Forums > News > Ok ok ok ... I think we've got nearly all the launch pieces...
Ronald Diemicke (1181) on 9/25/2006 4:01 PM · Permalink · Report
This is hopefully my last rant on the subject. As long as Sony doesn't do anything further to damage their launch.
The latest drama of late in the newest batch of launch wars is that Gamesindustry.biz has run a story with a quote stating that Sony has no intention of cutting the price of the base Playstation 3 system in the US like they have in Japan.
In the next breath I find it important to mention that Nintendo announced that 1 million units for the North American Wii launch as opposed to the 400,00 PS3 units that will hit North America.
Over two times the units at a far lower price. To be fair, I did a bit of research and it appears that Microsoft launched with somewhere between 300,000 - 400,000 units - but they didn't have any competition, unlike Sony.
The truth is, both Sony AND Nintendo will probably sell out. Come January, You'll see Microsoft with the most units in the home, followed by Nintendo, with Sony in last.
Consider that it costs more to develop a PS3/360 game than it does a Wii game because of the size of the team you need and the amount of work that needs to be done in terms of graphical assets. That being said - the profit margins are higher on games that are cheaper to develop - even with the price point on 360 and PS3 games being about $10 higher than the Wii games.
Finally, from everything I've herd, the Wii dev kits are souped up Gamecube development kits, the 360 is using G5s which are readily available and not that bad to develop for, and developing for the PS3 is as hard as writing funny jokes for Carrot Top.
The main thing going for Sony is the fanboy-dom that exists. As I said before, there is no doubt in my mind that there are at least 400,000 Sony fanboys who will buy whatever Sony sells at whatever price. But what about beyond those 400,000 - is $600 that attractive ?
As a Developer/Publisher - What system do you develop for ? Anyone going to wait overnight for a PS3? Think you'll even need to for a Wii ?
Matt Neuteboom (976) on 9/25/2006 7:22 PM · Permalink · Report
Hey, bashing Sony and supporting the Wii is my job.
Ronald Diemicke (1181) on 9/25/2006 7:40 PM · Permalink · Report
I don't really feel the need to bash Sony. They do a good enough job of digging their own grave.
I really don't understand why they're cutting the price in Japan and not in the US. If they consider the US to be their main market (which they've said) - why not cut it here? The competition is going to be much heavier on this front with Microsoft already having a pretty heavy install base. At least in Japan, the 360 really isn't a competitor for Sony, and knowing the Japanese, it wouldn't be surpsing them to go WiiPS3...
So... Why aren't they cutting the price here again? I don't think there is a planet or dimension where this makes logical sense.
Believe me, I want to like Sony, but find it increasingly difficult. I'll probally end up owning a PS3 as close to launch as possible as I'm a tool of the industry, heh.
gamewarrior (5040) on 9/25/2006 8:09 PM · Permalink · Report
Yeah, Sony seems like they're not doing a good job with their PR. I think they're mainly targeting the Sony fans, unlike Nintendo, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I believe they should lower the price in America rather than in Japan. I'm not sure, but I believe that the Japanese can afford a higher price that Americans can't.
Doppelgamer (184) on 9/26/2006 12:03 AM · Permalink · Report
So I take it that GameCube development kits were reasonably easy to use?
Ronald Diemicke (1181) on 9/26/2006 11:46 PM · Permalink · Report
As far as I know - the GC wasn't that hard to develop for. Nintendo supposedly really kept ease of use in mind after developers complained about the difficulty in programming for the N64...
Mattias Kreku (413) on 9/26/2006 10:04 AM · Permalink · Report
The main thing going for Sony is the power of the hardware, the upcoming third party titles and the new technology (Blu-Ray) that they bring to the table. It's a remarkably naive opinion to think that Sony's foundation is based off of "fanboy-dom".
In my opinion, Sony did really well at TGS 06 and probably helped sell an awful lot of those $600 machines, just by letting the game developers show off their stuff and the enormous potential that's buried in that hard-to-grasp piece of machinery.
Doppelgamer (184) on 9/26/2006 1:46 PM · Permalink · Report
People will buy PS3s just to play certain games. (Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, etc...) It's only a matter of time. Whether they wait or purchase right away, remains to be seen, but the vast majority of the PS2 owners waited till it dropped to $200.
Ronald Diemicke (1181) on 9/26/2006 11:45 PM · Permalink · Report
The third party titles out on launch day aren't really the anticipated ones... And blue ray is really only beneficial if you've got an HD setup.
Again, they'll sell ever one, not a doubt in my mind. Possibly for the potential it'll have, others for the HD blue ray capabilities, and the rest will be people who need to have every system. I think alot of the games that really will be capible of selling the system won't be out till mid next year...
bricewgilbert (173) on 9/27/2006 7:11 AM · Permalink · Report
I have learned to not get worked up over crap like this. Every time a new console launches there is some stupid talk about how much one is better. Or how much one is overhyped to be better. The PS2 was talked about to hard to develop for. And it was. It didnt have the memory the Xbox had etc. But it worked out fine in the end. The games were there. Now is the case different here with the PS3? Possibly. There is a lot of negetive buzz, but the devs are still there. I could speculate all day about the Wii games and what I would like to see and how i'm not seeing them. But in the end it all comes down to if it delivers. I will be purchasing both consoles. But thats just me. I'm a tool.