Sony CEO Confirms Limited $499 PS3 Stock 167
If you were confused about yesterday's stock announcement, you wouldn't be the only one. Thankfully Kaz Harai, SCEI CEO, has clarified the situation: the $499 60GB PlayStation 3 is a limited offering. They'll only be selling it here in the states until their current stock of the system is cleared out, at which point the only SKU remaining in the states will be the $599 80GB + Motorstorm bundle. The catch is that there is probably enough stock in hand for several months of sales at this price; hence the confusion yesterday about a 'fire sale'. Hirai confirmed this to a Norwegian videogame news site, and the video of the interview is available online. For some perspective, Next Generation has a commentary piece on this strange matter. "Now Sony looks as though it's been spinning consumers. The smart thing to have done would have been to come out and say that the 60Gig version is being discounted and discontinued, and that the bells-n-whistles PS3 at $599 is better value than ever. That didn't happen, and what many have seen as a pretty successful E3 for Sony has been marred by confusion over the future of the platform's strategy. So in those meetings next week, Sony will have cause to look back and consider how things might have been done better."
Backwards Compatibility (Score:2, Offtopic)
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The software assisted BC is not as good as hardware (obviously) but support is still very good.
Compatibility goes down... (Score:5, Informative)
Backwards compatibility goes down with the newer 80GB US models.
As others have pointed out, the newer systems lack an in-built Emotion Engine chip, so they rely on software emulation rather than hardware emulation.
The emulation is decent, but it's far from perfect. Sony themselves quote a figure of 88 percent compatibility with the software emulation rather than 100 percent with the hardware emulation.
And, even amongst those 88 percent of titles that work there are some glitches: it's not the case that 88 percent of titles work perfectly while 12 percent have some problems or won't run, rather it's the case that 12 percent won't run at all and 88 percent will run to some degree.
You can read that many ways, but to me it seems to suggest that 88 percent is a marketing person's figure more than anything else: if a game won't get past a fixed point, it has audio or visual glitches all over the place, or if it falls over all the time then you're stretching things if you consider that game in your 88 percent.
Of course, Sony isn't exactly advertising the fact that the newer 80GB models aren't as backwardly compatible as their predecessors. Granted, it won't matter to everyone, but it will matter to some, and those people won't thank Sony for their penny-pinching and shortsightedness.
I don't know what the hell is going on with Sony. When it came to the original PlayStation they ran a flawless campaign and sucked millions of new users into the console market. With the PS2 they didn't put a foot wrong and cleaned up again. But with the PS3 it seems like they've decided to see how much they can piss away the goodwill generated by their previous two generations and opted for one boneheaded move after another.
If they're not careful they're going to end up as yet another sorry story on fuckedcompany.com.
More info... (Score:5, Informative)
On March 20, 2007 Sony released a compatibility list; 1,782 of the 2,451 PS2 games (72%) released in Europe had noticeable issues, minor issues or no known issues, with the remainder being incompatible with the console.
As I understand it, the European PS3's only had software emulation. So, by Sony's own admission, backwards compatibility is at 72 percent, and may actually be even lower than that.
If I had any Sony stock I would have sold it a long time ago. These guys are finding new lows of stupidity every other day.
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Re:More info... (Score:4, Insightful)
When a company sells a product as being backward compatible then it should be backward compatible. For all titles, not just some. I don't care if they acheive that through hardware emulation or software emulation (there's no reason why Sony shouldn't be able to make a 100 percent effective software emulator, they do have unlimited access to all the hardware, source code, etc) but if they make a promise to their end-users then they should stick to it.
In Sony's case, that promise was broken from day one in Europe and South Korea. Units for those markets never had in-built Emotion Engine chips, so not even early adopters in those markets had the chance to buy a totally compatible unit.
Notice how Sony didn't pull that stunt out of the gate in either Japan or the US? Why do you think that might have been? Perhaps because it felt that it couldn't pull that kind of shit in either of those markets? Or perhaps it thought that if European and Korean gamers were crazy enough to pay its inflated prices (£425 in the UK, which is $850!) then it could shaft them further by removing hardware to cut costs.
Now it seems, by stealth (because they sure aren't trumpeting the fact), Sony have done the same in the US. And, somehow, me pointing it out is offensive to you?
I've owned more consoles/gaming PCs than most in my time. I have (or have had) an Atari 2600, a Commodore 128, an Atari ST-FM, an Atari STE, two Sega Megadrives (Genesis to you), two Atari Lynx (one of each model), a PC Engine, a PlayStation, a Dreamcast, and a PlayStation 2. I've also lived with friends that owned other consoles. There are few major console titles that I haven't played.
Yet so far, I've yet to buy either a PS3, an Xbox 360 or a Nintendo Wii. Why? Because, so far, none of them has really engaged me in any way. I'm trying so hard to want to buy another Sony console but Sony itself seems to be coming up with more and more reasons why I shouldn't ever do that.
It's a shame. All Sony had to do to earn my money was to not try to rip me off with a less than compatible unit (why didn't a single European PS3 have hardware emulation) and a price tag that was, even after accounting for taxes, 45 percent more than US gamers were paying for the same system.
Thanks for the fanboi Sony vs Microsoft rant though. The all-caps "SONY"s were a nice touch.
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Honestly, I think they had not intended to do software emulation until they had figured out what their price point was, and learned the prices of the competition. At that point, they started trying to figure out what they could cut to bring down the cost of the console. Having made the decision to try software emulation late in the game, it wouldn't have been ready when they began producti
Re:More info... (Score:4, Informative)
Honestly, I think that the BC on the non-EE PS3s is perfectly acceptable. Most people who are buying a PS3 at this point already have a PS2. Those who buy the console when it is more mature (e.g. cheaper) will have a good library of PS3 titles to choose from, and BC may be better by then.
However, Sony's marketing is shit. The PS3 is actually a pretty damned good console. It has a lot of nice features (Blu-Ray, Linux, web browser, upgradable HDD, built-in WiFi) that the 360 lacks, but it has two problems: it's too damned expensive, and Sony's hubris has shot themselves in the foot.
It's OK to be enthusiastic about your product. But don't piss on us by doing a non-price-drop-price-drop. You're clearing out old inventory of 60GB PS3s, which is fine, but don't dick us around by pretending it's a price cut and then later "clarifying" that it's a limited time thing. This is a firesale. Don't dress it up another way because you produced too damn many 60GB PS3s and they are going to take months to sell at your current lousy rate.
Your hardware is fine, Sony. But your customers will only take so much shit.
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Despite the fact that the 360's compatiblity is only 42%, the vast majority of that list works more or less perfectly. That's not to say that there aren't exceptions, but Microsoft appears to have at least tested the titles that they support
You've got to be kidding. We've tried running many of our old Xbox games on my 360, and the "supported" titles have major issue.
* Munch's Oddysee is unplayable because the character voices in game are all distorted like they're spoken underwater. Been in their supported list for ages.
* Knights of the Old Republic and lots of other titles have terrible frame rates that make them a chore to play.
We were looking forward to finishing some of our old Xbox games on the new hardware, but just gave up. Granted, th
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Both KotORs had bad frame rates on the XBox anyway. Shouldn't be anything new.
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It is difficult to determine what PS2 games don't play si
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Re:Backwards Compatibility (Score:4, Informative)
How Things Might have been Done Better (Score:4, Insightful)
Stop Saying 'SKU' (Score:3, Insightful)
Stop using 'SKU' in news stories and posts. The word has no meaning outside internal retail outlets and distributors. Saying it makes you sound like a marketdroid.
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"We'll cut tariffs if you implement a DMCA" (Score:2)
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Re:Stop Saying 'SKU' (Score:4, Informative)
When a game is being developed for multiple consoles, each target platform version of the game (the PS3 version, the 360 version, etc) is referred to as a different SKU, even though it may be developed simultaneously and we aren't making the game differently for the different consoles (beyond platform-specific code and perhaps minor asset changes).
MOD PARENT UP (Score:2)
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Or have most of you guys forgot the Games industry deals with retail very closely at the end of a game's development cycle?
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Um, no. SKU [wikipedia.org] is NOT a game industry term, it's a term used internally by any industry that offers products and/or services to customers. Saying that, and i quote, "at which point the only SKU remaining in the states will be the $599 80GB + Motorstorm bundle", is as retarded as saying that after selling some books you're left with only one ISBN [wikipedia.org]. You are left with a stock of only one product, which happen
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I learned what a SKU is because of Sony. Around XMas time, 2005, Sony had a deal where you could get a PSP + a 1 gig memory card + a couple of other doodads fo
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If by "internal" you are also referring to every retail channel out there (also known as "stores"), then yes, it's an "internal-use" thing. Face it, it's a term that has a specific meaning that is used in many aspects of production and sales. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's not a useful term.
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Like a supermodel? (Score:2)
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Really? [reference.com] Do you have to have a license to use that word or something?
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But yeah, most people use it wrong. "Price point" also irks me the same way.
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It's not as if you have to be a member of the selective "internal retail outlets and distributors" club in order to be able to understand and speak the "SKU" word.
Everyone understands what a SKU is, therefore the word HAS meaning outside the limited use you want to give it.
"Two PS3 models" is the same as saying "Two PS3 SKUS" as they are effectively a different product.
"Price point" means a local maximum (Score:2)
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My interpretation: Annoying, like intercourse, to read.
Your interpretation: Annoying as reading intercourse.
My experience with that particular grammatical structure is what lead me to my interpretation. Normally, maybe I'm insane, I've seen it used to implicate that the latter action is as adjective as the former action/object. e.g So-and-so is annoying as hell to live with.
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Just to be clear... (Score:2)
Anyone playing FF XI on a PS3? Any screenshots comparison with the Xbox 360 version?
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I'd kill for a PS3 port of it, but I know I'm one of the few.
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Why the 360 version requires the disc inserted to play is utterly beyond me.
Good Ole Sony (Score:3, Interesting)
On Wednesday they showed off whats to come to the console. Gamers were amazed.
By Thursday, early reports were coming in that the price drop was limited.
Whats worst of all though, when their done selling the 60gig model, all you have is a 80gig model which is actually more crippled then then the launch model which had the emotion engine for backward compatibility.
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So you had better go and buy the 60gig $500 version now, before they go out of stock.
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An interesting ploy (Score:2)
I don't know if this will work or just bite them in the ass. I think it would've been a good idea to sell the new PS3 at $550 and leave Motorstorm out of it, and maybe a better idea to just sell the 60GB PS3 at
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I can easily see Microsoft releasing a new version of their hardware in time for the holidays and having a firesale of their own o
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BTW: WTF is o great about Motorstorm anyway? I played it in a GameStop, and it basically seemed like a less-fun version of Excite Truck. Kinda sad when one of the biggest games for the PS3 is comparable to one
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BTW: WTF is o great about Motorstorm anyway? I played it in a GameStop, and it basically seemed like a less-fun version of Excite Truck. Kinda sad when one of the biggest games for the PS3 is comparable to one of the lower-rated games on the Wii.
While I personally agree that Motorstorm (at least at first) feels like a slow, boring version of Excite Truck, the two games aren't really comparable. Despite both being arcade offroad racers, they are very different games. Excite Truck is a fast and insane with huge jumps. Large parts of the game are played in the air, and often, you don't control your car as much as trying to constantly do damage control at superhigh speeds.
Motorstorm is much more of a simulation. You have to read the tracks, try to n
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That didn't seem to do any wonders to their sales numbers, so I doubt if this will.
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That's probably because it might as well not even have existed considering the low quantities in which it was produced.
Rob
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Sony's marketing plan: (Score:5, Funny)
2. Aim at foot.
3. Shoot.
4. Repeat as often as possible.
(Yes, I know, "Step 5: Profit!" should go there, but seriously, have you looked at their quarterly reports recently?)
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No, but having a glance at their net profits for their past fiscal year ending on 3/2007, they're still making over $1 billion.
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The final quarter of their 2006 fiscal year was also
sounds like Sony's typical problems of late (Score:3, Insightful)
I think this has been typical of a lot of their boneheaded moves in the last few years; they have some brain-damaged idea they want to accomplish with the PR, and end up totally screwing the entire announcement. Someone needs to fire the entire PR department over there. It's really damaging their reputation in ways way above and beyond their "normal fuck-ups".
(*) - for some definitions of "improved", which is not really relevant to this point
Hold on a second. (Score:2, Insightful)
And that's why you see Sony PR guys always desperately spouting whatever bullshit they can muster to defend Sony. They know Sony is being ludacris, but their
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Is it good news? Sure. Does it mean that Sony execs aren't screwing up their PR? Not at all.
Can Sonys Marketing Dept Possbily Do Worse? (Score:5, Insightful)
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I don't think they do. These comments, if anything, are more flamebait and annoying and wouldn't win them any fans. However, people like Dr. Kool? I think he's paid. I didn't, until the last few posts about E3 and the price drop, but I do now.
I think the ACs are two or three young PS3 fans. 14-17 or so. They're pissed off at the way their system is doing in sales. They post the same inane drivel in every thread, calling people names, and don't back up anything they s
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And the busty blonde in a pink bikini telling audiences a story about her mom while sitting on the porcelain throne, panties down.
New Rumor (Score:5, Interesting)
Only 1/6 as good (Score:2, Interesting)
First, the price: Microsoft charges for XBox Live. A couple of years of XBox live subscription pretty much wipes out any price advantage over the PS3. And I suspect the PS3 will continue to see price drops, but XBox Live will not. So, in the long run, the PS3 will be a bit cheaper. Not by much, but by a bit.
As far as the "goodness" of the system, the 360 is limited by the DVD, *not* by the hardware. The 360 has a bet
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1. Live - While online play is increasingly important, the majority of console gamers still don't care. For gamers who don't care about online play, this is a non-issue.
2. Thus far, none of the cross platform games have shown significant differences between the 360 and the PS3. If content is being sacrificed currently, it's being sacrificed on b
Power alone might not help them (Score:2)
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Because they held up delivery and screwed themselves over by sacrificing themselves on the altar of the entertainment division (a common theme at Sony, sigh). If they had said "to hell with Blu-Ray" and just aimed to get a games machine out there, they would have had it to market much earlier. But therein lies the tragedy of the PS3. They wanted everything. They wanted it to be the trojan hor
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The controllers and it not being 2600 compatable killed it. Too bad really I think it was better than the NES in many ways.
Can someone explain why the new one is better? (Score:2)
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Because the 60GB PS3 will no longer be available. When they are sold out, they won't make them anymore, like TFA says. You won't find a PS3 for "only" 500$, you'll HAVE to fork money for the extra 20GB and Motorstorm and forget the fact that you have less BC.
WTFH (Score:4, Interesting)
It's really starting to get really hard to understand the truth in any news that comes from Sony these days. These guys should run for Congress.
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1. Listen to what the european CEO has to say, and take it seriously
2. Wait for the american CEO to start to cry and start to watch the show with a package of popcorn
3. Wait for the official confirmation of Japan then you know the show is over
Sony marketing bungle? Where? (Score:2, Interesting)
From a PR perspective, I completely agree that Sony has screwed [joystiq.com] the pooch [next-gen.biz] on managing consumer opinions, at least within the industry. Outside, however, the average consumer just sees a $499 60GB PS3 on sale.
I disagree with the people that insist Sony is driving for some "magic" $599 price point. If it were, I think the sales spike the will see from this price drop will convince them otherwise. The reality for Sony is that they have a huge number of 60GB systems collecting dust on store shelves. The st
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Re:Great Move by Sony (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh please, you know exactly why people are upset about this. It's become clear you're a Sony astroturfer. You've posted in the other story on this topic and people were pretty clear why there were upset about it.
But to make it clear, it's that "cut the price of the 80GB console" part. There's no proof that's going to happen. People have been clamoring for a PS3 price cut for ages. There's clearly demand for the PS3, but not at the $600 price point. People have been wanting to see a pricecut.
So what Sony has announced is that there's a pricecut, but then they're going to sell a version that has about $20 worth of storage extra and a version that's not as backwards compatible with PS2 and PS games. (That's assuming $1/GB, which is high - it's closer to $0.75/GB.)
So, ultimately, Sony is announcing a new, worse version of the PS3 for the same price. That's why people are upset.
That assumes, of course, you're interested in playing PS2 games on the PS3. At this point in time, with the PS2 game library dwarfing the PS3 game library, it's a fair assumption that people would want to do that. You can also debate how much worse the PS2/PS emulation is, especially since the new emulation is already used to enable upscaling in the existing model.
However, this still comes off as Sony saying that they're selling a new, worse model for the same price, while trying to ditch the old model. Not completely true, but it sure sounds like it.
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So what Sony has announced is that there's a pricecut, but then they're going to sell a version that has about $20 worth of storage extra and a version that's not as backwards compatible with PS2 and PS games. (That's assuming $1/GB, which is high - it's closer to $0.75/GB.)
Well, the word on the street is that Sony is moving to 80GB HDs not because of the extra space, but because they're cheaper in large quantities than the old (and now less-standard) 60GB HDs. So Sony is actually trying to unload the more expensive stock at a lower price. On the one hand, this lends credibility to the idea that they will drop the 80GB version to $499, but it also leaves a nasty aftertaste in my mouth knowing that people are essentially giving Sony $100 or more (the Motorstorm Blu-Ray can't
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People have been bitching about the price since it was announced, before it came out. As a PS1 and PS2 owner, I'm one of them.
In the world of electronics, this has been "ages." Especially with the ass kicking Sony is taking in console sales.
And how is the 80GB a worse system for the same price?
It's not. But the point is: The 60GB version isn't selling at $600! The Wii -- with it's ridiculous name and much more lim
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I don't know, but by your inability to read my post fully or comprehend the words, I'm guessing you work for Sony.
The PS3 is selling at roughly the same rate as the PS1 and PS2 were worldwide...Slightly faster than the PS1, and slightly slower than the PS2.
I didn't compare it to either. I said as someone who owned both, I wanted it to be cheaper. Is "cheaper" too big of a word for your dumb ass?
The Gamecube and X-Box both "lost" to the PS2. As it stands now, less t
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So what happens to the customer who happens to own a copy of several of the 10 percent of titles, after the optical drive in the PS2 in the other room wears out? Particularly, the six single-player Final Fantasy games in PS family formats (VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, XII) are said to have emulation problems. Nintendo, on the other hand, has over 99 percent compatibility from GB to GBA SP, from GBA to DS, and from GameCube to Wii.
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Own them most of those on a EE chip enabled PS3. On software emulation (enable upsca
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That's some serious "shillery."
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Well, for a while, it sounded like the cheaper 60GB version was only going to be available for about two weeks. (Starting... now!) So it was like a brief price cut followed by the price jumping right back up again. In other words, it sounded like it wasn't really a price cut, just an attempt to dump a few old units before selling the new ones at the original price.
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There are more then a "few" PS3's in the channel right now. This fire sale aught to last a good month or more.
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Probably none of these.
We won't get into the reason why one might never intend on buying a PS3, but some of these people probably don't care.
This here is actually the issue itself. $500 is not 'cheap'. As a minimum bar for entry it is too high for many people. Certainly, what is $500 now is a better value than w
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Well, I'd certainly hope that that's true, but remember that this is Sony we're talking about. The sales and marketing part of the company hasn't exactly been attentive to the wishes of the consumer in the recent past.
Rob
Re:Only a retard or MS troll would suggest Sony wo (Score:2)
A product that has "momentum" doesn't have to get "unloaded".
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