dont have a netflix account, so its not "effectively" the same. Also, you cant buy a movie, and download it on an arcade. You can buy a Bluray movie, and keep it. Feel like watching it again in a year? Go ahead. The arcade also cant download movies... dlc... whole games... or demos. So trying to claim that the arcade is competing with the $300 crowd, is silly.

You have to separate what you want from what others want. For you it's not even close. But not everyone wants to collect movies, trudge to the store to buy them (especially in Winter), etc. Clicking a button and watching a movie is very desirable to many. So yes, the $200 box totally competes with the others, no question about it in my mind.

He's also ignoring the better Blu-ray quality.

Well I'm not ignoring it, I've ripped all my blu-ray movies to 1.4tb of raid space after all And I personally have no interest in Netflix or downloadable movies, I prefer getting pristine quality and watching my favorites over and over again. But I am aware of the fact that many won't notice the quality difference between an HD blu-ray or HD Netflix, and many will far prefer the convenience of downloading to buying discs. You guys spin blu-ray as positive because it's positive to you (and to me), but others can equally spin a downloadable movie service as a positive as well. Hence the Arcade model is not excluded from the competition. If anything, you guys are ignoring the appeal of Netflix and downloadable movies and somehow writing off the $200 Arcade in the process as non competitive.

Is it built-in if you need to subscribe to two separate paid services?

Is the flat monthly Netflix fee for blu-ray movies the same as it is for HD downlodable movies? Last I checked it was $4 more per month. Is the gas spent hauling your ass to the store to get a movie for movie night free? Last I checked Exxon wants to be paid. See, the cost argument can be spun a million ways. Plus if you already are a Netflix user, then it's not extra cost since you already have it. In that case having it supported on a game console is a bonus.

 

[holsty101]

What in the world is an iPlayer ?

The BBC streaming service?

 

[DrJay24]

Both the Arcade and Elite already effectively have built in hd movies players, they just happen to call it Netflix instead of blu-ray, and it happens to also work on the $199 unit as well.

LOL. The SD looks bad enough, making it HD (what little there is) is not going to help the IQ. Netflix streaming is fine for low res raining day content, I use it enough for that. It does not comes close to DVD let alone BD.

Anyone sitting at home thinking "Lets watch Slum Dog Millionaires" in HD is going to be disappointed by Netflix streaming. The quality is poor and the selection is worse.

 

[patsu]

Well I'm not ignoring it, I've ripped all my blu-ray movies to 1.4tb of raid space after all And I personally have no interest in Netflix or downloadable movies, I prefer getting pristine quality and watching my favorites over and over again. But I am aware of the fact that many won't notice the quality difference between an HD blu-ray or HD Netflix, and many will far prefer the convenience of downloading to buying discs. You guys spin blu-ray as positive because it's positive to you (and to me), but others can equally spin a downloadable movie service as a positive as well. Hence the Arcade model is not excluded from the competition.

No I did not spin it. I am saying with a built-in Blu-ray player @ US$299, PS3 will appeal to HD people who are not so price sensitive. Naturally it is a positive in this context.

The price sensitive Arcade folks obviously value a low price more than anything else. So back to square one: They are not the PS3 target.

 

[joker454]

No I did not spin it. I am saying with a built-in Blu-ray player @ US$299, PS3 will appeal to HD people who are not so price sensitive. Naturally it is a positive in this context.

Sure, just like the $300 Elite will appeal to movie fans who aren't price sensitive. But the $200 Arcade will still appeal to those who aren't price sensitive as well because if one takes more than 60 seconds to think about it, then they realize they can get everything they need for ~$240 with an Arcade and watch all the movies they want. The Arcade appeals *both* to price sensitive and non price sensitive people because there really isn't a whole lot of functional difference between it and the Elite after the hdd is cheaply added. Which is why I disagree when people dismiss it as a competitor.

The price sensitive Arcade folks obviously value a low price more than anything else. So back to square one: They are not the PS3 target.

I definitely don't agree, just like I don't agree when people say the Wii is not a target by Sony. Everyone is a target. They have tried to combat the Arcade with the 'value proposition' because that's about all they can do, but I don't believe for a minute that they ignore the Arcade model as a target or threat.

 

[obonicus]

Is the flat monthly Netflix fee for blu-ray movies the same as it is for HD downlodable movies? Last I checked it was $4 more per month. Is the gas spent hauling your ass to the store to get a movie for movie night free? Last I checked Exxon wants to be paid. See, the cost argument can be spun a million ways. Plus if you already are a Netflix user, then it's not extra cost since you already have it. In that case having it supported on a game console is a bonus.

The point is you're trying to draw an equivalency where there isn't one. I'm not using the cost argument because the cost argument is stupid, but it's not out-of-the-box functionality, anymore than that stupid PlayTV box they have in EU is out-of-the-box functionality for the PS3.

 

[obonicus]

Which is why I disagree when people dismiss it as a competitor.

I think you'd have more of a point if it didn't seem like the Pro was the best-selling SKU. The arcade may be the best deal, but it seems that people buying consoles are going to the store with $250-300 in their pocket.