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General discussion

Poor Sony

Sep 22, 2006 3:18AM PDT

Saw on Google News today that Sony cut the announced price of the upcoming PS3 by 20% in Japan due to vocal consumer and media complaints that the system is too expensive (to 49,980 yen, or about $430 for the cheapest version). In the meantime, the lower model will also get an HDMI port.

Guess Sony had to tell that old bottom line that it's gonna hurt a little MORE; naturally, Sony's stock was trading DOWN on the news. Wonder what'll happen with the U.S. market; Sony (so far) hasn't released any pricing reduction information here so far. I'd say to better you chances, all you PS fans better start firing off some nasty emails to Sony if you want them to lower the price here as well.

Discussion is locked

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IT'S A GOOD THING
Sep 22, 2006 6:45AM PDT

Console makers don't worry about the short-term when it coems to profits. They usually sell them at a lower price than it costs to make them, so they can make profits in the long-run. The PS2 took 3 years to begin making a profit, and I'm not even sure if the XBOX has gotten to that point yet. I'm happy Sony made the price cut, and hope they can do the same in North America and give a similar price cut to the 60GB version as well.

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Profit's not the immediate problem, stock market value is
Sep 22, 2006 8:49AM PDT

According to the same articles, Sony's stock value is less than half of what it was a couple of years ago. Considering their diversified assets and properties, that's really NOT a good thing. The PS3 finally was supposed to ring up some good news for the company, particularly considering all the BAD news that they've been generating, even if they were going to be taking it in the shorts (some estimates put that Sony was going to be subsidizing around $400(!) for each 60GB PS3 initially sold). Now that the entry model is cutting prices more to placate upset consumers, it's certainly not going to make shareholders very pleased (because it also shows Sony's product planners misjudged the marketplace as well).

Between laptop batteries going BOOM in the night (or not going AT ALL, according to Toshiba), the lukewarm reception of media content on BluRay, their paltry market share in the MP3 world, continued decline in CD sales, minimal growth if not altogether flat movie box office receipts, the delays and now this pricing flap with the PS3...Sony really isn't having a very good time of it lately.

As I said...poor Sony, that ol' four-letter word.

But you're right, a price cut IS good news. Now it just has to happen HERE, with BOTH machines.

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Sony a disgrace to the video game industry.
Sep 22, 2006 1:08PM PDT

Sony is using the psp aand ps3 just to boost the sales of their other products. The psp is supposed to promote UMD and memory stick duo and the ps3 is supposed to promote blu-ray.

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Marco
Sep 30, 2006 11:08AM PDT

Marco, You said you like the PSP. Also, a disgrace, thats absolute bull and you know it. You muskrat

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It really doesn't matter much
Sep 22, 2006 10:36PM PDT

The fact is, Sony is only shipping 500,000 units at launch. Of these units Sony has declared that 80% will be the high end ($600) model and 20% will be the low end ($500 model). Of the 500,000 units shipping at launch, only 100,000 go to Japan. Since 20% of these 100,000 units are the low end model, only 20,000 units will be lowered in price at launch. This isn't even an extra million dollars off of Sony's bottom line.

The HDMI connection on the low-end model is a big difference though, it means that people might actually consider buying the thing for Blu-Ray after all. Of course we all know that the PS3 Blu-Ray player is only going to be 1X so it's going to be pretty terrible but if someone is really into high-end video and is too cheap to buy a real (stand-alone) player then they can go with the PS3 cheap version. I kind of doubt this will really happen though, after you spend 2000-3000 dollars on a television why in god's name would you skimp on the player? Lets face it, most people buying a PS3 will be gamers and not hard core movie fans. If you don't own a super-expensive television then there's absolutely no value in Blu-Ray in the PS3 - unless the thought of changing a disk REALLY bothers you enough that you want to spend an extra two hundred dollars to avoid it.

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PS3 as Movie Player
Sep 25, 2006 1:36AM PDT

Im actually somone thats considering getting the PS3 for somthing other than playing games. While I am a gaming entuisiasts, Im not as into gaming as I used to be. The PS3 kinda represents an all in combo for me. While I realize its movie playback capabilities will most likley be basic, itl atleast give me a taste of what this new generation of DVD can do. Im in a weird spot hardware wise..Im in the middle of investing in a large screen LCD HDTV however my DVD player is OLD (before progressive scan). So basically..do I buy a new DVD player?, or do I save and buy a stand alone HD or B-Ray player? OR buy somthing than can do both and more? Quite frankly I cant see myself investing in a stand alone HD or Blue Ray player at a thousand dollers plus, ESPCIALLY when the fate of this format war could kill one or the other. To me buying a PS3 sounds like the safest alternative...cause in the end; if blue ray movies dont take off chances are the gaming system will live on. Then once the dust has settled on the format war I can invest in a trick didicated Hi def player and I would have lost nothing..only gained a gaming machine.

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hmmm...your situation...
Sep 25, 2006 8:20AM PDT

Well the 360 add-on is going to be 200 bucks if you already own a 360. If you don't own a 360 then you could go either way. I own an HDTV and an HD-DVD player. The reason I went with HD-DVD is because it has Serenity. Serenity will NOT be out for Blu-Ray. I've been watching the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD thing VERY closely. When making your purchase, the biggest consideration you should make is which studios have more films you want to see. Almost all of the studios (that are releasing any number of films) are supporting BOTH formats. Sony pictures is (for obvious reasons) only producing movies for Blu-Ray. Universal is only producing movies for HD-DVD. Other than that almost all the major studios are supporting both formats or supporting Blu-Ray only but have released little or no movies. Most of the studios that have released no movies are considering supporting both formats. So when you make your decision for next-gen player, you pretty much have to decide if you'd rather see Serenity and Chronicles of Riddick/Pitch Black in HD or Ultraviolet and Underworld Evolution in HD.

I wouldn't worry TOO much about either format failing. The HD-DVD player is a VERY GOOD upconverter for regular DVDs so even if the format fails you can play your regular DVDs on it (along with any HD-DVDs you have bought up to the point it fails). Another reason not to worry is because it could take several years for either format to START to pull ahead, let along win the format war. Personally, I didn't want to wait 5 or 8 years to watch movies in HD considering I own an HDTV and do not have cable (I refuse to live my life around TV - I buy tv show seasons for good shows).

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PS3- PleaS3
Sep 25, 2006 10:14PM PDT

PS3 would be your worst option if you really think about. Microsoft gives you the OPTION of adding HD and quiet possibly BluRay as an expansion (eventually). What's the point of buying the PS3? It doesn't have a PS3 only title anymore because the creators of that assasin game were losing to much money holding the title for PS3's release so they too went with the 360. 360 has Gears of War, Halo 3, not to mention all of the games out already for it most likely to be released for the PS3 after all the 360 owners have already moved on to the next release of these titles. I don't understand "gamers" who wait for PS3 when you could have been playing the 360 for over a year or whatever it's been... And movie "buffs" buying a PS3 for movies are morons because you DON't get more bang for your buck- you get a second rate, over priced, "game" system that's had more bugs than any game system ever released to date and it hasn't even made it to the market yet. I have the 360 and plan on the nintendo wii the kids, while for the price of both you'll have your PS3.

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good and bad
Sep 25, 2006 10:42PM PDT

I believe that the PS3 will be a good system, but this system will be costing sony $1.8 billion in losses by just April when they expect to sell 6 million. They lose $300 on each console, as said by Sony itself. That is alot of profit loss for the one sector of Sony that is keeping them in the green profit-wise.

I think it was a mistake to force people to get a Blu-ray because currently the BR players suck compared to HD-DVD tech and the ones they will be putting in their PS3s are cheap players at that...can we say hardware failures?

With Sony's history of making terrible formats to push decisions, well you would think they wouldn't force themselves to lose over $300 per console for a tech that might die out like their other formats have over the years.

Sony will still have their hardcore fans go out and get a PS3 (good luck finding one from launch to 2007 though), but they WILL lose market share to MS and Nintendo with their shortage and the high price of their system that will stear high-end gamers to the 360 and people all about the Japanes RPGs to Nintendo.

Sony screwed up by forcing consumers to use Blu-ray and not offering it as an add-on. They were way too cocky with what people are willing to pay for their product.

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Amen!
Sep 27, 2006 12:53AM PDT

The 360 is da bomb! The games for it are awsome. The external HD drive is a pretty good idea. If you dont want to buy it, you dont have to. Im could go on for ever. Overall, the 360 is the best console.

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ummm???
Sep 30, 2006 8:16AM PDT

How can you call 360 the best system when wii nor the ps3 have been realeased yet.

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NO
Sep 30, 2006 11:10AM PDT

Marco, you can't say that its the best console, you're being bias and you can't deny it. That's hilarious HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH....yea right

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Marco
Sep 30, 2006 11:13AM PDT

Marco, blklacker just owned you pretty badly. He's right, you can't say its the best console when the others have not even arrived yet. Marco, you just got owned again

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Right On ALPHA
Oct 2, 2006 1:17AM PDT

WORD- Xbox is the bomb! the LIVE is great too, I've actually been downloading some of the ol school games too- HERE's another reason XBOX is better, IT'S OUT ALREADY! where the hell is the PS3? Not here or there or anywhere- Buy your PS3, but how are you gonna manage that when it technically doesn't exist...

and you are a moron if you want to buy something that doesn't even exist!

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The brain cells were working over time..
Oct 2, 2006 1:35AM PDT

..to produce that brain fart of a response. O.o Huh!?

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PS3 is a Piece of $#!@
Oct 3, 2006 1:00AM PDT

CNN Headline News just reported that during a Japenese Tech show the PS3 units were crashing due to over heating issues and acting erratically. Go to their web site for more info. These are the glitches I was referring to. I know that you are having trouble following so try and keep up. Why do you want to purchase an item that is relatively expensive for what it is, is faulty as observed by promoters/sponsors/etc/also reported as such by CNN Headline News, and that isn't even available for purchase at this time?

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a link would be nice
Oct 3, 2006 1:54AM PDT

link to the story you found on CNN because i cant find it anywhere.

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Cause I wanna.
Oct 3, 2006 1:56AM PDT

Ive seen no such news and you cited no specific URLs. So your second hand reporting of what you might have seen it totally unimportant to me. I might add that even if what you say is true there is no reason to beleive that those problems wont be fixed by the time its released. Id also like to note that "another" system that will remain nameless also had problems at launch. Im simply not worried about it...and quite frankly the more people tell me not to buy it the more I think...thats exactly what Im going to buy. Thats for the juvenile rant..you deserve a sticker.

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Yep, 360 rocks
Oct 3, 2006 9:44AM PDT

Live has AWSOME features. Download free demos and games, chat, and lots more. You know why its that good? Because ppeople have to actually pay for it. The wii and ps3 online services are sure to suck. You know why? Because they are free. Why would they make something better that they get no profit from? Because they care about gamers? BS! The PS2 and DS online services were a huge letdown. They have absolutly no features and they lag. Bottom line, free online play sucks.

You know what. Wii and ps3 have no good games for them, so what do they do? Copy 360 exclusive titles. COD3, Oblivion, blazing angels, farcry and many more have been copied. This tells me that sony and nintendo are extremely desperate. They have everything to lose this gen.

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Free Online Play.
Oct 3, 2006 11:22AM PDT

Free sounds good to me and quite frankly free online play doesnt always translate to BAD online play. Look at Battle.net. Thats been free for years and for me it was an excellent FREE online playing forum.

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experience
Oct 3, 2006 11:56PM PDT

Battle.net has been around for years and years though, having time to constantly alter their online engine to make it better. This will be Sony and Nintendo's first stab into an online console service where as XBL is version 2.0. Do you really think that Sony or Nintendo will have a better online service than MS given that either company has never attempted such a feat, where as MS has experience AND is at its roots a software company?

Also, have fun paying each different developer to play their games online instead of just paying one fee for all online gaming abilities. If they don't charge you get ready for lagginess that was PS2 online.

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Good Point
Oct 4, 2006 1:05AM PDT

You made good points....espcially about B.Net they have been at it for years. B-net made it..and its been a great time for years, but it didnt start that way. It took time and work on blizzards part to make it good. Why are some of you guys so opposed to letting Sony have another crack at it? Id also like to say that I at no time said that Sony or Nintendo would be better at the online game thing than MS. I dont know what its gonna be. But all this negative speculation is pre-mature. None of it has happened yet..its a wait and see. I mean no one knew that Xbox Live was gonna work out...and quite frankly Ive played games on Xbox live and that expierence was not flawless. Does that make it horrible?? NO!..its called growing pains. The bottom line is that we dont know what this Sony deal is going to be like...and its going to take people buying it and trying it to find out. Im going to find out...and then Ill let you know how it works out. Thanks.

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Anyone's Game.
Oct 4, 2006 2:57AM PDT

lol, why wouldn't Sony or Nintendo be able to make a good online service?

Seriously..the quality of Microsoft's xbox live service would not be difficult to match.

saying that microsoft's subscription fee will ensure that it's live service will be heads and shoulders above the rest is more than a little biased.

It's more than likely that one system will dominate sales and create more profit than the other two systems. what's to say that THIS company won't use a portion of those profits to help fund a superior online service?

It's waytoo early to tell who will offer the best online service as two out of three systems aren't even released yet. put simply, at this stage it's anyone's game Wink

on a side note, Nintendo had an online setup for the NES in japan back in the 80's.

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anyone's game?
Oct 4, 2006 6:37AM PDT

I know that it is not fair to judge a product before it is released, but I am just using an educated guess into how the services will compare to XBL. History tells us that version ones of anything are very lackluster and a product that has some experience under its belt almost always performs better. I have basically every product in history backing up my theory and you only have speculation.

Don't forget the fact that it is up to the developers to maintain game servers for PS3 games and what we saw from PS2 is that the developers provide dedicated servers for only a short period of time bc its expensive to keep up. Also, you might have to be cutting checks to each developer that you want to play their games online via their servers. At least with XBL you pay just a flat fee and are guaranteed online capability from each game (sans the upcoming MMO Marvel game).

Another thing that Sony and Nintendo will be lacking is the Windows Media Center connectivity. This feature is one of the best things I have found with my 360 that isn't gaming related as I can stream songs and pictures wirelessly to my 360 from my computer so that I can play them over my 5.1 speakers and view pics on my HDTV.

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yeah, anyone's game.
Oct 4, 2006 8:15PM PDT

I disagree. I think that even if "V1.0" of sony and nintendo's online service is laskluster to begin with, history shows that most companies are able to copy an existing product, improve it and market it as their own.

It seems like you're trying to make it sound as if online gaming is some kind of new thing that nobody has any technical knowledge of. It's really not terribly complicated.

I think it is you that has only speculation. microsoft isn't like some sort of "freak of nature" software company that no-one can touch, get over it!

what's there to say that you won't have end up having individual subscriptions for lots of games on the xbox360? I believe those wheels are already turning, correct?

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I'm off to another subject-
Oct 4, 2006 2:18AM PDT

Right on, I don't think Live costs all that much for what you get, I think I paid like $50 for the entire year of gold plus they sent my an XBOX360 diamond card for more discounts and such plus they do an outstanding job keeping us informed about leagues and tournments for Madden and what not plus they have that online calendar for online events which I thought was cool. Let these PS3 people stay loyal to a product that isn't even here yet and see if they even get one if it works. I honestly am considering picking up a Nintendo also since its priced to sell and has the cool controllers and put it in my den while my 360 is on the big plasma....HAHAHA. let me know how your PS3 turns out whenever ya'll get one. LOL

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This is silly.
Oct 4, 2006 4:52AM PDT

You keep saying things like the PS3 isn't even out yet. We know that dude but thanks for telling us. I'm sure you formed an OPINION, and decided to a a 360 before it came out too. There were months of hype and speculation there too. You a such a biased idiot you can't even see straight. Nobody knows what the hell the PS3 is gonna do, or what it will offer the customer because it isn't out yet. Bottom line, if you don't like it(which is dumb in and of itself because as you say, it doesn't exist yet) don't keep wasting your time talking about it and certainly don't buy it.

BTW Xbox live isn't so great. I have an Xbox and almost never get to select a boxer on Fight Night Round 3 or a team on Madden before the server boots me. Let alone actually finish a game. Xbox live isn't the second coming.

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booted?
Oct 4, 2006 6:45AM PDT

I maybe have been booted from an XBL match less than 5% of the time. Maybe you have a bad connection or your provider blows. I love XBL and have a good connection so pretty much every game I play online is lag-free and smooth.

I agree that the guy you replied to is an idiot. It really isn't fair to review or rip on the PS3 just yet. We can use educated guesses but some people say crap that is so presumptuous.

In my opinion, I fully expect the PS3 to have hardware failure issues on the same level as the 360 did just given that 2 major components of the system have never been used in this application before. Also, did you see how they had lots of units fail at TGS due to overheating? There is fear that the PS3 will be just as fragile when it comes to overheating as the first batch of 360s are.

Once the bugs are worked out, PS3 will be a good system just like the 360 is. I am holding my breath on the Wii because I was looking over the games for it coming out and 3/4 of them seem like I would have to be 14 years old or younger to enjoy.

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Yeah I read that
Oct 4, 2006 7:47AM PDT

It wasn't just me on XBL getting booted off Fight Night. There were alot of people having the same problem. But anyway..yeah I did read that about the demos overheating. They said it may have been because they were enclosed in a small space and the high temp in the room. I dunno what the deal is but I hope all probs will be solved by the second batch, because I have almost no shot at getting one at launch....I refuse to camp out..or beat the hell outta anybody for a console!!

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Not exactly.
Oct 5, 2006 12:34AM PDT

Actually I got my 360 for my Bday August 2006 while I was actually holding out for the PS3. I was doing my research and keeping an eye out on CNET waiting and was figuring the PS3 would be the best buy because it had the bluray and blah blah blah. Hey, here's an idea, read CNET.