Playstation 3 Shenanigans

I don't know if anyone else who reads this blog has been following this, but apparently Sony has well and truly lost all reason wherever the Playstation 3 is involved.

To recap the situation: it's been five years since the last group of video game consoles were released, which means that it's time for the next generation of consoles.   The Playstation 3's competitors are Microsoft's XBox 360 which sells for $299 for a core system and $399 for a premium system (although anybody who looks at what's included would instantly realize that they would be crazy to buy the cheaper version) and Nintendo's Wii, which is going to sell for "Less than $250" although the exact amount is still unknown.

So how much is the Playstation 3 selling for?  $499 for a core bundle and $599 for the premium bundle.   That's before taxes, and before buying a game or the necessary cables to attach to a HDTV. You could easily be looking at about $800 once you get going (although of course the 360's and the Wii's prices aren't taking those things into account either. 

Someone has to occupy the upper end of the price spectrum and market their game system as the "premium" system, but I feel like the sheer arrogance on the part of Sony is getting a bit overwhelming when they say things like: "If you consider the PlayStation 3 a toy, then yes, it is an expensive toy. However, it is more than a toy. It is a PlayStation 3. And it is the only PlayStation 3. I hope that those who understand this will gladly purchase it."

"Buy us because we're great" has never been that convincing to me.   They could at least mention the Blu Ray drive the system has, which is the main reason it is so expensive.  Messages like the ones they've been releasing seem to indicate a serious failure to understand their market. 

Comments

[Jeff]

Yikes; I couldn't agree with you more. It takes real chutzpah to charge nearly $800 for something, try to brush off the fact that it's a "toy," and then keep the name of the thing "PlayStation." I mean, "playing" to me implies that it's a toy more than it being a serious work thing.

[Matt]

The NY Times had an article that was somewhat related to this that you might find interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/technology/29sony.html?ei=5090&en=ad01beda086b900f&ex=1306555200&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1149107061-yDqbU+LrtNuInRnSv0XMqg

[Carey]

Wow, I knew the PS3 was going to be expensive, but $600 just for the system itself is indeed crazy. But as crazy as that sounds, Playstations have always had a loyal following which I think is what Sony is depending on. The "hype" surrounding the PS3 has been going on since articles of XBOX 360's release ... and we haven't even seen PS3 ads yet.

Adult gamers who properly research their systems before purchase will understand the high price is because of the Blu Ray drives, whereas kids and young teens could care less that it has a Blu Ray drive but that it's the "cool" and "newest" Playstation system out there. Gamers complained about the high price during Xbox's first release ($400! AND some of their DVD drives were faulty AND they made consumers pay for the repairs!), but they bought it anyway. There will probably be plenty of equally crazy individuals anticipating handing over wads of cash for the newer, shinier box.