PS3 is 'too cheap', says Ken News
PlayStation 3 News by Ellie Gibson
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," Kutaragi continued, "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."
Kutaragi reiterated comments he made earlier regarding the original PlayStation, which he says was also considered too expensive at launch.
"Same for the PlayStation 2," Kutaragi said.
"However, when released, both had sales that were unthinkable for previous game machines. This is because both offered experiences that could not be had on previous machines."
Like its predecessors, PS3 will also offer brand new experiences, he continued: "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."
The PS3 is set for a global launch this November, priced at USD 499 / EURO 499 for the 20GB version and USD 599 / EURO 599 for the 60GB model. Kutaragi dismissed suggestions from the likes of Microsoft's Peter Moore that Sony will be unable to meet its shipment targets in time - the company has said that it plans to deliver 2 million PS3 units by the end of the year, with a further 2 million arriving by April.
"Of course, this is a number that we announced having made sure we can definitely prepare it," Kutaragi said.
"There is the possibility of unexpected problems like earthquake or theft, so I won't say it's absolute. But if this type of trouble does not occur, there's no problem with this number."
Rumours that the PlayStation 4 will be made of pure light, feature a unique "time machine" function and cost eight hundred million pounds are completely made up.
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The12thMonkey
12/05/06 @ 10:22
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I lol
And as for time travel, even if the PS4 could manage it, I expect the time travel experience on the other consoles to offer more value for money.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 12/05/06 @ 11:23
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Eighthours
12/05/06 @ 10:29
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Like its predecessors, PS3 will also offer brand new experiences, he continued: "Things like next-generation graphics and various services via the network.
I can't believe nobody's let Ken out of his mental home long enough to tell him about the Xbox 360 yet! |
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tonynibbles
12/05/06 @ 10:30
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Well, it is alot for a games console.
But then, for the power you get and the hardware - this is gonna piss on my £900 PC I custom built fairly recently. |
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Kazzahdrane
12/05/06 @ 10:34
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"And, as with the PS and PS2, we believe people who like games will, without question, purchase it."
I like games. Hell, I love them. But I don't have that sort of money kicking around to buy a games console with a fancy new built-in Blu-Ray player that I don't even want. |
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BillGaitas
12/05/06 @ 10:35
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I allways liked the idea of playing MGS in a ps3, but when Ken talks about 4D and time travel and a lot of things i dont want to justify the price it really annoys me.
Just admit it, sony is just playing the same game the last year 360 Ebay sellers were playing, wich seems fair enough but please just stop the BS |
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SlackMaster
12/05/06 @ 10:40
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So what else other than a games console is the core console? It's certainly not a media centre no HDMI or flash card slots are available on it. :s
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I_Have_The_Power
12/05/06 @ 10:41
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"Yes it's far too cheap, just like the petrol is far too cheap to put in my bentley.
Excuse me while I use another £50 note to light my cuban cigar, the last £50 went out.. " That reminds me - i need to restock the rolls of £50 notes i keep in the bathroom.... |
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crisotunity
12/05/06 @ 10:42
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Thank the Lord for King Ken - the whole gaming business is full of marketing buzz-words and boring, boring, boring corporate drones who wouldn't dare visit the toilet unless it was "ok" with their focus groups.
Ken says it like he dreams it, baby! |
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"Is it not nonsense to compare the charge for dinner at the company cafeteria with dinner at a fine restaurant?"
someone call the analogy police! Is it not nonsense to compare the charge for a night with a high class prostiture with having a wnak to the ten minute free view?" YES one is more than the other but the end result is STILL THE SAME! you pop your cookiees. |
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@disc:
kids don't exclusively play games anymore. In fact, the average age of gamers is mid-twenties these days, and they (we) are the ones with the largest disposable incomes. Whats silly is the most devoted fans of Sony are your average Jo's who don't use Internet forums and haven't even considered the alternative. This price and controller design (while will be great for gamers I'm sure, it will be tough for the mainstream to get on with) could well make them think again. |
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If Sony believe there is a market for a high end of the price scale luxury console fair enough.
But... this time unlike the PS2 which was also pretty expensive make damn sure components reflect that price bracket, instead of the cheap junk thrown into most PS2 revisions which rather unsurprisingly lead to a lot of units with severely curtailed life spans. For a £400 console I expect, not one year, not two years, but an entire generation free of disk read errors and other such irritations. |
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deepmenace
12/05/06 @ 11:06
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you've gotta know more about a product before discerning if its worth the dough or not surely?
if its a media hub then i can stream movies from my pc yes? can i go on the "real" internet? how quick is boot? am i gonna have to wait 30 seconds before i play an audio cd? can i stream internet radio? if it can better my current athlon 1800 sitting behind my tv and play games then count me in at 599. |
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alimokrane
12/05/06 @ 11:09
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Another episode of lies. Those guys at sony are unbelievable. In the conference they said they will ship 7 million by April and now he says 2 milliion by end of year and then another 2 million by april making it 4 only and not 7 ... just unbelievable!
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asphaltcowboy
12/05/06 @ 11:14
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/takes PS3 out for dinner
...oh wait, that's not what he meant... is it? "we believe people who like games will, without question, purchase it." LMAO! 'without question'?! "Hmm, is the PS3 any good?" "Dunno, but I must purchase one without any knowledge of if it's worth the hefty price tag. Ken said so." |
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Triggerhappytel
12/05/06 @ 11:23
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I don't like the price as much as the next person. Whatever the price will be in sterling, I don't have £400 - £500 spare cash floating around to spend on a games console (at least, not without my girlfriend lynching me).
Blu-Ray may prove a good decision, and it may not. Time will tell. In this respect, I guess we'll see if the console justifies the price only towards the end of it's lifecycle. But to those who want the console but don't want to pay through the teeth for it - don't buy one - not initially, at least. If enough people *don't* buy one, and sales are down (in particular, if they are lower than the 360's launch) Sony will have no choice but to drop the price. The consumer controls the market, not the retailer. Spread the word. If you're not happy about the price, don't buy a PS3. |
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This will go one of two ways: 1) everyone will wake up, smell the coffee, and realise that they can (probably) buy a 360 and a Wii and perhaps some other stuff for the same price as a PS3, or; 2) the PS3 will sell bucketloads on the basis of perceived value. In other words, because it's so expensive, people will think they're getting great value, and even post-purchase, they'll convince themselves that the console is the Best Thing Ever, because they've spent so much on it. Conversely, Nintendo may end up not doing so well with the Wii, because people will think it's so cheap that it must have something wrong with it.
I hope the first of those is the more likely thing to happen, but we've already seen something close to the second with the PSP/NDS. (I'm not talking generally here, but when PSP "giga packs" for nearly £300 were all that was available, yet they were still selling as strongly as Nintendo's £100 console.) |
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The most annoying thing about the PS3 price is that MS don't have to drop the price of the 360 anytime soon because their main competitor has chosen to not even to attempt to compete on price. I was hoping the 360 would get a nice price drop come the PS3 release and there is not much chance of that now.
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PearOfAnguish
12/05/06 @ 13:11
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But then, for the power you get and the hardware - this is gonna piss on my £900 PC I custom built fairly recently.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31631 |
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