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Ken Kutaragi's Famous Last Words 527

Posted by Zonk from the six-hundred-dollars-is-only-cheap-in-japan dept.
When we look back on this E3, I think one of the moments we're most clearly going to remember is the dead silence in the Sony press conference following the price announcement. Eurogamer and GameDaily has coverage of Phil Harrison's spin work, trying to recover from that moment, discussing how Sony is not ripping off Nintendo and Microsoft probably won't meet their 10 million units goal. More interestingly, they discuss an interview with Ken Kutaragi conducted by a Japanese website. From that piece: "SCEI president Ken Kutaragi has defended the PlayStation 3's high price tag once again, declaring that not only will consumers be prepared to pay the cost but that the console is 'probably too cheap.' In an interview with Japanese website IT Media, partially translated by IGN, Kutaragi said: 'This is the PS3 price. Expensive, cheap - we don't want you to think of it in terms of game machines ... For instance ... Is it not nonsense to compare the charge for dinner at the company cafeteria with dinner at a fine restaurant? It's a question of what you can do with that game machine. If you can have an amazing experience, we believe price is not a problem.'"
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Ken Kutaragi's Famous Last Words More

Ken Kutaragi's Famous Last Words

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  • Yeah, well... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by iogan ( 943605 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @12:46PM (#15319449) Homepage
    ... I don't know about the rest of you, but I never, ever eat in really expensive restaurants. As good as the food may be, it's simply not worth the additional cost. Which is why I'll be getting a Wii and not the PS3.

    • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by AlexanderDitto ( 972695 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @12:53PM (#15319539)
      I think it depends on the situation, and the person. If you're hungry, and you just want food, it would be nonsensicle to go to the fancy restaurant when you could get a filling burrito from a value menu.

      On the other hand, if you're trying to impress a guest or a boss, you don't bring them to Taco Bell, you bring them to a fancy restaurant.

      But just how fancy are we talking here? I don't think this analogy is valid, ESPECIALLY in today's world. 'Fancy' usually amounts to an Olive Garden or some other such chain restaurant, whose prices are reasonable. If we were talking about the 1600's, this would be a different story, of course. Fancy restaurants were all the rage, because it wasn't about being full, it was about impressing people. Then again, everyone had head lice in the 1600's. Go figure.

      In the modern world, people want what is cheap and gives them the most for their money. Sony's not doing well on this point: if we extend the analogy, our 'hunger' is for games, not for music or movies or dancing and singing. It's wonderful that the fancy restaurant has live music or dancers or a movie or whatnot, but I'm not about to pay extra for it when all I want is food (games).

      I'll take the cafeteria, thank you very much. Oooh, look! Pudding cups!

      • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Mursk ( 928595 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @12:58PM (#15319575)
        Yeah, we're getting into fois gras/escargot territory. Stuff that may be fancy but no one in their right mind would want to eat. ;)

        • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:5, Funny)

          by bluemeep ( 669505 ) <bluemeep@@@gmail...com> on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:02PM (#15319612) Homepage
          Yeah, we're getting into fois gras/escargot territory. Stuff that may be fancy but no one in their right mind would want to eat. ;)

          Sorta like caviar, eh? Speaking of which, for the cost of the high end PS3, you could get about 7 ounces of Russian Imperial caviar. For a Wii, you could get about 50 foot long subs.

          I know which I'd take!

        • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Phanatic1a ( 413374 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @05:23PM (#15321877)
          Foie gras is amazing. It's like warm, meat-flavored butter.

      • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:5, Funny)

        by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) * <`akaimbatman' `at' `gmail.com'> on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:00PM (#15319592) Homepage Journal
        On the other hand, if you're trying to impress a guest or a boss, you don't bring them to Taco Bell, you bring them to a fancy restaurant.

        Unless you're Sylvester Stallone, that is....

      • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by BewireNomali ( 618969 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:52PM (#15320123)
        not true. people don't always want what's cheap and gives them the most for their money.

        the ipod is the perfect example of this. there are boundless examples of DAPs with more features at or below ipod costs. nonetheless, the ipod is synonymous with digital music in 2006 in popular culture.

        I live in New York. Fancy here definitly does not amount to Olive Garden. lol. You'd be drawn and quartered before being ceremoniously fired for taking a client there.

        All of which is to say - if people associate the PS3 as the premium must have gaming device, price might not be an issue. Also, if Sony gets 70% retention of the PS2 installation base, PS3 will be an awesome success. I just don't see that not happening.

        • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:3, Insightful)

          by masklinn ( 823351 )

          not true. people don't always want what's cheap and gives them the most for their money.

          the ipod is the perfect example of this. there are boundless examples of DAPs with more features at or below ipod costs. nonetheless, the ipod is synonymous with digital music in 2006 in popular culture.

          This is completely wrong. First, as others have pointed, the iPods are well-priced. While they have less features than other players, they're not priced any higher, and often lower. So the iPods can be considered "che

      • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by alnjmshntr ( 625401 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:54PM (#15320144)
        You want a fancy restaurant? Buy a PC.

        • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:3, Insightful)

          by NeMon'ess ( 160583 ) *
          The PC is like a restaurant that also helps you do your taxes, write messages and books, cut an album, and brings you your news and information.

          I agree with the original post that the PS3 is an overpriced restaurant. I'd say the 360 is a less pricy place but has food equal to or almost as good as the overpriced one. Meanwhile the Wii offers three star dining at two "$" prices.

      • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:5, Informative)

        by DerekLyons ( 302214 ) <fairwater@gmGINSBERGail.com minus poet> on Friday May 12, 2006 @02:07PM (#15320268) Homepage
        But just how fancy are we talking here? I don't think this analogy is valid, ESPECIALLY in today's world. 'Fancy' usually amounts to an Olive Garden or some other such chain restaurant, whose prices are reasonable.
        Fancy may amount to that to the uneducated, (understanding food, like understanding tech, takes experience and education) - but I can take you to at least four different restaurants in my town where you can get gourmet cooking at Denny's prices.
        If we were talking about the 1600's, this would be a different story, of course. Fancy restaurants were all the rage, because it wasn't about being full, it was about impressing people.
        It would be awful hard to impress someone with a fancy restaurant in the 1600's - they didn't exist. The modern restaurant is a child of the French Revolution.

    • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:14PM (#15319760)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:Yeah, well... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Turken ( 139591 )
      I really like the restaraunt analogy...

      Yes, there is merit in eating at a "Sony" 4 or 5 star restaraunt when the situation calls for it. They are certainly prestegious and beautiful in presentation, and they have some very unique flavors to offer. But, to be honest, I have neither the stomach nor the wallet to sustain such a habit on a daily basis.

      Microsoft is now in the position of "Sit-down Casual Dining Chain." That is, MS has become the Applebee's or Olive Garden of the game industry. Everything look
  • "Sony is not ripping off Nintendo", "Microsoft will not meet its goal" Where have I heard talk like that before? Oh yeah... Baghdad Bob.

  • Sinking Dollar to Blame? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MBraynard ( 653724 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @12:49PM (#15319484) Journal
    In the last 120 days, the value of the dollar has gone from about 120 yen to under 110. If this trend continues, it could give the 360 a pretty decent home-field advantage. Granted, all components are made outside the US (and possibly outside of Japan), but demonimating the wealth in dollars is probably much easier than doing so in Yen.

  • Pride cometh before a fall... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @12:50PM (#15319495) Journal
    You know, Ken, if the gaming press is saying that's probably too expensive, and a lot of hard-core gamers are looking at your price and honestly wondering if they can even afford it, maybe you should listen.

    On the other hand, by E3 it was already too late to change course on that.

    It's amazing how badly E3 went for Sony. I'd say Microsoft at least broke even, Nintendo scored in a big way, almost entirely at the expense of Sony, which lost big.

    On Slashdot, digg, and other gaming sites I've been looking at, the Sony fanboy has overnight become an endangered species. That is what is really telling me Sony has a problem. If even the Retardusfuckwitis Internetus, a species Sony nearly owned last week, is defecting, you're gonna die.

    • On Slashdot, digg, and other gaming sites I've been looking at, the Sony fanboy has overnight become an endangered species.

      No kidding. Before E3, I figured I'd probably be getting a PS3 about a year after they were released. Now, I'm not so sure I'll ever be getting a PS3, or at least not within the next several years. ("$500 for the cheap one?! I'll wait until I finally get an HDTV, and then think about it.")

      There's no way in hell I'm paying $500 for a console, no matter how good it is. I was alr

    • You know, Ken, if the gaming press is saying that's probably too expensive, and a lot of hard-core gamers are looking at your price and honestly wondering if they can even afford it, maybe you should listen.

      You're right, a lot are. But how many people made a fortune selling short-supplied, under-priced XBoxen on Ebay? I think Sony just wised up and realized that, if anyone's going to make that kind of coin on your console, might as well have it be the manufacturer.

      This way, they can keep selling the PS2 a

  • So the PS3 is the gourmet restaurant of consoles? (Score:3, Funny)

    by festers ( 106163 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @12:51PM (#15319505) Journal
    In that case...waiter? Check please!
  • I would probably consider myself a Sony fan, but... $600? Too cheap? Who are you trying to kid. People who don't mind paying this much will buy it, people who don't have the money won't. No one will go, "hey, that guy said it was 'too cheap,' I'd better get in on it before they change their minds!"

    Bottom line, I probably will not buy the PS3 for a good long while. And don't even bring up that crippled "cheap" version...

    • Sony made money or came close to breaking even on every console it has made.
      The too cheap comment is probably the fact that sony feeling competion from MS subsidizing its consoles heavily has to do the same. And with that Blu-Ray drive the console probably cost more than they wanted it too.

      Remember the 360/xbox where/are "cheap" because MS has lost about 2 billion+ dollars getting into the console business.

  • Value of PS3 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sacremon ( 244448 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @12:52PM (#15319525)
    IF you see the PS3 as more than a game console, and intend to use it as a Blue-Ray disc player and/or whatever other features Sony decides to add to it, then it might be worth it. From a purely gaming perspective, unless there is some game only on the PS3 you can't live without, it just ain't worth it.

    • That game exists for me. It's called "Metal Gear Solid 4".

      And, for that game (and the fact I could play others I know I'd like) I would buy the $400 PS3.

      But there is no way I'm going to buy the $600 PS3 for that game (and other's I'd like).

      That game doesn't exist on the 360 yet for me. And it WON'T exist on the PS3 until price drops about $200 for me.

      The game is there. They may even be a couple of them. But there is still a limit. As much as I may want a PS3 (and that has declined the more I've learned

    • Re:Value of PS3 (Score:3, Interesting)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      The biggest kicker for "next generation" consoles is the price of games has been hiked. XBox 360 games cost 75 euros, compared to 50 euros for PS2/XBox/GC/PC titles. That's quite a rise. I expect the PS3 games will cost as much. On top of that, the next gen consoles will coin it in from their monthly subs. Owning a next gen console could be a very expensive proposition.

      I'm actually surprised that they don't subsidize the consoles in the same way as mobile telephones. After all, a nice mobile handset can c

    • Re:Value of PS3 (Score:3, Interesting)

      by moochfish ( 822730 )
      This is a gaming machine and Sony accidentally confused it with a media center. Let's not forget that it reads media nobody even has, so it costs even more $$$ to use as Sony intends.

      As my friend said: "Why does it cost sooooooo much???? I don't need all that extra stuff. I don't care about blue ray. I just wanna play games..."

      She's about as hardcore as you can get when it comes to being a fan of PS2 games. She'd been saving up for a year to buy the new PS3 so she could play the next MGS. Now she's consider

    • Re:Value of PS3 (Score:3, Insightful)

      by rAiNsT0rm ( 877553 )
      So, basically... if I *actually* want a game system I'm hosed, but if I want a totally useless expensive movie player for a format that may very well lose to HD DVD and be stuck with the most expensive door stop ever... then I should be crapping my pants. eh?

      Not trolling, but seriously who is going to buy into this complete disaster? Lets take a huge gamble on the media format (*cough*UMD*cough*), then lets mix it with wholly unproven and expensive technology, add in a dash of plagarism but hastily done and
  • Kutaragi-san kind of reminds me a little bit of Jack Thompson, in that he's a complete sociopath, totally full of himself, and constantly says ridiculous, asinine stuff when pleading his case. I daresay Sony's image might be a lot better were it not for him.

  • bleh (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by kisrael ( 134664 )
    Heh, I usually like slate.com, but their recent article Love Thy PlayStation, Love Thyself [slate.com]
    Why you should make a $500 game console your life partner.     was a bit over the top.... sure it was tongue in cheek (I don't think they're really arguing it's more cost effective than a good marriage) but it's kind of weird how they ignore Nintendo and lump Xbox 360 with the PS2 and TurboGrafx 16...

    "The PS3, after all, has been built expressly to keep mind-blowing novelty coming and coming and coming. Periodic infusions

  • Translation: "We can't lower our costs" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @12:57PM (#15319571) Homepage Journal

    Or at least, that's what I'm getting out of the whole thing. We already knew the PS3 was going to be expensive to produce. The only question was how much Sony would charge for the machine.

    "However, when released, both [PlayStation and PlayStation 2] had sales that were unthinkable for previous game machines. This is because both offered experiences that could not be had on previous machines." [SCEI president Ken Kutaragi said.] "Things like next-generation graphics and various services via the network. And, as with the PS and PS2, we believe people who like games will, without question, purchase it."

    Right... no one's ever seen next generation graphics [xbox360.com] before, or even various services via the network [xbox.com].

    Seriously, I never had any intention of buying any of the next-gen consoles when they were released (that includes the Wii; by the time it comes out, I may finally get around to getting a DS :)), but the more I hear about the PS3, the more I realize I'm definitely not going to be buying any of the first-generation PS3s. Two versions, one an un-upgradable "cheap" version, weird controllers without force feedback, and the $500/$600 price tag all are making me that much more willing to wait for a PS3.

    I'm more than willing to wait until the PSThwii gets released, with a single version that supports everything, and hopefully with wireless controllers that support force feedback. Oops, sorry, that's supposed to be "PSthree" in the style of the "PStwo" and "PSone" rereleases.

    And to think, if anything, I'm a Sony fanboy...

  • 1. Screw the Cell processor. We want more standard stuff. Like an 8-core or something.
    2. Give us a physics coprocessor.
    3. Keep the backwards compatibility.

    There.
  • ... it was determined today that Ken Kutaragi has a stick thoroughly shoved up his ass. When asked is this was a flaw or intended, Kutaragi responded "Sony has no flaws," and that no matter what he is God and we should all bow down to him because he knows what is best.
  • Sony has done the worst possible thing, they built the Titanic of consoles. It is big, it is expensive, and it is going to sink. It tries to cator to everyone but ends up being something no one wanted.
  • The PS3 price really isn't that bad when you consider that games will only be $120 each.

    SmR

  • Viva la Sony! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rob T Firefly ( 844560 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:06PM (#15319668) Homepage Journal
    SCEI president Ken Kutaragi has defended the PlayStation 3's high price tag once again, declaring that not only will consumers be prepared to pay the cost but that the console is 'probably too cheap.'

    This man is a genius! I've got to get me a piece of this...

    I hereby announce that not only are the rest of you Slashdotters fully prepared to Paypal me ten bucks every time you get to read one of my fabulous posts, but I'm letting you all off easy by not demanding twenty.

  • ...they will try to arrange some big-time crossover marketing enticements when they release the PS3. For example, discount coupons on PS3 games and Blu-Ray movies, to make the $600 price tag "seem" more like $300.

    Of course, that would depend on the games and movies being available on the launch date.
  • Over and over again I read posts complaining about the price. Sure, I agree, it is waaaay too expensive. For me. But what about all the 360 "value pack" sales with prices approaching $1000, and ebay sales for even more? I think Sony saw all that happening and decided that it wanted a bigger piece of the action than Microsoft.

    I have no doubt that Sony intends to execute the release of the PS3 as closely as possible to the 360. They'll get their $600 for the console knowing that the market will bear near

    • They'll get their $600 for the console knowing that the market will bear nearly twice that if the demand is high.

      You simply cannot sell many consoles at that price. There will be the handful of rabid fanboys shelling that out, as always, but the majority of people will be waiting for a price drop. At least the Xbox bundles actually GOT you a bunch of stuff. You'll pay for the PS3 by itself what most of those bundles cost.

  • It Costs Too Much (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:10PM (#15319723) Homepage
    That's all there is too it.

    I was thinking of getting a 360 but didn't because I wasn't going to pay $400 for a console without games that I saw as must have (still none in my eyes, although there are games I want to play).

    I probably would have bought a PS3 at $400.

    There is no way I'm paying $600 for a console. When the non-crippled version is available for $400 I'll probably buy it. If I can get it used for $350 I'll buy it. I'm not paying $600 unless it comes with 5 games of my choice.

    And let's forget that stupid "it's also a blu-ray player" argument. That's a great argument... for anyone who wants a blu-ray player. I don't want a blu-ray player. I don't care. I don't have a HDTV so it doesn't make a difference to me. It's like saying "buy a Sega-CD because it's also a LaserDisc player (I know it wasn't)". That's how useless it is to me (and I'm willing to bet most everyone).

    When the PS2 came out the DVD player argument was actually quite good. DVD players were in demand and there was a very noticeable leap in quality over VHS, along with the convenience (no rewinding, better sound, random access, doesn't degrade with repeated playings, etc). The market was starving for DVDs so they were being bought. The ability to buy something that cost a little more than a DVD player that also played excellent games and PS1 games was a good one (not why I bought mine, but a good reason).

    No one cares about Blu-Ray or HD-DVD except a few early adopters. For the rest of us, you're just asking us to buy a $600 toy (plus games at $70 or $80 a pop). No sale.

    I thought MS's pricing was bad. MS is going to do very good this holiday season. All those people waiting for PS3s? Lots will buy a 360 and a couple of games instead (especially if there is a price drop or redesign, say the new 360 full version (not core) for $300 or so). The Wii will be under $300, with many rumors placing it at $150 or $200.

    Billy wants a video-game system for Christmas. Do I buy him the one with Mario for $200, the one with Halo for $350, or the one with Warhawk for $600. Guess how many average american families will choose that last one.

    Sony, you lead for 2 generations. Obviously, it's time for you to step aside for a while so you can look at your play book and get a clue. I hope Nintendo can put it out and get a big lead, but Sony is shooting themselves in the foot with a RPG.

    The 3DO launched at $700 and could play Video CDs and do all these other things too. It died, pretty much completely due to the price (it could have been a good also-ran like the DC if the price was better). The CD-i was the same thing, and it cost $400 (when other consoles were $150-$200). It bombed too.

    Sony: it was nice knowing you. Come back in a generation or two.

    Go Nintendo!... and Microsoft's price suddenly looks sane and like a bargain.

    • Sony is shooting themselves in the foot with a RPG.

      The good news is, if that RPG uses the d20 system, Sony still has a 1 in 20 chance of missing its own foot (regardless of bonuses and penalties).

    • Re:It Costs Too Much (Score:3, Insightful)

      by bubba451 ( 779167 )
      No one cares about Blu-Ray or HD-DVD except a few early adopters.

      And most of those early adopters will be home theater buffs, who won't want to buy a player in the form of a game console.

      I'm one of them. I'm excited about Blu-Ray, but I'll take a standalone DVD player, thankyouverymuch.

      And a Wii.

  • Remember the PS2! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Otis2222222 ( 581406 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:12PM (#15319741) Homepage
    No offense Ken. But I heard this same BS when the PS2 came out. You know, how the PS2 wasn't a video game console, it was a home entertainment device that was going to revolutionize my living room. There was all this talk of expansion, it had built in Firewire and USB, space for a hard drive, people speculated it might function as a DVR too. Even Microsoft tried to sell the original XBOX the same way -- That it was much more than a console. (and before anyone accuses me of being a Nintento fanboy I assure you I'm not. The last Nintendo I ever owned was an SNES).

    Fortunately for Sony, the PS2 came out at a time when a lot of people still didn't have DVD players so Sony was somewhat vindicated by that. But Sony has a habit of overhyping and under-delivering (i.e. using cut scenes in product promos and passing them off as real graphics). I think that this round, the PS3 is going to have a tough sell since no one seems to really want to be an early adopter of Blu-Ray / HD-DVD.

    I had high hopes for this latest round of next generation systems. I bought a 360, and while it's pretty impressive there still isn't a huge library of games, let alone decent ones, for it. I want to get a PS3 but I am not going to buy one right away if there aren't any decent launch titles (learned my lesson on the 360). I still think the Wii is too gimicky but I might be proven wrong. I want to actually play with one before I decide.

    I am starting to wonder if we aren't about to have another video game crash. But maybe I'm being too melodramatic. Either that or Nintendo is about to make a triumphant return to the "good old days". Will be interesting to see...

    • Re:Remember the PS2! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Raptor CK ( 10482 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @03:42PM (#15321117) Journal
      Yeah, but the Xbox at least got a Media Center Extender option and had Live.

      The PS2 phased out the IEEE 1394 ports, and the hard drive/LAN adapter was used for... Final Fantasy XI?

      There's the problem. MS actually figured out how to sell more than just a console, Nintendo figured out how to make a profit selling just a console, and Sony... hyped up a piece of crap which was crippled more and more with each hardware revision.

      And let's not talk about how many of those 100 million shipped PS2's were replacements for burnt-out DVD drives.

    • Re:Remember the PS2! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Ryan Amos ( 16972 )
      Bet on Nintendo.

      Seriously, they made the same mistake Sony is making now with the N64. The GameCube never got that critical mass until the end of this last generation, but there are some spectacular GameCube games out there. They learned their lesson; the graphics are already good enough for most people, so make fun games and you will do well. This is why they're making money and Sony and MS are not.

      The XBox 360 is *still* too expensive. I'm betting the Wii comes in around $200 and the launch titles are by
  • Kutaragi can't have it both ways.

    Either
    • the PS3 is Sony's next-gen games console and is way overpriced; or else

    • the PS3 is some kind of more advanced appliance than a games console, which leaves Sony with no next-gen games console at all. "The field's all yours, MS and Nintendo."

    That comment of his was really unwise.
  • Microsoft probably could have gotten away with charging $599 for the Xbox360 last Novemeber. Probabaly would have solved a bunch of the early problems with massive back-orders and bad press from not being able to supply enough units. Had they done that and waited for E3 to drop the price--I am thinking there would have been a second surge of XBox360s sales. BTW--of what use is HD-DVD/BlueRay? Why do I need it? Regular DVDs have been doing just fine. I can even make my own DVDs. Since gaining the abil
    • No, because if Microsoft had released the 360 at $599, Sony would be justified in their $599 price, and MS wouldn't want that.

      In fact, the PS3 would look good in that light. The specs are technically superior to the 360 (though I honestly don't think I'll notice on cross-platform games), and yet the price on launch would be the same.

      The way it is now however, Sony is selling for $200 more than Microsoft with quality that doesn't look all that much better. That looks really good for MS. A lot of people co
  • The PS3 is understandably expensive. Unfortunately that doesn't excuse the price. Sony decided to put the Blu-ray in, I'm guessing, not so much so that people would actually use it, but so they could make claims of supremacy over HD-DVD. I suspect the plan was, come a year or so from now, quote some high number of Blu-ray players in homes, most of which would be PS3's. Even though I doubt most of those PS3's would ever have had a high def movie in it, because there's still an overwhelming majority of the po
  • How well does Moore's Law apply when comparing the PS3 to the PS1?

    PS1: US launch September 1995, price $299.
    PS3: US launch November 2006, price $599

    So, with Moore's Law saying that processing power doubles every 18 months (for the same price), the PS3 should be at least 128 times more powerful than the PS1 if it were the same price, and with the price being doubled, that means it ought to be over 256 times as powerful. If the PS3 is actually better than this, then maybe Kutaragi's technically right.

    N

  • When will sony get it into their thick heads. WE ARN'T BUYING THE PS2 TO PLAY DVDS, we didn't buy the Xbox to use it as a back up HD. We buy these machines to PLAY GAMES. We can buy better quality DVD/Blu-ray/HD-DVD players for the same price as a PS3 and still get a Wii.

    Sony and Microsoft both need to wake up and see why Nintendo has bent them both over and raped them this E3. Nintendo make games, Sony and MS make hype. Untill Sony and MS start to make games Nintendo will bitch slap them around the room.

    So
  • If you can have an amazing experience, we believe price is not a problem.

    This reminds me of:

    Duff Beer Owner: "Our customers enjoy the fine taste of Duff Beer rather than it's alcoolic content. Im predicting our new alcohol-free beer, Duff Zero, will sell even better than our previous products."

    they're screwed.

  • Not getting it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Nurf ( 11774 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @01:39PM (#15320012) Homepage
    I really don't know what the fuss is about.

    Sony will charge high prices for the initial release of the PS3 and they will sell them as fast as they can make them. After demand decreases at that price, they will adjust the price to match the competition.

    They can do this because there are people that will pay the initial release price and be happy to do so. The XBOX 360 was arguably underpriced on release: how many were sold on ebay for prices way above the MSRP?

    Freaking about the price of the PS3 is meaningless, because the price is temporary, and will come down when it makes sense for it to do so. In the meantime, Sony will recoup their costs on a production line that is still scaling up to volume production, early adopters will voluntarily get screwed and appreciate the experience, and life will go on for everyone else.

    Until then, I'll be playing games on my GameCube, PSP, and PS2, and will be generally chilling out. I suggest everyone else do the same.

    -Nurf
  • It seems that everyone has taken the "probably too cheap" statement out of context. By reading the interview it is clear that Ken means that the console is probably too cheap because Sony expects it may not be able to keep up with demand at that price.

    From Sony's last quarterly earnings report [gamespot.com], it is clear that the company is spending massively on the development and launch of the PS3. By pricing the console as high as the market will bear, they can recoup some of that money.

    In other words, it doesn't make
  • Small portions of food. Expensive drinks.

    I'd rather go to a bar with 10 cent buffalo wings and $1 beer.
  • The Sony PS3 is more like a cafeteria than the Wii is. The Sony is "the best" of everything, thrown together so that you only get a little of what you want. The Wii seems to be a very targeted product, like, say, fine italian food, designed for a specific purpose.

    Could the PS3 experience even really be "amazing?" Maybe. But from the talk everyone who has a shot hands on with the PS3 simply isn't interested once they've encountered the Wii. Lines are around the block for the Wii and the PS3 display is e

  • It's expensive, but... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MatD ( 895409 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @02:44PM (#15320589)
    I'll be buying one. I think is just the fact that game consoles are being marketed to more gen x'ers and not starving college students and kids anymore.

  • I'm in the minority (Score:3, Interesting)

    by iamghetto ( 450099 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @03:40PM (#15321091) Homepage
    I'm completely willing to pay Sony's asking price for the PS3. People knew it was going to be expensive, and what do you know, it is expensive.

    In Canada with our once devalued dollar, the PS2 would launch at $299 USD and we'd be paying $499 CDN for it. But thanks to the poor American dollars, and the rising Canadian dollar, as PS3 launched at $499 USD is now only $549 CDN. So really for Canadian, the PS3 isn't expensive at all. It's only $50 more than the PS2 was at launch!

    The PS3's price hype has worked tripley against Sony:

    1) It seems to have stifled the PS3's momentum
    2) It has drawn attention away from a -completely- underwhelming showing of the Xbox 360. (In terms of future games, I'm very disappointed in what's coming out for the 360.)
    3) Its taken attention away from PS3 games that at least truly appear to distance the PS3's technical abilities from the Xbox 360 (MGS4, Heavy Rain, Assassin's Creed, a handful of tech demos)

    Ultimately though, I think people -want- the PS3. They're underwhelmed by the 360, and they want the PS3 to be spectacular. They've been waiting for it forever. It will be flying off the shelf when it launches whether Sony deserves it or not.

    • All that mean is (Score:3, Insightful)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )
      you paid too much for the PS2.

      Shouln't you be comparing the value of then Yen to the canadia dollar?

      these prices are starting to hit PC prices. I can do a lot more with a PC then I can the console. They will need to come out with a lot of PS3 only titles that I really want, or I'll go with out.

      If there are 10 must have games, the I'll consider it, but 600 bucks to play one or two game is not worth it.

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