News Flash -- Sony PS3 release date & pricing! WTF! ^_~

[neorichieb1971]

At $600 with all of this stuff Sony's promising to be on this machine, they're going to be cutting corners in the manufacturing process (and I mean a LOT), which means higher chances of these things breaking down not too soon before and not too long after the warrenty expires on the thing.

Yeah, but the price would of come down by then so you can buy the 2nd one at a discount price.

[captain ahar]

this is funny news. it might be fun to see them choke.

note: interestingly enough the console will launch the day after my birthday...

[The Coop]

I still think the PS3 will be the first home console ever to just burst into flames when you turn it on.


Anyway, yeah, I have to agree that a $600 price tag is rather high. I could get a lot of rare titles for that much money, and get to play them all. A PS3 would just sit there, as there'd be no game to play on it. So really, unless you want a nifty new paper weight, you have to spend closer to $700 so you have an actual use for the thing.

As such, I'll pass. I passed on the 360, I'll pass on this too. I can justify paying $100 for a game you REALLY want, but I can't justify the kind of cash Sony and Microsoft are asking for just to own their newest toys.

[sethsez]

As such, I'll pass. I passed on the 360, I'll pass on this too. I can justify paying $100 for a game you REALLY want, but I can't justify the kind of cash Sony and Microsoft are asking for just to own their newest toys.

Though I agree $600 is ridiculous, you are aware that old systems once cost a bundle (not that much, but still a lot) too, right? It's not as if the Genesis started its life as a budget purchase on ebay. Recent, new things cost more than old, used things, and it's not really reasonable to point to the latter as what the former should strive to be.

[The Coop]

As such, I'll pass. I passed on the 360, I'll pass on this too. I can justify paying $100 for a game you REALLY want, but I can't justify the kind of cash Sony and Microsoft are asking for just to own their newest toys.

Though I agree $600 is ridiculous, you are aware that old systems once cost a bundle (not that much, but still a lot) too, right? It's not as if the Genesis started its life as a budget purchase on ebay. Recent, new things cost more than old, used things, and it's not really reasonable to point to the latter as what the former should strive to be.

Atari 2600- $199.99 at launch
NES- $199.99 (I think)Genesis- $189.99 at launch
SNES- $199.99 at launch
Dreamcast- $199.99 at launch
Gamecube- $199.99 at launch

See where I'm going with this? Old and new hardware have launched for $200 or less plenty of times in the past, and the Nintendo Wii may do it again if any of the rumors are to be believed. When you get to the Saturn, Sega CD, PS1, XBox and PS1 prices of roughly $300 (or more depending on where you went), that's quite a chunk of cash to fork over when most of those systems didn't even give you a damn game to play on it. People pissed up a storm about how much it cost for those systems, and only those with deep pockets picked them up at first. Then the XBox 360 hit at $400 for the "good" version of the system, and now Sony's going with $600 for their "good" version. We're getting close to the 3DO and NeoGeo level of system prices, and we all know how people felt about that.

New technology or not, the prices are getting above and beyond retarded. If it costs that much to use this spiffy new tech, then wait until that new stuff drops down in price (like what folks did with DVDs). I can get a decent running car for the price of a PS3 and a couple games for Christ's sake.

Just because it's new, doesn't justify the considerable jump in price over other things that were new only a few years ago that somehow managed to cost a hell of a lot less. Cutting edge or not, it's not worth that kind of money just to have the so-called "latest and greatest" thing that pushes a few more polygons and special effects over what I've already got sitting on my entertainment center.

[Vexorg]

If I recall, the Neo Geo AES not only launched at a $650 price point, but the games at the time cost something on the order of $200 as well! It's a good thing the MVS caught on, otherwise they wouldn't have lasted six months trying to sell those.

On the other hand, if you adjust the launch prices of these (and other) consoles for inflation, here's what the numbers would look like in 2006 dollars:

Atari 2600 (1978) - $601.60
Intellivision (1980) - $724.94 ($299)
NES (1985) - $356.40 (keep in mind that there were a number of different packages sold at different prices, the number is based on the quoted $199 figure. I can't find info on the prices of the specific packages)
Genesis (1988) - $308.73
Neo Geo AES (1990) - $959.18 ($649)
SNES (1991) - $279.35
Saturn (1994) - $514.36 ($399)
N64 (1996) - ? (Not sure what the price of the N64 was at release)
Dreamcast (1999) - $228.55
Gamecube (2001) - $214.73

Source of these numbers: http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/allowanc ... e_101.html

[TVG]

people bitch about prizes everytime a console gets released, if you're not on of these "I MUST HAVE IT ON FIRST DAY" trendy retards, you'll be fine.

[ahnslaught]

I gotta agree with The Coop. Inflation data is one thing - while you certainly can argue the effects of inflation in justifying the PS3 price, everyday joes like me won't care if an atari 2600 cost the equivalent of $600 back in the day using pure hypothetical numbers.

The fact of the matter is that it actually costs $600, its nearest competitor costs $400 at the moment, another competitor promised that it would be even cheaper than $400, and all three consoles are designed to do the same thing - play games.

Sony clearly overinvested to beat the xbox 360 in the technology race, and ended up in this mess where they might really price themselves out of the majority of the public. They trump up the Cell like it's the greatest thing ever, but spending billions of dollars on a brand new cpu that's going to be outdated in a couple of years seems like a questionable decision now.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Back in the summer of 1989, NEC launched it's Turbografx-16 console for the USA market with a price tag of $189.99.

Within a two week period after the Turbografx-16 console launch, Sega of America launches it's own 16-bit powered Sega Genesis console for the USA market at $199.99.

I attended the cool "Electronic Galaxy of Games" Expo in November of 1989 at the San Jose Convention Center and one could buy either a brand new TG-16 console at the retail price of $189.99 or a new Sega Genesis console at $199.99. There were many demo booths setup so that one could try out as many of the latest TG-16 & Genesis games before taking the expensive plunge of buying a new fangled game console at retail price back in 1989.

The Turbo Duo console from Turbo Technologies Incorporated (TTI)launched in October 1992 with a MSRP of $299.99 for the USA market. At least for the USA launch, one could get a bonus of five free games packaged deal if one bought a Turbo Duo console...as it said so right on the front of the box with a special sticker label.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Specineff]

You got five games with your new 300 dollar Duo, so you could start playing them right off the bat, in addition to all the existing TG and TGCD games already out there for cheap.

But what are our 500 dollars going to get us with the PS3? A BluRay player that can take those HI-def movies but can't display them on all their glory because it's simply uncapable of it. No Wi-FI (does it even have ethernet on it?), no bells and whistles. Being a new technology, and Sony being the c*nts they have been in the past, hardware-wise, you'll get DRE and HDMI errors on it within one week.

No, no, and a thousand times, no. I had credit at EB saved for a PS3, but I guess I'll just go and get a 360. I was thinking of getting a PS3 and selling it on ebay, but somehow, my gut tells me it's a very very risky investment.

[icycalm]

people bitch about prizes everytime a console gets released, if you're not on of these "I MUST HAVE IT ON FIRST DAY" trendy retards, you'll be fine.

Well, fuck you too.

I've bought many consoles on the first day, and I am at least twice as smart as you are (judging by your post).

[dai jou bu]

I still think the PS3 will be the first home console ever to just burst into flames when you turn it on.

If this was a standard feature, I'm so getting one on launch date.