Kutaragi on PS3: "it'll be expensive"

http://playstation3.joystiq.com/entry/1234000880051487/

I think x360 has the best strategy. Power where it counts focused on gaming with limited mulit media capacity for about 300.00. I think Sony is loosing its focus, and with all the expenses related to PS3 they will not be able to create a robust online experience. It doesnt help their projected revenue was slashed 90% from poor sales and competition from samsung.

Definately, the next couple of years will be very, very interesting. I really don't have an opinion on what the outcome most likely will be. But right now the PS3 is looking less and less favorable of have an incredible launch. I can only imagine Nintendo and Microsoft are smiling in response to Kutaragis comments on its price.

Sadly, it will be bought, and it will be bought in record numbers. We have a PC scene now where a "gaming rig", ie. a video card or two can cost $500-$700 for the top of the line gear. And the top of the line gear is what a lot of games are being coded for in most instances, not wide compatibility. So the PS3 for $500+? That's a hell of a lot less than $2000-$3000 for the equally top of the line PC gaming rig.

Gaming prices are just going stupidly through the roof. Remember when a game cost $50? Now what do they cost... $60 + $15 monthly. Who decided a game should cost 60 bucks to have the privelege to pay to play a game? A whole slew of consumers. I personally find it scary that people let themselves be sold, sold, sold.

"Consumer self defence" is the only way out of this. You all know what that is.

Ps3 for $500 or more , No thanks

It won't sell. Look at 3DO and Neo Geo. Bring it out at a price most people can afford or it will never sell enough to be able to cut the cost by $100 the next year to get everybody else to buy it. :(

Daniel, good point but remember gaming pc's have multi purposes. So the same can be said in reverse, why spend 500.00+ on a limited piece of machinary put in 300.00 more and build yourself a bad ass gaming rig that has multi-functioning purposes. When I think of christmas and im in front of the line and I see xbx 299.99 and PS3 @ 499.99, as a parent guess which im gonna choose? Im sure they will sell ok, but not in the droves everyone is thinking.

Also, following this logic.. how much are games gonna cost? 79.99? 89.99? I mean if your aiming for people to value their consel by how much they pay, you should follow the same philosophy with the games. Plus blue ray disk?? OUCH$

Like someone said above, PC's have other uses. But let's say the PS3 costs 500 dollars... Take 300 to equal what the PS2 cost upon release and your left with 200 dollars. Now consier that this thing also will be a HiDef DVD player. How much did you spend on your first DVD player? Or even your first progressive scan... so there, cost justified.

As a parent, I would probably choose the Revolution at $149-199. As a gamer who doesn't care about kids, I'd get all three (eventually).

Lectoid,

Not justified how do you know studios will make movies in blue ray fromat? The insiders say they are leaning towards hd-dvd becuase the additonal capacity is not needed and the old pressing machines will work for HD-DVD, making blue ray movies will require major investment.

I mean for Sony to justify the cost to it's investors who are probably selling Sony stock right now like crazy. I am on the Rev. bandwagon and eagarly await my precious controller info like the rest of the stupid fanboys.

I am familier with the blueray/HD-DVD war, but don't care either way until the dust settles.

If I had to pick between the 360 and PS3, probably 360 for the free live thingy, and I hated, HATED!!!! the xbox (for a reason, just watch that MTV/360 launch, represents everything wrong with M$ vision).

Im sorry what was wrong with the MTV thing? It was a sneak peek, not a launch. I though it was alright not great or horrible. Horrible was was E3 when Sony put on those pre-rendered stuff. And nintendo brought out a small plastic box.

What did you guys expect? You can't have the most powerful console with cutting edge graphics hardware for $99.99 right out of the gates.

-----PS3 Costs---------
Lets see, $625CDN( $500US x Exchange = 1.25), oh ya I need a memory card as well $50CDN and it would be nice to be able to get a game with it too $80CDN, grand total $755CDN plus the nasty taxes that we pay up north, $780 + 14% = $860.70 CDN and that is with the crappy 90 day warranty.

-----Xbox360 Costs-----
$375 CDN (Exchange = 1.25) for an Xbox360, no memory card required because of internal hard drive, one game $80 CDN, and the grand total $455 CDN plus 14% tax = $518.70 CDN.

It’s a savings of $342.00 CDN if you buy and Xbox 360 at the PS3 $625 ($500US) price range, $199.50 CDN savings if the PS3 sells for $500 CDN ($400US).

I like Sony but I am not made out of money!!!! I know in comparison with the PC it’s not much but come on! I gave up upgrading/fixing/debugging/virus-removing my computer every few months just to play the latest game several years ago. I still enjoy the PC market from time to time but I much prefer the consol and my big screen TV, surround sound system with comfy couch.

On another note I like the fact that Nintendo and Microsoft are investing in the Canadian based company ATI. So an Xbox360 will be in my household this winter and probably a Revolution down the road and then a PS3.

Being that Sony is notorious for lying we really don’t know what the price is.

I have an answer to what the comment just above mine is asking: What do we expect?

Well-- First of all, Sony were idiots from the beginning: Why did the PS2 sell so well? Because it had great graphics (at the time), it had good games, and it was reasonably affordable! ALSO, it didn't have 1,000 different things all jammed into one console.

I don't understand why Sony and Microsoft continue to jam all these different features into a VIDEO GAME console. It's supposed to be a video game console, NOT A SUPER COMPUTER! And if "super computer" is what Sony was aiming for, so be it, but I know a hell a lot of people that aren't looking for a super computer. Sure, they want good graphics, but they're not going to spend 500+ dollars on features they already have!

Sony: STOP adding so much to your consoles! We already have DVD players, we already have computers, we don't need Blu-Rae Discs and we don't want them!

Why should anyone pay $500 or more for features that we already have?? I think it's really, really cool that Sony can do all that, and I know many people that are definitely going to buy the PS3 regardless of its price, and I'm fine with that! But I think Sony is going down the wrong direction.

The majority of the consumers want great graphics, fast loading times, wireless controllerse, and some internet access. NOT a supercomputer.

While I will always support Nintendo, and plan to buy a Revolution, I think the XBOX360 will lead the next generation sales overall, with Nintendo in second, and Sony in third.

I repeat: $500 and up is simply WAY too much for a video game console.

Tough luck Sony, you're going down this generation...

"...the most powerful console with cutting edge graphics hardware..."

But what is this if the games are crap? You end up payinng all that money for absolutely nothing.

I think 500 USD is unlikely, 400 maybe but not 500. Sony is not stupid, they're not going to price their machine 200 more than the X360. And who knows how much more than the revolution.

I'm surprised that SONY has not put a gag in Kutaragi's mouth yet.

I still have alot of doubts about the PS3. I mean, I can't really expect much from a company that sold me a broken PS2 and is almost 500 billion dollars in debt. Naaah. I think I will just be happy with my revolution and xbox360. Ill leave the PS3 to the fanboys.

“I’m aware that with all these technologies, the PS3 can’t be offered at a price that’s targeted towards households. I think everyone can still buy it if they wanted to… I’m not going to reveal its price today. I’m going to only say that it’ll be expensive.”

WTF? Aren't households the primary market for video game consoles by a huge margin? Is this a translation error or does Kutaragi have some mystery market in mind that will buy tens of millions of game consoles?

"If I had to pick between the 360 and PS3, probably 360 for the free live thingy, and I hated, HATED!!!! the xbox (for a reason, just watch that MTV/360 launch, represents everything wrong with M$ vision)."

Why is everything this guy writes make me think he's under 10 years old? Bottom line, does it have good games or not? Do you think the programmers are part of the M$/MTV vision? Of course not! I never think of M$/MTV while playing Halo, Ninja Gaiden, SW: KOTOR, Orta, etc.

Anyways, as far as the PS3 goes, I envision $999.99 just like their first DVD player.

The Blu-ray will be meaningless unless the major producers pick it up.. And it really does look like HD-DVD is etching it out (Betamax anyone?)

You don't need Blu-ray for games, it's overkill and a waste of money.

There is no way I am going to pay that much for a PS3, I thought $400 was a hell of a lot but $500? Are they Crazy?! I suppose with the losses they said they would make from the console being $400 that the higher price is a logical move (for Sony).

The Xbox 360 has proven itself now with games like PGR3 but all the PS3 has shown is a load of CGI and a crappy looking Gundam Demo, I don't want an "Entertainment system" I want a good Gaming system with good solid games than can also do other stuff on the side but Sony seem to push the less important stuff that really should be left on the side, could this mean the PS3 wont be good for games?

By the looks of it the PS3 is a nightmare to program for so expect a really dull launch line up, nothing like the great games set for launch on the 360. Not to mention Video streaming from the PC and tones of Downloadble stuff... Who needs a higher capacity disk?

I say the Hell with Sony, the greedy bastards.. Boycot the Hype Station 3 and let Sony Die.

I actually think the PS3 will probably be 350 or the most 399....they are just saying this stuff to hype up the machine.

Analyst predicted the PSP would be 400 something before it came out, but it ends up being 250 US?

With the 50-100 dollars differences, I am still perferring the PS3 over XBOX360 at the moment because of the games and the features (Blu-ray, 7 controllers). I am considering the XBOX360 though because of some of the recent annouced games in the Japan summit.

it amazing how you xbox fan boys keep saying that xbox has and will have better games when most of the top ten selling games are ps2 and gc. only one xbox game

1. Gran Turismo 4 (PlayStation 2: SCEA)
2. Pokemon Emerald (Game Boy Advance: Nintendo)
3. MVP Baseball 2005 (PlayStation 2: Electronic Arts)
4. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (PlayStation 2: LucasArts)
5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PlayStation 2: Take-Two)
6. God Of War (PlayStation 2: SCEA)
7. Zelda: The Minish Cap (Game Boy Advance: Nintendo)
8. Resident Evil 4 (GameCube: Capcom)
9. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PlayStation 2: Take-Two)
10. Star Wars Episode III Revenge Of The Sith (Xbox)

Why would sony say "It's gonna be Expensive"?!.. So that everyone thinks "Hmm... The Xbox 360 comes out almost a year before the PS3 and will be a lot cheaper.. IL get a 360!!!"

No.. I think it will be expensive.

Conde:

The only reason that the PS2 has so many games in the Top 10 like that is because of the install base. There are 90 million PS2's in the world ... if the Top 10 SALES chart wasn't dominated by Sony I'd be shocked.

It's remarkable that a Gamecube and Xbox game even made the list at all ... and if anything speaks volumes about PS2 games. With an installed base SO large, Sony *should* be crushing everything in its path, but its not.

Boo-hoo for you americans is all i can say.

$499.99 = £284.42 / 412.44 EURO

The Playstation 2 cost £299.99, and at the current exchange rate, that's $527.35

So while all the worry about a $500 price tag for the PS3 might seem very important to you, spare a thought to us European gamers, who get things ALWAYS late, and always much more expensive, so imagine how much any of the
*next-gen con$ole$* are going to cost for us?!?!

Xbox 360 will be £200 in the UK.

Conde- The xbox fanboys are probably talking about the 360 having more games because the next generation of gaming has nothing to do with the current one as far as game libraries go. If you've kept up with all the press announcements you may have learned that 50 of Japan's top developers have signed on for the 360 and support keeps rolling in. Sony currently has a death grip on the console market, however this will NOT be the case next time around. The 360 will have just as many titles, IF NOT MORE, than the PS3 if things keep going as they are. Many developers that were Sony exclusive this generation have already pledged support for the 360. Sorry to burst your bubble...

Ken is just hyping the PS3 so when it comes out at $299, people will jump all over it thinking they are getting $600 of tech at an amazingly low price.

Duh

Seems odd to keep saying it's going to be expensive and then not mean it. Maybe if he said it once, but he says it so much. People will get scared into buying an xbox if he keeps doing this... and then even if it's cheap they may still not buy the PS3.

Fanboys need to calm down and realize the real world isn't a pile of fluffy pink bunnies. The ps3 doesn't have to sell, neither does the 360, or the nintendo. Microsoft is the only company of the 3 that is making a good amount of money right now, so at least you know'll they'll be around for a few years. If sony and nintendo don't have good launches, who knows what could happen to them. Nintendo should be cheap enough to be competitive, but sony seems like it might be late, and too expensive. People don't want to spend that much on a gaming device. You can't type homework up on it, or do your finances, so it really doesn't serve any function like a computer does. But from what sony is saying right now, it sounds like it will be 1000 bucks. I don't think he'd be saying stuff like "households can't afford it" if it was going to be 500.

The truth of the matter is, arguing about it is going no where. No one is convincing anyone of anything. All that we know right now is that we know nothing. So just wait until they release it, then talk about whether or not it's worth it. Time flies people, you'll be playing your revolutions and ps3's and xbox 360's before you know it.

I agree with Eran Hawke. Sony did the same thing with the Playstation and Playstation 2. When the Playstation launched at $300 people were shocked everyone though it would be $500+. The the time the Saturn was selling for $400.

I still say $300-$400.

You are being played by the Sony Hype Machine

Yeah, an expensive mistake for Sony.

I'll just add what grmc said. The PS2 wins because of the installed base. Period. If one of the other systems had the installed case, the games would be made for them.

The next gen is a drag race. Which system can get the installed base the fastest. The price is going to be a BIG factor, especially when you take into acount the quality of the first generation games. The PS2 launched into pretty much an empty market, and went gangbusters. This time, they're going into a crowded market, and are going to need to compete from the ground up.

Remember people thought PSPs were gonna go for $300+?

People are dumb. Also, did you COMPLETELY skip the part where the first X360s coming off the line won't even have the HD-DVD, meaning you'll have to UPGRADE your X360 to play all the games. How much more do you think that'll run? While a hard drive may not be included with the PS3, it won't limit the ammount of games you can play.

Gotta keep the X360 $$$ + HD/DVD addition = total price. I have a feeling the HD/DVD-ROM will go for a *BIT* more than the PS3's HDD.

So while initial X360 launch may be cheaper, you can't ignore the tag ons you'll have to get.

Eitherway, I'll probably get an X360 for Live for my friend moving to Texas... Then the PS3 for all my roleplaying/single player needs. I may get the revolution, depending on if the X360/PS3 can't fit my needs.

If sony breaks teh 300 - 350 price barrier; I'm officially out. There's no way in hell i'd pay a cent more for any of the next gen consoles; I could care less what it's shipping with. This coming from someone who has the ps one; ps2 and two psp's.
Peace out sony!

i wish he would go ahead and tell us so i can start saving

#36 What are you talking about? Do you just create your own world or what. HD-dvd has nothing to do with a game format. It is a movie format. the 360 will not have a HDDVD drive period. MS position has been that since the industry hasn't made up it's mind on a dvd format they will just wait until they do. Many of the industry experts believe it to be 1 to 2 yrs before the next format is widely used. At that point Ms can release an "Add on" drive for either format. Bluray or hddvd. There has never been a plan to introduce a 360 later with an hd drive. this add on drive would be much like the ps3 hard drive. This plan by MS also keeps you from ending up on the wrong side of the format wars. Sony is choosing because bluray is thiers. MS has no vested interest in HD or Bluray, so they chose to wait. Oh and the top 10 selling games list is wrong. It may okay for a particular month, but overall it's not even close to right. Not that it actually matters for the next gen.

People can complain all they want about the HD-DVD compatability not being in the first versions of the X360. But the fact of the matter is, the PS3 HAS NO HARD DRIVE! ROFLMFAO! You actually have to buy it later on seperately. Hahahaha poor saps. And whats really funny is, Sony wont even use the hard drive. They will just say "It will be compatible with almost all future PS3 games" But everyone knows it wont. The exact same thing happened with the PS2's HDD(Xbox ripoff).

I dont know why you guys are whining about the price. think of how much time and entertainment you will get out of this machine over the YEARS that you will have it. Even with the added cost of games the money per hour spent at the end will be microscopic.
Yeah the initial investment will be alot but leave that to me because ill be getting mine the first day. if you dont feel like shelling out 500 then wait for the first price drop. and remember the the price of the PS3 will be inversely proportional to the number of xbox360s that have been sold.
BluRay is the way to go. i think its good that the game cost will go up. with all the extra room games have the potential to be spectacular. There will be fewer games but they will be of higher quality because people will be less willing to shell out 70 dollars for a half put together game. no more cookie cutter cut and paste games. The potential for inovation is there.Sony is creating the medium that will revolutionize the way we see gaming

those game stats were from june-july. and i bet that most of the companies that signed for xbox360 did not go exclusive. no smart company in there right mind would do that. they will develope for all consoles. they may have some exculsive xbox titles, but they are still going to make exculsive nREV and ps3 titles, and games for all consoles.

As a young, single, educated American man with some disposable income I can confidently say that I'm a prime example of Sony's target market.

If Sony thinks I'm going to plop down $500 for a PS3 they're frickin' crazy. I'll already have an xbox 360 hooked to a HDTV and a bunch of games by mid-06.

Hmmm.... I could buy a PS3 and 2 games or a Revolution with 3 games PLUS 5 more 360 games. That's a no brainer.

"But it's a computer, and that's cheap for a fast computer" says the Sony fanboy. Yeah, but I already bought a sweet multimedia machine called a Mac. And I already have a gaming PC, so forget about selling me a PS3 MMO-type game.

Don't get me wrong, I like Sony. They make good stuff. But on my list of tech stuff to buy the PS3 is waaaay at the bottom.

The 360 will be the main console in 5 years time, with Rev and PS3 splitting the difference.

Actually, Microsoft joined the HDDVD consortium a couple months ago.


"Microsoft and Toshiba work to work together on HD-DVD
by Derek Sooman on Mon 27 Jun 2005, 08:00 PM
In a new twist on the next generation DVD format war, Microsoft has said it will work with Toshiba to jointly investigate the development of High Definition-DVD (HD-DVD) players. The move considerably strengthens the position of Toshiba in the format war, who were previously looking like they were going to be the losers.

In its fierce battle with Sony over the format of next generation DVD, Toshiba needs all the friends it can get and Microsoft is a pretty powerful friend to have.


"From the HD-DVD viewpoint we now have a very strong supporter," said Atsutoshi Nishida, the president and chief executive of Toshiba. "We want to leverage this support and come up with a concrete outcome."

Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, has claimed that the company remains neutral in this particular conflict, despite the fact that Microsoft is a member of the HD-DVD group. Nevertheless, Microsoft will investigate development of HD-DVD players using Microsoft Windows CE technology."

Oh brother. XBox wasn't expensive? PS2 wasn't expensive? The price came down to what we have now. Wow. so the 22 guys who post here won't buy one? Sin keeps posting the same thing over and over, so I'm only counting him once. But MILLIONS of people WILL buy this thing.

You can type dumb-as-hick acronyms like "ROTFL' and 'LMFAO,' you can choose to only hear Sony when they say 'for more than video games' and then ignore Microsoft when they also say 'media hub and center.' you can act like Sony is ripping you off by asking you to pay for a hard drive, but ignore Microsoft making you pay for an upgrade to a HD media drive...

Wait till it comes out, you will want one. The 360 will be cool too, but to act like you won't want a PS3, you're not being an honest gamer.

Also, with the movie and media industry begging for a common HD-DVD standard, Blu-Ray ain't lookin' so bad to come in and clean up - the PS3 will be the earliest mass-availability HD dvd player, probably a mid-range price one, even at $500. Unless of course Microsoft announces their intentions for the drive in the 360.

And um, single male educated American male, join the rest of us and buy both like a true pimp will!

Danny Boy

Where do you get you're deep insider info from.. Are DeepThroat?

ET

Play on Playa!

BlueRay/HD-DVD argument is irrelevant at this stage. 360 wont have either at launch and the only software available at PS3 launch will be games(I doubt there'll be many movies).

Dmitri(yes you are unimpressive)

Not having a HDD didnt really cripple the PS2 saleswise even after the release of the technically superior Xbox. Even you must realise that the only people making full use of the Xbox HDD are those with chipped machines.

As for Japanese developers, didnt 100 odd Japanese developers sign up for the Xbox? That went well.

Dont get me wrong the 360 is an awesome machine thats definitely on my shopping list in the next 9 months(world wide launch = 30-100,000 sold out machines making it to the UK on launch). But the next-gen war wont be won this christmas or christmas 2006. It wont be until christmas 2007 that the winners announced and whoever it is it wont be a knock-out, more likely a points decision, which can only be great for everyone.

Um, yeah, they mentioned adding an HD/DVD-ROM to the X360 later on. My guess is eventually there will be games that need more room than 9gigs(over the course of 5 years of the console, its plenty possible). Sorta like how the N64 had games that required the memory expansion. I'm sure the same will happen to the X360.

And for everyone saying the PS3 having blu-ray won't matter because no movies will be out... Aren't the games all going to be blu-ray? I wouldn't exactly say it's a worthless endeavor then. For one, the mass of songs you'll be able to fit on a tony hawk will be nice. An entire gig devoted for rap, an entire gig for old punk, entire gig for new punk. Mix and match and have a blast. Sure, you'll say "get the X360, it'll have a hard drive and you can make your own!" - I usually like the THPS's soundtracks, it introduces me to new music that I end up liking. That and the grand appeal of working out of the box, no configuration needed. Even aside from that, games can have more models, more sounds, and for games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Dynasty Warriors where space is the limiting factor, more playable characters/items/data.

It'll be sweet times. Let's not forget about the retro(that everyone seems obsessed with) of compilation discs eventually. Imagine being able to buy a disc that has Final Fantasy I through XII(save for XI) on it. It'd be conveinent(and probably bootleg). Still a very VERY entertaining thought though. I could clear out a hell of a lot of desk space if that ever happened.

"Danny Boy

Where do you get you're deep insider info from.. Are DeepThroat?"

Wtf? The HD-DVD vs Blu-ray news is all over the place you Moron.. Producing Blu-ray disks requires new equipment while producing a HD-DVD disk can be done on current equimpment and on top of that each Blu-ray disk is more expensive to make.

Producers ARE leaning towards HD-DVD (15-45 gig) not Blu-ray (25-50 gig).. And there is a new advanced DVD compression that Microsoft have Intoduced to game developers if they do actualy need more space than is avalible on a DvD disk (Has the potential for 2x the storage)..

Do some research before you start insulting me, Moron.

Oh yes and If HD-DVD does take over, the Blu-ray in the PS3 will almost be useless.

Remember those crappy DvD drives Thompson made for the Original xbox? well M$ replaced them all no fee, they also gave the people that payed full price at launch 2 games and a controller for FREE.. So i think they can afford to take in Xbox units and replace the Drives with HD-DVD drives (If it ever happens.

I doubt there will be any use for a higher capacity disk untill something like 2007/8