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Media PlayStation (Games)

PS3 Price Cut To Follow End of Blu-ray Laser Shortage? 147

Posted by Zonk from the they-had-a-bumper-crop-this-month dept.
Via Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs blog, a DigiTimes article reports that the shortage of Blue-ray lasers is ending. Back in April Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor, a maker of the blu-violet laser diodes needed to make the PlayStation 3, ramped up production to fully meet the needs of production for Sony's new console. As a result of more readily available components, the article theorizes that a price cut may be possible sometime later this year. "Until now, the question has been: how could Sony afford it? If the Blu-ray supply chain is indeed poised to pump out Blu-ray PUHs, perhaps this is the first major step to seeing $50 to $100 shaved off the cost of the console. Would $100 off the cost of the PS3 bring in more buyers? I don't think this can even be considered a serious question. With few exceptions, and leaving aside a handful of loyal fanboys, the PS3's biggest problem is its price. We look for a Sony price cut later this year if sales stay ho-hum."
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PS3 Price Cut To Follow End of Blu-ray Laser Shortage? More

PS3 Price Cut To Follow End of Blu-ray Laser Shortage?

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  • I'd hope Sony is well aware of the disdain towards PS3 pricing and will cut prices sooner than later. A price cut before the release of GTA IV could help a lot, especially since the 360 will have a lot of momentum heading into the Halo 3 release.
    • and we just know that Metal Gear will be out at exactly the same time as Halo... so hurry up with halo already! I gots to do some snakin'!

  • Huh? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by faloi ( 738831 ) on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @08:33AM (#19035559)
    In my area, there are plenty of PS3's on the shelf, waiting for someone to find them a home. They should've lowered the price long ago, if they were going to. The shortage of drives doesn't seem to have hurt the availability any, and a lower price would go a long way toward getting some people to buy it...maybe. There's still a lot about the PS3 I don't like (and price is one of them, even with a $100 price cut).

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Yusaku Godai ( 546058 )
      In my area, there are plenty of PS3's on the shelf, waiting for someone to find them a home.

      The way you put that almost makes me feel sorry for them. *sigh* I'll probably get one eventually. I'm not as rabidly anti-Sony as some people around here. I'm more rabidly anti-Microsoft. I don't see how someone can get excited about playing online games with a bunch of snot-faced thirteen year olds on what is little more than a stripped down gaming PC in an ugly box.

      Most of the things to be pissed at Sony about
      • That really is a shame, the device is rock solid stable for me and the build quality is great. We just need the games.


        Also, the numbers presented there are wrong: [ gamedaily.com [gamedaily.com] ]

      • Well, true... I'm not as anti-Sony as one typically finds here on slashdot. I own a PS2 and a PSP and, yes, I have a MiniDisc player and that thing was very useful in the transition period from tapes to mp3 players.

        Now, I wouldn't mind giving a PS3 a "new home", but it has to be reasonable. I only bought that PSP because I got it for 250€ with three free games. That was okay for me. A 300€ PS3? I'd probably do an impulse buy someday (even though, I like to limit that, I try to save to buy

        • Well, I impulse-bought a Wii in a sense. It was just three weekends ago. I heard rumours in the internets that they'd have them at Circuit City that Sunday morning. I hadn't been planning on buying a Wii that weekend, but I had the cash, so I grabbed some supplies and went right out and got in line that night. Got home the next morning successful, and spent the rest of the day playing "Wii Sleep".

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by _xeno_ ( 155264 )

          I would probably have "impulse-bought" a Wii, if I had found one somewhere by accident ;-) Of course, *those* shelves are always empty....

          The place I finally found my Wii (Target in the US) didn't have any Wii's on display. They were hidden behind the electronics counter. Only reason I found out that they had any is that someone else was buying one. While I was buying mine, some kids came up and asked for one too. So in the span of the 10 minutes or so I was in the store, I watched them sell three.

          You'

      • The way you put that almost makes me feel sorry for them. *sigh* I'll probably get one eventually. I'm not as rabidly anti-Sony as some people around here. I'm more rabidly anti-Microsoft. I don't see how someone can get excited about playing online games with a bunch of snot-faced thirteen year olds on what is little more than a stripped down gaming PC in an ugly box.

        That is how I feel too. When the Wii came out my husband said he wanted one - and much to his surprise I said yes. But then we couldn'

        • Yeah, all my apparent PS3 fanboyism aside, the only "next-gen" console I've bought is a Wii, and it's the only one I'll have for a while. I love it--and I get sick of people saying "Oh, but the graphics aren't great." Pssh, are they nuts? Sure it doesn't rise to PS3 awesomeness, but it's still better than a PS2 anyways. Even as recently as 2 or 3 years ago I would have killed for graphics this good.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by 7Prime ( 871679 )
            LOL, I think it's cute how people constantly say that the Wiis graphics are better than the PS2s, because I was one of the few that had a GameCube... and IT'S graphics kicked the shit out of the PS2s. For instance, it's really tough going and playing Tales of the Abyss (PS2) after having played Tales of Symphonia (GC), because the GameCube's graphics are just so much cleaner and more polished looking, due to the antialiasing.

            Even if the graphics aren't as sophisticated and high resolution as the PS3 and 360
            • I like photorealism in some games. I think out of all the systems out there, the PS3 is best equipped to do it, assuming it's in the hands of a developer who knows how to get the most out of it.

              For most games that I'd want to play, the Wii looks great.
      • "I don't see how someone can get excited about playing online games with a bunch of snot-faced thirteen year olds."

        You are not limited to playing against random players. You can create a "friends list" of individuals you wish to compete against. You can find many adults to populate this list with at sites such as theadultgamer.com and adultgamingenthusiasts.com

        • Fascinating. As it turns out, I can also set up a CS server [or insert network game here] and play with only my friends there. I don't see what I'm missing out on that I can't get on a PC.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by 7Prime ( 871679 )
            A) a controller designed with gaming in mind
            B) a coutch
            C) games made in other countries besides the US (which couldn't make a good game to save its life)
            D) not having to worry about hardware requirements all the time

            As a former PC gamer, I'm very jaded. I saw the light about 4 years ago, have you?
            • Point taken. I should clarify here that I'm mainly talking about FPSs. I don't understand wanting to play them on much anything but a computer. Mouse and keyboard are just so well suited for the genre. On the other hand, I'm waiting to see what a good FPS for the Wii feels like. That has the potential to change my mind entirely.

              At any rate, I use my game console mainly for things like party games and RPGs. The main draw of the X-Box being FPSs, it seems, I see no reason to get one since my other two n

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by 7Prime ( 871679 )
                Agreed. And as much as I love the Wii, I think developers have taken completely the WRONG direction when it comes to FPSs. The "bounding box" system of turning (pointing the controller to the side of the screen to turn) is just, flat-out, a dead-end. Some have dressed it up to be more usable than others (the comments for Metroid Prime 3 suggest that people are liking it).

                What I want to see is a system that uses the motion sensor in the Nunchuck as a turning/looking mechanism: turn by twising your wrist late
  • I've had a quick google(TM) and couldn't find any prices for blu-violet laser diodes, do they really cost that much that sony could chop $100 off of the price of the PS3?

  • Great (Score:1, Troll)

    by rbarreira ( 836272 )
    Great, now Sony can put even more Blu-Ray diodes inside PS3s which will be sitting on shelves...

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by soupd ( 1099379 )
      There's no fooling you, huh? Stock on shelves = not selling. Who are Apple fooling with those fabricated iPod sales statistics? They're never out of stock, they're clearly not selling. I'm not sure how it works elsewhere in this ball we live on, we have have some retail witchcraft in the UK that we call "RE-stocking". It's er like.. you have some stock, and some muppets buy some stock and you er.. like.. you get some MORE stock. Stop me if I'm going too quick for you.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by amuro98 ( 461673 )
        Some companies declare a "sale" when they ship a unit to a retail store. It doesn't matter at that point whether the store sticks it on a shelf for a consumer to buy, or if they stick in their warehouse. The manufacturer (Sony, Apple, etc.) use that number to declare how many they've sold, and declare their revenue.

        Now the problem with this is that it's possible to "over sell" - also called stuffing the channel. When this happens, stores stop ordering units - which means no revenue. Worse, if the produc

  • I think it will part of a redesign (Score:4, Insightful)

    by tkrotchko ( 124118 ) * on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @08:57AM (#19035923) Homepage
    I think the prices will come down, but the U.S. version will probably omit the PS2 hardware emulation chip and go with the same emulation as the European chip.

    The point is, the price will drop, but it won't be just due to a blue diode prices.

    The big thing right now is the games. However, to be fair, Spring/Summer has always been a slow time for new game releases.
  • Are we really supposed to believe that Sony's tiny diode-making division were charging Sony's huge games division $100 more than expected for the diodes because they were in short supply, when that short supply was entirely the diode division's fault?

    Are Sony's internal purchasing systems really so screwed up that one department can make a huge unexpected profit out of their cock-up at the expense of potentially killing the PS3 by making the price ridiculous and pushing back the rest-of-world launch for man

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ivan256 ( 17499 )
      There's way more wrong with this analysis than that. For starters, to my knowledge there has never been documented evidence of iSuppli producing credible numbers, but plenty of examples where they were completely wrong. Next, let's look at the numbers from the article a little more closely:

      Assembly:
      Xbox 360 - $6.10 (How can they be so precise? Direct Microsoft involvement perhaps?)
      PS3 - $40 (What, no cents?)

      How can anybody possibly believe that it costs $40 to assemble a PS3? That number doesn't even pass t
    • They aren't buying BR diodes from an internal section of Sony. They are buying from another company who has had shortages. There is nothing they can do about price when they aren't setting it. They need BR diodes and the company that sells to Sony has set the prices of them high because of high cost of production. For once, it's not totally Sony's fault.

      I, for one, believe that HD won't go anywhere until someone tries to push it through and I commend Sony on trying. The 360 is getting slapped around by some

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Andy_R ( 114137 )
        RTFA, they are buying them from "Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony"

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by amuro98 ( 461673 )
        High-Def video is totally irrelevent to like 90% of the market. Sony pushing Blu-Ray won't change that. If anything, Sony should be pushing their HDTVs more than Blu-Ray.

        Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are bickering over a tiny part of the afficianado subset of the market - and even most of THEM are staying away because it just isn't worth the risk and money to get involved with in a format war.

        As for the games, if you look back at the PS2 and PS1 (even probably even further) you'll see that developers also complained

  • A £100 price cut before GTAIV and I'll buy (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Stevecrox ( 962208 ) on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @09:00AM (#19035979) Journal
    GTAIV is the only next gen game that I really want to play, but £425 is to much. It's considerably more than what Americans are paying for. I'll buy a PS3 when it reaches £325, but if GTAIV comes before out and the Xbox doesn't limit the game well Sony you've lost yourself a sale.

  • PS3 price drop? Meh... (Score:3, Informative)

    by FlyByPC ( 841016 ) on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @09:01AM (#19035991) Homepage
    ...I'm hoping we can get some of those cool Blu-Ray laser pointers [wickedlasers.com] for cheap!
  • After Sony said so many times that they will not cut the cost of the PS3 anytime soon, it would be a bad move for them to do it now... Instead they would be better off using the cheaper blue laser diodes for new, cheaper Blu-Ray players. That way, they will still gain market share overall without breaking their word of not dropping the cost much.

    Peter.
  • If Sony has managed to lower the cost of production all it means is that they're making less of a loss per console. If they really were making $300 loss per console as has been reported I'm sure they're more interested in cutting that loss than giving consumers a price cut.

    I doubt very much that if they drop their loss per console to $150 that they'll consider dropping the price by even $50 back to a $200 loss.

    The only reason I think they'll be able to justify a price cut is if they start racking it in via
    • That's a catch-22 that they have to recognize. The "loss" of $300 per console includeds the amortized cost of development and research over the predicted number of sales. Selling fewer consoles drives the per console loss up, while selling more drives the per console loss down. Also they can't make back much money in game sales if they don't sell enough consoles to support those sales. A price cut before the release of some spectacular games is pretty much required from Sony now if they want to stay com

    • Re:Not convinced this means a price cut (Score:4, Insightful)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @09:52AM (#19036871)

      The only reason I think they'll be able to justify a price cut is if they start racking it in via game sales

      It might help if they HAD some games.

  • Think like a business... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Stupidfat ( 1009173 ) on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @09:09AM (#19036117)
    People need to think like a business to understand Sony's pricing. Sony built a machine that is a game console, a Blu-ray player, DVD player, computer (with a far more powerful processor than most people's home computers), music player, communications/chat server, web browser and much more. It does all this but is nearly silent. It does a lot for the price and it has plenty of room to be extended in the future. People complain about the fact that there are no games because developers haven't figured out the best way to code for the cell processor--shouldn't that be a good sign that the console has a future and won't become obsolete by year end?

    Sony also backs the player as a quality company--the chances of a system failure are low because Sony makes quality equipment. They are selling a brand, not just a device. That is worth a certain amount of money.

    Price is not everything, believe it or not, when you are selling something. People pay for brand, quality, and the knowledge that if they buy from you they are getting a valuable product. I might save a couple of hundred bucks on a different console, but does that console match the specs I desire and does the brand support the product?

    Sony is selling below production costs--what more could people want? If I sold my products under what I paid for them my company would fold within a few months. Sony is counting on long-term profit from game licensing, peripherals, and Playstation Store purchases, all of which are the consumers choice to buy or not to buy.

    Quit complaining about price--the reason you complain is that you want one badly but don't have the cash to pony up and buy the device. The price is what the price is. Either you buy it or you don't. Do what I did--accept that you want the device, check your budget, save up (it took me eight months of small odd job income), buy it and enjoy the device. I've found that straight out of the box and with an internet connection the thing is a blast for my wife and I and my two children (3 and 5 years old). I also bought Oblivion and am totally sucked in. I'm looking forward to the games and functionality to come.
    • Sony also backs the player as a quality company--the chances of a system failure are low because Sony makes quality equipment.

      ** Cough ** Overheating ** Cough **

      Quit complaining about price.

      Not complaining. Not buying one either until the price comes down.
    • "Sony is selling below production costs--what more could people want? "

      Sony's cost of production is not at all relevant to it's value to consumers.

      If you found out that the PS3 actually cost $2000 to make, would it make it more useful and/or desirable to consumers?

      By the same token, if you found out the PS3 actually cost $10 to make, would it be less useful and/of desirable?

      The selling price is not related to the cost of production in the market place.

    • Re:Think like a business... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MBGMorden ( 803437 ) on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @09:27AM (#19036435)
      If that's how a business is thinking they risk not being a business for much longer.

      Instead, the business has to think like a consumer.

      Yeah, Sony built a machine that is a game console, Blu-ray player, DVD player, computer, music player, etc, etc.

      You know what? Nobody really cares about anything but the game console part, and MAYBE the Blu-ray player. Even the Blu-ray part will only be college kids and real savers who want the latest greatest movie format but don't have the cash or desire for a "proper" player (take note for example: aside from the group I just mentioned, almost ANYONE who has a PS2, also has a standalone DVD player in the same cabinet).

      As such, we're not gonna bow down and thank generous Sony for their wonderful gizmo which costs a fortune. Instead, we simply don't buy it. Sony getting stuck with all these things isn't good for that business, and they certainly better have a better plan than whining "but it washes dishes too!" to try and entice people to buy it.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by tkrotchko ( 124118 ) *
        "Even the Blu-ray part will only be college kids and real savers who want the latest greatest movie format but don't have the cash or desire for a "proper" player"

        I don't agree entirely.

        The cheapest Blu-Ray player at this point is somewhere well north of $600, and so the PS3 right now is basically a game machine, Blu-Ray player, and it has an HDMI output. Right now, you may not want to commit $700 to a player for a format that isn't well established, but the PS3 at a minimum will play PS1/PS2/PS3 and oh-by

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Xtravar ( 725372 )
          I thought the PS3 doesn't play PS1 games?

          Regardless, I have 2 shoebox sized slim PS2s because one is broke and I have a 32" CRT TV. So basically the only reason for me to get a PS3 is because I hate money and want to play a couple games that aren't out yet... since I've already seen Sony's quality craftsmanship, why wouldn't I play those games on a 360?
          • I haven't tried - all my PS1 games got stolen in college. But, you can download PS1 games and play them, at least.

    • Re:Think like a business... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Churla ( 936633 ) on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @09:27AM (#19036451)
      The crux of your argument seems to be that the value of the console isn't realized because developers have not "figured out how" to get the maximum our of the cell architecture. There's a problem with this.

      The continued popularity of the 360, coupled with the surprise success of the Wii has made many game designers rethink what console they're developing for. Look at the sudden increase in Wii titles in the pipe.

      Also, by the time they "figure it out" there will be newer products out. Do you think there won't be an upgrade to the 360? Do you think Nintendo plans on never making another console upgrade?

      Sony put all their eggs in the "look at this fantastic new technology and pay for it now on the promise that uses will be made for it later" basket. They should have taken a few eggs into the "have some killer apps ready for it on release day". And this doesn't start to address the fact that whereas you're a hardcore who will pay for the console if it can't find a mass market it won't have legs in the long run.

      If the most innovative technology with the best capacity won the fight we'd all be using RISC driven Mac's right now.
    • Sony built a machine that is a game console, a Blu-ray player, DVD player, computer (with a far more powerful processor than most people's home computers), music player, communications/chat server, web browser and much more. It does all this but is nearly silent. It does a lot for the price and it has plenty of room to be extended in the future.

      IMHO, this is the reason the PS3 is doing so bad compared to the other two contenders - instead of desiging a gaming console, Sony decided to build the ultimate medi

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by penp ( 1072374 )

      Sony also backs the player as a quality company--the chances of a system failure are low because Sony makes quality equipment. They are selling a brand, not just a device. That is worth a certain amount of money.

      Anyone who has owned a PS1 or a PS2 knows that Sony doesn't always know what they're doing when they release consoles. They've always had a problem in the past with some part of the laser breaking down after a short period of time. My PSOne, which was released right at the end of the PS1's lifetime, still works perfectly - but I must have gone through at least two other PS1s. As for my PS2(s).. let's just say I've had my share of the horrible Disk Read Error.

      Quit complaining about price--the reason you complain is that you want one badly but don't have the cash to pony up and buy the device. The price is what the price is. Either you buy it or you don't. Do what I did--accept that you want the device, check your budget, save up (it took me eight months of small odd job income), buy it and enjoy the device. I've found that straight out of the box and with an internet connection the thing is a blast for my wife and I and my two children (3 and 5 years old). I also bought Oblivion and am totally sucked in. I'm looking forward to the games and functionality to come.

      People will quit complaining when the price is

    • You like Sony. You like the PS3. Good for you.

      Some of us don't think the Sony name is worth paying a premium for. Either because of the bullshit coming out of their music and movie divisions (DRM, root kits, etc), or because (my reason) the Sony "quality" has dropped off considerably in the last few years. My old Sony Trinitron monitors were, and still are, great -- even going on 8 years. I've had a PS and a PS2 quit working after a couple years. I've had a Sony HDTV that had its IR reciever quit work
    • Your argument might make sense if all you want is a bunch of specs, as opposed to caring about the actual utility of the product. The PS2's specs were pathetic, but the games sold the console. At the current price, without an advantage in software, the PS3 is just selling promises and Blu-Ray discs. And, even with an HDTV, most people will still spend $16 on a new DVD than $25-$35 on the HD version, which in most cases will not play in their laptops and other portable players.

      The fact is, at the current pri

      • And, even with an HDTV, most people will still spend $16 on a new DVD than $25-$35 on the HD version,

        Which is about right. Amazon has the best prices on New HD DVD's and they are $20 each instead of $25. The combo disks are $28 instead of $40. They are IMHO doing what needs to be done to promote adoption. I've also had some luck with Gamestop for the used section. I just got a few combo disks for $18 each, buy 2 get 1 free.

        Personally I look for these types of deals because I am an HD enthusiast. Most

    • How about you think like a consumer for a moment ...

      You want to buy a gaming machine to put under your TV and (shockingly) play videogames on; you don't care about multimedia functionality, or about "Linux". You can buy a $600 PS3, a $400 XBox 360 or a $250 Wii ... The only games the PS3 has are (mostly) 1 year old ports of XBox 360 games, the graphics don't look any better than the XBox 360 games, and the games don't play any differently. At the same time the Wii may not be able to produce the graphics of

    • Sony also backs the player as a quality company--the chances of a system failure are low because Sony makes quality equipment.

      When I read this, I laughed. Maybe in the 80s and early 90s Sony made quality equipment. My cousin gave up after his 3rd PS/2 died and bought an xbox. A coworker bought a Sony TV that shakes the floor when you turn it on (not to mention being really LOUD... and Sony says this is normal! The degauss is not supposed to be that loud!) My Sony Projection TV kicks my UPS for my compute

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by trdrstv ( 986999 )

      Sony built a machine that is a ... computer (with a far more powerful processor than most people's home computers),

      Yeah, but they only gave it 256 megs of addressable RAM. It's like buying a car with a V12 engine and Bicycle tires.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by HAKdragon ( 193605 )
        That's 256MB of system RAM and 256MB of video RAM. I've been hearing that you can actually use video RAM for system usage and vice versa to make it more like the XBox 360's unified memory architecture, but I have no proof of that.
    • Quit complaining about price--the reason you complain is that you want one badly but don't have the cash to pony up and buy the device.

      Hardly. I can easily afford one, but that doesn't mean I check my brain at the door. It's still too much for a game console.

      I'd guess that the average income on slashdot is high enough that a PS3 is well within the means of most of us. I impulse-bought a set of software tools last week that came to more than that.

      I was considering waiting for the PS3 but the price

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by amuro98 ( 461673 )
      Um, this isn't a sports car or a general computer. It's an appliance, like your toaster.

      You buy a toaster based on how well it makes toast (or other toast-like pastry products)

      Likewise, you buy a game console....based on the GAMES it plays.

      Yes, I know that Sony said they could sell 5 million PS3s with no games, but I think as history has shown them, that isn't remotely the truth. No games, no sale.

      Sony lost sight of this (or intentionally ignored it) and now are dealing with the consequences.

      BTW, if Obliv
    • You could say the price is the price but Sony doesn't cut prices out of the kindness of their own heart. They do it becuase they have to. By complaining consumers let Sony know that there are potential customers who they are missing out on because of the price. The media has pretty much supported the consumer on this one. Complaining about this is probably a good thing for the consumer. At the very least it sends a strong message that there is a limit to what the masses will pay for. There is no need for c
    • Sony is selling below production costs--what more could people want?

      A product that was speced more appropriately for the target market, and thus more reasonably priced, maybe even without Sony having to price below cost.

      It's not that the PS3 is a rip-off. Certainly you get enough for your money. But so what? It's still too much money. A yacht sold below cost is a great deal. Guess what? I'm not buying a yacht either.

      Quit complaining about price--the reason you complain is that you want one badly but d

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by seebs ( 15766 )
      Nice attempt at mindreading, but failed.

      I have a PS3. I wouldn't call it "silent"; that fan's pretty noticeable. (Same volume as my docked laptop, my Wii, or one of my desktops.)

      Yes, it's all these things. However, it's competing with game consoles, so all those other things are irrelevant.

      Not every combination of features is worth extra money. Sometimes, "convergent" devices just fail miserably, because no one wants the convergence enough to pay a huge premium over what they'd get otherwise. I got a W

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cgenman ( 325138 )
      Sony also backs the player as a quality company--the chances of a system failure are low because Sony makes quality equipment. They are selling a brand, not just a device. That is worth a certain amount of money

      Have you owned a piece of sony electronics in the past few years? Their laptop division pumps out the most failure-prone junk, their media division tried that whole rootkit thing, the consumer electronics division went way downhill from those bullet-proof yellow walkmen, etc, etc. I've personally o

  • Meh (Score:4, Insightful)

    by teflaime ( 738532 ) on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @09:13AM (#19036187)
    Sony still hasn't demonstrated a good reason for me to buy a PS3 when the only console games I want to play are Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2, both of which I can play on a significantly cheaper PS2.

    • Sony still hasn't demonstrated a good reason for me to buy a PS3 when the only console games I want to play are Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2, both of which I can play on a significantly cheaper PS2.


      I suspect that "people who only want to play Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2" aren't really the center of the target market for the PS3.

      • I suspect you are correct. However, they don't have any decent games out for the hardcore console game, as far as I can ascertain either. At this moment, the hardcore console crowd seems either to be sticking with a PS2 or to have moved on to the X-Box 360. And the guys that buys a console who his kids will quit nagging him for a video game system seems to be buying a Wii. I really think that the PS3 is going to have to be sub $400 before it starts picking up momentum. And Sony doesn't want that to happen.
    • Not to mention that last I checked the Guitar Hero games were incompatible with the PS3 as it has no slots to plug in PS2 controllers.
  • I'm sick and tired of hearing this story repeat itself over and over. It goes something like this:

    I can't afford a PS3, therefore nobody can afford the PS3 and since I see them on the shelves, nobody must be buying them.

    I really don't care how well the Wii is selling, that has no bearing whatsoever on the sales numbers for the PS3 itself. The PS3 has sold well, not astoundingly, but well enough to have a large installed base. Also, where's this $100 coming from they could save with blu-ray laser componen

    • Re:This is just stupid (Score:5, Insightful)

      by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Tuesday May 08, 2007 @10:19AM (#19037305) Homepage Journal

      I'm sick and tired of hearing this story repeat itself over and over. It goes something like this:

      I can't afford a PS3, therefore nobody can afford the PS3 and since I see them on the shelves, nobody must be buying them.

      I don't think it's so much "can't afford" as "don't value the PS3 at the current price." I can afford a PS3 (well, could have afforded a PS3 until I had to spend $1000 to repair my car, but you get the point), I'm just not willing to spend $600 on one. It's not worth $600 to me, and I get the impression that it's not worth $600 to a lot of other people.

      What I can afford and what I'm willing to spend are two completely different things. If I were willing to set aside the money, I could already have bought a PS3. Instead I spent the money on other things that I find more worthwhile (such as car repairs, but also a new digital camera and a Wii).

      Now I'm not saying that I'll never buy a PS3 - I expect I will, eventually. I just don't plan on spending $600 for it. If it comes down in price to $300 I'd be much more willing to try and buy one.

      Really, though, it all comes down to games. The Wii is backwards compatible with the Gamecube, and since I skipped the Gamecube, I'm planning on using the Wii to play some of the Gamecube games I missed. Since I already own a PS2, the PS3's backwards compatibility isn't much of a draw for me. All this adds up to different personal valuations for the consoles. The Wii is more valuable to me than the PS3 is. Therefore, the $300 I spent on the Wii (plus game) is a better value, to me, than $600 for a PS3.

      It's not that people can't afford the PS3, it's that people simply don't think it's worth $600.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shplorb ( 24647 )
      I think that Sony are either breaking even or losing say $50 per unit. (Can't be losing too much if they're expecting it to make it back on game sales when you consider how many games the average owner would buy and the license fees on those).

      Probably breaking even now that they've dropped the PS2 hardware from the latest revision. Have a look at the gizzards of a PS3 and there isn't really that much to look at - it appears to be an elegantly designed system.

      I think these "analysts" that try to estimate the

    • I really don't care how well the Wii is selling, that has no bearing whatsoever on the sales numbers for the PS3 itself.

      True. For instance, PSP, while not reaching DS levels, is still ahead of the combined sales of Wii, PS3, and 360 right now.

      The PS3 has sold well, not astoundingly, but well enough to have a large installed base.

      False. During the holliday season it was hampered by supply; it didn't look that bad when compared to its competitiors because everyone had major supply issues at launch this

  • With few exceptions, and leaving aside a handful of loyal fanboys, the PS3's biggest problem is its price. We look for a Sony price cut later this year if sales stay ho-hum."
    Maybe I'm one of the few exceptions, but the price hasn't deterred me from the PS3 - the lack of games I want to play has. Actually it's kept me from buying any of the current consoles.

    Make better games and I'll buy your console.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Frostclaw ( 1006995 )
      I'm in the same boat -- especially right now. The local EB Games has a nice deal on -- trade in 10 games and you can get a PS3 for $399 Canadian. It's not a bad deal. In fact, it's similar to the deal they had for the XBox 360 before release.

      The big problem is that while it's tempting to pick up the system at that price, as you said there are few games that I really want to play that won't available on another system. Even in the fall when new games start flooding in, there are too many good games on th
  • Today I was in my PC shop where I saw a PS3 with a racing game. I went up to it and studied the graphics from 8'' distance. Nice but not overwhelming graphics. The race cars didn't look very realistic and the racing was as unreal as in every game I played before (mainly GP3 and GP4 on a decent PC.) Hardware may be bleading edge, the game wasn't.

    Just my $0.10
  • More likely they'll see it as a god sent way to finally almost break even on the cost of the box.

    "Sir we're almost not hemorrhaging money thanks to that blueray deal!"
    "Excellent James, quick drop the price again!"
  • If this [thinkgeek.com] is any indication of what sort of premium the blue laser diode is worth, it's a shock to me that we can get a blu-ray capable anything for under $1000, nevermind ~ $600.
  • Since the factories making the Blu-Ray disk now have spare capacity, maybe they could build a few Wii's. :-)
  • The PS3 is actually a really, really nice console. Internet capability, free online multiplayer, Linux compatibility, keyboard/mouse support, upgradable HDD (get any SATA drive!), USB mass storage support, tilt controllers, good graphics, HDMI, Blu-Ray, and Folding@Home. It's tough not to love this little box - it's more open than the 360 (particularly since you can run Linux) too.

    But, at the end of the day, it comes down to two factors for most people - games and price. The PS3 doesn't have a big enough li
  • Any non-fanboys sick of reading the same tired comments over and over again? This is the problem with Slashdot, it fosters group-think. All you need is a group of fanatics with a common agenda and the system is destroyed.

    If Slashdot was around in Nazi Germany, all anti-Jewish comments would be +5 Insightful, while any dissenters would be modded down as trolls.
  • The story is most likely an anti-Sony piece to lower sales for the PS3. Sony has repeatedly denied a price cut, as recently as last month, but these stories keep popping back up speculating a price-cut. It's reasonable to believe that Microsoft is planting these stories to influence potential PS3 buyers to wait...and wait. After all, Microsoft's XBox 360 hasn't enjoyed a price cut even after over a year, despite it's hardware problems and a new model.

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