Posted Sep 05, 2008 at 09:32AM by Isaac C. Listed in: Interviews Tags: Microsoft, Sony, GIGABYTE, PlayStation Network, LittleBigPlanet
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Sony on Xbox 360 price cuts: meh - Image 1


In a not-so-surprising turn of events, Microsoft hacked down Xbox 360 prices, with the Arcade model going even cheaper than the Wii. One analyst believes that the PlayStation 3 might be on the losing end this holiday season. But is Sony concerned? No, not really.

Sony's Julie Han explains: "We'll obviously see the natural lift [in sales] with the price cut, but how sustainable is that in the long term?" In case you're wondering: no, they still don't have any plans to cut prices for the PlayStation 3. Han explains:

We know PS3 offers that value across the board, with the built-in Blu-ray player the broadest and deepest software lineup in the industry, with LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, Motorstorm [Pacific Rift]... we're quite confident our holiday sales will be good.


[...] We feel the PS3 offers the value at that price point. More than anything, you'll see with the 80-gigabyte announcement at E3 as well as with the recent 160 gif, consumers are telling you they want more storage for photos, music... new games are also getting quite a bit of pickup through PlayStation Network.


There's also our new video download service that consumers are going to want to do. It's showing that we're moving in the right direction.


So even if Sony doesn't come in first place for the holidays, they seem pretty confident that they'll have the upper hand in the long run. Now if I had to guess what Nintendo is thinking about this whole price cut thing, it's probably: "yeah, whatever."



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33 Comments


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   by trigger - 2008-09-05
 » bah

i don't think they need a pricecut. what sony SHOULD do is confirm that littlebigplanet bundle...

http://ps3.qj.net/Rumor-80GB-LittleBigPlanet-bundle/pg/49/aid/123544


   Re: Sam 91 424 - 2008-09-06
 » no chance

they wont have a price drop for a while because they lost a lot of money on the PS3 and have not broken even yet so you wont be seeing a price drop any time soon
   by TouchDaSkeleton - 2008-09-05
 » yea whatever

nintendo sucks


   Re: Xis - 2008-09-05
 » LOL 2nd that

the most owned comment and truthfull comment in weeks

   Re: CHUCKINGROCKSATSPACESHIPS - 2008-09-06
 » Yeah Nintendo's lacking

I got a wii about a couple months ago and I hardly use the damn thing. They don't have very many hardcore games for it, only mostly gimmicky kid *****. I hope they do something fast. I would like to see another F-ZERO on there and maybe some awesome space shooter and some well made original apps that are serious, like back in the early days of Nintendo.
   by ISOHaven - 2008-09-05
 » WTF!?!?!?!?!

"Sony's Julie Han explains: "We'll obviously see the natural lift [in sales]"

Hum...she must have been speaking in layman's terms for the consumer. Sony's holiday season (December) is already over and has been. So her comment is odd. For that matter, everyone's holiday season is over. If you haven't stocked retailers with your product by now then it aint gonna happen at all.

Sony makes money off the retailers, not the consumer. Sony has ALREADY sold PS3's for the holidays. When a consumer buys a PS3 from Wal-Mart, then Wal-Mart makes money, not Sony.

Minus of course the online playstation store :)


   Re: hairycanary2 - 2008-09-05
 » dood

When she said "holidays", it usually means that we are getting close to Christmas . Not only do people go crazy in the US after Thanksgiving but the day right before Christmas too.

   Re: ISOHaven - 2008-09-05
 » WTF!?!?!?!?!

Yeah, and? What was your point? What you said had nothing to do with my post.

Let me put it to you this way:

I'm Sony. I'm holding a PS3 in my hands and it's 09/05/2008. I want this exact box in my hands to be on a store shelf in Wal-Mart this holiday season (before Christmas).

SUCKS TO BE ME!!!! If it's in my hands now, there is no way it's going on a shelf before Christmas.

Sony has already SOLD all the PS3's to retailers that can be sold during this holiday.

This is another reason why NPD is such BS.

Smaller retailers can still do business through October. But they don't account for much.

   Re: NeilR - 2008-09-05
 » @ISOHaven

"We'll obviously see the natural lift [in sales] with the price cut, but how sustainable is that in the long term?"

^^^^ Read that entirely... It's about a natural lift in sales of the 360 which I believe was lost on you when you posted.

   Re: hairycanary2 - 2008-09-05
 » Sorry

I didn't read you response (too long) but
I was just answering you question that is all .


" Sony's holiday season (December) is already over and has been. So her comment is odd".

   Re: smartdude - 2008-09-05
 » Are you sure?

@ISOHAVEN - I think you have the right idea, but I'm not entirely sure that you are 100% correct. Many times retailers will purchase a great big supply of goods but will have a built in buy-back clause which stipulates that if those goods do not get sold Sony has the obligation to purchase those units back. Evidence of this can be seen in that Sony sets the price of their product not the retailer. If the retailer had complete ownership of the product in its inventory then it could sell the product at whatever price it wanted to. Places like Walmart can offer huge discounts on their products that small mom and pop shops can't compete with because of its economies of scale. Now, there could be some kind of distributors agreement which stipulates that the product will be sold at whatever price point the manufacturer (SONY) stipulates, but if that were the case they would have to offer rebates to the retailers everytime they slashed prices thus decreasing the retailers profit ratio. I personally don't what kind of agreement SONY has set up with its distributors, but I just wanted to fill you in on some other possibilities. Cheers

   Re: ISOHaven - 2008-09-05
 » WTF!?!?!?!?!

@NeilR - How the hell was that lost on me? It's the same thing. Sony/Microsoft they have BOTH already sold their holiday stock. I read it just fine, thanks anyway.

@smartdude - True, buy-back clauses need to be factored in after the fact BUT, we're talking about consoles. Usually, no one has to cash in on that one. For example, I doubt any retailers are having to send back their overstock of Wii's :)

So, in this case, that doesn't apply.

As for the pricing, I don't see what MSRP has to do with it. The price of the consoles doesn't matter, inventory was the point.
   by ~~ - 2008-09-05
 » Typo

" with the 80-gigabyte announcement at E3 as well as with the recent 160 gif, "

I guess you mean 160GB ?


   Re: tanman37 - 2008-09-05
 » Of course not!

Of course not!! We all like our 160 gig GIFs. Who doesn't like an excessive use of nothing?!

/Sarcasm.
   by hush404 - 2008-09-05
 » hmm

I think they should be. C'mon, an arcade ver of the 360 to the unknowing parent of a kid who wants a game system for christmas is like the holy grail! Sure teh kid wants a PS3, but here's another system - which walmart sales clerks will prob claim is "basically the same" and the parent is glad they saved $200+

It's that simple really. Gamers know what they want, that an arcade 360 isnt what they're looking for and will got pro or even elite or PS3 but it's parents who havn't a clue what a 360 - wii - ps3 is that drive xmas sales and thus Sony should be more concerned.

Honestly, I think Sony should release the new 80gb at $299 and the better 160gb at $399. That would solve a lot of "OMG TOO EXPENSIVE" issues people have, even though the 360arcard still exists.

   by NarooN - 2008-09-05
 » Hmm.

I don't think we *need* a pricecut, but one would be welcome to everyone. People must have forgotten that there are still many hardcore PlayStation fans that don't have a PS3 yet, and with the massive lineup we have this year, they'll definitely sell some boxes.

Even in the latest issue of GamePro, there was a poll asking who will have the biggest game this year. Sony won with 50%, Microsoft had 33%, and Nintendo had 17%.

Just because a system is cheap doesn't mean people will buy it to play stuff they don't like.

Disclaimer: I'm still not a fanboy.



   Re: HIDEO KOJIMA - 2008-09-05
 » Hmm.

Well if a so called "Hardcore PS fan" doesn't own a PS3 yet, then that person is not Hardcore.... more like hardpoor

   Re: eggwonder - 2008-09-06
 » @hideo kojima

wth? so just because someone might not have $400 to drop on a ps3 that makes them not hardcore? I know a few people that i could consider hardcore sony fans but because of classes,and books for college they can't spare the cash to get a ps3 just yet.

and mom and pop won't buy it for them...
   by wilmheath - 2008-09-05
 » uhh

"the broadest and deepest software lineup in the industry,"

I'm sorry but I think most players disagree with that.


   Re: Darkshneider - 2008-09-05
 » Um..

You mean most 360 owners disagree with that. TONS of people think that the PS3 has the best line up this year, hell Im one of them. What does Ninty have? I know I cant think of anything, anyone wants to add games, feel free. What does Microshaft have? Fable 2, GeoW2 and *ahem* Lips *Singstarripoff**cough*. Sony has SOCOM, LBP, Motorstorm, Resistance 2, Wipeout HD and those are just off the top of my head that are comming out this year.
   by sycoblast - 2008-09-05
 » stop *itching about the price

i know ill probably get negative stars or whatever crap for this, BUT COULD YOU PEOPLE PLEASE STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT PS3 PRICE

or to whomever said to change it to 299.99 your basically telling sony even though your losing money on each console sold lose more.

Sony isnt making the console just to satisfy you they are also in it or mainly doing it to make money. SONY is a BUSINESS. BUSINESSES TRY TO MAKE MONEY.


   by mupet0000 - 2008-09-05
 » How long?

How long is sony's longrun gonna take, they seem to think they will beat the competition, but when...sony should talk less and do more.

   by platon - 2008-09-05
 » the price didn't dropped at all...

it was 299$ before, and now it's the 60gb that's 299$, so the price didn't drop, they just changed the model. And for the arcade, who will really buy that? The most stripped down console I ever saw. I would buy the pro version, not the arcade cheappo one nor the elite useless one.

The pro is the best, and they just upgraded the HD, the price didn't drop... Like when sony popped a 80g instead of 60gb, the price wasn't dropping.


   Re: hairycanary2 - 2008-09-05
 » I see what you are saying but

Don't u mean 40 to 80 ? I mean the 60 and 80 are NOT by all means the same . Like the controller and the internals and what not .

   Re: Darkshneider - 2008-09-05
 » Well

The early 80 GB systems had almost the same stuff as the 60 GB models, the only thing that changed was that they removed the Emotion Engine and Graphic Synthesizer chips and threw in a biggerer drive.

   Re: platon - 2008-09-05
 » well

The 60GB is almost the same. The 80GB doesn't have the emotion engine but can emulate PS2 pretty well, and it's the "elite" version if you want, with the wireless and the media card reader. For the time, this was big time. the 60 and the 80 were the top of the line, that's why I compare them, since they were almost the same.

   Re: hairycanary2 - 2008-09-05
 » cool man

Just wondering ..
   by sycoblast - 2008-09-05
 » on msn news there was a poll


Has the price drop on Microsoft's Xbox 360 influenced which console you'll buy in the next 6 months?
Thank You for voting.

Yes, I'll be getting an Xbox - 15%
No, I still think the Wii is the way to go - 26%
No, the PS3 remains the best choice - 27%
Who needs a console? I've got a PC! - 32%
Total Votes 1848


   Re: sycoblast - 2008-09-06
 » the link

http://technology.sympatico.msn.ca/New+music+website+Popcuts+gives+first+fans+a+cut+of+MP3+sales/News/ContentPosting?isfa+1+newsitemid+97678041+feedname+CP-TECHNOLOGY+show+False+number+0+showbyline+True+subtitle++detect++abc+abc+date+True
   by Hekynn - 2008-09-06
 » They need a price cut.

They really need a price cut on their PS3's cause i could use a ps3 for just incase if my PC breaks down on me.


   Re: Shatterdome - 2008-09-06
 » Well...

It's $399 for an 80gig....that is the price point I was waiting for and I bought one yesterday....for $399 you can't go wrong really.

Although PS3 is just starting to catch up with 360 in terms of games/graphices (mainly talking about multi-console games looking the same as 360 now) The other things you get with the system make it worth $399....especially if you are into HD movies, ie. blu-ray....

Arcade systems are nice and cheap, but really, you NEED a HDD if you are any sort of serious or even half-serious gamer.....that brings the price waaay up, and you are better off getting the 60gig pro...which is only $50 less then a PS3...so then you might as well get a PS3....

Sony is right as well, I looked long an hard at resistance 2 vs Gears 2, and although the aesthetics are obviously different, I think technically speaking Resistance 2 is looking graphically superior to Gears 2, for a first.....
   by the by - 2008-09-07
 » shatterdome....

"It's $399 for an 80gig....that is the price point I was waiting for and I bought one yesterday....for $399 you can't go wrong really.

Although PS3 is just starting to catch up with 360 in terms of games/graphices (mainly talking about multi-console games looking the same as 360 now) The other things you get with the system make it worth $399....especially if you are into HD movies, ie. blu-ray....

Arcade systems are nice and cheap, but really, you NEED a HDD if you are any sort of serious or even half-serious gamer.....that brings the price waaay up, and you are better off getting the 60gig pro...which is only $50 less then a PS3...so then you might as well get a PS3...."

are you feeling ok? you certainly weren't saying these things 6 month ago!!!

   by rollypoly - 2008-09-07
 » i think you are missing the point

you all keep comparing the arcade, or arcade and HDD, to the PS3.

the arcade at that price competes with the WII, not the PS3.

$200 for HD gaming and media center extender, or $250 for Gamecube+ with motion controllers...

yes if you go out looking for the most complete all in one entertainment system, and you choose the arcade you are a moron...

if you just want to play games (like most WII owners) then a cheaper system that looks better is quite tempting.



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