Quantcast [Edit] PS3 Price Cut Redux (Drinking The Kool-Aid) - Ozymandias

[Edit] PS3 Price Cut Redux (Drinking The Kool-Aid)

The other shoe has fallen. In my earlier "what price cut!?" post I stated that 60 GB drives were likely to go away in the future; I just didn't think it would be so soon. It appears the "price cut" is only applicable to the 60 GB PS3s in inventory, meaning only the $599 PS3 (with 80 GB hard drive and bundled Motorstorm) will be available in the future. To quote a GameIndustry.biz article:

SCEE president David Reeves has told GamesIndustry.biz that the 60GB PlayStation 3 will no longer be available in the US after stock sells out - which he predicts will occur by the end of the month.

Reeves was speaking at an E3 event to announce the introduction of a new PS3 bundle in Europe. When asked about possible criticisms over whether SCEE should have given consumers the option to pay a lower price, as SCEA has done, he replied, "Well, they're not really are they, because what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD 599 version with one game.

"All they're doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July."

When asked to clarify if this will mean the end of the 60GB model, Reeves answered, "In America, yes."

SCEA announced a USD 100 price cut for PlayStation 3 earlier this week. A new 80GB model will come bundled with a copy of Motorstorm and will retail for USD 599.

So we're going backward here. First we had a price cut that wasn't a price cut (because the price of entry to play a PS3 game remained the same as it was at launch). Now the lower-end $499 option appears to be of limited duration, leaving only a $599 option. Yes, there's more value to that $599 option, but the price of entry to play a PS3 game still appears to be $599 (once stock of the 60 GB PS3 sells out).

You're drinking the Sony Kool-aid if you believe a price cut occurred at E3 this year. (I need to swing over to NeoGAF later and watch the implosion. Wink) In all seriousness, this does set up an interesting holiday season. I guarantee we'll see a real PS3 price cut before Thanksgiving; the current sales spike is going to die very, very quickly as people realize the console is no cheaper than it was before.

[Edit: Now Sony is backpedaling and claiming the 60 GB unit will be available for the "foreseeable future". True - but since they're likely only building 80 GB units going forward (due to 60 GB hard drive availability dropping), this basically reinforces that they're just selling through their old inventory before the Holiday (and a price cut). I don't see anything that contradicts the earlier comments.]

[Edit: Oh, this is a fun one! From a reader's comment:

Even though they are backpedaling this interview has Kaz saying it clearly.  http://atvs.vg.no/player/index.php?id=10235 Go to about 1:50 and he clearly says the 60 GB is no longer in production and there will be a single $599 SKU again shortly.

Right hand, meet left. <sigh>]

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Posted: Jul 13 2007, 08:41 AM by Ozymandias | 38 comments |
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Comments

Porktree said:

Looks to me like this is a way to move the older ps3's off the shelf.  Especially now, by saying essentially, if you want a ps3 for $500 you better buy it now, because we aren't making those anymore.  It sounds like "Big Bob's Used Carpet Going out of Business" sale.

# July 13, 2007 8:54 AM

Xwar said:

And if you're in Europe, no price cut on the 60Gb model OR the 80Gb model either.

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6416&Itemid=2

A second pad and two titles for the same price? Sony must A) be really wanting to get rid of 60Gb machines B) really think Europeans are stupid.

# July 13, 2007 9:07 AM

RomeoDude said:

So now the price remains the same AND backwards compatibility is pretty much no longer a feature.  This sounds like a BIG mistake by Sony, since most consumers (including me) aren't interested in paying an extra $100 for 20 more gigs and a game.

# July 13, 2007 9:12 AM

Kypdurron5 said:

Look, entry level or not, it IS a pricecut. If you wanted the 60GB PS3...it used to cost $599, and now it costs $499. That IS a pricecut my friend. I understand your logic, but you can't say it's not really a pricecut because Sony has now come out with a new, better model. Now this latest information is very surprising to me...but your original pricecut argument only works if you happen to be a Microsoft fanboy and looking for any way to criticize Sony. If you want a PS3, it's now $100 less (while supplies last I guess if that article is accurate). If you spend the same price you get something better, but that's a different issue because it's a NEW and DIFFERENT PS3.
# July 13, 2007 10:02 AM

AnubisGOJ said:

Wow... Talk about a short-time gain, long-term loss. All of these actions speak of a company that's desperately trying to gain ANY semblance of a foothold in the market. Witness the regions where the PS3 is doing well and you don't see these changes taking place.

The writing is on the wall.

That being said, I would love to see the 360 hard drives reduced in cost to a more tolerable and competitive level.

---

Cyberboy shall rise again... XG 4 life

# July 13, 2007 10:32 AM

... said:

microsoft should sort out their own issue out completely before start talking about others. i am on my 3rd 360, two of them died both last month.

# July 13, 2007 10:51 AM

Brian Hoyt said:

Even though they are backpedaling this interview has Kaz saying it clearly.  http://atvs.vg.no/player/index.php?id=10235 Go to about 1:50 and he clearly says the 60 GB is no longer in production and there will be a single $599 SKU again shortly.

# July 13, 2007 10:57 AM

thebigman87 said:

I am by no means a Microsoft Fan but just to pick up on the last comment for a second... ... said: microsoft should sort out their own issue out completely before start talking about others. i am on my 3rd 360, two of them died both last month. Ozzy's [own] Job Description: ....my job is to look out ahead one to two years and try to project where we, our competition, and the game industry in general will be... ---- I think it's s stupid move, I was considering getting a PS3 and the rumours surrounding a possible price job really would of sold it for me. In the UK the Price is to be Unchanged at £425, however if they had actually reduced the price and removed the Games and Controller I would of got it in a flash... They are basically doing a clearing out their inventory sale. Something they can keep... Especially considering after their Legal Settlement with Inversion they are possible reintroducing rumble. I think I'm going to stick with my Xbox 360 and PC, following these announcements.
# July 13, 2007 11:02 AM

JohnCz said:

Yup, pretty much what I thought would happen. How much inventory are they looking to liquidate in two weeks? Of course, they well use this spike to claim there is momentum behind Blue-ray. This whole XBox "falcon" and PS3 Price Cut business gets me thinking. I hope Microsoft gives consideration to a console/halo3 bundle or promotional console sale as a way to discount and sell off the existing inventory before rolling out the updated hardware. The last thing I'd want to happen is for customers to buy a 360 and then two weeks later learn there is a improved XBox design on store shelves at the same price. If you add value, you avoid that sales confrontation.
# July 13, 2007 11:51 AM

vittala said:

If 60gig hard drives are so hard to come by why doesnt MS have a problem getting their hands on 20gig drives? And why do the 120gig drives cost so much considering the low price of hard drives these days?

# July 13, 2007 12:05 PM

The Hedon said:

Kypdurron5 obviously doesn't know basic math skills.

# July 13, 2007 12:05 PM

Priyajeet said:

wouldnt this be nice though -

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=18915

:)

# July 13, 2007 12:07 PM

El Cid said:

This explains why there's no European price cut.  For that matter, it explains why Microsoft didn't announce a price cut this week!  ;)

It's hard to recall a more dysfunctional, disingenuous corporation than Sony and this may be the final nail that results in the complete implosion for the PlayStation brand in North America.

# July 13, 2007 12:09 PM

Crash said:

Wow.

Looks like the "PS3 Price Drop? Not Really..." post was on the money.

# July 13, 2007 1:21 PM

islandkiwi said:

Sony is doing this to switch over to software emulation bc as quickly as possible. That Emotion engine costs them too much, and the 80 gig only does software emulation. What I don't understand is why Sony is being shady about all this. So the 499 price is for a limited time, people understand that. People won't understand when the 499 gets yanked away from them. This is just a pr disaster in the making.
# July 13, 2007 1:32 PM

Epsilon said:

Wow...you'd think that just when Sony does something good with the PS3 and has a solid E3 showing they go around and mess it all up again. It's like they keep thinking that people just want more stuff at $600 but in fact people want the same stuff at $400-$500. It just doesn't make sense to me. They're still about $130 more expensive than the Elite which I would say is the true feature to feature competitor and that's not counting the software library. I can't imagine being a PS3 developer and watching as your platform is being crippled by the people who make it. I mean, if I was developing a game for the PS3 and I saw that, I would seriously go to my engineers and ask them "Just in case...can we port this to the 360 relatively easily?" It's just hard to think that some of the exclusives will stay with Sony with all of these blunders. On a sidenote, is UT3 just a timed exclusive for the PS3? I was under the impression it was coming for the 360 as well after an Epic representative compared it to Gears and said it'd be like the best looking 360 game because it looks better than Gears. I guess something changed.
# July 13, 2007 2:13 PM

Robin said:

I love the constant tossing out of weird distorted half-truths in the comments on this blog, thinking they won't get called on. "backwards compatibility is pretty much no longer a feature." 100% of PS1 games, 80%+ of PS2 games rising with firmware updates, upscaling, and SBC was planned from day one. "most consumers (including me) aren't interested in paying an extra $100 for 20 more gigs and a game." Which is why they're being asked for zero extra dollars. It's a simple issue that affects all of the hardware manufacturers: you can't bring a new higher-specced model to market at a lower price than the old high-end machine. Like Ozy says, there will be a 'proper' pricecut later in the year, after the 80gb has had it's early adopter period. Exactly the same situation as with the X360 Elite.
# July 13, 2007 4:14 PM

NIN 013 said:

This is way too funny. It looks like this is Microsoft's game now with Nintendo alienating and subtly dissing their hardcore fanbase and Sony with their infamous business "tactics." LOL, this should be one funny holiday season.

I think I'm gonna pull up a chair, crack open a beer, and enjoy the comedy and gaming bliss for the next 6 months.

# July 13, 2007 4:24 PM

Drew said:

Lol, Sony.

# July 13, 2007 6:58 PM

Moonshadow101 said:

They're slowly eliminating the more accessible price point... They have to have plans once that's over, otherwise they're just retarded. When this is over, there's going to be some sort of $500 PS3 model.

# July 13, 2007 7:22 PM

JohnCz said:

ozy..i still think you have the spam filter turned on.  my comment still has not posted.  thxs

# July 13, 2007 7:28 PM

chigzilla said:

@The Hedon: Kypdurron5 makes sense to me. Look at it this way - if Microsoft reduced the price of the price of the xbox360 premium to $299 and dropped the xbox360 core sku entirely, would you call that a "price cut" or would you say that Microsoft merely "added value" to the xbox360 core? I think most rational people would consider it a price cut.
# July 13, 2007 9:18 PM

Momo Hemo said:

This cements it... I wanted a ps3, cause I've wanted to play some games for it. But with backwards compatibility gone and all the multi platform going on... I don't see a point until they release the release the ps4 (if that ever happens now) and the ps3 is bargin bin priced, or they come out with a slick second gen model of it that's affordable (a la psone and the slim ps2).

# July 13, 2007 9:55 PM

Ozymandias said:

Yep - about 10 comments got caught in the spam filter. Released them all.

# July 13, 2007 10:53 PM

rubso said:

sony just killed themselves, the console is just dying and they are taking no actions to stop it's bleeding.

Good job sony, If It's still 599.99 till this Xmas, then kiss the PS3 and say good bye.

# July 13, 2007 11:54 PM

... said:

you get same ps3 100USD less, get over it xbots

# July 14, 2007 4:35 AM

Epsilon said:

@chigzilla: I would consider it "added value" because the initial entry price point was still the same as the day before, but like with the PS3 price shifting it obviously creates a lot of demand and seeing as it's an almost identical machine in all respects for half the price, I think this would be more than just a spike in the sales but a more manageable upswing as the cheaper gamers who want a truly next-gen console go for the lowest price.
# July 14, 2007 6:48 AM

Imaginedbug said:

Andre, I may have missed your answer to the question that has been asked several times: if Sony can't get 60GB HDDs made, why can Microsoft keep on making 20GB HDDs?

Are the Xbox 360 HDDs so expensive (especially compared to normal PC HDDs -- 500GB external HDDs go for less than 150 Euros!) because Microsoft has to keep a production line going, or did Microsoft buy them in such large quantities that they now have a warehouse full of those tiny drives?

# July 14, 2007 7:28 AM

Ozymandias said:

RE: "Andre, I may have missed your answer to the question that has been asked several times: if Sony can't get 60GB HDDs made, why can Microsoft keep on making 20GB HDDs?" Didn't see this before - sorry! To be clear, Sony can likely get the 60 GB drives, but the price of the 80 GB drives is likely the same now - so there's an opportunity to upgrade at the same price. Over time the drive may become completely unavailable (because there's an opportunity cost for the HD manufacturer to keep making them), but I don't think that's the case now. As to Microsoft, I can't give details to our SKU planning strategy. What I can suggest is to take into account the fact that some hard drive sizes are more common across consumer electronic devices. This means a hard drive vendor can make these in greater volume, and are the ones that are more likely to remain available over time.
# July 14, 2007 9:27 AM

John-Paul said:

Does "Xbot" now mean hardcore gamers who like a big selection of almost all the current relevant titles to play, consistant quality online play and countless retro and independent titles to download?

Sounds pretty good to me, I guess you could pay much more money to do much less of all of those above things, wow, I must be a brainwashed robot for not taking sony up on that offer :o)

Hehe, Xbot, funny.. name calling from someone too chickens**t to state their own.

# July 14, 2007 4:02 PM

WarriorSan said:

I gave Sony up A long time ago...

# July 15, 2007 4:16 AM

Jason said:

Well its 100% confirmed now:

"Once that product is gone from the retailer's shelves, then we're back to the USD 599 SKU only," said Hirai speaking to VG Multimedia.

"It's not like we have a two price strategy here in the US market. We found out very early on that consumers react mostly to having one SKU as opposed to two," he [Hirai] said.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26739

# July 16, 2007 5:57 AM

DevsterC said:

I absolutely agree with folks commenting on the MS HD prices ("That being said, I would love to see the 360 hard drives reduced in cost to a more tolerable and competitive level.", etc). Now that video marketplace is FINALLY expanding to my area (and game DLC isn't small, btw - see GoW & R6V, let along the gig+ demos out there), I might want/need more space.

It may seem goofy to lower a price and then phase that offering out - but then car manufacturers do that every fall. There's bound to be other similar precedents in the world of electronic consumables - ipods, maybe?

# July 16, 2007 2:54 PM

Trellium said:

"It may seem goofy to lower a price and then phase that offering out - but then car manufacturers do that every fall. There's bound to be other similar precedents in the world of electronic consumables - ipods, maybe?"

Sure, but they did exactly that with the 20GB model that was never really available, and now again with the 60GB model.

All in the first 7 months after launch.

# July 16, 2007 4:35 PM

Epsilon said:

@DevsterC I agree, I really wish the HDD price would go down or a larger one was offered, maybe a 60GB one that would could begin to ship on the Premiums with the 20GB going onto the Core, or being phased out completely. Maybe 60 wouldn't be good because Sony dumped it, but more reasonable prices would be nice. Seriously, $100 for 20GB? I could spend that much and get twice that no problem.
# July 16, 2007 4:45 PM

Imaginedbug said:

Thanks for answering my question :) I was hoping for something more ... straight forward regarding the 20GB drive, but I understand you can't give out details. Maybe you could pass on to the correct department the general feeling of getting ripped off that people have when it comes to the hard drives though.

And what's this I heard about the PS3 getting the ability to have (unverified) mods for the new Unreal Tournament transferred from the PC to the PS3 and then get shared? Why can't the 360 get the same -- or a similar -- deal instead of letting the PS3 become the console of choice for UT fans? Unless UT isn't that big a deal... I know it isn't for me.

# July 17, 2007 3:18 AM

m$ said:

ring of death makes ps3 a better console. what is the point of buying a system that fails when you turn it on? anyone would rather play something that works instead of something that breaks every single day.

# July 18, 2007 2:07 PM

monkey65 said:

m$ - nice you're flying the fanboy flag.

I've had no rings of death with my launch console since purchase. I'll only buy a PS3 when they release a proper Wipeout and they sort out that horrible SIXAXIS controller. It's too light, no vibration and the triggers suck. Playing GT5 with no vibration is something I don't wish to undertake.

# July 20, 2007 6:14 AM