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How has this not been posted- $399 PS3?

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S

shantyman

WHO DEY!?
From slashdot as usual:

Merrill Lynch Japan has conducted research that indicates that the PlayStation 3 will retail for $399. According to Gamespot's coverage of the paper, the unit will cost $494 to manufacture. Sony will thus be taking an almost $1 Billion loss in the first year of the PS3's lifespan. From the article: "It is normal for game companies to take a loss on hardware whenever a new console launches, since they typically focus on acquiring market share rather than generating a profit during the first year. During the second year and afterward, they can recover the losses with the savings that come from mass production and with licensing fees from publishers." Meanwhile, Press the Buttons is reporting on a Pro-G article in which SCEE Chief David Reeves states that "I feel proud that E3 went well from the presentations that they did...I feel very happy about that, but I told the troops: OK now we go underground. The PS3 goes underground until it comes out next year."
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It has, and it is bs. The numbers don't add up. Cell/rsx will cost at most 50 to fab (which would mean a fab rate with ~30-40% efficiency...sony expects 60 minimum which would put the price at around 30 bucks per chip @ 90 nm). So that is 100 AT MOST. Say blu ray is another 100 (it will be much less but whatever). Lets say ram is yet another 100 (which is most likely the ~ the actual price sony pays for 512). The mobo + input/outputs is all that is left and that won't be more than 50 max. So that is 350. An included controller will likely cost SONY less than 10. That is around 360 and if you account for retail profit and shipping/labor, no more than 400 at most. I fail to see where they conjure up 500 dollar production costs.
 
SantaCruZer said:
well how can sony afford to price all that hot technology under 399?
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Who cares? Consumers don't, I can tell you that.

Sony has to figure that out. I really think if they sell for 400 bucks, it's going to hurt them in sales.
 
Dr_Cogent said:
Who cares? Consumers don't, I can tell you that.

Sony has to figure that out. I really think if they sell for 400 bucks, it's going to hurt them in sales.
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lol you know that the PS2 was around $550 at launch in europe, and it sure didn't stop us from buying the PS2. If we euros can afford it, so can americans.
 
While $399 sucks, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'll be buying every piece of hardware at launch, from here on out. So meh.
 
SantaCruZer said:
lol you know that the PS2 was around $550 at launch in europe, and it sure didn't stop us from buying the PS2. If we euros can afford it, so can americans.
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So? What does that have anything to do with what people in the US are willing to pay?
 
Dr_Cogent said:
So? What does that have anything to do with what people in the US are willing to pay?
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yes I have no doubts that the PS3 would sell like crazy regardless the price.
 
SantaCruZer said:
yes I have no doubts that the PS3 would sell like crazy regardless the price.
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Don't think so. Remember the 3DO?

Fans won't just buy anything regardless of the price.

And if Xbox 360 is $300 or less - then you can bet your ass that most Americans won't buy the PS3 at $400.
 
SantaCruZer said:
yeah compraring the 3DO to PS3...

I mean, this is a SONY product.
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Ummm, who cares? Sony hasn't always been the market leader. They weren't even in the market a long while ago.

My point was, 3DO was too expensive - that was it's downfall. PS3 @ $400 bucks is too expensive.
 
I don't really see what the problem is. I mean, people were paying more than that on eBay for the PS2 when it first came out...
 
Dr_Cogent said:
Ummm, who cares? Sony hasn't always been the market leader. They weren't even in the market a long while ago.
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You know what, this is pointless. If the PS3 is priced $399 and it manages to sell very well from the start - then I was right. Let's get back to this in 10 months or so.
 
Reilly said:
I don't really see what the problem is. I mean, people were paying more than that on eBay for the PS2 when it first came out...
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How much of the PS2 market does that make up? What? Less than 1%?

SantaCruZer said:
You know what, this is pointless. If the PS3 is priced $399 and it manages to sell very well from the start - then we'll see who was right. Let's get back to this in 10 months or so.
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Yes. We shall see won't we.
 
MmmBeef said:
Methinks iapetus' post was of the sarcastic variety.
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Oh I'm sure it was... but it's always nice to have backup just in case people take it seriously.

Dr_Cogent said:
Ummm, who cares? Sony hasn't always been the market leader. They weren't even in the market a long while ago.
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Sony has been in the VG industry for YEARS... Sony hasn't been in as a hardware manufacturer for nearly as long however.
 
Reilly said:
I don't really see what the problem is. I mean, people were paying more than that on eBay for the PS2 when it first came out...
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yeah this always happens. I remember those days; $700 Japanese PS2 and when the system launched in NA Canadians got screwed. I think PS2 was like $500 for a while. Only the early adopters will jump ship right away, the rest will have to wait.
 
Dr_Cogent said:
Don't think so. Remember the 3DO?

Fans won't just buy anything regardless of the price.

And if Xbox 360 is $300 or less - then you can bet your ass that most Americans won't buy the PS3 at $400.
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This would be possible. The Xbox is winning the "cool" factor right now in the US and if they can keep it with 360 and this paired with an expensive PS3, this could hurt Sony more than we may think. I still doubt they would lose their lead though.
 
DarienA said:
Sony has been in the VG industry for YEARS... Sony hasn't been in as a hardware manufacturer for nearly as long however.
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How this has any bearing I have no idea. Nintendo was top dog until Sony came along. Now Sony is top dog. They can lose it just as easily as Nintendo did years ago. The past does not dictate the future and it never has in business.
 
Dr_Cogent said:
How this has any bearing I have no idea. Nintendo was top dog until Sony came along. Now Sony is top dog. They can lose it just as easily as Nintendo did years ago. The past does not dictate the future and it never has in business.
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They can, that's for sure. But they need to do Nintendoesque bad moves too...
 
Dr_Cogent said:
I personally think it's a bad move they aren't shipping it with a HD.
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I seriously doubt that it will change anything. That's not what the casual (sales) will look for anyway. Also, HDs didn't change the surface of gaming yet. Faster loading time, custom soundtracks --- it does not weight much on the big picture.
Sony only need to be there with a competitive price, a versatile machine that offers most what Microsft is offering + a couple of nice exclusives and voila, their leadership is rock solid. They could even make it out without being all that of a media box.

Nintendo made real mistake with the N64, going cartridge and ditching third parties were extremely bad moves. Also, the hardware power was nice but the design wasn't well thought of. A chip for sound AND graphics was a bad idea. The console also lacked ram and texture cache. With a better chipset design and CD format, Nintendo would have kept their lead. Sony doesn't look like someone making bad moves regarding hardware right now.
 
Wyzdom said:
I seriously doubt that it will change anything. That's not what the casual (sales) will look for anyway. Also, HDs didn't change the surface of gaming yet. Faster loading time, custom soundtracks --- it does not weight much on the big picture.
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I think it's going to be a defining feature this next gen. If Sony doesn't include it, it's support will wane. Sony is supposed to be the leader here and not coming up short on any features. Also, who doesn't like being able to listen to their own music while playing games? I love being able to do that.

And the whole issue of memory cards is a non issue on the 360. PS3, oh crap - gotta buy memory cards. That's a significant slam against the system IMO (at least for me it is).

It is true that it's mostly about the games. But if MS can secure some really hot IPs, then Sony might be in some trouble. MS just needs to start making more money hats to give to devs.
 
if it really does cost 494 to sony theres no way in hell you'll see $299 to us. $349 at the very least and that will indeed kill sonys pocketbook and will be a gamble.
 
Ken Kutaragi says "WORK MORE HOURS YOU LAZY AMERICAN SOBS....WORK MORE HOURS, BUY LESS BEER, ENLARGE MY WALLET, COMPLETE PRIMARY MAIN OBJECTIVE, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Gaming world says "MUST BUY PLAYSTATION 3"

"PLAYSTA-TION THREE! I GOT TO BUY PLAYSTATION 3 I GOT TO BUY IT! I HAVE TO BUY A PLAYSTATION 3, I HAVE TO BUY ONE! A PS3! I HAVE TO BUY BUY BUY!"

Ose.jpg


2003_11_chinpokomon.jpg
 
MmmBeef said:
Methinks iapetus' post was of the sarcastic variety.
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Absolutely, and I fully endorse DarienA's fine example of their wrongness.

And have I ever mentioned that 'analyst' is only one letter away from...

Oh. Okay, then.
 
Dr_Cogent said:
I think it's going to be a defining feature this next gen. If Sony doesn't include it, it's support will wane. Sony is supposed to be the leader here and not coming up short on any features. Also, who doesn't like being able to listen to their own music while playing games? I love being able to do that.

And the whole issue of memory cards is a non issue on the 360. PS3, oh crap - gotta buy memory cards. That's a significant slam against the system IMO (at least for me it is).

It is true that it's mostly about the games. But if MS can secure some really hot IPs, then Sony might be in some trouble. MS just needs to start making more money hats to give to devs.
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I understand your point. It can be interesting. Depend how much this HD costs me. My PS2 (349) + modem (60) + 2 mem cards (40) still cost me less than the Xbox in it's first year (499)....
You're right and of course you can like all those options but in fact i was asking you, do you really think it's gonna weight much in the balance for the casual gamers? I doubt it.
 
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