Game Publishers Pressuring Sony For PS3 Price Cut 232
Bloomberg is running a story about several video game publishers and developers who are pushing for a long overdue price cut on Sony's PS3 console. Sales of the PS3 are lagging behind both the Wii and the Xbox 360 despite the PS2's resounding victory in sales of the previous generation of consoles. One of the creators of LittleBigPlanet, a PS3 exclusive, made similar comments in an interview with Gamasutra, acknowledging that they're looking forward to the day Sony drops the PS3's price. An analyst from Janco said such an action is necessary if Sony doesn't want to "lose support from game developers and publishers."
Hidden Costs (Score:5, Informative)
With accessories and online costs considered, I'd say it evens out, and rather quickly at that.
Re:I want a PS3 (Score:1, Informative)
The problem is that the PS3 was initially designed without a GPU, the core was going to handle all. Then Sony realized this was a programming nightmare and added a last second GPU.
I own both consoles and I have to say online gaming is 10 times better on the 360, and graphics are about the same. Where the PS3 comes ahead is in added value like you pointed out. Added value like a better media player, a blue ray player, and reliability. I just hate the flame wars that go on, with Sony execs coming on here claiming the PS3 looks way better when it doesn't. At least not on my 1080p 40" Samsung 120Hz. Not trying to say MS doesn't have its own flame goons, but on slashdot Sony goons seem to be in larger numbers given the Anti-MS sentiment.
Re:I want a PS3 (Score:3, Informative)
That's even before you count the stupidity of having to charge the PS3 controller by plugging it into the system, and leaving the system on for hours. On the 360, I just swap out a pair of rechargable AA batteries (conveniently the same ones that the Wii uses) and go right back to it.
The PS3 controllers will charge off any mini-usb plug. I think I have a dozen lying around right now. I try to avoid hardware unless it charges through that.
Re:Pc games easier to pirate than PS3 games (Score:3, Informative)
This is why despite a lower userbase, proportionally the games sell better.
The tie in ratio is the same as it is for the Wii and it looks like it's equivalent to the 360 when adjusted for time. Do you have any data that says PS3 games sell better across the board (not just the top tier exclusives, those sell on their own merits but the entire library combined tends to sell on the userbase's preferences)?
Re:I want a PS3 (Score:4, Informative)
you are forgetting something.
The Xbox360 as it is CAN NOT PLAY ONLINE without you buying a gold membership. Some of the new games will play with the free membership but an Xbox 360 costs you an additional $59.00US a year to own if you want to play online.
Re:Hidden Costs (Score:3, Informative)
As for the built in Bluray. Most people dont care about bluray. The dismal sales of the players and discs scream that one loud and clear.
Sales for BluRay discs/players are beating DVD at this point in its lifecycle. We'll see what the economy does to that though.
Re:PS3 != Xbox 360 != Wii (Score:1, Informative)
You are exactly right.
The PS3 is not just a gaming system. It's a bluray player, a Media Center that will play anything especially used with the PS3 Media Server.
Yes you can install homebrew stuff on other console but you can't play HD content on a Wii.
Also the PS3 may be more expansive than the 360, but you can use a regular 5$ HDMI cable and a regular 2$ toslink cable to set it up in your home theater system. With the 360 you have to buy those expansive adapters.
The XBOX 360 is Just as Expensive as the PS3 (Score:2, Informative)
That's right, folks. The XBOX 360 is just as expensive as the PS3.
A lot of people go around bashing the PS3, but I find that most of them don't own both systems, like I do. The PS3 is actually cheaper than the 360. Did you know that? Here's why:
1. The PS3 comes with wireless capability. The XBOX 360 requires a $100 wireless kit. That right there makes up the price difference.
2. The XBOX 360's controllers require batteries. An add-on rechargeable battery system costs about $20 per controller. The PS3's controllers are all rechargeable right out of the box.
3. If you buy something from the PlayStation store that costs $5 or more, you pay the exact amount. On the XBOX store, you have to buy "Microsoft Points" at the rate of $12.50 (USD) for 1,000 points. You have to buy these in bulk. So if you want something that costs 800 points, you have to pay for 1,000 points, leaving you with 200 points ($2.50) left over. Of course, Microsoft manipulates things, so you are always left with small amount of points left over. In other words, Microsuck is keeping your change. Bastards.
Re:I want a PS3 (Score:5, Informative)
For the record, it doesn't cost anywhere near $59.00 a year, heck, the MSRP is 49.99. Amazon is selling the 13 month Live cards for $38.99. I bought mine from them a few months ago for something like $29.99.
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Live-Month-Gold-Bonus/dp/B000B9RI00 [amazon.com]
Re:The XBOX 360 is Just as Expensive as the PS3 (Score:3, Informative)
1. Not everyone needs wireless. My living room was already networked.
2. AA's are cheap, and the batteries last for months. I've had my 360 since Christmas and only changed them once.
3. Agree with this one. Bastards.
Re:I want a PS3 (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wii: Without a friend code, why not play vs. CP (Score:3, Informative)
So basically you contradict yourself ?
You CAN PLAY the Wii ONLINE without having to pay anything more.
The XB360 is the only console that requires that you pay a yearly or monthly fee to play online against others.
Re:I don't see how a PS3 price cut is "long overdu (Score:3, Informative)
[Citation Need]
And just where exactly did you "cherry pick" your statistics from?
I don't own an XBox, nor PS, but I'd like to know how your statistics are so absolute.
What ?
LOL, these numbers are taken right from TFA, using exactly the same data the "analysts" talk about.
It's absolutely right that for now, the PS3 sells faster than the XB360 despite the higher price point. You can see this clearly if you align launches.
You've clearly been fooled by MS cherry picking.
Most people don't realize it, because Nintendo flew past MS, despite being 1 year younger, so it skews most people's visions.
Re:Not according to Kaz Hirai (Score:3, Informative)
I bought a Wii and then a PS3. The Wii soon got relegated to the corner, and after a while I just gave it to one of my sisters so it would actually get some use. The PS3 isn't that expensive for what it is. I use mine as a DVD/blu-ray player, freeview PVR, I stream music and video to it from my computer to watch on my HDTV - oh, and I play the occasional game from time to time. I never even have to change the channel on the TV :)
As for cost, I'd go so far as to say the PS3 has probably paid for itself since I got PlayTV, with the amount of TV series and movies that I otherwise would have had to buy to watch (because they're on at inconvenient times). I used to buy a lot of DVDs. I've noticed my savings growing rapidly since getting PlayTV, while everyone else is busy whining and scaremongering about the economy..
So, I bought both a Wii and a PS3 and prefer the PS3. I'm not trying to "feel better about my purchase" when I say they're in different leagues. The Wii is basically 'just' a games machine; the PS3 and 360 do so much more, and IMO are signs of what to expect in the future. I'm looking forward to the next generation of consoles when everyone hopefully takes the best ideas from the Wii's control system and the PS3/Xbox's media and networking features and builds on them.
Re:RF modulator (Score:3, Informative)
True, DVD had the advantage of no rewinding. But at the time, a lot of paid-for TVs had no composite input jack, only an RF jack. The $25 RF modulators brought DVD's picture quality down near VHS's.
This is a lot of nonsense. I have a crappy Philips TV with a composite jack and an RF jack. I get basically the same picture whether I hook a player up to the Composite directly, or use the RF. In fact, my Xbox is connected to my TV via RF, through my Panasonic S-VHS which is basically just converting S-Video to RF. I realize that the conventional wisdom is that there is less bandwidth available for RF and so anything else should look better. In practice, the composite input is usually very poorly implemented and the RF may actually have a BETTER picture, because people watch TV on RF but they just play video games on composite (typical hookup anyway.) I am using this setup to get the video signal across my room; Composite is not good at long runs.
Speaking as a game developer (Score:3, Informative)
Now if we could only pressure Sony to make the damn thing easier to code for. Having developed for both I can tell you it's night and day. The XBox dev tools are much easier to use and better integrated into IDE and speaking from mostly writing multiplayer code the API are much simpler.