PS3 price fixation "short-term thinking"

By Tom Bramwell Published 8 July, 2009

Tretton: Sony is "on the right path".

Jack Tretton has said that PlayStation 3 is "on the right path for the long term" and questioned the widespread obsession with console pricing.

"People are having short-term thinking - the platform is not even three years old. It was USD 599; it's now USD 399," the Sony America boss told Fast Company.

"The focus on pricing is something we appreciate, but you have to have the conviction and the confidence that you are on the right path for the long term and ultimately you'll get all the consumers you want.

"You won't get them all day one, but we're looking to get them over a 10-year period. It's going to take different things to get different consumers."

Tretton's overall message was that Sony won't be rushed into anything because the rules are different for a 10-year life cycle. For example, he said that traditional cost/benefit calculations went out of the window for certain games because their job was to promote certain aspects of the console's personality.

"We want the platform to be successful, we want to be profitable. But it is getting harder to measure that," he said. "And when you get down to a game like The Last Guardian, you can't just look at the number of units it sold versus it's development cost; it's what did you do to drive our message of diversity."

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (74) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • CYBER-WOO #1 3 years ago

    COCK!

  • Shrui #2 3 years ago

    Oh shut up and just drop the price. Your reasoning would look ok if it weren't for devs threatening to pull support (and its not amazing support atm). Keep with that attitude and you'll be lucky to last 5!

  • peteb #3 3 years ago

    I love Sony's "fingers-in-ears lalalala we're not listening" annoucements!

  • Frumper #4 3 years ago

    Wow, that's a some conviction he has there! I don't know how much of a loss they make on each console but if just they knocked £50 off the RRP and bundled in a game I'm sure their sales would consistenltly increase.

    It seems they want a massive user base nearer the end of the console lifecycle, when devs/consumsers will be looking at the next gen.

  • booner #5 3 years ago

    I for one will buy one UPON A PRICE DROP.

    For now I will stick with my 360 and PC

  • PiranhaUK #6 3 years ago

    Sheesh.... Relax people!

    If you'ed spent billions of dollars on R&D you'ed be keeping the price high for as long as possible too.

    @ Shrui - Its only Activision thats even mensioned dropping support and thats simply just hot air. And rememeber, this from the publisher thats expecting you to pay over £100 for a plastic DJ turntable!! Value for money anyone?!?!

    People seem to think its their right to have a price cut. They're not cutting the price anytime soon, get used to it!

  • CableNut #7 3 years ago

    Wanted one for a while now, but not buying till console hits the £199 bracket

  • Lynchman #8 3 years ago

    I think the bundling strategy is great value but needs to be marketed better. Killzone 2 and MGS 4 are both great games that most people will buy anyways, but they'd still see no bundle priced at $350 as a better deal - they can't get past the $399 price tag no matter what Sony throw in.

  • bdaggers #9 3 years ago

    "ultimately you'll get all the consumers you want.

    "You won't get them all day one, "

    Oh fuck off Sony. You don`t have an advantage over the competition anymore, I can buy a cheapo Blu Ray in Tesco for £70, so quit moaning and get competetive pricing.

    The consumers have voted with their feet, and in ten years time you will be lucky to retain your current third place in the market.

    This statement continues a long line of bullshit Sony denials about their embarrasing showing in this console cycle, very few people believe this bollocks anymore.

    And don`t even mention how UMD was a stop-gap until full digital distribution - tossers !

  • PiranhaUK #10 3 years ago

    "How dare people with limited money be concered with something getting to a price they can afford."

    Ill assume thats intended to be sarcasm. Im sure Sony have limited money too and they're concerned with getting the PS3 to a price THEY can afford. Should I start writing to Ferrari demanding that they reduce the price of their cars because I want one? Should I be offended when they don't?

    I realise there are alot of people out there with limited funds who are waiting for the price cut but Im getting frustrated reading page after page of comments from people who seem to think Sony are being unreasonable. In this economic climate it would foolish of Sony to sink themselves more into debt because game players demand it!
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/09 @ 08:58

  • AbracadaverAK #11 3 years ago

    +1 for the buying it on price drop. It feels just slightly too expensive right now.

    I think Sony have had their hands tied by the Blu-Ray player slightly with regards to the price, so I can't say I'm suprised it costs as much as it does at the moment.

  • Kratos1986 #12 3 years ago

    For a longer console cycle you don't want to burn out too fast.

    The PS3 has done pretty well considering the only reason statistically the 360 is ahead is its one year launch advantage.

    If the PS3 had been out during the same time as the 360 and maintained sales consistent with what it has now it would be ahead.

    Fact of the matter is I know most children only get what their parents buy them and that pretty much sums up most morons typing here but this has always been Sonys model when it comes to their consoles.

    It started with the Playstation 1 that reached 2.2 million sales in 2 years(compared to the PS3's 20 million in 2 years) and went on to sell 100 million.

    Yeah they will get more consoles sold and more software sold when the price drops but the money they lose from the hardware will negate anything they make from software and increases hardware sales.

    We all know how well the xbox venture worked for Microsoft and theyve been losing money with the 360 since launch. If they didn't have all that money they have from their online ventures and operating system Microsoft would have been bankrupt with the xbox franchise. They probably soon will with their failure to buy Yahoo and their operating systems selling a dozen copies tops.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/09 @ 09:01

  • bdaggers #13 3 years ago

    "If they didn't have all that money they would have been bankrupt."

    roflcopters

  • PiranhaUK #14 3 years ago

    @ Trebell - I think their statement is returning fire at the comments made by Activision recently and analysts that seem to focus on nothing else but the price of the console. It does as you say have the undesired effect of tellng the consumer they shouldnt be concerned with the price but I genuinely don't think his comments were aimed at consumers.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #15 3 years ago

    People seem to think its their right to have a price cut. They're not cutting the price anytime soon, get used to it!

    Bought one already, PiranhaUK?

    Should I start writing to Ferrari demanding that they reduce the price of their cars because I want one?

    That is a straw man. Ferrari are not a company who wants everyone in the market to buy their cars. If you were to write to, say, Ford, and enough people were to do the same in this economic climate, I'd say there's a fair chance the prices of their products would come down. Indeed, you could achieve the same effect by just haggling in a dealership.

  • Doctor_What #16 3 years ago

    Fair enough statements, except for: "we want to be profitable. But it is getting harder to measure that." If that's hard to measure then they really need better accountants!

  • El-Dev #17 3 years ago

    "If that's hard to measure then they really need better accountants!"

    Not really, accountants are in the business of just making numbers up to suit their clients.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #18 3 years ago

    "we want to be profitable. But it is getting harder to measure that"

    For that, read "It is getting harder to present our figures in a way that makes us appear profitable".

  • chubster2010 #19 3 years ago

    When are Microsoft going to start giving away Live membership for free? 'Tossers', 'Cock' etc etc etc.

    ;)

    The PS3 really isn't that expensive for what you get, and there are some great bundles out there (Example - £300 for a 80gb PS3 with InFamous and Killzone 2 is good value for money as far as I'm concerned- [link url=http://www.game.co.uk/PS3/Hardware/HardwareBundle/~r 342457/Sony-PlayStation-3-80GB-Console-with-Infamous-and-Kil lzone-2/).
    ]http://ww w.game.co.uk/PS3/Hardware/Hardw...[/link]

    Hearing people moaning about the price of thing is getting a little bit boring. Sony are a business, selling a product - if you don't like their product, or you don' t like their price - don't buy it...'simples' (as the meerkat would say). .

  • Mortey #20 3 years ago

    I have one and can hoestly say it is not worth £300.

    Let alone first party games being £44 from the high street, thats just rediculous MS don't charge that!

    Sony are just arrogant to the point they can't see their product is failing to sell as well as it could.

  • PiranhaUK #21 3 years ago

    @Mentalist (air) - "Ferrari are not a company who wants everyone in the market to buy their cars."

    Neither right now are Sony. Im sure they will drop the price when they can still maintain a decent profit on each sale and then Im sure they will welcome everyone into the market with open arms.

    The playstation cost $800 to build when it launched and the average cost to the consumer was $450 dollars making Sony a $350 dollar loss. If they had sold 20 million units at launch they would have lost over $70 billion dollars! Im sure they have wanted steady sales until they can reduce they're costs.

  • chubster2010 #22 3 years ago

    @ Mortey
    £44 for a 1st party game? Methinks you need to shop around a bit more...

    Additionally - not long ago I saw HMV trying to sell Sonic the Hedgehog on the PS3 for £50!!! Retailers do take the piss, and if people are willing pay ridiculous prices, and/or are too lazy to find a more reasonably priced shop that's their look-out - not Sony's/MS's/Nintendo's.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/09 @ 09:35

  • PiranhaUK #23 3 years ago

    @ Mortey

    ... And i think your also forgetting that Microsoft tried to charge £55 (RRP) for some titles @ the consoles launch!

  • M_of_the_sys #24 3 years ago

    I think Sony should raise the price and then release a statement saying something along the lines of a 20 year cycle for the pure fact that it'll piss off all the whinging tossers on this site.

  • Xerx3s #25 3 years ago

    "People are having short-term thinking - the platform is not even three years old. It was USD 599; it's now USD 399,"

    Sticking your head in the sand while the competition keeps outselling you is not thinking at all.

  • Freki #26 3 years ago

    Do you think that one day Sony will hire someone that can actually do PR well? Every time one of their execs opens their mouths they seem to cock up.

  • Mortey #27 3 years ago

    I know they are available for cheaper in the interwebs, but not much most of the time!

    Also 55! bloody hell I didn't notice that!

    Still 300 is still too much for it. Although Uncharted easied the pain quite a bit!

  • axman303 #28 3 years ago

    "And when you get down to a game like The Last Guardian, you can't just look at the number of units it sold versus it's development cost; it's what did you do to drive our message of diversity."

    What!? Firstly, why talk down the sales of The Last Guardian when it's not even out yet? What's to say it's not going to be the biggest selling game on the PS3? Secondly, " it's what did you do to drive our message of diversity" - how about "it's what our very best and most artisticly gifted development team is producing to demonstrate what a truly next-gen video game can be"?
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/09 @ 09:43

  • Xerx3s #29 3 years ago

    "People seem to think its their right to have a price cut. They're not cutting the price anytime soon, get used to it! "

    True but sony should get used to the fact that people wont be spending their money on that system any time soon. Goes both ways you see.

  • PiranhaUK #30 3 years ago

    @ Xerx3: "True but sony should get used to the fact that people wont be spending their money on that system any time soon. Goes both ways you see."

    Except for the fact that people ARE spending money on the console and its doing good business. Just because your not buying the console doesnt make it a failed system.

  • Xerx3s #31 3 years ago

    "Except for the fact that people ARE spending money on the console and its doing good business. Just because your not buying the console doesn't make it a failed system."

    I'm not keeping track but every time EG does one of those sales things it always seems to end up last in console sales. At the very least it's a far cry from the position in the last couple of generations. Sony is far from being as popular as they used to be.

  • M_of_the_sys #32 3 years ago

    "True but sony should get used to the fact that I wont be spending money on that system any time soon."

    Fixed

  • GreyBeard #33 3 years ago

    Did anyone actually bother to read the interview at Fast Company fully? Context helps, and Tretton comes across quite well in the piece.

  • schnide #34 3 years ago

    Absolutely piss poor, Sony. How can you say this with a straight face? There are enough bad decisions being made on a constant basis now that all this can't be down to one person, there's something fundementally flawed in Sony's business. Piss poor.

  • mezzomorto #35 3 years ago

    I have an issue with the PS3 current pricing but to be honest it's mainly down to the fact that I'm viewing it as the purchase of a third console (already owning the other two), and therefore as a purely self-indulgent purchase and one for which I can't justify spending a lot of money on. This may be a factor for a lot of people (except the rabid fanboys obviously)

    If I were shopping for my first console, I don't think I'd be that bothered on price at this stage...

  • Arwin #36 3 years ago

    "You won't get them all day one, but we're looking to get them over a 10-year period. It's going to take different things to get different consumers."

    Yes. But a sub $300 price point is going to get a rather large group of different consumers. (Heck, I already have one and I'll buy a second one if it hits that price point.

    While I think it's definitely worth the asking price, it needs to expand the market more significantly. And hey, guess what - you'll probably get more return on investment from your software too.

  • moggsy #37 3 years ago

    "We want the platform to be successful, we want to be profitable. But it is getting harder to measure that,"

    It's getting harder to measure whether the business is profitable? I would have thought that was pretty straightforward accounting.

  • septimus #38 3 years ago

    Shame... it needs to drop a little. Even £50 would be a start.

  • udat #39 3 years ago

    I don't think there's any such thing a straight forward accounting... not in big business at least. If it was straight forward it would be easier for the government to tax you, and accountants wouldn't earn as much money.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #40 3 years ago

    "You won't get them all day one, but we're looking to get them over a 10-year period. It's going to take different things to get different consumers."

    A valid point in theory, but what is it that Tretton imagines is going to make people suddenly buy a PS3 when they haven't before? The longer Sony delay a price cut, the more people buy 360s and Wiis. As that happens, those machines become steadily more attractive to developers. As that happens, the chances of anyone writing a PS3 killer app decreases.

    All the fanboy nerds who'll buy a PS3 for MGS4 or Final Fantasy 73 or whatever have already bought one. GT5 is pretty much the last shot Sony have with regard to a big-name exclusive and again, that's only really targeting fanboys. Even if it gets cheaper, exactly what is it that's going to sell a PS3 to all the people who haven't already got one? Little Big Planet aimed at the more mainstream audience and stiffed. Nintendo have the mums-and-dads market sewn up tighter than a drum, and the middle ground between hardcore and casual have nothing to gain from buying a PS3 over a 360, with the possible exception of free online play (which is of very minor importance to the non-hardcore market). But that's only £3 a month, set against the increased cost of the hardware, so it's pretty hard to see it making the difference.

    They can have all the 10-year-plans they like, but Sony can't afford to slip any further behind, and right now that's exactly what they're doing with every passing day that the PS3 is so much more expensive than the competition.

  • Dan234 #41 3 years ago

    "Tretton's overall message was that Sony won't be rushed into anything because the rules are different for a 10-year life cycle."

    And yet oddly enough also different to that other console with a 10-year life cycle, the PS2.

  • infoxicated #42 3 years ago

    I notice that the unmentioned company in question, Activision, haven't recently ploughed millions or billions into the development of a cutting edge console, then sold it at a dramatic loss during a recession.

    They sure like cashing in on cheap-ass plastic peripherals that they scalp people for, though - how about they cut the cost of their plastic pap to what it's actually made for to make those more palatable to the thrift-conscious consumer?

    No - didn't think so Activision - what was the price for DJ Hero again?

  • oreillymj #43 3 years ago

    For all the blather about the PS3's price being high, from what I've seen the units sold are pretty much matchng 360 based on the number of months both consoles have been on the market.

    Now I don't expect that to continue while the 360 remain £100 lower then PS3, but while that remains the case Sony can keep the price at a level where they're not taking a massive loss on each one sold.

    Any fool can sell goods at a loss.

    MS can afford to buy marketshare by taking a hit on 360 HW as they have a huge OS cashcow which rakes in money and props up a lot of MS's unprofitable businesses.

    BTW - No matter what you think of Sony or the PS3's price, you have to admire them for bankrolling games that may not sell in huge numbers but stand out as something different on their platform amongst all the shooters and driving games.
    It's Shadow of the Colossus, ICO etc which made the PS2 a must have console. Singstar and Buzz were also something risky and new at the time.

  • MeBrains #44 3 years ago

    it'll probably never happen that all these eurogamers wake up to the fact that PS3 is NOT selling badly.

    Yes, it is third.
    Yes, it is not in the same position as last gen.
    But, hell yes, the console IS keeping up with 360 sales, with the latter only having marginally better sales - although it only cost 45% of PS3's price.

    Why oh why would Sony drop the price now? And what is wrong with the exec saying so?

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #45 3 years ago

    "But, hell yes, the console IS keeping up with 360 sales"

    In fact, currently the 360 is outselling the PS3 by considerably more than 2:1 in the UK.

  • El-Dev #46 3 years ago

    There are still 40m users who haven't moved to the this gen of consoles, based on PS2 users only, probably more if you include the amount of people who have bought a Wii and will buy something else after the novelty wears off. This Gen has had a pretty slow uptake it appears as the combined sales of all is just over the 100m mark.

    Of this Gen the Wii will be the only one that gets near the sales mark of the PS2.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/09 @ 12:26

  • Darren #47 3 years ago

    The only console doing extremely well this generation is the Wii... and the DS if you count handhelds too. There isn't much between the Xbox 360 and PS3 in terms of sales if you account for the year head start Microsoft's console had. The PS3 is also over twice the price of the base Xbox 360 so, all-in-all, it really isn't doing that badly despite all the doom and gloom about a certain publisher dropping support for it (yeah, right, I'm sure they'll do that).

    If you look at it objectively, it's actually the Xbox 360 that is underachieving, after all it's very cheap relatively and has tons of great games but it hasn't had the same success as the more expensive and quality games deprived (IMO) Wii. Microsoft must be a bit disappointed really even if they'll never admit it. The failure of the 360 in Japan and lack of popularity in Europe outside of the UK and Japan doesn't help nor did the Xbox 360's reputation for breaking down during its first couple of years on sale.

    The PS and PS2 never really achieved mass sales until they dropped below the "magic" £200 price barrier in this country (UK) so I fully expect the PS3 to follow the same trend once it drops to that price or less. The surprising success of the Wii probably means it'll never achieve the same massive sales figures as its predecessors though. Still Sony must be satisfied with PS3 sales if they're adamant that its fairly priced.

  • Darren #48 3 years ago

    @Rev. Stuart Campbell - "In fact, currently the 360 is outselling the PS3 by considerably more than 2:1 in the UK."

    That's certainly not the case the world over though. The Xbox 360 continues to sell poorly in Japan, despite Microsoft's best efforts to revive the market there, and it isn't that strong in the rest of Europe either.

  • tomkuryakin #49 3 years ago

    I accept that Sony wants to start making a profit on its console sales and that's fair enough, they are in business to make a profit, after all.

    However, I believe there are a significant number of people who would like to buy a PS3 but consider it overpriced, regardless of Sony's profitability problems. I'm one of them and I first started expecting a price cut back in March. I've now waited so long that I'm determined not to crack and give in until Sony cuts the price. Unless Sony announces that the PS3 Slim has even fewer features than the current model...
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/09 @ 12:46

  • Darren #50 3 years ago

    @donnie080208 - I dunno... a timely drop to sub-£200 in time for the release of God of War III for example might stir up interest and the PS3 still has strong games like Uncharted 2, Ratchet & Clank, Gran Turismo 5 and Team ICO's next game to make people *want* a PS3. You won't be able to play any of those games on a Wii or 360.

    You mention exclusives but really the Xbox 360 isn't exactly overloaded with them either. The fact is that multiformat games dominate all three of the current consoles so the choice of which one to buy boils down to which of the few exclusives appeal the most.

  • firefly #51 3 years ago

    +1 to the whole Sony being rubbish at PR thing.
    I'm not bothered about a price drop because I picked up a 60 gig model just before they vanished but it does strike me that whenever a Sony employee opens his mouth it inevitably leads to bad press. A better PR approach would be to have no PR.

  • Shakey_Jake33 #52 3 years ago

    The main problem with Sony's focus on the 'long-term' is that it relies on external factors - it relies on Microsoft dropping the ball at some point, thus allowing Sony to take advantage. This isn't really a good position for Sony to be in, no matter how much they try to spin it.

    That said, Sony's current predicament with the Playstation 3 is proof that you cannot take a company's strength in the marketplace for granted, so it is hardly inconceivable that Microsoft could loose their grip on this 'space' in the marketplace. But the fact that Sony have no other choice but to wait for their competitor to make mistakes (thanks to Kuturagi leaving Sony with a piece of hardware that is a financial liability) surely isn't part of the plan.

  • Matfink #53 3 years ago

    If the PS3 'cycle' lasts 10 years, I'll eat my own frickin leg :p
    And I'm not too partial to auto-cannibalism either.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #54 3 years ago

    "That's certainly not the case the world over though. The Xbox 360 continues to sell poorly in Japan, despite Microsoft's best efforts to revive the market there"

    While sales are still quite poor, actually the 360 is making great progress in Japan - from being outsold more than 10:1 by the PS3 it's now only down about 2:1, and closing the gap all the time. Japan is in any event the smallest of the major markets, and the 360 was starting from almost zero there.

    "and it isn't that strong in the rest of Europe either"

    Got any numbers to back that up? The entire rest of Europe put together barely equals the UK's sales anyway.

  • MeBrains #55 3 years ago

    rev. stuart: as far as these numbers are reliable, it looks like lifetime sales to date of 360 in Europe is about 9.6 million, with PS3 standing on 9.1 million - which is quite good for Sony considering 360's year long head start.

    now... these numbers might not be 100% correct, but I do think they are adequate enough to make that deduction.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/09 @ 14:02

  • laudy #56 3 years ago


    I think we all care about Sony's market position a lot more than they do. Playing the long game certainly seems to have riled a few folks...

    The price of their console will drop when Sony are ready to drop it. The folks that wanted a ps3 have bought one. The folks that are waiting for a price drop will get one when the price drops (presumably).

    The problem was the Blu-Ray trojan horse but as some have pointed out, you can now buy a cheap arse Blu-Ray for less than a decent pair of trainers (I can only assume that the porn industry has embraced Blu-Ray) so that's one barrier to price dropping removed at the very least.

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #57 3 years ago

    as far as these numbers are reliable, it looks like lifetime sales to date of 360 in Europe is about 9.6 million, with PS3 standing on 9.1 million - which is quite good for Sony considering 360's year long head start.

    now... these numbers might not be 100% correct, but I do think they are adequate enough to make that deduction.

    Numbers from where?

  • laudy #58 3 years ago

    do you want those numbers as ratios? ;-)

  • chubster2010 #59 3 years ago

    re. 'The main problem with Sony's focus on the 'long-term' is that it relies on external factors - it relies on Microsoft dropping the ball at some point, thus allowing Sony to take advantage.'

    While MSs continued success or whether or not they 'drop the ball' is obviously going to impact on Sony and the PS3, I don't think the PS3's success (or lack of) is entirely dictated by the success of the 360.

    The PS3s long term success if dependent on whether Sony can bring quality, original titles to the PS3, clearly convey what the console is capable of and win the minds of consumers. If Sony really does fail to achieve the long term goals they've set themselves with the PS3, it will ultimately be a result of their own decisions, not MSs.

    Edited by 3 at 08/07/09 @ 14:27

  • MeBrains #60 3 years ago

    rev.stuart: a lot here will cry out in desperation for me giving you the link, but alas, there is no better place with publicly available figures, as far as I know. ronuds did point out mistakes in the site and I agree, so use the numbers you find there as a guide, not as your bible.

    the numbers were from http://www.vgchartz.com< /a>

  • laudy #61 3 years ago


    @donnie

    how long do you think it will be before Sony pull support for ps3 entirely, in the same way that support was pulled for Deamcast, Gamecube etc...after all, those consoles suffered from what I would call "lacklustre"sales. I worked for a well known electrical retailer when they were both launched...i don't remember selling a single dreamcast that didn't get returned for refund/exchange.

  • oreillymj #62 3 years ago

    @Shakey_Jake33 I think you make a very valid point. Sony are in a much weaker position from a H/W and financial POV this gen then last gen. However it's hard to see MS making an even bigger mess H/W wise then they did this gen in terms of reliability. Sony should be worried that they could put together such an advanced CPU & GPU at their first real go in the console market. Live & Online really re-used the OS features that MS had developed for Windows, but they badly caught out Sony, who have a poor track record software wise.

    Getting back to the price cut issue.
    If the rest of Sony corp was coining it, then they perhaps could absorb a big loss on PS3 hoping to make it back on software sales.
    But as it stands, it's a very risky strategy against much healthier competition.

    I think the main fear would be that if Sony were to take £100 of the price of their console (taking it as a loss) what to stop MS taking £50 of theirs, leaving Sony back in square 1 with the most expensive hardware and the same people moaning.

    Looking longer term, if Sony can retain respectable market share, then they can go to PS4 with a far smaller R&D budget.
    Presumably Cell2 can expand to 4 cores with 32 SPU's with far less R&D then the original design.

  • SwedBear #63 3 years ago

    If you want to argue who is doing well or not well this generation you definitely have to look at the conditions at the start of this generation. Neither Nintendo or Microsoft had managed to even dent the Sony PS2 with the Gamecube or the Xbox. Everyone thus expected the Sony PS3 to wipe the floor with the competition.

    As I see it both Microsoft and Nintendo (of course Nintendo much more) should be satisifed with how their system are performing. I'm sure Microsoft would have wanted to crack the "casual" market and probably are jelous of the Wii-success but the fact is that the Xbox 360 is doing well, much better than the Xbox.

    The fact that Sony still only manages to almost catch up with the Xbox 360 (and they have had some help with the fact that Microsoft still haven't cracked how to succeed on the Japanese market) with all those hundred of millions of PS2 users, that to me is a failure on Sony's part. To go from a 70-80-90% market share (not sure what the PS2 had in the end) to basically equal to the Xbox 360, that IS a serious miscalculation. Or are we seriously to belive that Sony internally said that "lets make it an expensive luxury item and sacrifice our marketshare"?

    I think the PS3 is slowly coming down to a good pricepoint (I bought mine when it came out and to be honest, it feels a bit of a stupid decision now as it isn't until now that it is starting to get games I like) but it also is now facing a different market. Bluray players are now getting quite cheap and there is a financial crunch going on.

  • chubster2010 #64 3 years ago

    ' Sony should be worried that they could put together such an advanced CPU & GPU at their first real go in the console market. '

    MSs first go in the console market? Eh? What was the Xbox then? A dry run?

  • Capa26 #65 3 years ago

    I like that this thread has gone so far beyond reasonable thought that a PS3 has been compared to a Ferrari...

    I personally would like a PS3, but would like it to drop just slightly in price. Just a £40-£50 drop as all I'm asking.

  • Skywise #66 3 years ago

    Good thinking! Now apply the same logic to Demon's Souls please!

  • antony_williams #67 3 years ago

    Everybody moaning about the cost should just work more hours!

    (Ahhhh bless Kuturagi)

  • Spekingur #68 3 years ago

    Darren: Really? Japan? The land of the Playstation? Oh, I wonder why X360 isn't doing so well there as the PS3. (sarcasm)

    I just think it should be amazing enough to see X360 actually selling units in Japan.

  • bad09 #69 3 years ago

    Of course consumers wanting an expensive console to be cheaper is short term thinking. If it isn't cheaper they'll go for something else that is. After that the thinking about your expensive console is very short term!.

    TBH though price isn't the issue with PS3. £280 is a fair price and has been for many gens (plus you do actually get quite a bit IF you use all it's features - which many don't). As long time fan of Sony consoles, a fan of PS1/2 and a fan of PS3/PSP (but one who sees the potential was just flushed away with these two) I feel donnie080208 hit the nail on the head with one sentence.

    "...like ive said the playstation as a brand has serious problems where once it was synominous with gaming..."

  • clockworkzombie #70 3 years ago

    I am one of those people waiting for a price cut and some more games I want to play that are not available on my 360.

  • oreillymj #71 3 years ago

    @chubster2010 The original Xbox was basically a pretty low spec PC.
    Basically a Celeron CPU with an off the shelf nVidia DirectX part quickly cobbled together mainly by people outside Microsoft. Which is why the thing was hacked to bits.

    [link url=http://ww w.xbox-linux.org/wiki/17_Mistakes_Microsoft_Made_in_the_Xbox _Security_System#The_Xbox_Hardware
    ]http://ww w.xbox-linux.org/wiki/17_Mistak...[/link]

    Part of the reason the 360 has not been hacked (to my knowledge, or to a much lower extent) is that MS where so much more involved in the hardware design.

  • chessboxer #72 3 years ago

    @ oreillymj

    The 360 hasn't been hacked? Are you serious?

    Every single retail game that has come out on the 360 has been leaked on torrents days/weeks before the official launch (e.g. GTA4 was out a week before launch - 24th April 2008, Gears 2 was leaked 2 weeks early on 20th October 2008).

    I would say that it's just as bad as PC game leaks, although fewer people do it because they can get banned from Live if caught. I believe that's a MAC ban as well as an account, so that gamerscore will be no more and also whatever they paid for gold access would be lost too. I believe the main software people use to stealth their 360 is iXtreme 1.6.

    If there were a lot of games I wanted to play on the 360, I would buy an Elite and stealth it, but there are only 2 and one is from XBLA so I will spend my cash on something else.

  • Differently59 #73 3 years ago

    Alright already enough with the whining you little princesses, ya’ll are just a bunch of simple minded fucks, I know they say everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion but ya’ll are just fucking stupid, beyond special even. It’s simple you want one buy one you can’t afford it then either save or follow the crowd and get that cheap green recycle bin, do you people know what math is what running cost is say it with me (Running Cost). I am tired of all this back and forth with profit, loss’s and sales figures most of ya’ll don’t even understand the strategic processes used to market, price and sell the consoles and the games. I have a Ps3 and I don’t think it will ever turn out to be a bad investment, so all ya’ll whiny bitches need to go jump on Microsoft’s dick again, leave the Ps3 to the people who know how to put them to good use
    And to the dumb PS3 owners who complain, what the fuck did you buy it for, that computer you use to game cost more which will be the case for the Xbox after a few years, that’s why we are in a recession, if these dumb fucks can be stringed along so easy to buy more shit for there xbox every 12 months then I don’t see how we will ever get out of this recession.
    I could avoid all this let’s see, what is the PS3? , IT IS A FUCKING MULTIMEDIA MACHINE. What can it do? , if there are features you don’t like then don’t fucking buy it don’t even look at it. Do you remember your mama telling you something of that sort when you were young?
    Simple isn’t it. Sony has the right to be cocky and to stick to their guns they have the superior machine.
    In this day and age its funny to see how people are still so easy to lead off a cliff with a few big numbers and a well placed article here and there, when was it that cheaper ever meant better how long will that blue ray player from tesco's last.

  • oreillymj #74 3 years ago

    @chessboxer Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of any major hacking of the 360.
    It certainly seems to have been kept pretty much undercover, whereas almost everyone knows that the PSP & DS are rife with piracy due to the ease they can be hacked. Mind you, I still don't know how the UMD's are ISO'd