Australia Gets PS3 price cut for new Crippled PS3s!

[Azazel]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/articles/sony-cuts-ps3-price-by-a-third/2007/10/08/1191695789355.html


Sony cuts PS3 price by a third
Asher Moses
October 8, 2007 - 12:07PM

Sony hopes a new cut-down version of the Playstation 3, set to hit store shelves on Thursday, will make the console more affordable for Christmas shoppers.

The new model is priced at $699.95 but will not be compatible with Playstation 2 games, lacks a memory card reader and reduces the number of USB ports from four to two. But the biggest change sees the hard drive shrunk from 60GB to 40GB.

The existing 60GB model, which sells for $999, will be phased out, said Sony's local managing director Michael Ephraim.

While the announcement brings the PS3's price tag closer to earth, the console still attracts a price premium.

In August, Microsoft trimmed the price of the Xbox 360 Pro from $649 to $579.95, while the cut-down Core version now sells for $399.95, the same price as a Nintendo Wii.

But PS3 buyers enjoy the benefit of additional non-gaming features such as a built-in Blu-ray movie player and integrated support for wireless networks.

The Wii doesn't support movie playback; Xbox 360 owners need to buy a $249.95 external HD DVD player to enable support for next-generation movies, while an adapter for wireless networking costs $169.95.

"The PS3 is by far, when you compare apples and apples, cheaper than Xbox," Mr Ephraim said.

The move by Sony has been interpreted as a response to relatively lacklustre PS3 console sales stemming from the high $999 price tag, which locked out many gamers.

According to third-quarter sales figures from market-watcher GfK, the PS3 was the poorest performer for the period, shifting just 27,533 units in Australia.

The Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii sold 40,467 and 61,027 units respectively, while the PS2 continues to blitz the market with sales of 66,228 units.

Mr Ephraim acknowledged there would be some controversy over Sony's decision to remove PS2 backwards compatibility, but said Sony research showed most PS3 buyers were not using the console to play the legacy games.

He said any PS3 buyers who still wanted to play PS2 games could do so on their existing PS2 console. Over two million PS2 consoles have been sold in Australia to date.

"This is just us saying that the device is a very advanced device and we need to look at the future of what we can offer on it, and not be tied down by the past," he said.

"There has been extensive research and people that have PS3s are just not playing a lot of PS2 games."

Mr Ephraim said he was pleased with the PS3's sales to date - 82,261 units - but said it was misleading to compare the figures with sales of the cheaper Wii console, which has sold 167,899 units since its launch.

Rather, he said the similarly-priced PS2, with its range of family-friendly titles like Singstar and the quiz game Buzz, was a more accurate benchmark.

He congratulated Microsoft on the "great release" of Halo 3 but said: "My question for Microsoft would be, what's after Halo? We think there's a void in any other kind of offering for the Xbox."

He was adamant the exclusive PS3 title Haze, a first-person shooter game to be released in November, would be solid competition for Halo 3 in the lead-up to Christmas.

[schild]

He was adamant the exclusive PS3 title Haze, a first-person shooter game to be released in November, would be solid competition for Halo 3 in the lead-up to Christmas.

This is interesting.

Who is this guy?

[Azazel]

I'm not sure. Some fucking idiot who's either in charge of something over here, or in charge of talking to the press over here.

I was under the impression that the new PS3s were going to be using software emulation for PS2 compatability, rather then just fucking it right off as this dickhead indicates. Same deal with the lack of memory card slots in the "new" model, which is WTF territory.

At this rate, I won't ever be getting a PS3, as opposed to simply "later".

[schild]

Just get a 60 gb. Better deal anyway.

[Azazel]

For a thousand bucks, they can suck my cock.

Or to put it another way, a PS3 won't ever me worth that much to me.

[HaemishM]

He was adamant the exclusive PS3 title Haze, a first-person shooter game to be released in November, would be solid competition for Halo 3 in the lead-up to Christmas.

This is interesting.

Who is this guy?

Sony's local managing director, who is apparently an idiot or a mouthpiece. Although, to be fair to Mr. Eprhaim, I've seen press releases from other regions that have said almost the exact same thing, which means there's a lot of copy-paste journalism going on with this story.

Oh, and bullshitting.

[stray]

I have a hard time understanding how a system that has triggered a lot of apathetic responses from people around here can also incite an equal amount of outrage.

Make up your minds! What the hell is it? "Meh, Sony" or "Fuck you, Sony!"

[rattran]

The ps2 emulation seems insane to drop. I've used my ps3 as much for ps2 games and blu-ray movies as I have ps3 games. Dropping the hardware emu I can understand, but the software?

I saw the same thing spewn forth in a EU press release, so I guess it's true. Fuckhead move though.

[Velorath]

I have a hard time understanding how a system that has triggered a lot of apathetic responses from people around here can also incite an equal amount of outrage.

Make up your minds! What the hell is it? "Meh, Sony" or "Fuck you, Sony!"

A lot of people who are apathetic about the PS3 now, still planned on buying one eventually after the price dropped enough and some decent games got released.  As I saw someone state elsewhere, Sony's message with the PS3 seems to be "Buy it now before we remove more shit".

[HaemishM]

I have a hard time understanding how a system that has triggered a lot of apathetic responses from people around here can also incite an equal amount of outrage.

Make up your minds! What the hell is it? "Meh, Sony" or "Fuck you, Sony!"

Why can't it be both? I'm Meh on the actual system and games itself, and fuck you on the insane pricing, arrogant attitude and complete hubris of Sony. I'm more upset at 3rd party developers who look down their noses at the Wii because it doesn't have HD than I am upset at Sony for being arrogant dickheads.

[schild]

It's not just because it has HD Haemish.

It's because they're competing with Nintendo's software.

You don't compete with Nintendo, not since the SNES era.

[Alkiera]

The new model is priced at $699.95 but will not be compatible with Playstation 2 games, lacks a memory card reader and reduces the number of USB ports from four to two. But the biggest change sees the hard drive shrunk from 60GB to 40GB.

*blink*  So, 4 changes:

• Removed ability to play hundreds of games
• Removed memory card reader for said games
• Removed half the USB ports
• Reduced HD from 60GB to 40GB

And they claim the biggest change is the hard drive reduction?  The Age appears to be a mainstream press, not a gaming/technology specific one, so they get a bit of a break... but come on.

--
Alkiera

[Velorath]

It's not just because it has HD Haemish.

It's because they're competing with Nintendo's software.

You don't compete with Nintendo, not since the SNES era.

They compete with Nintendo all the time on the DS.  Besides that, it would seem to be fairly easy to compete with Nintendo.  Don't release your FPS game around the same time as Metroid Prime game is releasing, don't release a fighting game around the one time each gen that a Smash Bros. game is released, don't do party games, and try not to release anything around the time a new Mario or Zelda game comes out.  Aside from that, 3rd parties have a hell of a lot less competition on the Wii than they should be used to after putting out games on the PS2 (where a number of good games have gotten completely overlooked due to the sheer amount of competition).

[schild]

They don't have less competition on the Wii. The attach rate sucks balls. As Marc Rein said, you're fighting over scraps. Websites are claiming he was talking about engines - I call bullshit on that assumption.

I was never ever referring to portables. Though, PSP games have better margin for companies than DS games. I was, in fact, discussing this exact point with a DS and PSP publisher the other day.

[Velorath]

They don't have less competition on the Wii. The attach rate sucks balls.

Because nobody is releasing good games.  It's a chicken and the egg argument, unless you're going to argue that there are great games on the Wii right now that people just aren't buying.

[schild]

No, Nintendo is releasing the games everyone wants. Everyone else is still trying to figure out what the fuck to do with 2 Gamecubes stuck together with waggle now that they've made the decision to deal with such a thing.

We've seen the third party future for the system. It's the Gamecube part 2. That's just the reality of it.

I'm just happy with a few good shmups and killer 7-2 No More Heroes by the end of it's lifecycle.

[Velorath]

The reality of it is that good games, with good marketing would sell on the Wii, regardless of competition from Nintendo.  It happened all the time back in the days of the NES and the SNES.  3rd parties only jumped ship after Nintendo pissed away all of its market share with the N64 and GC, and they got caught with their pants down this time around with everyone expecting the Wii to come in dead last again, and for the PS3 to have a much stronger release.

The Wii's biggest drawback to attracting 3rd party developers now, is that most companies are going multi-platform (even Square Enix, who have typically only supported one console per gen, are saying multi-platform is the way of the future), the Wii obviously can't handle the stuff that's being made for the 360 and PS3, and customers aren't going to accept inferior ports (like Madden).

Oh, and Ousama Monogatari (King Story, Project O, or whatever you want to call it) looks better than No More Heroes.

[schild]

If the Wii had a regular controller and did this well, we'd be looking at the new SNES. No question and I'd be a supporter.

It doesn't.

It has the Cthulhu of controllers. Some multi-tentacled device that just unleashes horror on the world. Ironically, THIS is why it's popular. Fucking Tennis, Baseball and Minigames.

Yea, Project O and No More Heroes. I was making a Killer 7 Joke though. Sure, there'll be 10-15 quality games on the Wii that are third party. JUST LIKE THE GAMECUBE.

Maybe my point wasn't clear enough last time.

[Velorath]

If the Wii had a regular controller and did this well, we'd be looking at the new SNES. No question and I'd be a supporter.

It doesn't.

It has the Cthulhu of controllers. Some multi-tentacled device that just unleashes horror on the world. Ironically, THIS is why it's popular. Fucking Tennis, Baseball and Minigames.

Yea, Project O and No More Heroes. I was making a Killer 7 Joke though. Sure, there'll be 10-15 quality games on the Wii that are third party. JUST LIKE THE GAMECUBE.

Maybe my point wasn't clear enough last time.

It's somewhat clear.  I just disagree with the notion that 3rd parties can't compete with Nintendo.  They can, but it just wasn't worth it on the N64 and GC and everyone seems clueless as to what to make of the current gen, so it's become multi-platform games for 360 and PS3 (aside from the few key exclusives Sony and MS bought), and throw some side games on to the Wii and handhelds.

[Calantus]

Wait, someone is gouging us on a gaming device? I am shocked. I am also looking forward to paying twice as much as amaericans on gaming devices and software once our dollars are the same. Did you know that the Aussie dollar is worth ~.9 US dollars but we still pay twice as much anyway? Yeah it's a funny world.

[Kageru]

As I understand it the australian PS3's have always had software based PS2 emulation which had fairly poor success. I guess they've just given up on actually making it work. It seems too stupid on their part to intentionally remove even partial support for such a huge back catalog of games on a console that's starved for games.

[UnSub]

Wait, someone is gouging us on a gaming device? I am shocked. I am also looking forward to paying twice as much as amaericans on gaming devices and software once our dollars are the same. Did you know that the Aussie dollar is worth ~.9 US dollars but we still pay twice as much anyway? Yeah it's a funny world.

I'm waiting for the day when the $AUS is equal to the $US and we are still paying $90 for games and $700 for an Xbox 360 pack. Someone will be making out like a bandit that day.

[pants]

Wait, someone is gouging us on a gaming device? I am shocked. I am also looking forward to paying twice as much as amaericans on gaming devices and software once our dollars are the same. Did you know that the Aussie dollar is worth ~.9 US dollars but we still pay twice as much anyway? Yeah it's a funny world.

I went into EB Games the other day to get Bioshock for the PC - $90.  So I walked home, hopped onto Steam, and picked it up for $50US (bout $55Aussie).  Thanks plummeting US dollar!

[Azazel]

I have a hard time understanding how a system that has triggered a lot of apathetic responses from people around here can also incite an equal amount of outrage.

Make up your minds! What the hell is it? "Meh, Sony" or "Fuck you, Sony!"

With PS2 compatability, it's "Meh, Sony". (aka, I'll get it later)

Without it, it's "Fuck you, Sony!" (aka, Fuck you, Sony!)

clearer?


edit after reading full thread - yes. I'm loving the new exchange rate. Most of my disposable income is going directly overseas to various vendors. Support local businesses middlemen? Fuck that.

[stray]

Not really clearer, no. Sorry! :) I could understand expressing a little disappointment, especially if you planned on getting one soon, but that doesn't seem to be the case. You were going to wait awhile for a better PS3 game catalog, a cheaper pricetag, and when HDTV's became a little more ubiquitous -- and I say to that: If you were going to hold out that long, then PS2 compability isn't going to mean much by then anyways. Just like PS1 compatibility on PS2's hasn't meant much for years now. Don't sweat it.

It's like what I told Jain Zar in that other thread.. That dude said he didn't plan on getting a PS3 until it hit 200 bucks -- yet he wanted to express outrage at the lack of PS2 compatibility now. And that's just ridiculous to me. By the time it hits $200, it'll be 2012 at best -- And by that time, even PS3 games will seem dated by then, let alone PS2 games. Not having the ability to play them will certainly not be something to get all fussy about at the very least. Besides that, PS2's will probably cost 10 dollars by then anyways, if it's that important to have one.

This isn't to say that I'm playing down PS2 compatibility now. I'm not. That's a big reason why I bought one *already*.

[Simond]

I still play PS1 games on my PS2.

[HaemishM]

They don't have less competition on the Wii. The attach rate sucks balls. As Marc Rein said, you're fighting over scraps. Websites are claiming he was talking about engines - I call bullshit on that assumption.

Everything I've read says the attach rate is higher than the PS3. The only difference is that the PS3 devs can all focus on a smaller segment of interests, while the Wii has gathered a larger set of people who aren't necessarily all interested in the same old genres. It takes more thought to make something for the Wii, and most devs are too fucking lazy to even bother. EA Sports is a perfect example of this. Both the Madden and the FIFA games for this year are crippled in comparison to other versions. Madden has no roster downloads and no support whatsoever and FIFA has removed the Manager Mode apparently. That's half-assing it. A good bit of the games that some of the developers have released have been lazy-ass shovelware like Far Cry, or Spider-Man 3 or Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Mark Rein can say that he'd be fighting over scraps because his genre targets people who WOULD buy a PS3. He just forgets that people who buy the Wii might also be interested.

As for competing with Nintendo, they don't have to. That's another lazy excuse. Devs just don't want to program for a game that doesn't have the latest shiny. I've seen it in PC game development for years, and it's the same assholes making the same excuses. It's somehow beneath them.

[Yegolev]

The new model is priced at $699.95 but will not be compatible with Playstation 2 games, lacks a memory card reader and reduces the number of USB ports from four to two. But the biggest change sees the hard drive shrunk from 60GB to 40GB.

The bolded part is retarded for at least two reasons.

[stray]

Wait, aren't they just going to phase out the 60, upgrade that with an 80 --- and now that they've phased out the 20, there will be this 40 gig version in place of that?

Basically, there will now be 80 and 40 versions, right? Why is that bad?

[Yegolev]

I don't really think it's bad, having a Good and Bargain PS3 on the shelves.  There are a lot of people who want to continue playing their PS2 games, and you might expect these people are a bit more serious about games just based on having that concern so they will probably want the Fancy PS3.  Then there are people that don't give a shit about BC or don't have a significant PS2 library, and they are not as likely to want to pay a lot of cash for a console in the first place.  The only way this would suck is if they stopped selling the Fancy PS3.

I don't get why they didn't drop wireless LAN.

[Sairon]

That's half-assing it. A good bit of the games that some of the developers have released have been lazy-ass shovelware like Far Cry, or Spider-Man 3 or Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

I don't see why it would be a suprise that it gets half baked crap. The demographic Nintendo is aiming for isn't really the sophisticated gamer.

[stray]

There are a lot of people who want to continue playing their PS2 games, and you might expect these people are a bit more serious about games just based on having that concern so they will probably want the Fancy PS3.

I'm one of them. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was downplaying PS2 BC. That was a factor in why I bought one already. I'm just questioning the outrage here. Very few ever expressed an opinion about it before, and just went on and on about how they were gonna hold out for a better PS3 catalog and whatnot years down the road. Now all of the sudden they're super pissed about it.

I don't get why they didn't drop wireless LAN.

It's the way of the future!

[HaemishM]

That's half-assing it. A good bit of the games that some of the developers have released have been lazy-ass shovelware like Far Cry, or Spider-Man 3 or Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

I don't see why it would be a suprise that it gets half baked crap. The demographic Nintendo is aiming for isn't really the sophisticated gamer.

That doesn't mean they don't like sophisticated games. 3rd party Wii devs are for the most part being insulting shitbags right now. They either want to make licensed kids crap, or shovel titles over on the system from other systems with waggle added as an afterthought, or they think the only thing people want is mini-games. People who should know better are throwing good money away developing shit.

[Mrbloodworth]

I still play PS1 games on my PS2.

Me too, the removal of it makes me less inclined to get a PS3, but isn't this Europe only? are am i reading this wrong?

[schild]

That doesn't mean they don't like sophisticated games. 3rd party Wii devs are for the most part being insulting shitbags right now. They either want to make licensed kids crap, or shovel titles over on the system from other systems with waggle added as an afterthought, or they think the only thing people want is mini-games. People who should know better are throwing good money away developing shit.

That's because Wii owners will buy licensed kid crap and shoveled titles because they don't know anything about games and went for the cheapest option. If I were a developer, I'd be shoveling shitty mini-games to it also.

It's easy when the bulk of your fanbase is gibbering retards.