Hirai: 40GB consumers still have a "very powerful" machine
- Posted July 22nd, 2008 at 04:41 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 4,646 views
- 24 Comments
Speaking in light of news that the 40GB PlayStation 3 is to be phased out in favour of a high-end 80GB model, SCEI President Kazuo Hirai has reassured consumers who purchased a 40GB SKU that they still own a “very powerful” games machine.
“The PS3 is a console that evolves and specifications will change over time. Ultimately, if the consumers require a higher capacity hard drive, the ability to do that is there,” said Hirai, during an interview with MCV.
“40GB is obviously less than 80GB, but it’s still a high number and a very powerful machine. We strive to evolve and offer the most compelling value we can at any point in time. If consumers require extra hard drive, they can just swap it out.”
“We brought in the 80GB because we wanted to make sure we continued offering the value proposition to consumers in the true fashion of PlayStation.”
Hirai added that consumer feedback on the 40GB machine was positive, but ultimately the influx of downloadable content via the PSN called for a larger hard drive capacity.
"We heard a lot of response from the consumers basically saying 40GB is nice, but with a lot of additional download products were offering via the PlayStation Network, consumers were looking for a higher capacity hard drive.
"We thought it was a great time to introduce it at E3, but also make sure that we continued to keep the pricing the same."
Comments
-
-
-
-
Perishing_Mind
- 5:55am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 4
@BigC3
why the heck do you have bought 2 PS3's??? If you for example have the 20GB-Launch model is nothing to really care about. replacing the PS3's HDD is nothing but easy!
-
-
-
Shadow Dancer |
Shadow_Dancer- 6:24am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 7
It might be a powerful machine but it still lacks what most people want - backwards compatibility. I guess Kaz forgot that he said this:
Kaz Hirai - Sony Computer Entertainment, America:
It’s always been an important strategy of Sony Computer Entertainment that we provide value to the consumers; and one of the values that we’re providing is the backwards compatibility of the PlayStation 3, to play PlayStation 2 games that the gamers and consumers have bought over the years, as well as the original PlayStation titles that have been available in the market since 1995.
And I think that when we ask the consumers, or the gamers to make an investment in software, that it’s our responsibility to make sure that the future consoles that we bring to market, including a PlayStation 3, is able to actually play all these titles that the consumers have really spent a lot of money in, and invested a lot of money into really a master library.
And I think you’re doing the consumers and the gamers a huge disservice, when you come out with a new console only to say, it only plays PlayStation 3 games; and that’s really counter-intuitive to our strategy, but also, really to the Sony DNA who’re always trying to provide compelling consumer value in any of the products that we launch.”
-
frank_magnet |
Frank_Magnt- 6:25am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 8
half measures, should have just thrown a 160 hard-drive in there and been done with it.
-
RustySpoon80
- 7:38am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 9
Does anyone know what the largest capacity internal drive that can be installed? I know 250gb ones can but can you go higher?
-
MMDs |
MMDs- 8:12am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 10
you can install up to a 320gb 2.5" hdd.
really i don't see the point of this new sku, are they smoking drugs over there. BC is one of the deciding factors on why i got my PS3 60gb. screwwww the HDD, it can be replaced with another larger one. Kaz is making some dumb decisions on this matter. bring back the emotion engine in the PS3 Kaz. What the he[l, seriously.
-
adriano1991
- 8:42am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 11
replace hdd??just buy a new 2.5 and put it in playstation explain how please..............................sony for the win
-
richkaos |
richkaos- 9:28am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 12
big deal, woopy doo, who cares, so what, and for those moaning about BC you should have got one at launch if you wanted it that badly or failing that you must at least have your PS2 to play the old games on, whats the frigin problem, i rekon i have used my PS3 for PS2 games about 8 times (trying not to be too precise) get over it, its gone and i think sony did the right thing by scrapping it, they had to bring the price down somehow to be competative
-
MMDs |
MMDs- 9:53am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 13
@richkaos
speak for yourself. BC is important to some people, for every person who doesn't care about BC there is one that does. I would rather have one system that can play my classic ps2 games then collect and collect and collect till i have a house full of old playstations to play old games on. I like my old PS2 games and i'm sure there are people out there like me, he[l the PS2 did it why not the PS3. They need to figure this thing out, but no BC model is kinda BOGUS, that keeps my brother in law from purchasing one.
-
MephistoSoze
- 11:00am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 14
To the above:
The PS2 had BC with no problem, why not the PS3? Well, the PS2 didn't have two differently engineered consoles before it. The PS2 only had PS1 games that it had to be compatible with. The PS3 has to be able to either emulate the PS2 games with hardware (which is why old-generation PS3's had the EE--Emotion Engine, the thing that makes the PS2 tick), or software (the 80GB PS3's is half hardware, half software). The first option made the PS3 expensive... think about it. The PS2 still costs $129.99. Even if you remove profits, the EE is still probably $70~80 of that. So add that 70~80 dollars on the PS3, then you start to see why the BC PS3s are $100 more expensive than the non-BC one. And then finally, there's the games. Jack Tretton, good ol' honest Jack, finally said it in an interview: The PS3's software attachment rate is low. People bought PS3s, but not PS3 games. Since the launch of the 40GB, PS3 software sales rose. Why? Because the people who bought it couldn't play PS2 games anymore.
back on the main article, I have a question to pose...
A lot of people haven't realize this but... Sony just slashed the price of the 80GB PS3 by $100. This fall, when the new 80GB comes out, it will be at the same price as the 40GB. So with a $399 80GB PS3, Sony has two options: Phase out the 40GB (the 80GB has the same specs, anyway, just twice the HDD space); or reduce the price of the 40GB by another $50~$100. My question is what would you guys like Sony to do?
Personally, I'd prefer if Sony dropped the price on the 40GB.
-
Ven |
Ven1000- 11:20am BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 15
To #11 Exactly. This means that the remaining 40gigs could be less than $400. It also leaves Sony to come out with a $500 super model PS3. I have a current 80gig model (MGS4 bundle) and I really don't care about BC (the few games I've actually tried have worked). I still have my PS2 live and kicking.
-
-
knowledge4lfe |
knowledge4lfe- 12:12pm BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 17
ive had the 60 gig since launch and the only time i used bc it was for god of war 2. but ive never used it ever since then. and also like richkaos said, you should've bought it at launch then. and also if u look at it realistically you're getting an extra 40 gigs for free.
-
-
Denali2 |
NEJI64- 1:13pm BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 19
yeah b/c isn't all that i mean now all the games that came out on PS2. they all have new games to the title for those that still play socom that come in 3 months so they have to upgrade. i have a 60gb b/c and i played some of my PS2 games i cant do it. Having a 42inch hdtv and a hdmi cable make you think why am i playing this crap.
-
Auricom |
Doragon_Pawwa- 6:47pm BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 20
Can't they just sell separate hard drives ranging from 40GB to 500GB instead of a completely new sku. Devil May Cry, Maximo, Jak series,Ghosthunter what do I have buy a new PS2 just to play these classic games while there's no room for a slim PS2. luckily I was smart enough to get a PS3 at launch but now has new PS2 games are released and the backwards compatibility list not supported anymore im fücked
-
Alpha2
- 7:20pm BST - July 22nd, 2008
- 21
It's not really all that more powerful is the 80gb cant play PS2 games. All of you who complained about the price are to blame.
The real reason for the harddrive cange is this. The 40gb drives they buy were actually more expensive than 80gb drives because the cost to the manufacturer is constantly getting cheaper. older model drives with lower capacity get phased out and the larger drives take their place. If sony wanted to continue making 40gb systems the 40gb drives would be special order and thus be more expensive than just getting a 80gb drive for the sameprice the paid for the 40gb last year.
simple economics
-
KJD007
- 12:21am BST - July 23rd, 2008
- 22
PS2 for PS2 games, PS3 for PS3 games. I play some PS2 games on my launch PS3 and I have to say the upscaled feature is nice, but the PS2 games will only look the best on the system they were originally designed for, the PS2. We need to understand that Sony has a plan for the PS3, and moving beyond the PS2 is part of it. It's time to move beyond last generation and focus on this generation. PS3, it's in the box!!!
-
chubacca
- 7:47am BST - July 23rd, 2008
- 23
I didnt care about 40GB vs 60GB or 80GB storage capacity but I do hate the fact that I paid all that money and got a gimped machine that doesnt even support PS2 games... I feel ripped off.
I did the right thing and purchased all original PS2 titles and now that my 2nd PS2 is dead I cant play any of them. I should have just ripped them in the first place and then I would not care if Sony stops supporting their customers.
-
Advertisement