There it is, $500

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:46 pm

PS3= $500 for a 20gb version, and a whopping $600 for the 60gb version. That seals it, no PS3 for me until some major price drops. To add to that, none of the games really impressed me beyond what the 360 can do.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:48 pm

Sony can go f*ck themselves with that price.

Saw one person's reaciton to the games as something like this:

shoot shoot shoot race shoot race race shoot Sonic shoot shoot

Definitely not an impressive presentation from my perspective.

But hey, they are 4-D, BAY-BEE!!!

The motion sensing controller seems like a late tack-on to me.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:53 pm

Did you actually make it through that presentation? Good god it was boring.

As someone who was skeptical about the PS3 all along, let me say, I saw absolutely nothing in 80+ minutes of that presentation that would make me want to buy a PS3, $500 price tag completely aside. Same games, same controllers, hi-res graphics. Yawn.

F308GTB · Post by **F308GTB** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:56 pm

Naples39 wrote:Did you actually make it through that presentation? Good god it was boring.

As someone who was skeptical about the PS3 all along, let me say, I saw absolutely nothing in 80+ minutes of that presentation that would make me want to buy a PS3, $500 price tag completely aside. Same games, same controllers, hi-res graphics. Yawn.

How's it really any different than MS or N's boxes? Aside from the controllers, it's the same old games no matter which platform. There hasn't been much originality in the last few years.

rayray00 · Post by **rayray00** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:57 pm

$500 or $600?!?!?

wow....just... WOW.

Nothing really *that* impressive.

-Ray!!

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:59 pm

F308GTB wrote:
Naples39 wrote:Did you actually make it through that presentation? Good god it was boring.

As someone who was skeptical about the PS3 all along, let me say, I saw absolutely nothing in 80+ minutes of that presentation that would make me want to buy a PS3, $500 price tag completely aside. Same games, same controllers, hi-res graphics. Yawn.
How's it really any different than MS or N's boxes? Aside from the controllers, it's the same old games no matter which platform. There hasn't been much originality in the last few years.

I take it you're not a believer in the big Wii then? I mean did you see anything remotely compelling gameplay wise in the presentation? I certainly didn't.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon May 08, 2006 9:59 pm

Sadly, what interested me the most about the controller wasn't answered--will L2/R2 still be pressure sensitive buttons or will they be triggers?

Fortunately for MS, these Sony guys reminded me that J. Allard and crew aren't the biggest douchebags in the gaming world.

Honestly, I've never felt like picking up a 360 more than I do right now. I figure the Wii will be affordable and lack the sports game support I'd like, so why not go to Costco to get their Premium bundle?

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Mon May 08, 2006 10:04 pm

I'll probably get it at this Holiday season because the Blu-Ray drive will provide HDTV movie capability which would cost at least $500 by itself.

However, Sony may have dug themselves into a hole by going from $300 in 2000 to $500-600 in 2006.

They'll probably sell the first few million at those prices without too much difficulty.

But beyond that, it will be a very hard-sell. Maybe they think the market has aged and prospective purchasers would be attracted to the digital media features.

Let's hope MS and Nintendo puts pressure on them to cut those prices as soon as possible.

reeche · Post by **reeche** » Mon May 08, 2006 10:25 pm

Price is insane for a game system. Good for a blu-ray dvd player. The problem is that I don't know that there is a demand for a blu-ray dvd player. People just want a game system and that price is ridiculous for it. I thought the 360 was too expensive and obviosuly this is far worse and doesn't include the mandatory bundle deals that will pop up I'm sure.

I think for the first time Sony may have made a big mistake and opened the door to someone stealing their crown this gen. We'll see.

Btw. The games they showed on that presentation were not all that. Maybe it was just me but Gran Tourismo didn't exactly blow my mind.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Mon May 08, 2006 10:35 pm

I'll spend $499 for the 20 GB version if MLB The Show looks good, and I have no reason to believe it won't. I spent $399 on the 360, and it didn't even have a good football or baseball game going for it. If they give The Show the full next gen treatment, it will be worth more than an extra $100 bucks to me. Life's too short.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Mon May 08, 2006 10:40 pm

Unconfirmed but there's a report that the $500 version won't have Wifi or an HDMI port.

Which makes no sense because you need HDMI for high-def movie playback.

If they remove HDMI, they might as well remove the Blu-Ray drive too.

Doesn't MS charge $75 for the Wifi dongle?

How do these companies get away with charging such premiums for a commoditized technology? And just when 802.11n is about to come out.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon May 08, 2006 10:46 pm

wco81 wrote:Unconfirmed but there's a report that the $500 version won't have Wifi or an HDMI port.

Which makes no sense because you need HDMI for high-def movie playback.

Hell, MS is going to release an HD-DVD add-on with no HDMI output, so why not.

Sony might copy the MS lame-brain sell-a-half-system-for-cheaper strategy. Good call.

For a while I've thought this is going to be the ultimate test of the PlayStation name. Tonight did nothing to change my opinion.

Just saw this link online, seems to back up that report:

http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release ... 0509ae.pdf

Funny that they didn't mention those differences during the presentation.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon May 08, 2006 10:58 pm

My first reaction is that they missed me by $100. Hitting $500 for the stripped down version?

bdunn13 · Post by **bdunn13** » Mon May 08, 2006 11:03 pm

I hope it does not come with wireless... Wired is far cheaper, faster and more secure.

500 is alot for a console, but its still a deal for what you get. They will have no problem like someone said selling the first few million units.

maddoc1979 · Post by **maddoc1979** » Mon May 08, 2006 11:10 pm

My reactions were simply, WAY too much money for a game system. Yeah it's got blu-ray, but so what. My HDTV is only 720p anyways, and the blu-ray advantage won't make too much of a difference just yet. Besides, I'm not buying movies for 30-40 bucks anyway, and there won't be enough adoption that studios are only going to release blu-ray discs. The problem with this pricing, is that even though it's cheaper than the standalone blu-ray players, the people that are buying blu-ray this year are not the general public. HDTV has a roughly 10% adoption rate in the US as of now, and these aren't the 1080p sets that are selling. If anyone's ever been shopping around christmas time, you know that TONS of people are still buying cheap DVD players as their first sets...blu-ray isn't even a thought or an option for these folks. So these folks aren't going to drop 500-600 bucks on the system just so they have a "cheap" blu-ray player. 500-600 bucks isn't cheap, period. Not to mention that their showing of software just wasn't at all exciting. Nothing original at all.

Second thought...Sony's out of ideas. Wow...totally original idea with the controller, Sony. Of course, the initial reaction is...uh oh, what's Nintendo going to do now. But this isn't anything like the nintendo controller. Lots of differences...starting with the aforementioned price of the system. Secondly, functionally, it seems more like one of those gameboy cartridges that detect tilt and stuff. Lastly, the demonstration was seriously underwhelming...not like what Nintendo has shown already. And the online strategy...where have I seen that before...oh yeah, MS is already doing it.

Third thought...a comparison between Nintendo and Sony. They're headed in totally opposite directions with this generation. Nintendo seems to be saying, let's open gaming to the general public. Get people to play games, who don't normally play games. Sony seems to be catering only to the hardcore gamer. Highly priced, more or less same style games, with better graphics.

Last thought...Sony will surely sell out of the PS3 in November. There will still be idiots lined up for hours waiting for their chance to spend their money on the system. But they'll likely sell out for 2 reasons, only. First, the worldwide launch. I'm very skeptical that they'll be able to produce enough of these without having a ton of shortages. Unless, of course, they priced themselves out of a bunch of pre-orders. Second, they'll sell out because of the hardcore gamers. And it'll be the 'most successful launch ever' with sellouts everywhere. Then as production ramps up, the regular Joe will not be able to afford the machine and it'll sit on shelves waiting for a price drop.

Here's what I know...despite being able to afford it, I'm not dropping $600 on the system, plus $60-70 bucks each for a couple of games. My purchases in November will likely be the Nintendo machine and a game or two, and Guitar Hero 2 for my throughly enjoyable PS2.

Doc

Edit: Here's a link confirming the missing features of the $500 version. Looks like the $600 version is your cheaper blu-ray player...don't know how the $500 version will work without HDMI given Sony's copy-protection screen.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/705/705887p1.html

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Mon May 08, 2006 11:17 pm

webdanzer wrote:My first reaction is that they missed me by $100. Hitting $500 for the stripped down version?

Well it will have a hard drive and still a high-capacity optical drive.

On Wifi, you will still have a gigabit ethernet port so you can use either wired or wireless connections.

One other thing people are saying is that the noise and heat levels will be comparable to the PS2 Slim.

But it appears to have grown in volume so it's bigger than the X360 in all dimensions. Slightly bigger, not a lot bigger but bigger still.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon May 08, 2006 11:22 pm

WOW!!!!!!!!!

We wont need blue Ray til there are a vast amount of blue rays even If blue ray wins that battle....I think they are nuts...I no longer feel bad about buying the 360 alot earlier than I had planned. No wonder they were keeping everything under wraps...Ugly...

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Mon May 08, 2006 11:33 pm

XXXIV wrote:WOW!!!!!!!!!

We wont need blue Ray til there are a vast amount of blue rays even If blue ray wins that battle....I think they are nuts...I no longer feel bad about buying the 360 alot earlier than I had planned. No wonder they were keeping everything under wraps...Ugly...

It seems that the early adopters are favoring HD-DVD over Blu-Ray. Basically they're saying Blue-Ray is going to be another Betamax.

Sadly, I think Sony has priced me out of the market on this one. It will easily cost $700+ out the door for the systems, an extra controller, and one game. This will be the first console launch I have ever missed.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon May 08, 2006 11:42 pm

I was reading this article on a plane over the weekend and I found the article online so you guys can share your thoughts as well. The only thing missing is a chart showing the leaps MS has taken in the game industry, and with their portable coming up, they may just jump ahead of Sony finally, especially when they announced those steep prices for the PS3.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/077e0ddc-ddef- ... e2340.html

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:01 am

I've definately been priced out of this one. I mainly can't afford something like this because i already bought a 360 and, more so, i bought a $600 widescreen LCD monitor to fully enjoy my 360. That was a huge gift to myself after saving more money than i needed for my new apartment AND getting a higher paying job. If the PS3 had come out before the 360 there would be no way i would have bought it at $600. I'm not even going to consider purchasing a PS3 until i see a $300 price drop, and the chance of that happening is slim to none. The Wii on the other hand sounds delicious at a sub $200 price point with a potentially revolutionary controller. But i'll hold off final judgement until i see what Nintendo really has to offer.

Kazuya · Post by **Kazuya** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:15 am

Pretty much a non-story, IMO... the PS3 will sell like hotcakes in the beginning (the Xbox 360, which doesn't have anywhere near the name brand or loyalty of the PlayStation, went routinely for $1500 and up on eBay during the launch). If and when the demand tails off, they will lower the cost. The PS3 is too important for Sony to let it sit on shelves; they'll subsidize when they need to. But there's no doubt at all they can milk the early adopters.

There's no way I'll bite on $600... I can wait a bit. $500 for the tricked out version, I could have dealt with.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:29 am

Kazuya wrote:
There's no way I'll bite on $600... I can wait a bit. $500 for the tricked out version, I could have dealt with.

Yeah, that is my thinking exactly. Missed by $100.

Kazuya · Post by **Kazuya** » Tue May 09, 2006 1:04 am

webdanzer wrote:
Kazuya wrote:
There's no way I'll bite on $600... I can wait a bit. $500 for the tricked out version, I could have dealt with.
Yeah, that is my thinking exactly. Missed by $100.

Having said that, it will be interesting to see how Sony markets the two bundles because as wco81 pointed out, we're not talking about the difference between Xbox 360 Core and Premium here. Whereas I always felt that the Xbox 360 Core was the "Cheapo Pack" and the Premium was the standard, with these two bundles I see more of a standard and "hardcore extreme" version. The $499 version is identical except for: 20GB hard drive (same as 360, and should be plenty), memory card support (luxury), WiFi (luxury) and HDMI out (certainly a luxury now, may change). Unlike the Core pack, which virtually no one wanted to touch with a ten foot pole, I can actually see *myself* going for the $499 PS3, especially if (and I know it's a big if) Sony gives you the ability to add an HDMI out later.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue May 09, 2006 1:19 am

Without HDMI, you almost have no use for the Blu-Ray drive because studios can at their discretion have HDTV movies cut their resolution to 960x540, which is a quarter of the pixels of 1080p.

It will be interesting to see how MS handles the HD-DVD add-on drive. Rumors are that it would pass compressed and encrypted streams from the disc drive to the X360 via a USB port so that the console would uncompress and decode the streams. Then it would output through the console, which only has analog component ports at this point.

For the first few years, studios aren't expected to set the ICT, which is the flag to tell players to cut the resolution. But there are other benefits to HDMI, such as the ability to carry newer audio formats to be used in high-def movies.

Kazuya · Post by **Kazuya** » Tue May 09, 2006 1:31 am

wco81 wrote:Without HDMI, you almost have no use for the Blu-Ray drive because studios can at their discretion have HDTV movies cut their resolution to 960x540, which is a quarter of the pixels of 1080p.

True, but the point is you wouldn't be paying for it either. And you could still reap the benefits of Blu-Ray for gameplay, such as increased storage and such. I guess you could say if you wanted to watch movies, you buy the hardcore pack, and if you want to play games get the standard pack.

So without the Blu-Ray support, you're basically looking at a box that is almost identical feature wise to the premium 360... wireless controller, 20GB hard drive, etc. Except 25% more expensive. Is the PS3 25% more powerful than the Xbox 360? No way to tell at this point. But would Joe Consumer, after seeing the system come out a year after the 360 and being bombarded with Sony hype, *perceive* the system as being 25% better? Probably.