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[Vince]

They've never put out enough systems launching one area at a time, I don't see how the hell they'd pull off a worldwide launch.

They've also never had the production capacity they have now. PlayStation2's shortage was due in large part to SCE's semiconductor fumblings, they planned for overseas mass production to incorperate the 180nm GS out of their new Fab 1 at Nagasaki, but this didn't open untill October 2001 IIRC. Instead they needed to launch and rely on the initial 250nm design out of their Kokubu fab which slashed the yields per month from 1.4M to 400k.

Sony now is producing on an established process node (90nm) that they've been in production on since late 2003 with the EE+GS@90 and the PSP's ICs. They have secured production capability out of 3 major 300mm fabs: Toshiba|OTSS's Oita, Sony's Nagasaki Fab2, and IBM's E. Fishkill plant. I don't forsee this being the source of shortage, but a system is composed of more than it's ICs...

 

[Kleegamefan]

I would be *SHOCKED* if SCEI does a WW PS3 launch and even more shocked if they could actually produce enough PS3s to keep up with demand.....

Imagine the PS3 madness in Europe!!!!

 

[Amir0x]

I would be *SHOCKED* if SCEI does a WW PS3 launch and even more shocked if they could actually produce enough PS3s to keep up with demand.....

Imagine the PS3 madness in Europe!!!!

Europe and Japan should be pretty nice for Sony, I'd imagine. Unless the price is outrageous, but I don't expect it to be more than 399.99.

But in US, I dunno... I think Sony should definitely sit up and start to get worried. I know the difference between PS2 and Xbox is pretty dramatic even in the US territory, but something tells me Microsoft is hitting all the right notes for marketing the 360.

 

[Razoric]

Europe and Japan should be pretty nice for Sony, I'd imagine. Unless the price is outrageous, but I don't expect it to be more than 399.99.

But in US, I dunno... I think Sony should definitely sit up and start to get worried. I know the difference between PS2 and Xbox is pretty dramatic even in the US territory, but something tells me Microsoft is hitting all the right notes for marketing the 360.

If Sony didn't have the Playstation name and a GTA game to hype up I'd be inclined to agree. While is seems 360 is 'hitting all the right notes' we really haven't seen what Sony has yet. All they've shown are a couple video demos and 'prototype' hardware. And some of those videos, namely Killzone and MGS4, have caused so much talk, uproar, hype, etc that I believe Sony still has it in them to win over the U.S. public. All they need to show is GTA Next Gen, get the press to go insane about it and you have PS3 selling millions.

But yeah, the U.S. is the warzone for next-gen in terms of MS vs. Sony.

 

[Razoric]

Also if Sony really wanted to put a damper on this launch they should start a pre-order campaign this fall with PS3 demo kiosks showing all the videos we've grown to love / hate. Even something to the effect of 'buy a PSP, PS2 or 4 PSP/PS2 games and secure your free PS3 game at launch!'

For the pre-orders give parents cool looking pre-order slips to put under the tree for junior to unwrap. "PS3 will be yours sometime next year!" :lol

 

[Mrbob]

Next gen breakout GTA is coming and is X360 exclusive. The game is called Crackdown.

 

[Razoric]

Next gen breakout GTA is coming and is X360 exclusive. The game is called Crackdown.

:lol :lol :lol riiiight...

 

[Amir0x]

If Sony didn't have the Playstation name and a GTA game to hype up I'd be inclined to agree. While is seems 360 is 'hitting all the right notes' we really haven't seen what Sony has yet. All they've shown are a couple video demos and 'prototype' hardware. And some of those videos, namely Killzone and MGS4, have caused so much talk, uproar, hype, etc that I believe Sony still has it in them to win over the U.S. public. All they need to show is GTA Next Gen, get the press to go insane about it and you have PS3 selling millions.

But yeah, the U.S. is the warzone for next-gen in terms of MS vs. Sony.

Undoubtedly, Sony is no slouch. I think they have demonstrated by "winning" E3, "winning" TGS, and stealing Microsoft's thunder at every single major gaming event that they know what it takes - at least to maintain their hardcore userbase and to keep a steady growth of hype.

But Killzone and MGS4, they still mean nothing to casuals. Casuals don't know about that shit. Neither does E3 or TGS mean anything to them. "PLAYSTATION" means something, sure, and it's a powerful brand. But price, timeline and initial game lineup means the entire world to whatever marketing campaign Sony brings going forward. Microsoft knows the US market well, I believe. And I think it's difficult to say whether or not it'll beat Sony in the long term. But I can say with some certainty that Microsoft will gain ground, and that Sony should not take anything they do lying down. Sony took the market by storm with PSOne because they had an intelligent, almost guerilla-like campaign that targeted all the right people without embarrassing those who love games (polygon man aside). The difficulty ahead is to be able to show the public in a substantive way that:

a.) Waiting will be worth it.
b.) The technology contained IS valuable, and a true leap (critical Blu-Ray branding, critical visual showcases)
c.) The price will be attainable within at least a few years for casuals.

But Microsoft is doing a helluva job to tell casuals, at least in the US, that they are getting a LOT of what they love on the machine right off the bat. It's going to be a tough battle.

Next gen breakout GTA is coming and is X360 exclusive. The game is called Crackdown.

L-M-F-A-O