Have you heard the news? You know, the latest about Sony actually beating Microsoft in console sales? After all the critical press and blather about the Playstation 3's still too-high price, lackluster online matchmaking service, and still very young, relatively prosaic game library, that Sony continues to smack Microsoft's Xbox 360 around in console sales is almost extraordinary.
I'm talking about the Playstation Two of course, which if you can believe this over six months into Sony's next-gen launch, still pummeled both the company's Playstation 3 (by 106,000) and Microsoft's year-older Xbox 360 (by 33,000) according to NPD Group's May numbers (the PS2 totaled 188,000 units sold). Oh, and I should probably mention the Playstation Portable, which while only 50% of Nintendo DS sales, still leapfrogged the PS2's astonishing numbers by a healthy 33,000. Is Nintendo beating everyone? Sure, but if you figure in PSP and PS2 sales, Sony's at least kicking Microsoft's tail.
But okay, the PS2's days are obviously numbered, and Sony needs to catch up to Microsoft quickly if it wants anything like the spot it's enjoyed for the last half dozen years. Speaking at E3 today, Capcom's Chief Financial Officer Kazuhiko Abe had just the "solution": cut the price on the PS3 before year's end again.
"The number of PS2 users is still growing and a shift to the PS3 is on the back burner," Abe told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. "But, the price has been cut once and it is likely to be cut again towards the end of the year."
Now I know plenty of you are still balking at a $500 price point, so imagine if that price dropped again to $400 in time for the holidays. Never mind Blu-ray, which I'm still not bothering with, is the PS3 viewed strictly as a games machine worth it at $400?
I think so. While I'd like it to be $250 or $300, that would probably be the magic figure that'd finally sway me.
(By the way, if you're still in the market for a PS2, Sony literally just released another cosmetic makeover (see pic below) to its venerable moneymaker -- the new hardware is code-named SCPH-79000 and weighs about 400 grams lighter, counting the AC adapter. Looks like it's still $129.99 brand new, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sony drops that price to sub-$100 in time for the holidays.)
For more up-to-the-minute blogs, stories, photos, and video from the show, visit our E3 2007 Infocenter.
$400 U.S. is still way more than I'd ever pay for a console. Maybe there are a lot of people out there who can drop $400 on a gaming console. Not me.
I have purchased many game consoles over the years, but anything in price that's over $350 U.S. is just too rich for my blood. I would feel especially stupid buying a console at such a high price when it's new, because you know eventually the price will drop, even if the system is still the newest incarnation of it's maker.
They better find a way to make the process of creating and mass producing these new consoles cheaper, or the PS3's initial lackluster sales won't be an isolated incident.
Nintendo has cashed in, not on extreme high-end hardware, but with innovation (controller), attracting a wider audience, and having a cheaper console. The only reason I haven't bought a Wii myself, is due to shortages. I'm not paying more than the $249 recommended price tag, especially considering the shortage won't last forever.
You are correct when you say $500 is a bit expensive for a gaming console, however, you and other reviewers fail to realize that $500 is a good deal for a blue-ray player, 1080p HDMI output, 1080p DVD upconversion, and media center capabilities.
The closest you can get to getting these features out of another product would be to buy the Xbox360 Elite for $480 plus the HD DVD add-on for $200.
Plus, while it's $500, you can find it online without tax, shipped free and with free movies/remotes/controllers (Amazon/CircuitCity), plus 5 free blu-ray movies via mail in rebate through Sept 30.
Bottom line, it IS a good deal when compared to other products on the market, not just compared to other gaming consoles. I suppose it depends on your intentions for the system.
Tecknotom, yes the PS/3 does have all that you would need to have a computer be your media center, so for that the price is probably reasonable. However, for folks who just want a game console it's way too much. The Wii doesn't proclaim to be anything other than a game console with a few internet tweaks of letting you download older games to the system and such. And the price (because it didn't have a Blu-Ray DVD and a huge hard drive and the like) was reasonable enough that it's the no. 1 selling console (even if it is STILL hard to find anywhere except on ebay).