Next-Gen Console Price (Opinion)

**shermanparker** · 02-10-2005

Out of all the systems that are coming out for next gene-consoles I think that the PS3 will be the cheapest. Why? Because Sony is smart and wise.

PS3- The samething is happening with the PS3 as the PS2. People said that the PS2 was going to cost about 399 but Sony proved them wrong giving it a price of 299. Thats because Sony made about ever thing that came in the PS2 which gave Sony the upper hand in cost of the system, which they made lots of money off of because they didn't sell the system at an lost at all. Now with the PS3 they are doing the samething but is making alot more. For the PS3 they will have the Cell or maybe 4 of them, whats good about that is Sony is one of the party members making the chip which will lower the price of the Cell seeing that they are one of the ones that will be making the Cell. Sony maybe the only one making the Cell for the PS3 come to think of it because the PS3 will use more than one Cell chip but that would never happen seeing that Sony needs help making the chip at a fast rate to meet the high demand that may come. Another think is the GPU. Nvidia is not making the GPU but is helping Sony make the GPU for the PS3, knowning Sony they will try and get the it as powerful as they can but at an low cost. Nvidia did state that their next-gene GPU will follow the one in the PS3, also stating that they have signed to help Sony make their GPU and will not be making it for Sony, for they will make it at there Factory. Nvidia will not copy the chip but use its design for the next-gene GPU. These two big parts are at an very high price but are also being made by Sony.

Elpida president Yukio Sakamoto told Reuters that Sony plans to use 512MB XDR DRAM, with Rambus' interface technology, in the PS3.

Seeing that Gamecube and Microsoft are not making anything in their next-gene console systems I think Sony has an huge upper hand with this. Sony is said to be the powerfulest system out of all of them and they are all said to have the same graphics then if Nintendo or Microsoft put their systems at a 300 or 400 price they will be losing big money. I can see Sony putting their system at 350-400 and maybe even Nintendo but not Microsoft seeing they lost millions on the Xbox.

**tekken4life** · 02-10-2005

ummm...Well I think Sony will launch the PS3 at a price of $350, because believe me people will still buy the system at that price, (you will see huge lines outside stores, like the PS2 launch) then Sony might drop the price to like $300. I remember watching the news when the PS2 launched and there were long lines outside stores, but like only the first 5 people would get a PS2, it was crazy

**bustabusta196** · 02-10-2005

Pre-Ordering is a great thing.. still have to wait inline im sure but youd be given a copy. But i believe that although Sony has there own factories where they can set there own price for building parts.. not everything they make, and some stuff regardless will still be expensive. New drives for BR wont be that old when PS3 is released, so that will up the price a little even if they buy mass amounts.

**Colonel Cortez** · 02-10-2005

I have no opinion on this matter, i will buy it no matter the price. But i know that Sony wont put it at a high cost, they will probably do the same with the PS3 as with the PS2, loose money on the console itself and then when the manufacturing price goes down they strt earning money on it instead of just on Games,Accesories and memorycards(and yes there will be memcards, you wouldt want to take your PS3 over to your friends house everytime wanted to use or swap a save with him/her.

**jake_cornette** · 02-10-2005

"New drives for BR wont be that old when PS3 is released, so that will up the price a little even if they buy mass amounts."

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I'm pretty positive that Sony developed Blu-Ray technology. Now when they did this, I'd bet most of my money on the fact that they probably had the PS3 in mind. I'm not saying that they developed it specifically for the PS3, but they knew all along that they wanted something beyond DVD for it. My line thought is telling me that this probably means that they also had manufacturing costs on their mind at the time of development. All in all, the Blu-Ray drives will probably be very cheap for Sony to include.

"and yes there will be memcards, you wouldt want to take your PS3 over to your friends house everytime wanted to use or swap a save with him/her."

I'm sure they will have a memory format, but it won't be your standard Memory Card. They might have a Memory Card slot if they do backwards-compatability with the PS2 and PSone, but for the PS3 I'm almost positive it will be the Memory Stick. They use it in everything, why wouldn't they use it here? It's also a great opportunity for more revenue. A lot more people would have to go out and buy Memory Sticks than Memory Cards, since it seems like everybody and their Mom has a PS2.
That's just the way I think it will go down.

**cyrusmg** · 02-11-2005

That revenue is exactly why the development cost has les to do with the end price for comsure than the amount of money they think we are willing to pay.

If some Sony technitian was visitied by some magical fairy, and given a BLU-RAY drive and CELL chip one morning for free, and all Sony had to was mass produce it, i can safely promise you right now, that they would say exactly what they have told us so far. (We have invested millions in the development of thins project (hence why we are charging you so much) and we will revolutionize the industry with them (meaning you're going to have to buy one in order to keep up with the times)".

In the end. MS and Sony are both about the bottom line, and that by definition means they are going to try and squeeze as much out of the consumers as possible, without driving us away to other companies, or away in general.

A really good example of this thinking is how the PS2 is Backwards Compatible. This was seemingly an expression of good faith, so we would all still be able to play our old games, and not need the old machine anymore. The other side of this though? Now instead of getting a broken PS1 fixed what do you do? you buy a PS2. And since Sony is so nice, you go out and buy lots of games for your new PS2 also, because you're all warm and fuzzy for Sony.

The idea behind the economics in this system bother me, just because it means the companies are always trying to get away with as much as possible, but, this is best system we got right now, so im stickin with it.

In a nutshell, PS3 is going to cost a little more than you wanted to pay for it, and that you can count on.

**Cody** · 02-11-2005

Ps2 cost 500$ in Canada when it first came out, so I wouldnt be surprised to see PS3 at 600$ but living in Canada you get use to Ridiculous prices

**The_One** · 02-11-2005

Originally Posted by cyrusmg

In a nutshell, PS3 is going to cost a little more than you wanted to pay for it, and that you can count on.

Hmm, I'm pretty sure they'll release the PS3 at the same price as the PS2's release (which is, as bloodywar has said, $500 CDN). The reason is because any higher and they'll be alienating lots of customers, and while making this lower may give the consumer a "What the heck? This is a cheap junk!" kind of mentality...

**CaptainKilobyte** · 02-11-2005

I don't see Sony selling this for more than $350. shermanparker is correct in the fact that Sony wont oursource the parts. Making most of it themselves will definatley keep the price down. Even if Sony sells it for more, they have good reason to. This is a giant leap in technology. People should be ready to pay for it.[/quote]

**cyrusmg** · 02-11-2005

right now 500$ = 380-400 US. But there has been alot of flux since the PS2 came out, so im inclined to believe that the exchange was better at the release of the PS2.

http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/exchform.htm

350 in the US i would say is pretty much the border line. Any above that and they are gonna start loosing people, but since they would be making more on each console, it becomes a maximization problem, to how high the price can go. But, im willing to believe that it will be a very LITTLE over 350 (350-375 ish)

EDIT: yeah in 2000 500 CDN was 340-350 USD

StrifeSnake13* · 02-12-2005

I would say $350, then reduced by about $50 every year until it hits $200 and it will stay at $200 for a while.

**Evolution** · 02-13-2005

Id predict about £350 but even its insanely over-priced ill still get it.

**AndySmit** · 02-14-2005

i predict that it will be 372.23 w/tax
j/k

it will probably be around 349.98 plus tax

**don_milz** · 02-15-2005

For those worrying about Price...think of it this way:

If you save a dollar (or pound or what ever your currency is) a day from now, up until the PS3 launch you'll have enough for the system at launch plus a few more games.

So by next year february 15 you should have 365 $/£/etc. and the launch should be in the summer/autumn 2006 (and if you live in japan it should be spring 2006).

So by the time you come to buy a PS3 you should have 400+. which should be enough to get you some games to enjoy as well as the console.

And that my friends is the price problem solved

you can thank me for this great idea by posting a cheque to.....lol only joking.

**cyrusmg** · 02-15-2005

As wonderful as it would be if it was that easy, school apartment work and various needs like food and beer result in the average college guy having -$2 dollars for just as offten as we have $1 to put away.

I mean i would LOVE to be able to put money away for something like this but unfortunately there are bigger things (car payments and loans) that eat up salaries faster than they can get to the bank.

You make a good point though ...
Maybe ill just get a new loan and use it for fun stuff...sounds like the worst idea ever, but by golly gee, IM GONNA DO IT

**MiThRaZoR** · 02-15-2005

Well, on weekends, you're gonna work your ass off. Or beg like crazy at lunch during college. Or start hustlin'. Sell candy or something. That's what I do.

And that's a nice idea DDS. Now to find out where to get that dollar from

.

**Kojo** · 02-16-2005

Well it shouldn't be too hard to save up money.

**cyrusmg** · 02-16-2005

Oh i agree that it SHOULDN'T be, but it is. Oh if only an armored car would just show up one morning outside my apartment with the back door ope, full of moeny, with no gaurds to be found. I'd be set for at LEAST a month.

I dunno, i don't like the way $350 sounds, especially when it's coming from MY bank account. But, by my own admission, 350 sounds like a reasonable number, so they will probably start at 375. Just enough to make me conflicted.

**Fechtel** · 02-17-2005

Afaik, in Germany the PS3 acted with 399 - 450€, thats 478,80 - 540$ at this time. So, its realistic, that the PS3 cost between 350 - 400$ at Launch in the USA. In Germany, we have many many additional markons, that make the whole thing so expensive for us^^

**Xstationcube** · 02-22-2005

Nintendo: In this generation Nintendo had the cheapest price at launch. If history repeats itself the same will happen.

Microsoft: They most likely will have a major head start out to launch. By the time the PS3 comes out Microsoft may be ready for a price drop.

Sony: Sony is on top right now. They are the company that is the least in need of a low price. With all the hardware that they are putting into that system, especially the Blu-ray drive, they can't afford to have the price too low.

**cyrusmg** · 02-23-2005

Well, they are fabbing alot of their own parts and they were the primary movers behind most of the new tech, so it would behoove them to make a profit on everything, seeing as the profit margin will be larger than it would be if they had other people do the work for them. So i think the question boils down to how much of a profit they want to make, and how fast they want to make it.

If they just care about putting the squeeze on MS, then they release at a low price point, take a loss for a long time, but stay on top. If they are all about the money, high price point let MS get a ahead, then drop price to undercut MS and still make profit the whole time. But, we shall see.

**Gnome** · 02-25-2005

I doubt MS will pull a price drop with thier Xbox 2 after a year in the market, so I would expect the PS3 to match the Xbox2 price. Most likely, Xbox2 will cost 300$. As of now both the Xbox and PS2 cost around 150$, doubling the price of the new consoles seems logical. Also, depending on how the Xbox2 is fairing, Sony may be forced to keep a low price just to get it's system off the ground as well.

**cyrusmg** · 02-25-2005

Why would they release at a lower price than they did with XBOX in most of the world? MAYBE, but if anything, the price will go up from last time, probably considerably, and it will at least stay the same.

in 2001 it launched at $299, thanks to the value of the dollar, today the sam product would be more (probably, im having trouble doing the math or finding a conversion calculator for within country conversions, and of course not taking into account advancements in technology and what not)

It is possible that they will release a cheaper product but the economics alomost forbid this from happening (unless they have structured all their deals in a much better way tan last time) but we shall see.

And pulling a price drop right before PS3 releases would be a really strong move to undercut the starting sales. If they are already taking a loss and are just about to start breaking even, if they take a cut and keep taking a loss for a while it may be worth it to them to muscle Sony out of more consumer base.

stlrams112488 · 02-26-2005

Buying smash-hit releases like games and systems at the store is useless. You have to wait in line, and you're only guaranteed a copy if you pre-order. Buying stuff from Amazon is much better, and you can pre-order there too. No lines, no risk that you won't get one. Yes it takes a few days, but imo it's easier.

**Epsilon-Zero** · 02-26-2005

$300 - $350 sounds reasonable. Marketing will probably price it at $349.99 .

They could price it at $329.99 as to make a small price increase while also not scaring away as many consumers as they might with a $349.99 price. I know thats only a difference of $20 but increments of 25 scare more people away than less frequently seen prices like those in increments of 30.