Comments on: Why Sony needs to (but can't) drop the price of the PS3

iSuppli breaks down the Playstation 3 and sees cost savings for Sony. But even still, can Sony drop the price of the console to compete against cheaper alternatives?

[Aanon]

Mr. Reisinger should read a basic book on business strategy. Then he would know which factors to rant about. What he's doing now is taking input from the top of his head, where it's almost empty if you ask me.

[Ejorg]

Astrophysics scientist Gaurav Khanna from UMASS Dartmouth used his PS3's device in order to build the universitie's own supercomputer.

I read through the steps of doing this, it consists of simple bios configurations and a software (operating system) download. What best is that you still have gaming /DVD capabilities.

I guess PS3 is superior

The online instructions are available at www.ps3cluster.org, offer advice for turning a single PlayStation 3 into a super-fast work station or using a cluster of the consoles to create a computer that can handle complex scientific research.

[dragonsky1]

For everyone who says the 360 does not have a high failure rate, quit lying to yourself. You may not have experienced it personally, but the system does have a much higher than average fail rate. I work at an electronics retailer, and I can tell you that the XBOX has improved, but we still get get 5-6 times as many 360's back as PS3's and Wii's combined. Though nothing like when they first came out. We would get one or two back per day, mostly due to RROD, but also many other problems. I have noticed that many of the current returns have more to do with other problems, such as video problems, remotes unable to charge, bad USB ports, etc.

I have all three game systems, and really enjoy using all three. But at least I didn't have to buy an external fan to keep my PS3 and Wii from locking up or crashing.

[hmdz105]

Sony has put too much into its PS3 console than what an average Gamer might ever need. While PlayStation 3 Technology was beyond imaginations at its release time, it couldn't stand the competition from its lower end rivals. To be honest, Sony has considered the best gaming experience in being sth HUGE, HUGE processor, HUGE Blu-ray Disk, HUGE HD TV out put, HUGE rendering capability.... While its rivals considered the price and the interaction with the games as priories. Which one do you enjoy more? An ultra realistic game character you control with a joy stick or an average looking character that feels to be you or a part of you? Why not both of these technologies combined? ;)

[anh_duong]

this is a comment i wrote in the post (suprise suprise also written by uber-sony/blu-ray hater don reisinger) http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-252262.aspx?CT=1&Page=1&Page2=1#C1889616

(read the comment written by anh_duong, i wrote this 2 months ago when don was saying sony should cut prices)

"don resinger, i think you encapsulate a lot of what is wrong about this generation in gaming.

fanboys are expected to be non-biased but as a journalist you should show thoughtfuless, integrity and balanced opinions.

your hatred for sony and blu-ray borders on two possible things: madness or brown-envelope pay-offs.

i don't hate microsoft since i own vista, xbox 1 xbox 360 and have countless other ms products. however, i believe ms messed up so many times (vista, rrod and xbox legacy support) but you never seem to criticise them but go all out war against sony. why? are you crazy or does microsoft own your soul? what has sony done to you for you to hate them so much?

if you are a real analyst then you will realise that the reasons why sony cannot cut the price of the ps3 are based on three things:

- sony realised it can't compete with microsoft in this credit crunch environment because it CAN'T afford to.

- euryen, usdyen and other yen crosses exchange rate movements in the past few months has blown sony careful budgeting out of window. sony is hugely dependent on the value of the yen. the strength of the yen has caused sony almost 2bio usd worth of profit hit,

- sony survival is at stake - just look at it's share price. hence the shareholder's comments. sony can't just keep throwing money at SCE because it has too many holes to plug in it's balance sheet. sony isn't just a games company. it's a bank, a credit card company etc etc.

your talk of sony needing to cut prices but really if you have one iota of knowledge about the differences between microsoft and sony then you will realise it can't do it just yet until it gets the manufacturing cost down further.

please learn more about how much money microsoft has and learn more about economics before drawing conclusions.

it is a shame that so many journalists like yourself manifest this generation. even equity analyst have nore integrity than yourself."

_______________________

as you can see that don reisinger takes a while to figure things out.

[xGunnyHighway]

I have 3 Xbox360s, one at each of my TVs. The most recent was purchased for $160 (arcade). The Xbox360 has a built in media center extender and can connect to a media center PC, which allows you access to all your media (music, photos, recorded HDTV, XM radio etc) over your home network. The gaming aspect for me is just a plus. Originally, the only draw of a PS3 was for the blu-ray player. Since the prices have dropped for the players (I purchased a BD350 for $150 from Sony Style) this aspect of the PS3 "advantage" has diminished. The other advantage Xbox360 has over the PS3 is Xbox Live. So what it sums up to is that its more than just a look at the hardware but the total package (console price, options, online community) that make the Xbox360 more attactive than the PS3.

[PhaseDMA]

It isn't about the console for Sony and Microsoft, and it's doubtful it ever will be. It's about the software - Or in this case software, and video.

The PS3 never was intended to win the video game war. It was intended to win the HD disk war. Something it did quite well. Much in the same way Microsoft didn't care if they won the generation war with their first XBox Sony doesn't care if they win the generation war with the PS3. What they do care about is winning the much more important HD war. And they have.

The PS3 is a investment for Sony, and that investment will pay off ten fold in the long run.

[john55440]

When I recently ordered a custom computer, I decided against getting an optional Blu-ray drive. Right now, Blu-ray is just for hard core movie enthusiasts. For the rest of us, Blu-ray is just an overpriced drive for playing overpriced movies.

[tek-ed]

The main reason, and I might add, the reason for quite a number of netizens, for not patronizing Sony is the fact that Sony is a bad net citizen. With their exploding batteries and malicious root-kit and arrogant bullying in an attempt to displace HD, I have to stand up and shout "shenanigans"!
I don't buy Sony...period. And now that blue-ray players are hitting the below $200 mark, there really isn;'t a reason to purchase a PS3. (besides, the PS3 exclusive games really do suck) I own the Wii, the 360 and several DS's and play all of them every day. My parents really enjoy the Wii, GOW and GOW2 are beyond awesome and standing in line is more bearable with my DSLite...
Sony PS3? Meh...who needs it?
Ed

[theenigmatic1]

I've had both the 360 and PS3 for over a year now. I'd love to see the price point drop but if they can't they need to have a patch that makes all PS3's support the PS2 games. That could be the turnover for some two of my friends were planning on getting rid of there ps2 and finally getting a PS3 but one realized the only PS2 games he could use on his PS3 were Singstar so he decided to wait.

Once you get the system and you start watching blu-ray and playing the games like Resistance or going on Home(which is still in the glitchy stage) its hard to go back.

Someone mentioned that they have are getting an XBOX because of the exclusive updates it gets. I'd like to go one step farther and say if PS3 at least had a buyable card similiar to the XBOX360 points card instead of just going the credit card route you'd see them getting more sales on the system and on the online add-ons such as LittleBigPlanet.

Is the price high. Yes. Is it worth it. Well yes it really is. But in an upcoming recession there best bet is to lower the price point. Introduce PS2 compatiblity and PSN buyable cards at places like Wal-Mart and EbGames. These steps could help get back the cost they lose on the lower price point. Plus if more systems sell then obviously more blu-rays and PS3 games sell its a win-win situation.

Anyway every gamer should be able to play Uncharted and Resistance, as well as watch movies like 2001 on Blu-Ray.

If you don't have 2001 on Blu-ray btw its a must.

[d--keller]

The lack of backwards compatability is the PS3's biggest drawback. It's obvious that the market is not ready for next gen gaming. Look at the Wii sales. Wii fanboys will object, but it is quite obviously a last gen system with an innovative UI. With the exception of the controller, it is a PS2. To anyone who is really into HD or next gen gaming, the PS3 is not high priced.

If you don't care about bluray or online gaming then buy a Wii. Buy a 360 arcade. Buy them and put them next to your $200 Home Theater in a Box and the 32" HDTV you bought at Walmart. Play Kung Fu Panda and enjoy your first powered sub woofer. In 5 years when Wii bowling isn't fun any more and the 2 year old Xbox 720 gets it's first price cut down to $500, pick yourself up a PS3 for $150 and I'll see you on the PSN. I'll explain to you why my Xbox 720 is worth every penny of the $600 I paid at launch. I'm sure it will go great with my 108" projector.

[superswiss]

I just picked up the new 80GB PS3 for Christmas for $249, $150 off retail. Do some research. For a savvy shopper than PS3 is the cheapest console available at the moment, not counting the castrated XBox Arcade.

[DanielDaly]

Let me tell you what XBOX 360 has cost me. Now tell me if I should have bought a PS3 (Obviously yes)
I bought the Elite System, the moment it came out, back when it was the only way to get 1080p without buying a VGA adapter which my TV couldn't even use.
Let's see what I needed to make this work:
Xbox 360 Elite system, 479.99
Controller, 49.99
Kit that included additional charging station, rechargable pack, fiberoptic cable, and A/V out to Fiber-optic out, 49.99
XBOX Live subscription, 49.99 (might have been more back then, I don't recall. This was May of 2007.

So... 630 dollars for my XBox set up.
If it wasn't for that kit, it would have been $20 for charger and battery, $24.99 for Rocketfish fiberoptic cable, and AV-out to fiberoptic for 49.99. Thank God for 3rd party bundles. Otherwise I'd be out 720. (I wonder if that's a hint of the cost of the next generation system... hah)

DID I REALLY GET THAT GOOD OF A DEAL, MICROSOFT?

[cbandi]

I was ready to buy a Blu-Ray player but wanted to keep the cost under $200, that is until going through Microsoft's Live.com and a buy-it-now eBay sale with PayPal I was able to get a PS3 80GB and save 30% - or over $161 - off the sale price!
With shipping it came to just $307. That convinced me, and after reading the above article, I'm more sure than ever I got the best price I'll see for some time. I'm no gamer (last purchase: Super Nintendo) but that may change now. It is disappointing that the newer iteration has less backward compatibility with PS2 games than earlier models, but I like the fast load time.

[ekeefe41]

I have been waiting and waiting... for the PS3 to get Netflix streaming. Well i could not wait anymore. http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-recorders/samsung-bd-p2550/4505-6463_7-33229263.html?tag=mncol;lst

I know my wants and expatiations for a home media center is not the same as everyone, but BluRay+netflix were my top 2 wants. Now i will never buy a PS3... ever.

Sony could have easily signed a deal with Netflix... and it would have been a win/win situation for both companies.

[ShawnGordon]

You know, the PS3 price isn't really that bad considering what it is and does.

It doesn't do more than the XB, it's definately quieter and the capabilities far exceed the XB. The XB seems more like a game system, which it is - but the PS3 comes off as a bit more.

The XB Elite is the only XB360 advertised with backwards compatibility to the regular XB, yet MS isn't creating games for the XB anymore, nor are they making available to download legacy games to installation the HDD like Sony is. Yes, Sony discontinued the PS2 compatibility, but have hinted at adding to the existing code and making available to DL some PS2 games as they have done with some PS1 games (like Suikoden). And, XB has only one previous incarnation of the system so saying that the PS3 fails in compatibility like the XB does is shaky at best. Both systems can play the first incarnation of the platform titles.

Arcade is 199, no HDD, no mem device, two 'family games' and (at the time) a wired controller.
Finally, I bought an 80 GB PS3 for Christmas... it was 399. That IS kind of pricey, and it came with nothing extra, but the PS3 can have the HDD swapped. I now have a 320GB HDD in mine at an extra cost of $81. $480 for a 320 GB PS3, or $499 for a 160GB factory PS3 - the choice is pretty clear on that, but to drop the price I don't think they need to.

The system is going to show its true power here in a year or so, and to drop the price it to place underestimation on it.

[skellener]

I really have never understood why it matters what a company pays to create a product. That's their business. It could cost Sony $50. to make a PS3. They'll charge what they want to charge. If you don't want to pay it - then don't. If you aren't running the company, you don't get to decide how much profit they are allowed to make. You do however get to decide what it's worth to you however. You vote with your dollars.

[Macajuel]

Hold up......what became of the old mantra of taking a hit on the hardware only to make up the difference on software sales. Sony had two major problems from the very beginning, 1) very expensive hardware and 2) almost no compelling games at launch and for nearly all of the first year on the market. Sony apparently didn't feel that exclusive titles were very importatnt anymore but I bet if Sony would have moved systems with a combination of competitive pricing and former exclusives like Grand Theft Auto, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy XIII.

Bottom line....................take a hit on the hardware but make for it by pushing compelling software Sony....duh you've done it before with much success.

[Dan7637]

look people dont bash the ps3 because you cant afford it or dont want it, all three consoles are good, dont go hating on blue-ray either- its great, pinches estupidos

[Crometooth]

Don't own an XBox (I hate Microsoft) but I do own a Wii and a PS3. I hate the Wii. It is cute and well thought out, but jeez ita annoying.

I have nothing bad to say about the PS3. Its a release 80 Gig and works like a champ. Had an XBox but was glad to see it go, irritating kids online and its freaking loud. I dont know anyone who is still on their first Xbox, they all had the red ring of death.

A couple of points:
-Wi-Fi doesn't cause lag, if (like anything else) its set up right.
-You don't have to have a HDTV to use the PS3, but why wouldent you?
-Blu-Ray is picking up steam, but DVDs will be around for a LONG time. Blu-rays do look great though..
-PS2 compatibility was not driving sales, thats why it was dropped (unnecessary cost)
-I've downloaded movies from PSN and games from PSN, glad the PS3 came with a hard drive unlike some ((cough)) xbox ((cough)).
-The cell processor hasnt even been tapped yet, Killzone 2 will be the first to properly utilize its functionality.

The main point is though, PS3 doesnt feel they can or need to cut costs. Its easy for us to armchair quarterback their every move, but it will all work out, wait and see...

Yeah, I guess I am a fanboy, so what?