Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

[tdh]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

I will agree that 20G isn't worth $100, but 20G and a hella fun game might be worth $100. I've played that demo countless times at different stores and plan to buy the game shortly after I have my PS3, so those things bundles? $60 game included, and 20GB extra space that who knows when you'll ever use, could very well be a steal.

I was planning on buying my PS3 Fri 07.20 in the first place. This $100 break in the price didn't sway my decision, but sure as hell makes me happy as I can now take the same money set aside and get another game.

I don't understand the "boycott" screams either. I understand the decision, just questioning the timing of the announcement. You're supposed to ride the wave out of E3 into TGS, build more momentum and ride into the holiday season. Not take the legs from under all your announcements by tossing this out there with poor wording. Even more surprised that two different divisions would step on each other like that. Now, in TGS the main talk from SONY camp is gonna be this, not the playable MGS4 demo, more announcements, or a possible HOME release date.

But $100 cheaper, supposed plenty of 60G stock - is still going to sell units. At the $500 price point, and the new $600 price point, parents are going to be willing to buy one of these. A Mother who's had her kids continually beg for a PS3 now have a shot. Price cut on one, another one comes with a game? These are the selling points for a lot of people. I've had 2 Mother's that called into work told me point blank that them spending the $600 for their PS3s was worth ever penny of it. Another friend who's wife threw a fit because he bought a new 1080p TV & a PS3 with tax money told me she saw one Blu-ray movie and decided it was money well spent, and bought more movies.

As for the FFXI HDD for PS2? I got mine for free because I beta tested it, but $100 over 4 years? All the time I've squeezed out of that $100? It's been more than worth it, including the $16 a month I pay. If you only played the game for a few months, and then rarely played it again? I could then see and understand the complaining about the price tag. How about that Xbox game with the $250 controller and then the game? Now that I'd have been pissed about it!

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

My only problem with it is that I was under the impression that Sony had finally realized how ugly the number "599" looks when stuck on the PS3. 3.5 million people, myself included, have decided that $599 is a satisfactory price to pay for the system, many of us agree that it's a fantastic deal for such a machine, but the vast majority of consumers, particularly gamers, wouldn't even consider paying that price for the console. Sony realizes that, obviously, and they realize that their sales won't hit those PS2 or Wii levels until they have a more affordable price for the average consumer, which I think most people would agree is around $399, because by that time the console will most certainly have the software it needs to be an absolutely compelling purchase, HD adoption numbers will have continued to burst through the roof, and BD will have become the 100% guaranteed next-gen optical disc format (hell, most bets are on that by this time next year, HD-DVD will be breathing its dying breaths).

The problem really is that $599 price tag. It's a horrible number to see and it's clear from PS3 sales in the last weak that $499 is that much more appealing. It takes things like Blu-ray drives and transforms them from an apparent expensive burden to somewhat of a bonus feature, which is what Sony was going for in the first place.

I had thought Sony realized that they were stepping in the right direction and trying to dump that ugly number as soon as possible, but it seems they're willing to stick to it a while longer, which is a bad idea even if they want to pack in 20 extra GB of storage and a fantastic, million+ selling game.

How about that Xbox game with the $250 controller and then the game? Now that I'd have been pissed about it!

Hey. Steel Battalion is awesome.

[Manatra]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

And Sony keeps shooting themselves in the feet. What someone else said on another message board describes the situation best (paraphrased):

Why did Sony do so well with their press conference? They stopped to reload.

Regardless, this "price drop" isn't really a price drop at all, more like a SKU reshuffling. Yay for PR spin. Also, apparently SCEA, the North American branch of Sony Entertainment, has denied the discontinuing of the PS3 60 GB, but it's a given considering 60 GB harddrives are actually becoming more expensive to make than 80 GB harddrive. Not to mention Sony wants to get rid of the Emotion Engine to cut costs further. Either that or this is an extreme case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.

What will be interesting to see is if Microsoft's rumoured price cut on August 1st is true. If so that would bring the Xbox360 down to a mass market price.

[tdh]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

I agree Mr. Master. I never flinched at the $599 price range, but not everybody has the expendable income like some of us, and a majority of gamers do not fall into that category. Another truth is that the casual gamer is what makes this world go 'round. With out them we wouldn't be in another "NextGen War." As a consumer $599 is ugly, $499 is ugly too, just not quite as ugly and $399 is the magic number.

I agree that HD-DVD just isn't pulling the kind of weight the developers were wanting, with Blu-ray being the better media, this won't be another Betamax repeat - giving the PS3 another edge. With the PS2, the DVD player in it wasn't the greatest, showed movies, but wasn't that good. I don't know how the PS3 BD player stacks against other BD players, but the PS3 is still cheaper than most stand alone BD players that obviously don't play games as well.

I say this $499 price is good, and I'm willing to bet that PS3s are flying off shelves. I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks just how fast they are. This announcement was retarded at best, will do some damage, but I don't think it will halt PS3 sales by any means. I would suggest people buy one before it even comes down to "Well we have this pretty 80G package here for another $100" becomes an issue. Or they could wait another 18 months or more and hope the 80G drops or they release a 100G model.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

At the time of launch, the PS3 was rated the highest quality BD player on the market. That hasn't changed. In, at the very least, a year, BD will probably be reaching the consideration of the mass market, and that's when the PS3's sales will boom from that perspective. Obviously, if you're interested in BD now, the PS3 is the best deal on the market.

Completelyin my own opinion I honestly think we'll see a $399 PS3 by summer of 2008. Sony cost-reduced the PS3 in record time and were profiting on the 60GB console before the price drop, and with this 80GB model, stripped of PS2 Emotion Engine and sporting the cheaper-to-use 80GB HDD, they're probably losing a maximum of $50 per unit, if at all.

The problem is that at this moment, Sony doesn't appear to know where they want to be with the price. Like Microsoft with their Core 360, Sony has the advantage of being able to say that the PS3 is available for only $499, but apparently that's not the price they want people to be considering. It's a glaring weakness when they seemed to have finally eliminated all others.

And they appear to be flying off shelves, at least compared to the previous lower-than-GBA sales. The Target I work at ran clear out of all PS3 units, including those in backstock, the afternoon of the price drop. As we got more throughout the week they continued to sell and the shelves were left empty. Today, we got 12 more units in and we were down to 8 by the time I left. The mounds of unsold units found at the neighborhood Best Buy stores appeared to be stripped down considerably. The PS3 jumped 28 spaces to #1 in the Video Games category on Amazon.com once the price drop hit (where it's still sitting pretty), and it sold out at major online retailers even in Canada, where sales were typically much slower than in the states. The $499 price obviously did a lot for PS3 sales. Even if they won't continue to sell like this in the long run, it should at least double monthly sales as predicted by Sony, which would put them in competition with 360 sales.

[Malacite]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

You know what, I think I might just go out and buy the 60 GB tomorrow. I do NOT want to get screwed out of the Emotion Engine!

I totally agree that this is a retarded PR move on Sony's part, but it also shows how confident they are. PS2 really is doing well enough to support them that they can afford to wait for the major killer aps to come out and then have a really good price drop.

Assuming this is what Sony's thinking, they could have a real storm of sales in the future. A $399 (or even $499) price tag on the 80 GB model once games like Lair and FF13 are out could really be all they need. In the mean time, Sony sure doesn't seem worried. I know I'm not.


I'll be just fine with FF XI and Halo 3 until the really good PS3 games are out. In the mean time, I'll probably pick up the cheap 60 GB model and just use it for movies, maybe try out Resistance finally. I just wish I knew what Sony has up their sleeves (I don't want to get screwed later on when I find out they have some "uber" new model that pwns the 60 GB. Emotion Engine means too much to me though, gotta have it >.>)


If you read that article I linked to though, it looks like Kaz Hirai has got a LOT of good revisions in the works (like giving the Regional HQs more authority instead of just doing whatever Japan tells them)

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

While I think today's events are the most odd way to actually convince someone to buy a PS3, I say go ahead and do it. You won't be disappointed with the current offerings, and you'll be very happy you did in the next few months. The platform really does have a great lineup from August to December.

August 14th - Lair
August 28th - Warhawk
September - Heavenly Sword
October - FolkLore, Hot Shots Golf 5, SingStar
November - Unreal Tournament 3
TBA Fall 2007 - Ratchet, Uncharted, SOCOM, WipeOut HD, GT5 Prologue, Home

And of course, not to mention Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo 5, Tekken 6, MGS4, FFXIII and more in 2008. Sure, the revelations of today kinda sucked for people who are thinking about buying a PS3 a little later on down the road, but that doesn't change the fact that it has some amazing titles soon to be delivered.

I will recommend not stocking up on SIXAXIS controllers any time soon. Since Sony's in the mood to discontinue stuff what with the 60GB PS3 and the current PSP model, it would appear they're poised to announce the new on-again-off-again PS3 rumble controller at Liepzig Games Convention.

Gamespot: You said something really special would be coming for PS3 at this yea'rs Leipzig. Any more you can tell us about that?

David Reeves: ...

Gamespot: Is it going to be something on the software side? A download?

David Reeves: None of those.

Gamespot: OK. So peripheral-based, perhaps?

David Reeves: Possibly. Possibly a peripheral.

[Malacite]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

I was hoping to put off buying mine for a little longer though, given all the other things I want to buy @ . @


Good grief the next few months are gonna be great for gaming;


Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles (PSP), Silent Hill Origins (PSP, Final Fantasy Tactics (PSP), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii), Metroid Prime Corruptions (Wii), Halo 3 (360), Wings of the Goddess.... and a whole lot more @. @ (never mind the bitching remakes of FF1 and 2 on PSP... I own origins, but damn the PSP versions are beautiful)


I'm gonna be broke before I know it lol >. <

[Feba]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

Hey. Steel Battalion is awesome.

My uncle has that. I've played it. And it is totally fucking amazing.

I've never even seen an arcade game with a controller to rival it.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

Well, don't actually expect them to sell out by the end of the month like David Reeves said. That's just crazy talk, even with these higher sales. Sony says they have the stock to sell 60GB PS3s through the next several months. I'd assume that means at the very least, 2 million units, probably more. Like I said, whatever number they currently have out there, I wouldn't expect them to sell through until the end of the holidays.

Now is the best time, however. Go to Circuit City or something and get that extra controller and the 5 free BD movies from the BDA. Or, try Amazon. They're giving the 5 free BDs plus Memento on BD, and the BD remote for $499 with free shipping, so no tax. The 5 free BD movies from the Blu-ray Disc Association is only good through the middle of September, if I recall.

[tdh]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

Any word if the "free wireless controller" on that Circuit City deal is a 1st party or crappy 3rd party controller? As much as the 5 BD movies appeals to me, not spending $50 on a controller is more appealing. That's something I can have fun with right away. I think I'll go get mine before work tomorrow.

[Jarre]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

The problem really is that $599 price tag. It's a horrible number to see and it's clear from PS3 sales in the last weak that $499 is that much more appealing. It takes things like Blu-ray drives and transforms them from an apparent expensive burden to somewhat of a bonus feature, which is what Sony was going for in the first place.

You think its bad in the US, here in teh UK its alot more, and even though I work, Ic an't afford the money to spend on it at the moment. as said in my, previous psot it costs us the equivilent of $780 for the 60GB version with no game and one controler. The fact is to get back to what Raydeous wants out of this thread, the only reason I would buy the PS3 is for FFXIII. I don't have time in my life to be strapped in front of a TV to play computer games all teh time, I only spend an hour or 2 a night at most if I'm lucky. But at the moment for 1 game (wjhich doesn't come out here for another 2 years minimum, yeah we get it last here in the uk) $780 (or £499) for one game is a bit much, blue ray has taken a long time to phases uin here and I doubt it will be very popular for another 2-3 years i.e. more affordable than just getting a standard DVD especially as you'd have to buy a HD Tv to play it on (more cost). I love he power of the PS3 over the xbox 360, but both are very expensive and out of my budget range at the moment. It is unfortunate that these Ngen consoles are currently for the "more well off" and its just goign to cause problems at school with the "got one" crowd and the "can;t afford one" crowd being bullied.

Though lets not forget consoles have always had a history with this, PS2 vs Xbox, Megadrive vs snes mastersystem vs Nes need I go on. Nothing changes the companies who make them make a profit out of peoples stupidity on wanting to get on the "First to own" bandwagon and will pay anything. There was a local artical in our paper about a guy who spent £1700 on a PS3 for his kid (thats about $3459) just so he could have one.

I will stick to my pc and PS2 for another couple of eyars and when Iw ant to get a PS3 when FFXIII comes out int eh Uk, hopefully it should have gone down in price by then.

[Feba]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

here was a local artical in our paper about a guy who spent £1700 on a PS3 for his kid (thats about $3459) just so he could have one.

I saw something on the news about a woman who paid a guy $800 for his place in line for an iPhone... she had brought *100,000$* in cash, fresh from the bank, intending to buy out the store. Not only did she pay 1400$ for the iPhone, including the spot in line, but AT&T had a policy in place- one per customer. Best part of the story? The guy she bought the spot from *still* got an iPhone, and spent the extra two hundred on accessories.

[Murphie]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

I saw that same new story, Feba. Kind of awesome.

[Kafeen]

Re: Don't buy that 60GB PS3!

Odd thing is, just 2 days earlier they were saying how the price cut had doubled sales ( http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=79551 ). You'd think they'd want to keep that up.