"We have no immediate plans as of now," said Sony President Ryoji Chubachi according to Bloomberg, then essentially deflected responsibility for any looming price cut to the company's game unit. Translation? Plausible deniability. The president says no, then shrewdly suggests it's not his place to say yeah or nay anyway.
See here for last night's story: "$100 Price Drop for PS3 on July 12?"
Assuming the Circuit City story is accurate, it's difficult to swallow any large-scale retailer knocking $100 off the system independently. If Circuit City wanted to fuel a store-hatched rush on PS3s, dropping the price $50 or even $10 would make tons more sense (and rescue the store's already feeble margins on the hardware). No, if the story's accurate, I'd say chances are Sony was hoping to use E3 as a launch pad for another price cut, especially to counter a price drop on Microsoft's Xbox 360 (yes, the rumors are flying that Microsoft may adjust the Xbox 360's pricing as well). The Circuit City flier just sounds like a major "oops" to me.
Still, Sony's biggest problem isn't pricing, but compelling games. Except for Resistance Fall of Man and maybe Virtua Fighter 5 (or Blu-ray, if you have an HDTV and think that's the horse to bet on), I can't think of a really good reason to buy a PS3 right now. Sure, it plays PS2/1 games, but if you're planning to thumb through old hits until any new ones eventually arrive, I say save the cash (or credit card debt) and just keep your existing PS2.
It doesn't help when companies like Team Ninja take old (if great) games like Ninja Gaiden and charge an exorbitant $60 for a so-so visual facelift with a few bonus features for Ninja Gaiden nerds. A friend (also a Ninja Gaiden wizard) played the demo last night and, for all the occasional bursts of "this was such an awesome game!" he was pretty disappointed it was basically the same slash-em-up.
So price drop or no, I'll eat my words with relish the minute Sony gets its A-lineup rolling. I have no doubt they will...eventually.
So instead of just reporting the news, you have to editorialize with some anti-Sony non-sense at the end? What's with the rant about Ninja Gaiden, 19/20 people who own or will own a Ps3 have never played the Xbox version, so who cares if it came out before? It scoring 90% ratings all over, that's a good game. You also leave out other well liked games; Motorstorm, Rainbow Six, Oblivion, etc. Why not mention the swarm of excellent games coming out starting next month? Lair, Warhawk, Drake's, Haze, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet and Clank, etc. Your continuous bias is getting old.
You say "bias" as if that's a bad thing. Maybe you missed this Audioslave, but it's a blog, ergo intentionally opinionated. If you want the news with as little opinion as possible, click through to the Bloomberg link I provided.
Sony's in a bad way right now, no two ways (or "bias") about it. With the Wii outselling the PS3 6-to-1, the ridiculously high price, and the dearth of A-grade titles available, I'm probably being kind.
That said, what's the game I'm most looking forward to on any platform for the next two years? Final Fantasy XIII, exclusive to PS3.
I haven't played an Xbox 360 but I have a PS3 and I find it is a great value.
You are right, the PS3 doesn't have many exclusive games but just because Oblivion is available for the 360 doesn't mean it isn't an amazing game (which looks betters) on the PS3.
So I guess if Sony is only courting people who have 360s then they might have a problem...
Assuming they are dropping the price on the console with wireless included this makes the PS3 fairly competitive against the 360. For $500 you would get a blu-ray player, HDMI connection, wireless, and a free online gaming environment. To get this in the 360, you will have to start by buying the elite system and then start adding accessories - we are talking a price separation of at least $300 for hardware alone, and who knows how much for Xbox live. Blu-ray, technical arguments pro and con notwithstanding, appears to be the safe horse to bet on at this point. The PS3 also has the added bonus of not cratering as much as half the time.
Any arguments against the Ps3 that focus exclusively on the games available are valid, but somewhat myopic. Which games available *today* is not all that compelling to me (I haven't bought either console yet). Bang:buck, technology, and the promise of 380 titles by next year is.
PS3 $100 price drop is confirmed!! I saw the Best Buy ad for July 15th, and the price is $499.
Financial news for Sony is bad. Its other divisions may be able to cover PS3 loses but their ability to do so is finite. SCEI is not generating rhe financial reserves needed to stay succesful, quite the opposite, Sony is bleeding money & cutting jobs. The PS3 must eventually turn a profit for SCGI or shareholders will apply the brakes. Sony may already be reaching for the emergency brake:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/business/worldbusiness
/11sony.html?ex=1183953600&en=ce3251660554bcdc&ei=5070
Nintendo is dominating the market in 2007. The DS & Wii have netted a capitol surplus for Nintendo which can be used to increase maket share & fund R&D on a higher speced successor or companion to the Wii in short order.
Gates & Co. can weather almost any storm. They can also afford to whimsically drop out of games as quickly as they entered with little consequence.
Video games are the business of Wall Street today & in the end shareholder will decide who stays in the game, not "gamers