Does anyone else think Sony bluffed on price?

scottman

scottman

CAGiversary!
Although I think the price is reasonable, if not cheap, for the technology you get, I can't help but think that Sony released prices about $100 higher than they will launch at just to prime everybody. In the meantime, MS and Nintendo think that they have a price advantage and get too comfortable. Then when Sony drops the price to $400/$500 a few weeks before launch, everybody will think "hey, what a great deal."

Am I just being too suspicious of Sony, or does anyone else think this might happen? That tilt-sensitive controller fiasco has got me questioning everything they do now. :)
 
All that would do at this point is signal that Sony thinks that the public won't pay $500/$600 for it. It would be a huge PR mistake.

By already announcing those prices they've effectively made a lot of people just ignore the PS3 announcements right now because they know they either can't afford it or don't want to pay that much.
 
I don't think they did it on purpose, but they might lower the price because so many people are raising a stink about it. I think the high price came about because of all those stories about launch consoles selling with insane markups on eBay... but that's probably a tiny percentage of the total consoles sold. Sony needs to suck it up and lower the price.

Oh, and a lot of people seem to like the motion sensitive controller after trying it. Warhawk was pretty much the only game that supported it, and it was very rushed. I think once developers start to really implement it, it'll be useful. At the very least, you can use it like a third analog stick.
 
It makes zero sense for them to lower the price during launch. It'll sell out at the current prices anyways. I hope they do lower the prices though. Maybe that'll force MS to drop the price on 360's. :D
 
I wouldn't doubt it, but I think they would have just held off on a price if such was the case and leave the "it'll be a lot" statement stand til August.
 
Aslo, I believe on ign (I can't seem to find the link at the moment) that there was an interview where good ol' Ken thought the price might be a little low. Sheesh.
 
Sony definitely didn't bluff; the announced prices are what they will be at launch. However, I think it's safe to assume that we will see a price drop shortly after launch. Let's face it: with the rapid rate of technological advancements, the high-priced Cell and Blu-Ray technologies won't be high-priced for long. As they become more affordable and more cheaply manufactured, the PS3 will drop accordingly. Plus, after the inital launch where rich Sony fanboys sop up every available system, the PS3 is going to see slower sales at that price.

Just sit tight, buy a Wii to hold you over, and wait for the price to drop. It'll go down quicker than Paris Hilton in the back of Limp Bizkit's tour bus. ;)
 
That would be one of the most stupid strategies ever. It was okay back when it was speculation by analysts and gaming mags and might even have the effect the OP was talking about (release it cheaper, "Wow it's such a good deal!", ect.), but Sony can't pull something like that. First of all, it would be hell for retailers that take preorderes because they'd have to give back money to people that paid in full in advance. Second, it would piss more people off than anything I think.

As I see it, by including a Blu-Ray drive that makes the system so freaking expensive, I think Sony may have just killed the golden goose. By the time the PS2 was out DVD was THE format for movies and there was no chance it was going to just fade away. This time though the format war is anything but decided and despite that movies in HD do look incredible, your average person generally doesn't seem that interested in HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, scattered early adopters aside. Add to that that the PS3 is launching at double the price of the PS2, and I see a lot of people that have a PS2 just for Madden and GTA going to the (It's still funny to say this) the relatively cheap 360. Japan obviously is a different story, although I think even the Japanese are going to be miffed about a $600 price tag.
 
:rofl:

Aww, how cute. A Sony fan is going through the denial stage. Which one's up next? Guilt? Yes, it is your fault the PS3 is so expensive.
 
[quote name='rywateska']Bad press for 6+ months for good press for one month prior to release? Not worth it.[/QUOTE]
Not related to the topic, but great sig :applause:

Related to topic: I doubt it, but it would be nice if it happened.
 
[quote name='Richlough']I wonder if the blu-ray player is as crappy as the PS2 dvd player ?[/QUOTE]
Whats wrong with the PS2 DVD player? You put a DVD in and it plays, what else is it supposed to do?
 
[quote name='RedvsBlue']:rofl:

Aww, how cute. A Sony fan is going through the denial stage. Which one's up next? Guilt? Yes, it is your fault the PS3 is so expensive.[/QUOTE]

:lol:

I'm in stage 3- anger. fucking sony.
 
I'd expect the price to drop in the first half of next year. Once they meet the initial demand (the people who will pay $1000 on ebay) they should be producing enough blu-ray drives and enough of the processors that the cost/system will drop a good amount to allow for it.

Also since they know they will sell out the first batch anyway, the extra $100/system for some 6 million systems is a ton of money.

Imagine if Microsoft dropped 360 prices now that there are a ton sitting in stores, they would start moving again even if the drop is only $50. Microsoft can really use it too with no system selling games for another year (halo?)
 
[quote name='whoknows']Whats wrong with the PS2 DVD player? You put a DVD in and it plays, what else is it supposed to do?[/QUOTE]

Work properly and not crap out on you every year. :D
 
[quote name='Fire']Work properly and not crap out on you every year. :D[/QUOTE]
Yeah...I've had mine for 4 years and nothing has ever happened. Take better care of your stuff :p
 
[quote name='salmonaxxx']Oh, and a lot of people seem to like the motion sensitive controller after trying it. Warhawk was pretty much the only game that supported it, and it was very rushed. I think once developers start to really implement it, it'll be useful. At the very least, you can use it like a third analog stick.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure I followed this: if Warhawk was rushed and the only game supporting the tilt function, what were the people playing that they liked?
 
[quote name='trq']I'm not sure I followed this: if Warhawk was rushed and the only game supporting the tilt function, what were the people playing that they liked?[/QUOTE]
They liked a rushed game, so I guess its good. If game developers use it well, then it could turn out pretty cool...I think so anyways.
 
[quote name='whoknows']Yeah...I've had mine for 4 years and nothing has ever happened. Take better care of your stuff :p[/QUOTE]

Right. Sure. All I do is dust it off and leave it on the shelf of my entertainment center. I don't carry it anywhere and I have had it crap out on me after 2 years of use with not reading blue bottom discs, then all games and dvds, and then just certain dvds for some reason. At this point I a pro at disassembling it and repairing it. But it should have to do that in the first place.
 
[quote name='Fire']Right. Sure. All I do is dust it off and leave it on the shelf of my entertainment center. I don't carry it anywhere and I have had it crap out on me after 2 years of use with not reading blue bottom discs, then all games and dvds, and then just certain dvds for some reason. At this point I a pro at disassembling it and repairing it. But it should have to do that in the first place.[/QUOTE]

Yes, every man made machine should work right 100% of the time for all eternity!
 
[quote name='whoknows']Whats wrong with the PS2 DVD player? You put a DVD in and it plays, what else is it supposed to do?[/quote]
By that logic, any car is great to drive because you can get in it and it moves. It works, but it's not exactly the pinnacle of a/v quality. Believe it or not, there ARE different tiers of optical disc players.
 
OP - you are in denial.

And as to price drops, I don't think Sony will lower the price until a year after launch. They did that to the PSP, different level of technology/prices I know but they can't drop it too soon or they'll get heat from all the people who did buy.

I don't think MS will lower their price this holiday season either; maybe bundle a game. They're losing money on the 360 do you really think they'll drop it and start a price war so soon? MS and especially Sony are in this for the long haul - heck sony probably wouldn't have released the PS3 so soon if it wasn't for MS.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']Yes, every man made machine should work right 100% of the time for all eternity![/QUOTE]

excuse me. When I pay good money for something I like it to work. Did I say it should work forever, no, but just that their disc drives should not crap out on you after 2 years with not super heavy use (what a couple games a week and dvd here and there?)
 
[quote name='Vegan']By that logic, any car is great to drive because you can get in it and it moves. It works, but it's not exactly the pinnacle of a/v quality. Believe it or not, there ARE different tiers of optical disc players.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I dont have a $1000 TV I play on, so I really dont notice a difference in visual quality between my PS2 and my DVD player.
 
[quote name='Apossum']:lol:

I'm in stage 3- anger. fucking sony.[/quote]

:lol: I've moved on to acceptance.

I'm going to be spending $600 and be fucking happy to do it. When I look at my 64 Library and my PS1 library, and then my GC, Xbox and PS2 library, I know it'll be a good investment. Add my GC and Xbox games together and multiply by 3; thats how many PS2 games I have.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']Denial.

The machine is half a grand plus. Have fun working a second job to get one.[/quote]

o_O?

I could buy 5 right now with the money I've set aside in 6 months and thats after building a $2000 PC. Saving money isn't that hard. After rent, student loans and assorted other bills, I still put away a few hundred a month.
 
A few hundred a month for 6 months is $1200. 2 ps3's for 6 months worth of saving is a horrible deal. And that is not including tax, games etc.
 
[quote name='scottman']Although I think the price is reasonable, if not cheap, for the technology you get,[/QUOTE]

I just thought that i'd say (since i forgot to before) that this person should be kicked off of CAG for this aforementioned statement. Then again, it could be as others have pointed out that he is in denial. For the technology and the price tag, I'd rather just go out and spend the money buying some suped up computer. $600+ for a video game console is simply outrageous. Even $500+ is outrageous.
 
[quote name='Kayden']o_O?

I could buy 5 right now with the money I've set aside in 6 months and thats after building a $2000 PC. Saving money isn't that hard. After rent, student loans and assorted other bills, I still put away a few hundred a month.[/QUOTE]

I'm glad that you are in such a fortunate circumstance, but for the rest of America, I doubt that is the case. Gas prices alone are killing me and I must commute 4 times a week some 40+ miles just to school back and forth, sometimes multiple times.
 
theres no way that they bluffed on the price (because i'm sure that some people heard the price and went out and bought a 360 already)

..and anyone thinking $600 for a video game machine is on crack.. i thought the $400 for the 360 was bad..
 
[quote name='Fire']I just thought that i'd say (since i forgot to before) that this person should be kicked off of CAG for this aforementioned statement. Then again, it could be as others have pointed out that he is in denial. For the technology and the price tag, I'd rather just go out and spend the money buying some suped up computer. $600+ for a video game console is simply outrageous. Even $500+ is outrageous.[/QUOTE]


lol
I'm not in denial, nor am I a Sony fanboy. If anything I favor Nintendo, but thought that Sony was trying to bluff the other companies into changing their pricing schemes with their high price.

And do you even know what this technology costs? Try buying a comparable GPU for your computer, not to mention the CPU. You would easily pass $600 just for those parts. I agree that it sounds high for a console, but it's a bargain from a hardware standpoint. But still, I don't think it's worth it over the other systems. They would have to show capabilities leaps and bounds over 360 to make me pay that much. Their marketing people should have realized that.

BTW, does anybody remember how high the PS2 auctions reached at launch? The 360s reached at least $750. Let's start a pool for what ps3s will end up at. :)
 
[quote name='winsorkwong']theres no way that they bluffed on the price (because i'm sure that some people heard the price and went out and bought a 360 already)

..and anyone thinking $600 for a video game machine is on crack.. i thought the $400 for the 360 was bad..[/QUOTE]

You might, but other people were paying far out the ass to get their hands on one on Ebay. $600 would have been a steal for most people trying to get their hands on a Platinum at launch. Instead they got totally reemed, or nothing at all.
 
[quote name='scottman']lol
I'm not in denial, nor am I a Sony fanboy. If anything I favor Nintendo, but thought that Sony was trying to bluff the other companies into changing their pricing schemes with their high price.

And do you even know what this technology costs? Try buying a comparable GPU for your computer, not to mention the CPU. You would easily pass $600 just for those parts. I agree that it sounds high for a console, but it's a bargain from a hardware standpoint. But still, I don't think it's worth it over the other systems. They would have to show capabilities leaps and bounds over 360 to make me pay that much. Their marketing people should have realized that.

BTW, does anybody remember how high the PS2 auctions reached at launch? The 360s reached at least $750. Let's start a pool for what ps3s will end up at. :)[/QUOTE]

yes I understand that the technology would either equal or even blow past the amount of money that Sony is charging someone for just their console, but that is part of my comparison to my preference to spending that type of money on a computer because a computer, especially with the types of specs i was envisioning (something comparable to what the PS3 offers or theresome), would allow me to do much much more with it and have far and above more functionality. A computer with those types of specs would allow me to play just any game currently on the market and then for some years past, as well as allow me to use it for office applications, video editing, internet browsing, etc. etc. etc.. I greatly doubt that for that the money spent on a PS3 will allow me to do that. Also, after reading that mess (i know it was a mess) please pardon it (writing) and me since I'm writing this late at night and I'm tired. i would also like to say that I agree with you to a certain extent taht $600 for the hardware is slightly a bargain, but not one great enough. Eh..forget about it, I'm going to bed.
 
[quote name='Fire']I'm glad that you are in such a fortunate circumstance, but for the rest of America, I doubt that is the case. Gas prices alone are killing me and I must commute 4 times a week some 40+ miles just to school back and forth, sometimes multiple times.[/quote]

I do 30 a day to work and then about 10 to the gym. Then whenever I go to the store et al.

[quote name='bluekeith75']A few hundred a month for 6 months is $1200. 2 ps3's for 6 months worth of saving is a horrible deal. And that is not including tax, games etc.[/quote]

I said a few hundred, not $200. it varies from month to month, but I'd say its probaby 300-500 depending on how many games I buy. I don't have many expenses beyond neccesities. As far as a horribe deal... Its all relative. I can get countless hours of enjoyment from the console and 5-50 hours from each game. A movie can be $20 for just 90 minutes. I think paying $30,000 on a car is a horrible deal, and thats not including gas and repairs- a lot of which can cost more than $600. Hell, my car cost $1000 and its great.

You may not think its worth while, but given my past experiences with Sony, I feel I wont be disapointed.
 
You know what's funny? If you peer into the Nintendo forums this is exactly the same line of thought that came about after the Wii's name was announced. Denial, Anger, Acceptance, it was all there. "IT'S GOTTA BE A PUBLICITY STUNT!!!" "Wait, no, that's the name..."

For you guys getting a PS3, the reality of the $600+ price tag will become accepted. Oh, and please don't even think about getting the $500 system. If you're going to do it, do it right, and don't get a needlessly handicapped machine that you can't make complete again (without some soldering skills).
 
Price is legit and don't expect a price drop for a long time. Because it's more expensive than the 360 don't expect MS to do a price drop on the 360 anytime soon either. If fact the only thing I can see trigger a price drop in the next gen systems is if profits in software sales take a huge nose dive in 2007 because people aren't buying the systems. And when I mean people, I mean the general public, not the hard core gaming community.
 
[quote name='trq']I'm not sure I followed this: if Warhawk was rushed and the only game supporting the tilt function, what were the people playing that they liked?[/QUOTE]

People liked Warhawk. The guy who demonstrated the tilt controller in the Sony conference used insanely spastic movements, like he was having a seizure. But most people who played it have said that only slight tilting is needed. According to the Official Playstation Magazine podcast, the tilt controls in Warhawk were added in under 2 weeks time. Most other developers didn't even know the tilt controls existed.
 
As stated before, doing a last minute turnaround would be a PR disaster.

Sony knows exactly what they're doing here. They've made a huge commitment to using the PS3 as a Trojan horse for Blu-ray as well as holding on to the top spot in console sales. They know exactly what this thing costs and how much pain in the form of loss per unit they can tolerate based on project sales of games and movies.

Do they like the $599 price point for the system? Obviously not, or they would never have created the cut down version for $100 less. Saying the product starts under $500, which by no small coincidence is where HD-DVD decks start, is critical to them.

On the plus side, the PS2 business is still cranking along pretty well. They still have several major titles coming up and the boost from the next price drop to the magical $99. Since the PS3 will be i relatively short supply for a while, there isn't much need to reach any but the affluent or determined consumers. They cannot stop Microsoft and/or Nintendo from stealing some customers in the interim period before the PS3 achieves wide availability at a more reasonable price but that is part of believing in their product. They truly feel they have something people are going to sacrifice a few other luxuries to afford. If they're right, they make billions. If they're wrong, it probably isn't a disaster since the health of the PS2 business gives them the luxury of a prolonged transition. Even if they give up a significant amount of market share in the video game business that can be worthwhile if Blu-ray becomes the standard for retail HDTV content delivery.
 
The general buzz on Warhawk is very positive. You aren't required to use the motion detection mode control scheme. That was added in a very rushed few days and that it plays poorly in that mode isn't surprising. It would be a shame if the effort made to include a last minute feature causes the game to be overlooked.
 
I was hoping that it was just a bluff. It would make sense. People now see the $600/$500 price. Some are still getting it, others think it is too much. But they all see that the system costs $600. If they lower it to $500/$400 at TGS or something, they will still be $100 more than the 360, but people will look at it as more of a bargain. I think this is just wishful thinking though.
 
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