Kaz Harai: I'm not saying that we're suddenly going to do a price change tomorrow, but if you look at the history of how we've priced our products, from 12 years ago, you'll see our trends. I got the same questions back in the day: PS2, $299? That's not mass-market product, because the PS1 at the time was at $170, $149 bucks, whatever it was. I mean, how are you going to break into the mass market? Well, the PS2 is $129 now, and it's an absolute mass market product. So I think you can look at the trending line, and two years out, three years out--I'm not going to even make a prediction--but there's no guarantee that it's still going to be at $599 and $499. We may have a more expensive version; we may have a less expensive configuration. But it doesn't stay the same forever.
Seems like it might stay at the price for a while. Which would suck for majority of console buyers.
But saying that people thought $299 was not mass market? Come on, or that PS1 was $149 when PS2 came out, not much of a price difference. PS2 at $129 and a low end PS3 at $499, thats a big difference.
But yeah, what do you think about him saying that they might introduce a more expensive version? Good, Bad?
Seems like it might stay at the price for a while. Which would suck for majority of console buyers.
But saying that people thought $299 was not mass market? Come on, or that PS1 was $149 when PS2 came out, not much of a price difference. PS2 at $129 and a low end PS3 at $499, thats a big difference.
But yeah, what do you think about him saying that they might introduce a more expensive version? Good, Bad?
im not saying whether i think the price will drop or not, but seriously... do you expect them to say they will drop the price soon after launch??
same as that whole thing about asking MS for a price drop comment recently.. anyone who says they will be dropping the price in the near future to potential buyers at the current price point would need to have their head examined.
Of course its a great deal. I would never say it's not. It's a steal.
Are the people who loved psone and ps2 going to bite at $499+? It is gonna be intresting this Nov.
the way i see it, there's lots of people were willing to pay like 1k for a ps2 back in 2000 on ebay....so i think there's plenty of people that are going to be willing to buy it at 600/500 dollars for a while...especially if there's massive shortages (of course). it really depends on how much they ship in the beginning how long they can stay at the price point.
producing a huge amount of units, but spreading it out around the world will guarantee shortages and the ps3 selling it at a high price point.
and also keeps PS2 as a viable product to keep selling due to the price differences
Hell no. I bit on a PS2 near-launch and I think it's a bit too much to shell out more than $400 on a console. I bought a Saturn near launch for ~350, and I'm hesitating on the 360 for now until there is a bit better deal or its BC improves a lot (Although I almost bit when I coulda gotten a premium at 329).
And I hate the way they're saying "More expensive" or "less expensive" configurations. WTF?
I wasn't gonna buy a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player in the first place anyway. Although I dislike the fact that 360 games are crammed on a tiny DVD with no HD in most instances, at least it isn't shoving a couple hundred extra dollars im not willing to spend on a console down my gullet...
It's not really smart for them to indicate they'll be pricedropping soon after the initial launch as it'll only cause people to hold out if they were planning on getting one of those versions. So they just have a stand offish approach on whether they'll do it.
That response should make the Jedi Nintendo execs proud.
It's cool, though. Me and Kaz have already discussed at length what Sony needs to do with the PS3, and he agrees that a pricedrop of 100 dollars in May 2007 makes sense. He just can't say it on the record.
It's like Kaz is saying that they might come to their senses, and realize how they are ripping themselves off by offering the consumer all this space-age technology at such an incredibly low price.
PS3 $799/$899 Holiday 2007 confirmed?? Better get one at launch!
It's like Kaz is saying that they might come to their senses, and realize how they are ripping themselves off by offering the consumer all this space-age technology at such an incredibly low price.
regardless of all the extras that may imply, its really troubling that they seem most focused on introducing tiered pricing and not focused on approaching a more affordable pricepoint. obviously they wont say we are going to drop the price soon or something, but id expect them to talk more about ramping up manuf. for more cost-effect production.
Poeople use this argument, but the total number of people who paid beyond the regular 360 price during the (first ) launch period was around like 40k. If Sony has 2 million PS3s out at launch, or by December, they will NOT sell out.
It's not really smart for them to indicate they'll be pricedropping soon after the initial launch as it'll only cause people to hold out if they were planning on getting one of those versions. So they just have a stand offish approach on whether they'll do it.
Wouldn't Sony also want stock holders and industry types to be under the impression that the price will come down? I can understand not wanting to give consumers the impression that the PS3 will have a drastic price cut months after launch but this seems to be overdoing it a bit. Even though he didn't really say anything of substance, Kaz gave me the impression that the PS3 might not see any true price drops within the first two years, but instead will just see cheaper sku's.
Shades of the answers he's given when asked about the initial launch price...same "if you look at the history...you'll see our trends..." boilerplate interview answer. The guy is simply on cruise control. Game journos should really just start refusing to take interviews from him on the grounds that he's boring as hell.
Wouldn't Sony also want stock holders and industry types to be under the impression that the price will come down? I can understand not wanting to give consumers the impression that the PS3 will have a drastic price cut months after launch but this seems to be overdoing it a bit.
It just seems like he was saying "It could happen or it might not" nothing really overdoing it. And as its been said, its Kaz and he likes to play it safe. He'll ride the line between saying yes and no with nearly every answer.
Poeople use this argument, but the total number of people who paid beyond the regular 360 price during the (first ) launch period was around like 40k. If Sony has 2 million PS3s out at launch, or by December, they will NOT sell out.
actually... i think Sony will be more inclined to drop as soon as production will allow, considering they will reach the 499$ potential market a lot faster than 299$
Poeople use this argument, but the total number of people who paid beyond the regular 360 price during the (first ) launch period was around like 40k. If Sony has 2 million PS3s out at launch, or by December, they will NOT sell out.
I think Sony will undership, in all honesty. Maybe 4 million or so worldwide imo -- and i also think they will also spread it out very thinly so that they make sure they sell out, and each shipment sells out consistently for a while, which will buy them time in cost-cutting, while catching up with the 360 (any number is better than 0, i guess).
and with the ps3 having a larger "scope" in what its trying to accomplish as opposed to the ps2, i think anyone who is scoffing at the LAUNCH price (never mind being able to get one at that price) has been duly replaced by the different demographs that the ps3 is aiming at. same can be said about the wii -- both consoles are aiming at different crowds than their previous console while still appealling to their respective fanbases. For nintendo fans that scoff at the wii's control system or whatever, they've been "replaced" by people who don't normally game.
I honestly think people will do the research before they plop down 500/600 or even 200bucks on something. You can't expect impulse buyers or people working on lower budgets at any launch period of anything. hdtvs, high definition dvd players, even the ipod.
as for a more direct answer to what you said, no offense to the xbox or anything, but i don't think the xbox360's launch was anywhere near as crazy as the ps2's from what i remember (also microsoft effed up themselves on the amount they shipped. they shoulda shipped a TON more)...there's enough people out there, especially during christmas that will buy a ps3, hell people buy 400 dollar MUSIC players for chrissakes, the ps3 plays freaking high definition games.
Not really, count WiFi and other two Xbox 360 HDD's (60 GB / 20 GB = 3 ) and you quickly go from Xbox 360 Premium price to $599 PLAYSTATION 3 price and above.
I don't think you'll ever see another 'power console' (PS3/360) launching at $299 again though.
The median selling price of a console went waaay up last generation.
I kinda think its going to be nigh-impossible for both PS3 and X360 (premium - core is a failure) to reach $200 anytime soon. So if the market doesn't acclimatise to higher prices then ehh, trouble for both, and especially for Sony.
I don't see it as desperation. IIRC, they've said before that in retrospect, they felt they pulled the plug on Playstation support too soon after the PS2 was released. They obviously don't want to make the same mistake with the PS2 when the PS3 rolls out, and I can't blame them. Early adopters don't make up the majority of the market, and the PS2 has the potential to remain a viable platform for a year or two into the life of the PS3. (Until the first price drop, at the very least.)
