Dayum... A bunch of financial mumbo jumbo... Not sure what it all means. But sounded like interesting news. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6203085.html
Sony is in trouble across the boards not just the gaming department. In fact before CES some were saying some "sacred cows" were to be sleighed at the show and everyone was freaking over it being the Playstation brand, but not so much. With the rough economy it will take awhile but I think they will snap out of it.
That fiscal loss could have been incurred many years ago if they so chose. Corporate finance is fine art, and losses/profits can be manipulated. By no means do I understand corporate finance to the degree that experts do, but this is a strategic move imo.
Also the rumor is also that the 360 pro with 60gb Hard Drive will drop to $249 if Sony does their price drop.
Here is the link showing where I got my info. Do remember this is a big rumor and in no way fact. Linkage: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6203084.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=hot-stories&tag=hot-stories;title;3
Free online gaming out of the box. No red ring of death right out of the box. No disc scratching right out of the box.
I think they are getting around the correct price. A steal by no means. If they had been smart, they would have done this earlier. Game makers would be more inclined to make games for a system with more systems in households. You can't sell software when the hardware is on the shelf.
If that's a steal then the old price must have been a good price. Question? Why aren't they selling more systems?
well they would have ( and still will ) taken a huge loss from that price point. The reason they can't put the price lower is cause it cost so damn much to make the system. Sure, it's a great deal if you want a blu ray player, large hard drive, and wireless adapter built it, but for those of us who don't want/need any of that, it's just not worth it. Microsoft was faced with the same problem for awhile as the 360 took awhile to make a profit, and their warranty crap just made it even worse. Nintendo, from a business perspective, was genius this generation. They were literally making a profit the day the Wii hit the market (because from a hardware standpoint, it's a gamecube..with motion controls). Two years later, the Ps3 still isn't bringing in a profit. Add in the global economic problems going on, and you've got Nintendo reaping the benefits.
$299 is a steal. If a good bluray costs 199 then you pay $100 more for a PS3. Especially with the 60 gb 360 costing 299.
Wii All consoles take a hit in the pocket on the hardware with the exception being the Wii. I know they want to lose the least amount of money on each console as possible, but when you are being dominated my 2 other consoles???? I think they need to eat it and hope they can get enough systems into consumer's hands so they can start selling games. Sony is not going to win this console war by leaning on a movie format. They are going to have to do it by selling games. The last time I checked a system does not need a Blue Ray drive to play games. My games work just fine with a DVD player. Granted some games may have to spread out over more than one disc, I can still play.
It's a media format, not just movies. And the ps3 does need a blu-ray drive to play ps3 games, since they are all on BD 25/50 disks. Your games work on a dvd player because they are DVD-9 disks. Surprisingly that to is a media format, not a movie format. Who knew?
Microsoft is doing better overall in their businesses and can still suffer a loss for the 360s. Sony is not doing so well in their other businesses so making PS3 profitable became more important than "winning the console race". Nintendo does nothing BUT games so they better make money on each system if they go out.
At $299 the PS3 should sell a good deal better. Especially because Sony has a solid 09 lineup of exclusives.
Yes I know it is a media format. I do understand the difference. Let's get picky. You know what I meant.
You're not paying out the ying yang for the blu-ray drive, if you compare the base cost of the elite vs the ps3. Even excluding the arcade the price jump isn't huge. You are paying market price for the gaming system, but getting a steal on the blu-ray drive. And my understanding is Bioshock is better on 360.