Interesting read on Sony's Future (PS3 related)

[King Jericho]

You'll probably never see me make a thread about Sony again, but it's an interesting read. People have been saying about Nintendo's possible dimise if the Wii fails, looks like Sony may be in a similar situation.

http://uk.gear.ign.com/articles/709/709082p1.html

[Bad Company]

Sony ain't going anywhere.

[Disturbed316]

Even if the PS3 turned into a hust bust, Sony will still be around.

[DS]

The PS3 might not have a huge launch because of the price tag but as soon as that starts going down they will sell plenty of them. They won't fail here and even if they did they would stay around.

[Funky Fly]

Wasn't the PS2 $499 originally? :?:

I don't see what people are really bitching about, since the thing's innards are basically worth more than they're asking for.

And sure if the PS3 bombs (yeah, right), it'll be a huge disaster for Sony, but I doubt it'll bankrupt them.

[Kane Knight]

Wasn't the PS2 $499 originally? :?:

No.

Anyway, Sony's not going down.

[Xero]

Even if they failed the absolute worse that would happen is that they'd lose the video game department. Not like the ENTIRE company, that sells everything from TVs to movies, and have a movie department, would go out.

And I believe the PS2 was $399 at launch...

[DS]

$299

[Kane Knight]

$299

[Funky Fly]

Ahh.

Nevertheless, these days consoles do more than play your games. They also allow you to play online (for free, mind you. No Seganet here) and, in Sony's case, play other formats than DVD.

Besides, $499 or $599 is a whole lot better than the $800 they had projected.

[DS]

Exactly. It's a steep price for a game console but not too bad for a game console, media center, and new Blu-Ray drive, etc.

[Kane Knight]

Ahh.

Nevertheless, these days consoles do more than play your games. They also allow you to play online (for free, mind you. No Seganet here) and, in Sony's case, play other formats than DVD.

Besides, $499 or $599 is a whole lot better than the $800 they had projected.

That would be meaningful if this wasn't also true of the PSX, the PS2, the XBox, etc.

Each new generation of system since Sony entered the game has added more features. They "do more than play games."

[Kane Knight]

Exactly. It's a steep price for a game console but not too bad for a game console, media center, and new Blu-Ray drive, etc.

The Blu-Ray drive is really the only thing that justifies the price, as XBox consoles are designed to be media centers as well. So are PCs (Even the cheap ones these days). So's my God-Damned Cell Phones.

[The Heat]

Sony isn't gonna go under. They have too many different things going for them.

The only issue I see, is the price issue. The casual gamer is gonna see that $499 pricetag and walk away. There will still be the "hardcore gamers" that truly must have it that will buy it just because it's Sony.

For me, it comes down to quality. If PS3 has a quality game library, it'll be worth the price. However, if X-Box 360 has an equally impressive library and is substantially less than PS3, then, I would probably choose the 360. Microsoft is basically giving you the equivalent to PS3 in the 360 anyway.

[Kane Knight]

Sony isn't gonna go under. They have too many different things going for them.

The only issue I see, is the price issue. The casual gamer is gonna see that $499 pricetag and walk away. There will still be the "hardcore gamers" that truly must have it that will buy it just because it's Sony.

For me, it comes down to quality. If PS3 has a quality game library, it'll be worth the price. However, if X-Box 360 has an equally impressive library and is substantially less than PS3, then, I would probably choose the 360. Microsoft is basically giving you the equivalent to PS3 in the 360 anyway.

Again, Sans Blu-Ray.

[TerranRich]

It's not like the Playstation is Sony's only product. They make TVs, laptops, other electronic equipment. The failure of the PS3 would mean squat for them.

[Kane Knight]

On a related note, though, if Blu-Ray fails to take off, it could be a serious blow. Much of that article talks about their profit vs cost, and a lot of cost went into developing Blu-Ray.

This does make the PS3 vital to their future plans, as if they cannot push Blu-Ray to the market, they will love a lot of time and money. The PS3 will be the easiest way to push it, being the first and cheapest such drive on the market.

If they were to be dominated by the Toshiba HDDVD format (Which has come out first, and is technically inferior but also has the benefit of not being inherrently copy-protected), this would seriously hurt them financially, it would affect their stock, and it would change their course in the business world.

However, it would not be a crippling blow in and of itself. But Sony's really banking on their new proprietary format becoming the big format for the next generation of EVERYTHING. DVDs, computer, games, music (Especially if pushing to the 7.1 and proposed 9.1 standards), etc.

Fuck's sake, I never hit send.

[The Heat]

Again, Sans Blu-Ray.

Blu-Ray or not, most people aren't gonna pay $499 just for an extra they probably won't even notice.

While this feature may make PS3 a little more impressive than X-360, it won't neccessarily mean people will buy it. That with the fact that Nintendo Wii will be cheaper than both, makes it interesting in itself.

I'm sure PS3 will do well, I'm just saying the casual gamer will compare the prices and choose the X-360 by default.

[Kane Knight]

Sony's pushing Blu-Ray as the next gen of technology.

This will be the cheapest, most convenient way to get it, and that's part of the pitch.

You know what else will make the PS3 more impressive? Blu-Ray. Not just as a player, but in terms of the games it can support, where the XBox caps at a DVD-9. Bigger, better, badder games. The casual gamer likes more...And that's what Sony's trying to sell on. The PSP had similar reactions (Nobody will buy a 300 dollar gaming system!). Sure. So yeah. The PSP is totally bombing, right? ;)

[Funky Fly]

Fuck it, I am sold on PS3. Typically, I wait at least a year before I cop a new system, but I tell you, if I somehow get my hands on $758 (the estimated cost of the 60GB PS3, tax and warranty) by November, I will be all over it at launch.

And I am a poor shits, who is pretty stingy when it comes to gaming purchases.

[Kane Knight]

Fuck it, I am sold on PS3. Typically, I wait at least a year before I cop a new system, but I tell you, if I somehow get my hands on $758 (the estimated cost of the 60GB PS3, tax and warranty) by November, I will be all over it at launch.

And I am a poor shits, who is pretty stingy when it comes to gaming purchases.

I'm sold on the potential of the PS3, and will likely HAVE to buy it if my favorite series' start to migrate there. However, Sony's burned me on the past two systems with faulty eqipment, and I won't buy their hardware freely again, especially knowing that, like Apple, they knowingly put out defective products.

[The Heat]

The PS3 will no doubt be impressive. No one's denying that.

However, I highly doubt the Blu-Ray bonus will be enough to defeat X-360's cheaper price. I'm sure Microsoft will purposely drop X-360's price once PS3 comes out.......

It does sound impressive that Blu-Ray can support more gaming though.

[Kane Knight]

The PS3 will no doubt be impressive. No one's denying that.

No. You know what someone is saying though?

Blu-Ray or not, most people aren't gonna pay $499 just for an extra they probably won't even notice.

More or less the same thing that they said about the PSP.

However, I highly doubt the Blu-Ray bonus will be enough to defeat X-360's cheaper price. I'm sure Microsoft will purposely drop X-360's price once PS3 comes out.......

Okay, a few things here:


Market/brand recognition. Sony is modern gaming to most people. This is why they're the #1 seller of consoles.
Price: Yeah, that worked so well for the Gamecube, eh?
Games: Sony's system will be more attractive to developers than Microsoft's, because DVDs are topping off. They didn't even opt for a HD DVD drive, which will start to show off the limitations of their games. The PS3's superior storage will make it very attractive.
Price, redux: People said nobody would pay for the 360, especially the more expensive model. They were wrong.
Demand. When people were paying upwards of a grand for a PS2 on eBay, it's hard to say that sales for a 600 dollar system won't be strong.That's not to say it'll outsell the XBox 360, but it's a lot to consider before dismissing the Blu-Ray "bonus" as not enough. Especially since Sony's followers have notoriously been cowed by shiny hardware specs.