Do you think Sony is being fair with PS3 prices?

[ukripper]

Do you think Sony is being fair to Euro gamers by not dropping prices for nonUS PS3s? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6896261.stm

I personally think it is just arrogance and ignorance of the giant nothing else. No wonder XBOX360 and Wii are leading the market throwing shame on PS3s. I am so dissapointed with Sonyś marketing decisions with PS3 , they are pushing away even the loyal customers.

[starcraft.man]

I think there are tonnes of people that are undercutting what you are paying for with the PS3, it's not just a great gaming platform. First and foremost remember that there is a 200$+ markup for the 360 to make it comparable (the HD DVD add on), the Wii doesn't even have one (HD player). Blu Ray support is native with the PS3 so that's one thing.

Second and most important is hardware reliability, this is a jab I have to make at the 360 (Wii is fine, it like the PS3 has a less than 1% console failure rate). From reports I've seen and gotten the failure rate on the 360 console is astronomical. 30% may just be a low estimate and the true number may be closer to 40-50%. That is huge! Just look at Microsoft, they had to extend the warranty to 3 years and absorb a 1 Billion dollar loss. I don't just need statistics btw, friends of mine have had several (i.e. more than one) 360 fail in the time another one has had his ps3 the whole time. Consoles should never fail that much, no electronics should. Oh and if you think it's just a conspiracy, take note that the 360 returns was the sole reason that EB Games had to change it's policy in all stores, it was losing money based on all the defects.

The bottom line is like the old adage says, "you get what you pay for" (at least when it comes to consoles). Oh and for the record, both my PS1 and PS2 after all these years still work perfectly. I don't wanna drop 500$ on a console for it to work until the warranty is gone....

Disclaimer: Ya, I'm somewhat inclined to be against Microsoft and in favour of Sony. That doesn't make the facts I stated any different though, here's a link for the EB bit and such. (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7892)

Oh and as for the Euro prices, from what I seen I think the packages are different... not sure on that anyway buy what ya like. Me, I'm holding off till heavenly sword and MGS get here.

[ukripper]

I think Wii is much more fun to have when you got family or friends around and personally when I want to play on my own my PC handles fairly good graphics with 7900GT card and also I have 360 so i don really miss much of PS3

[AndyCooll]

There isn't an option which says "I don't care!"

:cool:

[tbroderick]

Do you think Sony is being fair to Euro gamers by not dropping prices for nonUS PS3s?

It doesn't matter anyways. The price drop is only until they sell through the current stock of the 60G version then only the higher priced 80G version is gonna be produced. Buy a Wii instead.

[mike102282]

Do you think Sony is being fair to Euro gamers by not dropping prices for nonUS PS3s? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6896261.stm

I personally think it is just arrogance and ignorance of the giant nothing else. No wonder XBOX360 and Wii are leading the market throwing shame on PS3s. I am so dissapointed with Sonyś marketing decisions with PS3 , they are pushing away even the loyal customers.

No I don't think that it is fair. They will just keep pushing away there loyal customers until the are all gone.

[strabes]

Prices aren't "fair" or "unfair" to consumers, especially in the highly competitive gaming market. If it's too high, don't buy one. In order for something to be "fair" or "unfair" there has to be some element of coercion or necessity.

[starcraft.man]

I think Wii is much more fun to have when you got family or friends around and personally when I want to play on my own my PC handles fairly good graphics with 7900GT card and also I have 360 so i don really miss much of PS3

That's true. The Wii is fun with family and friends, it really seems mostly for party games and such... one of the main reasons I'm not getting one.

I also agree, a PC is still my favourite gaming console. It is a shame they get so few great RPGs (the few are usually ports and sometimes low quality ones at that of console versions). As for your 360, I wish you luck with it. I can't drop all that money on a console though just to have a time bomb on when it fails due to overheating, I've never had to send a console for repairs/replacement (since my NES days) and I don't think I ever will. I even went to plug in my NES console I got ages ago and it still works, I wonder how many 360 owners will be able to say that in 10 years...

[Cairney]

i think sony needs to lower the prices in europe for sure. I dont understand why the US gets prices lowered, and all we get are new ps3 packs. tis very disappointing...

[Arathorn]

As long as enough Europeans are stupid enough to buy an overpriced console, why should Sony bother? After all they are a company that has one purpose: make a maximum amount of money. If you don't agree with their pricing, don't buy their product. If you disagree with their pricing but still buy their product, it apparently wasn't too expensive after all.

[lzfy]

I will get one in a few weeks. I don't care what people thinks because for that price you get a lot of high end hardware in house.

[disturbed1]

My friend has both an Xbox360 and a PS3, he's at my house 3-4 times a week to play my Wii.

Seriously though, both the 360 and PS3 have killer graphics, but it seems like the same old games doing the same old stuff, only they look shinier now.

Save yourself a couple of hundred $$, and pick up a Wii, invite your friends and family over, and have some fun \\:D/

[illu45]

The Wii is great for non-gamers and non-hardcore gamers, but I don't think that it will ever be able to match the gaming "depth", if you will, of the PC and other console games. As far as PS3 vs. Xbox 360 pricing goes, I think that the pricing is perfectly "fair", in the sense that the PS3 has more expensive hardware in it than the Xbox 360, therefore it should, in a purely "fair" sense, cost more.

[disturbed1]

The Wii is great for non-gamers and non-hardcore gamers, but I don't think that it will ever be able to match the gaming "depth", if you will, of the PC and other console games.

That's a great statement!!

To be honest, I haven't seriously played a game since FF7. Don't know why, just lost interest in them.

I still don't know about the pricing of the PS3 though. It just seems a bit steep to swallow IMO. Even though they do have a version going for $499 now in the states, but Sony is removing the hardware needed for PS1/2 playback, and will rely purely on software emulation for future verisions of the PS3.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8039

which is just flat out wrong IMO. MS shot itself in the foot with it's ***-backwards Xbox playability, and Sony is following suit.

[starcraft.man]

The Wii is great for non-gamers and non-hardcore gamers, but I don't think that it will ever be able to match the gaming "depth", if you will, of the PC and other console games. As far as PS3 vs. Xbox 360 pricing goes, I think that the pricing is perfectly "fair", in the sense that the PS3 has more expensive hardware in it than the Xbox 360, therefore it should, in a purely "fair" sense, cost more.

Yup, I mean when you think about it the 360 is really just 3 PPC chips cluged together with a GPU and other assortment. I am sure MS was able to secure much better pricing on the bulk PPC production (due to it being already existing) where as the Cell was much more complicated and costly to put out. In the end though, do remember that your buying a really high end hardware. You have to take all things into account when buying a console, it's not just which one's cheapest/which has most games now.


That's a great statement!!

To be honest, I haven't seriously played a game since FF7. Don't know why, just lost interest in them.

I still don't know about the pricing of the PS3 though. It just seems a bit steep to swallow IMO. Even though they do have a version going for $499 now in the states, but Sony is removing the hardware needed for PS1/2 playback, and will rely purely on software emulation for future verisions of the PS3.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8039

which is just flat out wrong IMO. MS shot itself in the foot with it's ***-backwards Xbox playability, and Sony is following suit.

Who needs backwards compatibility? My PS2 and PS1 still work perfectly, they were built with quality and have lasted all this time, if a 360 ever lasts half as long I imagine it will be a miracle. The PS2 is also dirt cheap now anyway if you want perfect backwards compatibility. You can't get everything in life...

Oh and one more thing. I get the impression that a lot of people forget the PS2 launch. Lots of people cited it as way too expensive and bad to develop for with poor game selection (at launch and following) and production problems... it has since gone on to be the BEST selling console of all time will over 120 million unit install base I believe world wide, 37+ in the US alone. People have short memories...

[disturbed1]

Oh and one more thing. I get the impression that a lot of people forget the PS2 launch. Lots of people cited it as way too expensive and bad to develop for with poor game selection (at launch and following) and production problems... it has since gone on to be the BEST selling console of all time will over 120 million unit install base I believe world wide, 37 in the US alone. People have short memories...Too bad you failed to read the current sales figures.

The PS2 came out at $299, same as the debut price of the PS1, not $699 then $599, then $499.

PS2 is $120, Xbox is $99 currently.



Wii sold an impressive 338,000 units for the month, with the Xbox 360's sales down somewhat at around 155,000 units and the PlayStation 3 sold just 82,000 during May in the U.S.

And, um, the Gameboy outsold, and still out sells the PS2. 118.69 million units vs. 117.89 million units as of May 2007. It is close though :)

[Drifter]

Sony has good products, but sony the company sucks. I hope they go out of business.

[starcraft.man]

Too bad you failed to read the current sales figures.

The PS2 came out at $299, same as the debut price of the PS1, not $699 then $599, then $499.


Uh, what's your point? I know what the PS2 price was. So it was the same price as the PS1... were you expecting it to be 299 too for the PS3? The price of the PS2 equally went down gradually. I will give you they didn't mess up the pricing/version as much as for the PS3 but bleh... that's why I'm just waiting longer to buy one.


PS2 is $120, Xbox is $99 currently.

What's your point here? I never said the ps2 was the cheapest console... I said best selling, and dirt cheap (implying compared to when it came out) not to mention you can find it second hand anywhere even cheaper than either of the prices you listed... a friend might even sell one to you for next to nothing and I bet it works perfect.


And, um, the Gameboy outsold, and still out sells the PS2. 118.69 million units vs. 117.89 million units as of May 2007. It is close though :)

We are talking consoles last I checked, not handhelds they are different categories entirely. If you notice I made clear to say console numerous times... please read carefully in future. As for the numbers, I dunno... one's I saw were leaning towards over 120 million for May.

Lastly...

Wii sold an impressive 338,000 units for the month, with the Xbox 360's sales down somewhat at around 155,000 units and the PlayStation 3 sold just 82,000 during May in the U.S.
I never said the PS3 is selling well. I have seen those figures, and others. Please again read more carefully, your not proving anything against what I said.

Overall I'm not sure what your getting at, I never said the PS3 was selling well. I know it's not, my point is people are failing to see how much the PS3 has to offer. Let me put it this way. You get two core functions with a PS3 : Blu Ray movies to watch at full 1080p and ps3 games to play equally at that resolution. If you do that 50/50 your paying 300$ bucks for the blu ray function and 300$ for the console (that's if we are taking the top model now). That's a steal in my book because I certainly know there isn't a blu ray player for 300$ anywhere today.


Sony has good products, but sony the company sucks. I hope they go out of business.
Agreed. Sony has great products, they are however inept at management and marketing and ultimately that's gonna likely be their undoing if they don't get their act together.

[Depressed Man]

At the same time however, what Sony is selling (and yes it would be a good deal, if you think about it that way) may not be what the consumers wants. Frankly I don't care if the Blu-Ray player is in there or not, I don't watch HD movies. Hell I hardly buy or rent movies anymore after I see them in theathers. Hell if I want to see it again I'll just borrow it from someone or download it to watch and delete (oh yes.. the horror and law breaking).

To me, the PS3 is a game system. And while it does pack horsepower it's price isn't worth its purpose to me. That is a game system. Especially when it has two competitors in the hardware arena (well out of these two competitors the games are the same anyway). The 360 and the PC. And Microsoft with DX10 has cleverly allowed companies to make games for 360 that are easily portable to PC and vice versa.

And I have a feeling many other people feel the same way about it too. Seeing as how the Wii is selling so well. It's a reasonable priced gaming system that offers fun (hell the remote itself just screams wave me or whatever).

Though I frankly won't be busying a PS3 ever (it's up to my sister since she wants to play the Final Fantasy and RPG games on it). I'm buying a 360 myself once the price drop comes for it when the Holidays near. Haha..maybe together we'll wind up with all three consoles. Won't that be fun.

[juxtaposed]

Prices aren't "fair" or "unfair" to consumers, especially in the highly competitive gaming market. If it's too high, don't buy one. In order for something to be "fair" or "unfair" there has to be some element of coercion or necessity.

Nah. Prices can still be unfair without forcing you to buy it :P

A fair price would be equal to how much you value it.

If it was $10,000 and they still didn't force you to buy it, it would be considered an unfair price to most people :P


Sony has good products, but sony the company sucks. I hope they go out of business.

I agree, though their software products are horrible - locking you in to windows and trying to force sonicstage and atrac on to you (with their mp3 players).

[Depressed Man]

Though there is a limit to what Sony can price it. Right now they are depending on people to buy back Blu-Ray movies and PS3 games to make up for the price hit they are taken. So they can't drop it that much (to what may or may not be considered fair to us). Frankly I think their price is fair. Though I'm not interested in what they're selling for that price.

Frankly though I wonder why they didn't consult a marketing analyst or a group of market psychologists (or business ones). Hell I'm just a junior psychology major and from taking social psychology freshmen year I can tell you that your average customer isn't going want to pay that much for a game machine (even if it can play blu-ray movies).

[the_darkside_986]

I wouldn't mind the price if full hardware access was allowed from Linux like it is on the PC. Sure, one can install Ubuntu on the PS3 and write Cell assembly code but is otherwise run virtualized, which makes X server too slow for the system to be a PC replacement and there is not enough RAM. If there were access to the graphics chip, the lack of memory would not be as much as a problem.

One must also remember that Sony sells the PS3 at a major loss. But if they don't lower the price soon then it will eventually become a permanent loss.

I may strongly disagree with Sony's policies but I do not wish them out of business because that would give Microsoft too much oppurtunity.

[starcraft.man]

I may strongly disagree with Sony's policies but I do not wish them out of business because that would give Microsoft too much oppurtunity.

Agreed. I shudder to think of what would happen to gaming if Sony went out of business and then Microsoft had monopoly over the hardcore gamers both in the PC and Console world. They have proven over the years no restraint with using completely anti-competitive measures.

[the_darkside_986]

Agreed. I shudder to think of what would happen to gaming if Sony went out of business and then Microsoft had monopoly over the hardcore gamers both in the PC and Console world. They have proven over the years no restraint with using completely anti-competitive measures.
Scary. But who knows, Sega would possibly start making consoles again.

[bghost1979]

well you can't compare a game boy to a ps2 for one, they are 2 different things, one is a hand held and one is a console. the wii is only a beefed up game cube with and will get old after people get tired of breaking tv's and windows because they can't hold onto their controllers. and well i wouldn't waste money on a xbox 360 since Microsoft sent out a statement the other day saying Microsoft has admitted that every one of the 11.6 million Xbox 360 consoles sold in the past 19 months suffers from a design flaw that could cause the device to fail. (http://www.crn.com.au/story.aspx?CIID=85600&src=site-marq) and they still refuse to do a recall on them to fix them. and well the ps3, sony is loosing alot of money on them and it is one of the cheapest blu-ray players on the market. am i going to run right out and buy one, no. i have a computer to play games on.

[starcraft.man]

Scary. But who knows, Sega would possibly start making consoles again.

LOL! Please... Sega is all but dead, they have been relegated to making sonic (and a few others) games (which, they can barely make playable from what I seen). They are very uninterested in the hardware market, they just want to get by.


well you can't compare a game boy to a ps2 for one, they are 2 different things, one is a hand held and one is a console. the wii is only a beefed up game cube with and will get old after people get tired of breaking tv's and windows because they can't hold onto their controllers. and well i wouldn't waste money on a xbox 360 since Microsoft sent out a statement the other day saying Microsoft has admitted that every one of the 11.6 million Xbox 360 consoles sold in the past 19 months suffers from a design flaw that could cause the device to fail. (http://www.crn.com.au/story.aspx?CIID=85600&src=site-marq) and they still refuse to do a recall on them to fix them. and well the ps3, sony is loosing alot of money on them and it is one of the cheapest blu-ray players on the market. am i going to run right out and buy one, no. i have a computer to play games on.

Agreed I think on everything. You might be making a good investment in Blu Ray because from all reports it's leading the war. BlockBuster went all Blu, and Blu Ray has had the only real blockbuster seller the bond movie... if the war ended tomorrow and Blu won, I wonder if PS3 sales would sky rocket? Maybe that's all Sony needs?

[ukripper]

That's true. The Wii is fun with family and friends, it really seems mostly for party games and such... one of the main reasons I'm not getting one.

I also agree, a PC is still my favourite gaming console. It is a shame they get so few great RPGs (the few are usually ports and sometimes low quality ones at that of console versions). As for your 360, I wish you luck with it. I can't drop all that money on a console though just to have a time bomb on when it fails due to overheating, I've never had to send a console for repairs/replacement (since my NES days) and I don't think I ever will. I even went to plug in my NES console I got ages ago and it still works, I wonder how many 360 owners will be able to say that in 10 years...

I am being lucky till now with 360, I know how unreliable it is but it is still working for me as I don play much on it anyways like some 360 gamers do. I play more PC games like FEAR, UT, STALKER, HL2, . I am quiet happy with PC gaming and 360 games are also expensive.