EU Release of Price Cut 40 GB PS3 Confirmed 173
sinister rouge writes "The BBC has a story confirming a cut price PlayStation 3 with a 40GB hard drive and no backwards compatibility with previous consoles. The console is set to go on sale later this month in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. No word yet on that particular SKU for the North American market. '[Ray Maguire, head of PlayStation UK,] said: "The people who want to get into new technology early are prepared to pay a premium. We want to get the console to the next level; we have re-engineered the machine to bring the price down. We have invested a lot of money in reaching this price point." Sony is still losing money on each console sold, said Mr Maguire, but would lose less money on the 40GB machine. "We are in an investment phase," he said.'"
Re:North American Market Apparently Dead? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, Europe didn't really get a price cut like NA did, they got annoying bundles instead. This move will help them there, for sure.
I don't think they've given up on the NA market at all, but their strategy has been so poorly executed thus far that going back and focusing on easier markets for a while is probably a good idea. They can come back at NA later with a lower price, more games, and rumble included.
Too little, too late (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, dropping the software-based PS2 emulation further shows how clueless they can still be.
Re:Why no backwards compatibility? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:North American Market Apparently Dead? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure...if there were any games worth buying for it. I've had my PS3 since four days after launch...you know how many PS3-exclusive games I have for it?
Two.
Why only two? BECAUSE THERE AREN'T ANY GAMES FOR IT. I don't care how much a "bargain" it is when there isn't shit out there for it. I (and many other PS3 owners, I would imagine) am quite pissed that stuff that was supposed to already be released now has a release date of mid-2008 or even simply TBA.
What a fuckin' waste.
My thoughts on no BC (Score:3, Insightful)
Capcom, EA and others development shops came to Sony and told them (some out loud), that the price of the PS3 is too high and that because the sales are not picking up they will focus all tier one development on the Wii and then the 360, then the PS2 then the PS3. I know second hand that EA basically said this to Sony. The PS3 was dead last on their "New" development and they would do crappy ports of 360 games over to it.
So Sony probably had a gun held to their head and had to do whatever it took to get the cost down to below $400 this year in the U.S.A. (guessing on price), without pulling an Apple and pissing off all their early adopters. They knew that they would catch a bunch of heat over the backward compatibility but at the end of the day they could line up this new PS3 next to a 360 and show that you get more for your money with the PS3 on the hardware side and all the early adopters know they have backward compatibility on their older systems. Those early adopters are happy, new buyers can still get the 80GB version if they "demand" BC, and the vast majority of people that don't care don't have to pay for it.
"If" they would have left out the wireless and kept in the BC, then that would make them look bad on the spec sheet when compared to the 360 Elite ($450). Now it is painfully obvious that the PS3 is better and actually cheaper, thus probably forcing Microsoft to lower the price of the elite down to $400 as well. At the worst case it makes potential customers of the elite this year look long and hard at the PS3 without some EB guy saying "Yeah, it is nice, but it cost $600".
So, the only remaining large issues for Sony are:
1080i issue
Home Beta out ASAP.
Little Big Planet out ASAP.
Better development tools.
More exclusives if at all possible.
Pray that MGS4, HOME, GT5 and Ratchet and Clank are great games.
Lastly, Sony is definitely different than Microsoft and Nintendo in the gaming space. Nintendo focuses totally on the "kids" games and Microsoft appears stuck in the FPS teenager to 30 year old males demographic. There doesn't appear to be a "typical" Sony buyer. You will have some that say MGS, others GT, others Resistance, others Uncharted, others FF, and a bunch like games like Ratchet and Clank and Ape Escape and Kingdom Hearts. Then there are the dance dance revolution types and the puzzle game fans. Nintendo is trying hard to get in to a broader market but the way they treat 3rd party developers makes me and others wonder if Nintendo will ever be a company that really wants 3rd party support.
At the end of the day though, a $400 PS3 is better than a $600 PS3 if you are an average customer buying a console this Christmas.
Re:Sony keeps changing its mind (Score:3, Insightful)
"Backwards compatibility, as you know from PlayStation One and PlayStation 2, is a core value of what we believe we should offer. And access to the library of content people have created, bought for themselves, and accumulated over the years is necessary to create a format. PlayStation is a format meaning that it transcends many devices -- PSOne, PS2, and now PS3" - Phil Harrison, Sony, December 2006.
Guess what, the Playstation brand just got a little less valuable...
Re:My thoughts on no BC (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm sorry. I don't care how good you think the hardware is or how good of a value it is...a console with few to no good games doesn't have a chance against the 360. That's the only thing that is painfully obvious to me.