Report: PlayStation 3 price cut helping console recover

Over at the San Francisco Chronicle this morning, Ryan Kim has a story contending that Sony's oft-maligned PlayStation 3 may well find much-needed new life in the wake of its recent price cut and the release of some new titles.

Sony better hope so. The PS3, which a year ago this reporter predicted would win the console wars, has been the troubled electronics maker's worst nightmare. Sales lag far behind Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360, and the available games have been less than inspiring.

Jack Tretton, vice president and co-COO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, shows off the first PS3 to come off the truck during the 2006 San Francisco launch of the console.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

But now, Sony has lowered the price of the top-end, 80GB version from $599 to $499, and introduced a midrange option--a $399, 40GB PS3--and Kim writes that its prospects are looking up.

"Howard Stringer, Sony Corp.'s chief executive officer, said last week that the lower prices more than doubled sales of the PlayStation 3 in the United States in the first few weeks," Kim wrote. "He said that in the week ending November 11, Sony sold more than 100,000 consoles after selling an average of 30,000 to 40,000 previously."

Clearly, this is put up or shut up time for Sony. One of the reasons I predicted originally that the PS3 would end up as the dominant console was that I actually buy Sony's argument that it looks at its consoles as products with 10-year life cycles and that, therefore, victory goes to the company whose machine is ahead after several years, not just one or two.

Based on the longevity of both the PlayStation and PlayStation 2--which is still selling well, even today--it seemed that even with concerns about pricing and vastly expensive components, Sony would find a way to leverage its fanatical fan base to come out on top. Over time.

And that's why even perception that the PS3 is doing better will help its cause. That, and lower prices and a slew of new games that might lure in those who were hesitant before.

The only problem is you can be sure Nintendo and Microsoft aren't going to just sit still and let Sony eat their lunches without a fight.

So if the PS3 gets tromped during this year's holiday season, it's going to be awful hard for Sony to make the case to consumers, Wall Street, and the video game press that the device has much of a shot catching up.

[rturner2]

PS3 will rule!

I sold my wii after the fad of this short shelf life product had run out.

HD gaming on the PS3 rocks and is more sexy than the xbox 360 as it includes wireless, power supply and bluetooth built in (oh, and blu-ray!!).

[swiggins]

You sold too soon

That's funny, . . . I had a PS3 ONLY for a year, and found myself
NEVER playing any games. I broke down and got a 360 and a Wii
last month and I can't believe everything I have been missing. 1st
off, Mario Galaxy, Zelda, and Metroid, are all better than ANYTHING
on the PS3, so I don't know what your talking about, the PS3 does
not have any comparable games at this point., I mean xbox LIVE
also has HD movie and television downloads and a online service
that's second to none. I won't get rid of my PS3, but a Wii and a
360 is all you need

[swiggins]

Yeah, right, whatever . . .

Every time there is a price cut, there is a surge for a few weeks, this
time is no different. I have had mine since launch, and just recently
broke my Sony vow and bought a Xbox360, and a Wii. What was I
doing with a PS3 for a year?? My god, I have played more games in
the past month on the 360 and the Wii then I did all year with the
PS3. The surge in sales won't last. People still don't want to pay
$400 + for a console, . . you'll see.

[derrick_madrid]

PS3 doing exactly as well as Xbox360

If you look at sales since launch, the PS3 is doing exactly as well as the 360 did. And the 360 had no decent games until Gears of War for a whole year. The PS3 now has Uncharted (an exclusive getting rave reviews, possibly a 'sleeper'), as well as many other non-exclusives. And the 'big ones' have yet to come (Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Tekken... all PS3 exclusives).

As for the Wii, it's a very nice toy, but it is definitely not next gen. And I always find it fascinating that people amaze at the fact that a cheaper thing sells more than an expensive one... :)

If you want to see a glimpse of future games, check out Uncharted on PS3. The difference is the PS3 potential is only starting to be tapped, and I fear that Mario Galaxy and Gears of War is as good as it gets on Wii and 360...

All this said, there probably won't be a single platform dominating as the PS2 did in the previous gen, but hey, selling 5M consoles outside of the high season, with few games seems to be a pretty good going... ;)

[ahickey]

Agree - PS3 is doing well

Firstly, my position. I like the Wii as a party gaming system but I feel I would get bored with it really soon as a single player experience ? I don?t have a Nintendo history, so I?m not really excited about playing NES and N64 games agsin
The Xbox360 is good, but too many problems. The PS3 is technically the best, but still too expensive. I expect to buy a PS3 early next year once the next round of price cuts and the rumble function is back in the controller

On Sony's position I have a theory. Thinking of it as business and not who?s number one.

With the Xbox360 and Wii coming to market Sony had to get the PS3 out to stay in the mind of the buyers. Knowing the cost of manufacturing was so high; if they priced it for volume sales they would lose a huge amount of cash on the console sales. Also, no must have games were released so the lose would not be made up by license fees.
I actually believe it was in Sony?s best interest to keep the price high to sell smaller volumes and minimize the loss while still being in the market pace.
Now that they have reduced the manufacturing costs they are beginning the big push for volume sales of the console. Also, there are a number of key games coming out in the next 6 months that will give Sony back its revenue lost from the hardware.
To me Sony is now ready to go mainstream and really compete with the Xbox360 and Wii.
Let?s see how much advertising all three do over the holiday period and see if Sony does up its game?.

[Shannanngians]

You fear?

Both Gears of War and Mario Galaxy are incredible games, Mario in fact has just been reviewed as "The best platformer of all time." So if Mario Galaxy is "the best" the Wii can do, then I don't think that Wii owners will have anything to worry about. I bought my Playstation 3 about a year ago, after I beat Resistance, I bought Warhawk at it's release, and I haven't played it for about 2 months, I use my PS3 for a DVD player (and an internet browser occasionally when I'm not near my computer) but other than that I use my 360 for online, and normal gaming.