Quick Jump Daily Digest
Thank you for your interest in the Quick Jump Daily Digest. Get notified of all new content on QJ in our free Daily Digest. To subscribe, enter your email address below and click the subscribe button.
Is PS3's Price Tag Too High For Its Own Good? |
Listed in: PS3, PSP Tags: Kristopher Adler, playstation 3 updates, Sony
Ó
According to this console historian, units over $400 flopped with consumers while video game consoles in the $190 to $300 price range fared a lot better. Check out the price graph (right) of the various game consoles from 1986 to the Age of the Xbox and compare them with how well they did in the market (graph on the left):
The more expensive consoles 3DO, NeoGeo, Saturn and CD-i (all priced above $400) hardly registered on the sales radar. Meanwhile, sales champs NES had a $200 price tag while runners-up, PS and PS2, were priced at $300. Although the figures presented support his prediction, it's still worth considering that consumers now are very defferent from the consumers back then.
With more and more gamers getting tired with the usuals - paving the birth of next-gen consoles - it's not immature to assume that they'll go for a machine that has awesome power and specs giving it a wider possibility in game development; and PS3 is arguably the best console hardware-wise around.
Will the Curse of the $400+ Price Tag haunt PS3? We don't know. History does repeat itself every now and then, but in a world where Marisa Tomei ("My Cousin Vinny") won an Oscar over Judy Davis, Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson, anything could happen.
Via Effectu
| This story sucks? This story rocks! |
|
|
Comments
Reply
Reply
just like the psp over the ds right? the ds must be sos truggling with sales according to this logic lol.
Reply
Now I, personally, will not buy one because it's freaking $500. That's way out of my price range.
Reply
Today is different. The PlayStation brand has a huge user base. You know what you get for the price. But a lot of people also want to own two consoles. I think the Wii (and the DS of course) clearly showed people that it's not only about the "classic" gaming we know from the last generations. And some of those will have a hard time deciding between a 360/wii combo or a PS3. The PS3's price is reasonable for what it delivers and is what I think the absolute maximum people want to shell out for a console. Seeing this as a set limit you ultimately have two options: Going multiconsole with a 360 and a Wii or buying a PS3.
Of course there are exceptions, there are people that don't care how much things cost (thinking of PC gamers that always buy the newest hardware, which is definetly not cheap).
Eventually I think even today it holds true that the PS3's price tag will pose a huge problem for Sony.
Reply
Right?
Reply
_______________ _______________ _
| The NINTENDO Wii... |
| Half the price...Twice the fun... |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Reply
However, if the PS3 is not much powerful than the xbox360 and have a 300 dollars difference, I guess it won't be as succesful as the PS2...
Reply
Just look at the diagram here.
All the expansive consoles had a bad market percent. That doesnt mean it is a bad console, just that people wont buy things that cost more just to get a "quality product", it wont higher their utilitarian.
What we pay for today is not capital and the labour-intensive value to produce a good, it is design, creativity and innovation, which doesnt explain why the PS3 got so high price.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
In the sense that no matter how much promise a system will show, the consumers will decide if the system is successful, not all the extra bells and whistles sony throws in trying to convince us that its gonna be worth it.
Reply
Just speculation.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Haha, what are you smoking, and please pass it my way.
Reply
The ps2 sold more than Dreamcase, game cube and the xbox combined.
Reply
Reply
Reply
The PS3 is f***ed because of the price...
The Wii is winning
\former PS3
\\now the Wii
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
It's not for everyone at lauch, will be cheaper later down the road, but the smart shopper will see that it's a big bargain.
You cannnot say that the PS3 is a game console any more, It's an entertainment device.
What you get:
Blu-ray, DVD, cd player
A game console that is compatible with all ps1 and ps2 games! Game library Insane!!!! :)
A scale down computer, web browser, web hoster for your mp3, movies, pictures, etc.
Remember, this bad boy is running Linux!! Possibilities are endless!! :)
Just look at what the hacker comunity did with the PSP, and the PSP is "locked" for homebrew, but PS3 will be fully open for homebrew.
So in my book 600$ for all of that is a steal!!
Just my 2c.
Reply
That graph is crap.
Reply
Reply
Reply
what the graph showed me, was that the consoles that had the largest variety of games, regardless of price, faired the best. the NES had more games than the Sega Master System. the SNES had more games than the Genesis, but the quality of the titles the Genesis did have helped push them ahead. the Playstation had more games than the N64, and the Playstation 2 had more games than the Gamecube and X Box.
gamers, tell me, if the Neo Geo or 3DO had the Mario or Zelda or Metroid or Final Fantasy franchises, would you not want one so you could play those great games. the games are what decide a consoles success, as well as availability. like i think someone said before, the NES, SNES, and Genesis were available practically *everywhere*. systems like 3DO and Neo Geo were available at select retailers and probably specialty gaming stores. i grew up in Milwaukee Wisconsin before i moved to Los Angeles, and the only specialty gaming store there as a young man was FuncoLand, and they really just dealt in used games. if stores like Best Buy, Target, Wal Mart, or Toys R Us didn't have the system, it didn't exist in the eyes of a young boy in a small city.
i read about systems like the Turbo Grafix, 3DO, and Neo Geo, but i very rarely, if ever, *saw* one on store shelves.
for someone who either wasn't around at the time, or unfamiliar with gaming would look at that graph and draw the same conclusions that the article presented. in an instance like this, the big picture has to be looked at in it's entirety.
Reply
Variables missing from this article: Marketing power, Brand Recognition, Fanbase, System Value, Game Differentiation , Exclusive AAA Games, Substitution factor. Out of all of these price is probably the weakest variable.
When it comes to price is all about elasticity. The gaming market is elastic. Sure pricing affects your purchase but if your in the market for a new HD graphical system then something like the Wii is not a product you will looking into to. Then you have 360 and PS3. Low end PS3 gives you a similar value to your Low end Xbox. Hmm Blu-Ray vs Wifi, blu-ray clearly wins. High End PS3 however being $200 will definitely be impacted.
However price elasticity is affected by adequate substitutes. For example, a shirt at the old navy ($10) gives you the same value as a shirt in Banana Republic($30). Even if you love the Wii, you can't make it a substitute for the PS3. In contrast, Sony could hurt Nintendo by pushing a new PS2 with a new EyeToy bundle for $99-149 and start pushing new casual games for it. This can be an ok substitute for the Wii at a better price.
PS3 vs 360. This is where it all comes down. Is a 360 a substitute for the PS3? Depends you who ask. Hardcore games and fanboys aside, a person interested solely in mainstream games (movie games, sports etc..) could definitely consider the 360 as a cheaper substitute. Those that want multimedia in their next system do not have a clear substitute. MS is trying to make 360 a substitute with the HDDVD add-on but the bundle would cost more than the cheaper PS3 and therefore it wont make a difference. Then it's all about the games. Fan are more loyal to their games then they are to their consoles. Meaning if Final Fantasy 13 were to come out for the 360 instead of the PS3, then the fans would jump ship simply to get their game. In that respect Sony has no clear substitute as it has more heavy hitters than both Wii and 360 combine.
Conclusion: See what market analysis are predicting, these guys factor in most variables. Who do they see dominating? The PS3 even with the higher price, my post just explained why.
Reply
Games were for kids in those days. The market is quite a different story today. The average gamer is between 20-30 years old now. Also recent studies show that today's gamers are not only smarter the the rest of the population but also make more money. Throw all this and the fact that we are tech savvy enough to recognize value and price really doesn't make that big of a difference.
Reply
like The Professor said before, gamers are loyal to *games*, and Sony still has the largest selection, just based off it's two prior consoles. Nintendo is building bridges it burned years ago, and Microsoft is trying to prove to Japan that their system is worth their time, but Sony has support from practically everyone *but* Nintendo and Microsoft. there are more developers excited by the power of the PS3 than there are developers intimidated by it, and that's going to translate to more games for the system. then, when they get a handle on it, and start concieving bigger, and more complex games, it will be discovered that *only* the PS3 is powerful enough, and has a format with the storage capacity large enough to support the idea.
Reply
The EyeToy wish it could do what the Wii can! It is not as accurate nor can it detect moment other than Y and X. Where is the point feature? Where is tilt? Where is the force and audio feed back? The PS2 is weaker than a Gamecube. How is it going to compete with Wii using a peripheral no one supports? The rumble pack succeed because people bought it and developers knew if they made a game that uses it there was already a market. The EyeToy has no market...
Nintendo is the market in Japan and Nintendo is going to win Japan over with Wii. Like with what we now see with the DS Japanese developers will support it just because of it's market.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3162&Itemid=2
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3103&Itemid=35
I wanted a PS3 for the 3rd party games but will more then likely wait a few years. I just want it for gaming and for gaming it cost to much. If others want it for gaming and nothing else (most people do not have HD, already have DVD players, computers that can run a real OS and programs like Adobe, have CD/MP3 players) then they will wait too. When developers lose all of this money they will port there games over to the 360 or stop supporting PS3. Unless Sony can convince people to re-buy what they all ready own, buy something they don't want or know little about, and/or buy one thing that can do more then what they want for more then they want to pay by 2007 it is going to be a rough holliday...
Reply
Doug Lombardi: We've announced that we're doing development work on the engine for the 360, but key titles and whatnot are all speculation. I saw a cover for an official PlayStation magazine that said we'd announced a PlayStation 3 version - that was interesting! We see a lot of that stuff...
Eurogamer: Presumably splitting the teams allowed you to get various episodes up and running at the same time?
Gabe Newell: Exactly. The reason to do that, in a sense is all about risk management, so you have these projects where somebody says "ok, we're going to do a $15m PS3 project" and right there you've just set fire to all of the risk you can possibly assume on the project. It's a huge financial risk, you've got a new platform with all sorts of scary architecture changes, so people aren't going to be particularly innovative on new technical purchases. They're not going to be innovative on gameplay, they'll go an license a movie IP, and then they're going to insist to the development team that they remove anything that makes it unlikely that they won't ship day and date with the marketing campaign for the movie, and that seems to be sort of the wrong direction to go in terms of moving games forward.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=65345&page=1
Reply
Reply
Me personally will get the PS3 in around May or June. that will be around the time the Price Drop will take place and gamers will flood the gameing stores and the industry will grow rapidly. I don't have a 360 though and i have to say i am imoressed with it i do want to buy it but after the PS3 so i could have the system I really want first and the second later.
PS60:)
forget PSWii or Wii60:(
Reply
you all know how DC didn't do well, but let's face it it had few good games and sega had previously dropped the ball and watched sony walk away with a victory in the PS1 vs saturn battle. so faith in sega wasn't high, and at the time ps1 had caused such a stir that people were awaiting ps2 eagerly.
now, ps3 is coming out with a high price tag, but unlike DC it's on the back of one of the most succesful consoles of all time, the ps2. the ps2 has built an enormous fan base for playstation. this will help ps3 immensely. xbox360 needs to be cheaper due to having to overcome the natural bias most people have for sony over microsoft.
arguments stating that wii will do well, just look at ds, don't wash with me. and i'll tell you why; the ds is a nintendo handheld, this means it's up there with gameboy and gba, the most succesful handhelds ever... so ds can use the whole 'nintendo handheld' monicker to it's advantage - psp is a newcomer to a very pro-nintendo market, and although it's not doing supergreat, it's doing ok. in the days of ps2 and gba there was no argument that sony owned the home console market and nintendo the handheld market, so it's only natural that the next nintendo handheld will have a headstart.... and why is it not natural to assume that ps3 ought to have a headstart?
of course a lower price for ps3 would have helped, but then sony can't dig their grave so deep they can't climb out... it would be daft to make a console cheap enough to destroy themselves.
now, why i think people will buy ps3, when people buy a car they are not necessarily going to buy the cheapest one, it may have 4 wheels and some doors... it may even go above the speed limit, but that doesn't mean it's going to get bought. of course some people do buy the cheapest, but many people have either brand loyalty (they always buy ford or whatever) or they may believe there are better quality cars, and even though they cost a bit more the driver will have more fun driving and it will not break as often and so will need replacing less frequently. in my opinion the ps3 is that good shiny car which you'd like if you could afford it, but it's not £20,000, it's £400... and you can afford it, so why not get that instead of the crummy japanese tin can which is bound to be an awful car even though it's £10,000... or actually £250.
(quick note, i was referring to xbox360 with the japanese-tin-can referrence... i'm reserving judgement of wii, as to me it's an unknown quantity, i don't know the price, i am unsure of the 'seek bar' or whatever it's called, and the games will have to be better than mario galaxy to draw me in)
Reply
Hell $600 sure is a lot compared to what were use to paying but $600 isn't that much if you think about it. Hell, I work at a burger joint and I can have my total PS3 savings gathered in under 3 weeks worth of work. IF you have a job that pays better then minimum wage then it should be even less of a problem. The only ones worried are the young ones who's parents won't buy them everything.
Reply
Reply
also, as ps3 is so many different things it suddenly has a much larger consumer base, it may have more competition but it suits more people's needs.
not everyone has to buy ps3 on launch, only the people who really want one buy them on launch, just like for every other console. they sell a lot after launch too, and that's when people get word of mouth and reviews etc through the media or friends, and if it all goes sony's way there will be no way for people to continue existing without a premium ps3 sitting in their living room and a 50inch sony plasma screen stuck to the wall.
sony want ps3 to win, this means they're doing all they can to ensure its success. of course $600 is a lot, but its not like they jsut imagined a price and stuck to it, they've done their homework and they really believe that price is competitive. personally i'm getting one asap.
Reply
Reply
majority of the people will buy a Nintendo Wii because of its low price and the "gimmick" they are using. Alot of its purchasers are gonna be parents that have kids or are gamers themselves. 360 will have a small lead over Sony because of its plan to come out early. When Sony releases the PS3, not alot of ppl will buy it because of its high price tag. I know, I know, its "the best console around" and its bluray...blah, blah....but u know what?!! How many people are willing to shell out that much money for a console? unless u are a truly rich guy or a very serious gamer...I dont think sony will do fairly well, at least in the beginning.
as for me?? I AM one of those ppl that will BUY ALL of the consoles. I am NOT rich, I just am very resourceful. I already got like 6 gamestops/gamecrazy's around my area and put 50 dollars down on each store for the Ps3. I am planning on selling those reserves for at least 200 each 1 week b4 launch. SMART aint I? thats what i did with the 360 and basically got it for FREE!! hahahahahahaha!
Reply
You get
PS1 Console
PS2 Console
PS3 Console
Blue-ray Player
DVD Player
Internet Browser
High Definition Output
Wireless Controllers as a "Standard"
20-60GB Hard Drive
Plays Video Files
Plays Audio Files
Network to other Computers
Multiplayer powered by the best : Gamespy
OS powered by the best : Linux
Need I mention more? The Ps3 will almost entirely replace every media device inside homes. you can do away with you DVD player, your PS2 and if you have it your PS1. You can browse the internet from your living room, which is something a standard Xbox360 cant do without some form of homebrew.
For all those complaining about the price. Think about it. Would you spend 500 bucks at one time on a device that will cover almost every media function you would need for the next 5 years. Or buy several devices over a period of time, more devices means more space, more cables, more hassle and the most hated, more remote controls.
How many of you have a remote for the TV, DVD player, Reciever, CD Player, Cable or Satellite Box. And those who can afford it, buy a good universal remote to control the "main" functions of all the devices. But we all know that universal remotes dont have every button for all your remotes so they end up being a waste of money when you need specific functions.
The PS3 will sell high for the reasons i mentioned and then some. Dont even start with the cost of the PS3. The XBox360 on ebay sold for over a thousand and sometimes over two thousands when it launched. So those who are complaining about the high price tag of the PS3, remember that Sony wont have a severe shortage like the Xbox360 and the supply will keep rolling to stores so the price wont reach insane amounts like the Xbox360.
Reply
Reply
Reply
HD Recorder? Over $1.3k
HD-DVD Player? Around $1.2k
12mpxl Digital Camera? I think it was around $700
Keeping in mind all the things the PS3 can do, $599 does not seem too high. Think about what you're getting. The PS3 can't compare to past game consoles that were over priced because the PS3 isn't just a game console. It has a lot more to offer than just play games.
If you just want to play games, go get a Wii instead. Think of the PS3 and Xbox 360 as DVD players. They do almost the exact same thing, except the better one costs more (or in some cases, it doesn't). It's all a matter of preference.
Reply
Reply
For some odd reason when Sony released the price figure for PS3 everyone forgot how to do math. "The PS3 is 300$ more than the 360!!" Yeah, if you buy the bottom rung 360 and top rung PS3, but someone buying the top PS3 would buy the top 360, so it's $200. Seriously though, lets really look at what we have here.
XBOX 360 Premium Set 399
System
Wireless Controller
No HDD
No HDMI
HD ready
DVD ready
PS3 Basic 499
System
Wireless Controller
20gb HDD
No HDMI
HD ready
Bluray, DVD, CD
Rumor, (and I stress rumor here) has it that PS3 has a graphical advantage over 360. So the price difference is $100 and you gain: 20gb HDD and a Bluray player, as well as the possibility of better graphics.
Conclusion? The price does not matter like everyone says it will. Sony needs to jump out and makes the numbers clear as i have. In the past I was thinking of owning all thrhee systems, but I doubt that about anything from MS now. They are now marketing their product like a politician runs for office. Making outlandish statements and slander. Im not a Sony fanboy, I love nintendo. Microsoft is corrupt and I will not give them another dollar of mine.
Ludikhris
Reply
Coz at the end of the day, i dont think sony care if you buy a console... they are beyond petty sales.
If you won't buy one will that stop the countless others buying one? No. So get over it.
PS3 will sell like hotcakes... End of story.
Reply