The new PS3 sales pitch: Better gaming, better technology, better value

[goonergaz]

Ok, and when bluray/ps3 is cracked as happens with all copy protection what will you say then? Is it still a benefit to charge $200 more than their closest competitior? Actually scratch that, $200 more than their previous 2 consoles over the last 10 years?

X360/DVD = already cracked...PS3 will takes years to crack...and every year will help. Now let's say it takes 3 years...by then PS3 will be half the price so where's the issue again?

If it wasn't a good move then devs wouldn't be ok about it.

Anyway, as I've stated before - it's Sonys bed...

 

[TheChefO]

X360/DVD = already cracked...PS3 will takes years to crack...and every year will help. Now let's say it takes 3 years...by then PS3 will be half the price so where's the issue again?

If it wasn't a good move then devs wouldn't be ok about it.

Anyway, as I've stated before - it's Sonys bed...

If it took them ~6 months to crack 360 what makes you think they wont be able to do the same with ps3? I'm sorry but I think you may be overestimating "the greatness that is sony" and underestimating the hack community/pirates.

regarding devs - what are they going to say? obviously the format is good for them, its larger and SHOULD HELP against piracy (not gauranteed). The problem is it will cost the consumer more money which if that translates to lower installed base for the games their making then devs will not be very happy about it. Agreed?

 

[goonergaz]

If it took them ~6 months to crack 360 what makes you think they wont be able to do the same with ps3? I'm sorry but I think you may be overestimating "the greatness that is sony" and underestimating the hack community/pirates

several points:

1) DVD burners are 10 a penny, how many BR burners are out there, and how much?
2) DVD disks are el cheapo, BR won't be (lessoning the advantages of piracy)
3) BR is totally new tech so it'll tack longer for the hackers (in general)

no offense, but I ass-u-me you're on a wind-up because to ridicule the obvious advantages of BR (over piracy) is either laughable or a wind-up.

I do agree with you (to a certain extent), however there are advantages which you're clearly ignoring.

I'm sure devs would like larger nos of units, however if Sony shift at least as many units as X360 (as expected), then it can't be a bad thing that all of those are playing original games only - or certainly a much higher proportion than X360 anyway.

I'd have liked nothing more than a PS3 @ £300, but it ain't happening!

 

[Kolgar]

Probably already been said, but Sony's got a big problem on its hands: It's broken the law of positioning.

With PlayStation, they have a brand that owns the #1 position (mindshare, market share) in video game consoles. They've spent 10 years and billions of dollars building up to this level of success, and now they're just walking away from it.

Because PlayStation 3 is not a video game console. More importantly, it's not priced like one.

Sony have vacated their position as market leader in game consoles to try and crack a video game/HD movie player/computer hybrid market that no one's sure exists yet. Leaving a competitor - most likely Microsoft - to simply walk in and sit down in Sony's chair.

Because Sony's removed an affordable next-generation PlayStation game console from the table. The millions of PS owners who've been looking forward to PS3 will certainly take pause when faced with a $500 or $600 price tag. "We just want to play Madden and GTA," they'll say. And that's where Microsoft steps in.

It'll be years - 2008, at least - before PS3 cracks the sub-$300 price point, and by then, I'm sure a lot of gamers will have "jumped in" with Xbox 360. And the more gamers Microsoft attracts, the more developers that will follow.

If Sony moves forward with its plans, I predict a massive swing this generation, complete with a couple of major surprise third-party defections to Microsoft's camp. Once Sony gets up off its chair, and Microsoft swoops in, Sony's going to have a hard time unseating them again.

I think it's pretty basic. If Sony moves ahead with this, its dominance in the video game category is over - and there's no guarantee they'll successfully create a viable new category with PS3.

 

[mckmas8808]

Probably already been said, but Sony's got a big problem on its hands: It's broken the law of positioning.

With PlayStation, they have a brand that owns the #1 position (mindshare, market share) in video game consoles. They've spent 10 years and billions of dollars building up to this level of success, and now they're just walking away from it.

Because PlayStation 3 is not a video game console. More importantly, it's not priced like one.

Sony have vacated their position as market leader in game consoles to try and crack a video game/HD movie player/computer hybrid market that no one's sure exists yet. Leaving a competitor - most likely Microsoft - to simply walk in and sit down in Sony's chair.

Because Sony's removed an affordable next-generation PlayStation game console from the table. The millions of PS owners who've been looking forward to PS3 will certainly take pause when faced with a $500 or $600 price tag. "We just want to play Madden and GTA," they'll say. And that's where Microsoft steps in.

It'll be years - 2008, at least - before PS3 cracks the sub-$300 price point, and by then, I'm sure a lot of gamers will have "jumped in" with Xbox 360. And the more gamers Microsoft attracts, the more developers that will follow.

If Sony moves forward with its plans, I predict a massive swing this generation, complete with a couple of major surprise third-party defections to Microsoft's camp. Once Sony gets up off its chair, and Microsoft swoops in, Sony's going to have a hard time unseating them again.

I think it's pretty basic. If Sony moves ahead with this, its dominance in the video game category is over - and there's no guarantee they'll successfully create a viable new category with PS3.

Okay that could happen. But can you also post a scenario to say if Sony (some kind of way) pulls it off and remains the market leader? What would happen if Sony ended up with say 45% of the market, and MS had 30%?

 

[Kolgar]

Okay that could happen. But can you also post a scenario to say if Sony (some kind of way) pulls it off and remains the market leader? What would happen if Sony ended up with say 45% of the market, and MS had 30%?

The only way Sony stays on top is if Xbox 360's failure in Japan drags the platform down worldwide - by limiting development of Eastern games. And even then, Sony would have to get aggressive with price cuts at the first sign of a sales slowdown.

Microsoft is in the driver's seat now as far as pricing is concerned. They can hurt Sony bad with strategic aggressive drops, bleed them out. It's the mass market that decides who wins or loses the console market, and Microsoft is in a much better position to attract those customers throughout this entire generation.

People criticized MS for introducing a "core" pack. I think that it will be the key to MS winning the console war.

 

[mckmas8808]

The only way Sony stays on top is if Xbox 360's failure in Japan drags the platform down worldwide - by limiting development of Eastern games. And even then, Sony would have to get aggressive with price cuts at the first sign of a sales slowdown.

Microsoft is in the driver's seat now as far as pricing is concerned. They can hurt Sony bad with strategic aggressive drops, bleed them out. It's the mass market that decides who wins or loses the console market, and Microsoft is in a much better position to attract those customers throughout this entire generation.

So if it's the mass market that decides who wins or loses, then why do you have this huge doom and gloom outline for Sony. Lower prices doesn't automatically put you in the drivers seat (i.e. see Gamecube).

But I'm with you on the Sony and price cuts thing. If sells slow price cuts will follow. The good thing about the PS3 is it's only the price that's hurting it, not the games, hardware, controller, extras, etc.

 

[Kolgar]

So if it's the mass market that decides who wins or loses, then why do you have this huge doom and gloom outline for Sony. Lower prices doesn't automatically put you in the drivers seat (i.e. see Gamecube).

Gamecube was gimped in that it didn't get a lot of the multiplatform releases like GTA and the later Burnouts, for example. The Xbox and PS2 libraries shared a heck of a lot of titles, and 360 and PS3 will, too. If Joe Sixpack can play Madden, GTA, and Halo on 360 for hundreds of dollars less, he will.

I think the whole HD thing is going to be lost on the mass market for a couple more years too, which may hurt Sony now but potentially help them later when it does catch on. The question is, will it be too late? If PS3 takes too long to catch on, consumers and devs may have moved on, and Blu-Ray will have suffered, too.

We may look back one day at PS3's (relative) failure and see a machine that was simply too far ahead of its time.

 

[mckmas8808]

Gamecube was gimped in that it didn't get a lot of the multiplatform releases like GTA and the later Burnouts, for example. The Xbox and PS2 libraries shared a heck of a lot of titles, and 360 and PS3 will, too. If Joe Sixpack can play Madden, GTA, and Halo on 360 for hundreds of dollars less, he will.

I think the whole HD thing is going to be lost on the mass market for a couple more years anyway, which may hurt Sony now but potentially help them later when it does catch on. The question is, will it be too late? If PS3 takes too long to catch on, consumers and devs may have moved on, and Blu-Ray will have suffered, too.

We may look back one day at PS3's (relative) failure and see a machine that was simply ahead of its time.

It may be ahead of it's time, but Sony is also expecting to ship and sale 6 million consoles within the first 4 months. So I don't think catching on should be that hard to do.

 

[Kolgar]

It may be ahead of it's time, but Sony is also expecting to ship and sale 6 million consoles within the first 4 months. So I don't think catching on should be that hard to do.

Early adopters (who'll buy anything) and AV enthusiasts (who may or may not buy PS3 games).

Meanwhile, I'm sure MS is training its sights on those mass-market consumers who ultimately decide which platform sells more and gets more developer support.

There's a difference.

 

[mckmas8808]

Early adopters (who'll buy anything) and AV enthusiasts (who may or may not buy PS3 games).

Meanwhile, I'm sure MS is training its sights on those mass-market consumers who ultimately decide which platform sells more and gets more developer support.

There's a difference.

There is a difference. Too bad MS can't train its sights on Japan to actually buy the console. That's one whole territory lost. MS fighting with 2 strong territories, while Sony has three.

 

[Arwin]

Hey that was pretty good. Good come back.

'xcept it's not really comparable is it? One major factor in that is that the price for a new one doesn't come down significantly within a year. The other major factor here is that a 20-25% price difference (depending on where you're counting from) means that you're choosing between a Z06 and a what, exactly? (The Wii would be the Citroen C3 Lumiere which can do all the neat tricks with its roofs.)

 

[thatdude90210]

There is a difference. Too bad MS can't train its sights on Japan to actually buy the console. That's one whole territory lost. MS fighting with 2 strong territories, while Sony has three.

Latest poll says they both aren't that strong in Japan. It's now Wii territory.

 

[scooby_dooby]

a Z06 and a what, exactly?

G35 Coupe

 

[goonergaz]

Latest poll says they both aren't that strong in Japan. It's now Wii territory.

Japan market = around 20%...the actual market itself isn't THAT important, however what is important is getting Japanese devs on board - Sony & Ninty will always get plenty of support and (IMHO) until MS get good Japanese support it can forget *winning* any console war.

 

[speng]

Probably already been said, but Sony's got a big problem on its hands: It's broken the law of positioning.

With PlayStation, they have a brand that owns the #1 position (mindshare, market share) in video game consoles. They've spent 10 years and billions of dollars building up to this level of success, and now they're just walking away from it.

Because PlayStation 3 is not a video game console. More importantly, it's not priced like one.

Sony have vacated their position as market leader in game consoles to try and crack a video game/HD movie player/computer hybrid market that no one's sure exists yet. Leaving a competitor - most likely Microsoft - to simply walk in and sit down in Sony's chair.

Because Sony's removed an affordable next-generation PlayStation game console from the table. The millions of PS owners who've been looking forward to PS3 will certainly take pause when faced with a $500 or $600 price tag. "We just want to play Madden and GTA," they'll say. And that's where Microsoft steps in.

It'll be years - 2008, at least - before PS3 cracks the sub-$300 price point, and by then, I'm sure a lot of gamers will have "jumped in" with Xbox 360. And the more gamers Microsoft attracts, the more developers that will follow.

If Sony moves forward with its plans, I predict a massive swing this generation, complete with a couple of major surprise third-party defections to Microsoft's camp. Once Sony gets up off its chair, and Microsoft swoops in, Sony's going to have a hard time unseating them again.

I think it's pretty basic. If Sony moves ahead with this, its dominance in the video game category is over - and there's no guarantee they'll successfully create a viable new category with PS3.

You make good points about pricing itself out of the video game console for NOW. However, that could drastically change in a year, when they are not selling every PS3 they can make with back-orders.

There are a few key things Sony needs to do:
1) Keep developer and publisher support for the PS3. The best folks make games for PS3 and keep their exclusives.
2)When demand slows or is about to slow, drop the price to increase interest. Eventually, it will be down to sub $300 where it's at a video game price.

The early adopters as you mentioned will keep PS3 selling. It however may leave sour taste in people's mouth who has already bought an XBox 360, thus lessening the chance for the console to win this generation, or lead in the first 2 years. However in the long term 5-7 years it will likely emerge as the market leader. They just need to keep companies making great games and exclusives.

Speng.

 

[mckmas8808]

Japan market = around 20%...the actual market itself isn't THAT important, however what is important is getting Japanese devs on board - Sony & Ninty will always get plenty of support and (IMHO) until MS get good Japanese support it can forget *winning* any console war.

Well winning Japan (numbers wise) is important even without looking at the Japanese devs. Sony has about 20 million PS2s over there. That matters.

 

[one]

The millions of PS owners who've been looking forward to PS3 will certainly take pause when faced with a $500 or $600 price tag.

As the simple truth, Sony woudn't be able to satisfy the massive demand if it's priced lower considering there are more PS2 owners now than PS1 owners at the PS2 launch and even the Xbox 360 which has less brand value and (arguably) less hardware value had the shortage. Since those who can buy a $500/600 console usually buy more games, it's reasonable to distribute hardwares to them first to reach better tie ratio and please launch games publishers.

 

[PeterT]

Also, regarding the massive price tag, it should be mentioned again that it's not quite so massive a change for us europeans. I just calculated the launch price of PS2 around here in €, adjusted to infaltion. It launched at slightly above 475€ - given that you still had to buy a memory card with that, PS3 is actually cheaper

 

[scooby_dooby]

You make good points about pricing itself out of the video game console for NOW. However, that could drastically change in a year, when they are not selling every PS3 they can make with back-orders.

exactly. All this doom and gloom is stupid, because we have no idea what Sony's pricing structure is. Historically they drop price by 1/3 ~1.5 years after launch. $500x.66= $330 by May, 2008. Not so bad, eh? And what if they are planning even more aggressive price cuts than previously? $299 by xmas 07? Could happen.