Hot on the heels of yesterdays announcement that a hard disc drive should not be considered a standard component, comes the announcement of pricing. In the US two versions will launch, one at $299 and the other at $399. Folks in Europe will have to pay a premium for speaking English with an accent, or not at all, their prices will be between $70 and $120 more.
OPINION
Oh, but wait, there's more.
Remember all the propoganda we've endured over the last three months about how superior the Xbox 360 is and how expensive the PS3 will be? Well, out of the box the $299 entry level product will have only the power and AV cables and a wired, yes - WIRED - controller. You have to step up to the $399 package for the hard disc, wireless controller, head set and wireless remote.
Interesting. All that about how it was terrible that the PS3 would not come with a HDD and how this was major news? Yeah, whatever.
So, the X360 is out. Is there any doubt that most people will go for the $399 version? Well, actually yes there is. I think a lot of players who are not on Xbox live will opt for the $299 and upgrade later by purchasing those things needed for their gaming at the time. Certainly games cannot depend on the HDD being there, because it simply isn't there.
Surprised? Oh yeah, I am. Over the last 3-6 months we've been talking about a console with wireles controllers and a hard disk. Turns out it won't have that as standard. Turns out that the wireless networking is an optional unit too, so better get another network cable handy unless you are willing to fork over more green stuff. Death by a thousand accessories?
So, In another 7-8 months Sony comes along with a box that is purported to have wireless controllers as standard, wireless networking as standard, bluetooth as standard, a zillion USB ports as standard, and so on. Is it so terrible that the console may cost $399 or $449? Probably not. We shall see. No doubt Sony is rubbing it's hands right now. They get to see MS' best shot before they even announce a final launch date.
You know in the old days when two men were involved in a pistol duel, the first man to fire had better hit his mark, if not, he was toast. I don't know about you, but I don't see Sony clutching their gut over this. If anything I see them taking careful aim and walking towards their opponent.
Some things that I have read recently lead me to believe that Sony may be holding a couple of aces up their sleeve. First, the cell chip is designed to work with a second cell chip without any additional glue circuitry, so add a socket and add a chip, you just doubled your power. Second, over two years ago Sony was releasing PDAs with wireless networking and bluetooth built in, I'd have to say that they can include that technology in the PS3 pretty cheaply. Third I have read several articles indicating that Sony may have upped the memory in the PS3 to 512 main memory and 256 video. More memory is always good.
Now, I am a PS2 owner and will get a PS3, so you can call me biased if you want (I will also buy a Xbox 360 - so there). But, I don't feel the earth shaking with the Xbox 360 pricing, nor with the options list they've made available.
Things are about to get interesting. I really wish MS had held their nerve and gone with a single launch machine at a $349 or $399 price including all the major options as standard. Now that would have shaken the earth. It was huge news when MS made it clear that the HDD wasn't part of the standard spec. By doing that, they immediately cluded things. In the console world games are written to a fixed specification. That spec doesn't change. You have to have a fixed platform to develop for. Microsoft removed the HDD from that standard. So, please tell me, what's it for? Pictures? Music? Movies? Game saves? Oh well.
Everyone get their wallets out and carve out the $399 before launch day. Oh, better add $60 for a game, and then there's sales tax. Hell, make it a cool $500 and you're close.
Good times....
~Highlander
Here's a LINK to the story.
Here's the article with the complete price structure, it's a European site so there are Euro prices listed as well, but the US dollar prices are included. Gamesindustry.biz
Oh, but wait, there's more.
Remember all the propoganda we've endured over the last three months about how superior the Xbox 360 is and how expensive the PS3 will be? Well, out of the box the $299 entry level product will have only the power and AV cables and a wired, yes - WIRED - controller. You have to step up to the $399 package for the hard disc, wireless controller, head set and wireless remote.
Interesting. All that about how it was terrible that the PS3 would not come with a HDD and how this was major news? Yeah, whatever.
So, the X360 is out. Is there any doubt that most people will go for the $399 version? Well, actually yes there is. I think a lot of players who are not on Xbox live will opt for the $299 and upgrade later by purchasing those things needed for their gaming at the time. Certainly games cannot depend on the HDD being there, because it simply isn't there.
Surprised? Oh yeah, I am. Over the last 3-6 months we've been talking about a console with wireles controllers and a hard disk. Turns out it won't have that as standard. Turns out that the wireless networking is an optional unit too, so better get another network cable handy unless you are willing to fork over more green stuff. Death by a thousand accessories?
So, In another 7-8 months Sony comes along with a box that is purported to have wireless controllers as standard, wireless networking as standard, bluetooth as standard, a zillion USB ports as standard, and so on. Is it so terrible that the console may cost $399 or $449? Probably not. We shall see. No doubt Sony is rubbing it's hands right now. They get to see MS' best shot before they even announce a final launch date.
You know in the old days when two men were involved in a pistol duel, the first man to fire had better hit his mark, if not, he was toast. I don't know about you, but I don't see Sony clutching their gut over this. If anything I see them taking careful aim and walking towards their opponent.
Some things that I have read recently lead me to believe that Sony may be holding a couple of aces up their sleeve. First, the cell chip is designed to work with a second cell chip without any additional glue circuitry, so add a socket and add a chip, you just doubled your power. Second, over two years ago Sony was releasing PDAs with wireless networking and bluetooth built in, I'd have to say that they can include that technology in the PS3 pretty cheaply. Third I have read several articles indicating that Sony may have upped the memory in the PS3 to 512 main memory and 256 video. More memory is always good.
Now, I am a PS2 owner and will get a PS3, so you can call me biased if you want (I will also buy a Xbox 360 - so there). But, I don't feel the earth shaking with the Xbox 360 pricing, nor with the options list they've made available.
Things are about to get interesting. I really wish MS had held their nerve and gone with a single launch machine at a $349 or $399 price including all the major options as standard. Now that would have shaken the earth. It was huge news when MS made it clear that the HDD wasn't part of the standard spec. By doing that, they immediately cluded things. In the console world games are written to a fixed specification. That spec doesn't change. You have to have a fixed platform to develop for. Microsoft removed the HDD from that standard. So, please tell me, what's it for? Pictures? Music? Movies? Game saves? Oh well.
Everyone get their wallets out and carve out the $399 before launch day. Oh, better add $60 for a game, and then there's sales tax. Hell, make it a cool $500 and you're close.
Good times....
~Highlander
Here's a LINK to the story.
Here's the article with the complete price structure, it's a European site so there are Euro prices listed as well, but the US dollar prices are included. Gamesindustry.biz
