…With a toned down version (not sure what it lacks exactly, hard drive I guess) at 100 bucks/euros less…
But seriously, this price is insane, especially in the case of Europe… 600 euros is over $720 for those who don’t know.
Sony’s fall cometh at last?
If the Wii is half that price I think Nintendo has a good chance finally.
By the way, Sony’s new controller looks like a dual shock 2 and it has motion sensing functionality. The dude doing the presentation called it a great innovation. This will also make people who mocked Nintendo’s concept shut up at last. Hurray.
Edit: On second thought I think it only has tilting functionality, not full motion sensing at all. He used it to control a plane by tilting the controller around in a demo of a game that looked like a futuristic Crimson Skies.
It’s a marketing trick. Watch as the price plummets by the time it’s launched. Then everyone will think that such an “advanced” and expensive piece of hardware being sold so cheap can only be a bargain!
If not, then Sony is finished. No one is going to pay that much for the PS3 even if it is the more “trustworthy” brand. No one, except the most hardcore of Sony fans (honestly, why do those idiots bother wasting their loyalty on something so evil?).
The shape itself is disappointing. PS style pads have always given my hands cramp, and this doesn’t look to be an exception. Also, don’t they realise that the PS2 controller doesn’t work well with first person shooters? I just hope that the analog sticks are at least a bit less “floaty” than those found on the Dual Shock 2, so that aiming can be more precise like the Xbox/Xbox 360 pads.
As for the price of the console itself, the PS3 will need some seriously good games to justify that price IMO.
I can’t see them dropping the price more than 100 bucks which makes it very expensive still atleast for europe. And if they’d only drop it 100 bucks then it doesn’t make for a great marketing stunt either imo… We shall see I guess…
It really got to me when the dude called the tilting functions a great innovation…
The tilting functionality of the PS3 controller is a far cry from the capabilities of the Wii controller. Sony will simply look like the cheap imitators they are.
And with that kind of pricing I can see Nintendo taking the #1 spot for this generation. Especially if they hurry up and release their console first.
I think Microsoft will be the big loser this generation considering they are the only console without any extra controller functions. Still, it may not matter if the first bunch of PS3 games don’t use much of that (and they may not as it seems to be a cheap and tacked on at the last minute feature).
Does any seem to forget that the original Playstation console initially sold in the price range of ?600 (using conversion rates, seeing as the Euro didn’t exist then) to begin with…? If you consider inflation since then into the equation (you have to) then you’d realise that the Playstation3 is technically cheaper than it’s grandfather!
Life has gotten more expensive for many countries what with the euro and oil so even if it’s technicaly cheaper people have less money to spend on such things. Right now 600 USD is looking like a small fortune to me. The Wii is looking mighty attractive with the sub 250 price.
Hmm, I don’t think we should rule Microsoft out just yet. Not only does the Xbox brand have the most established online service (which, for the most part, is really well thought out on the 360), but if the graphical capabilities aren’t too different than those of the PS3, it’s likely that a lot of people will buy Microsoft’s console instead of Sony’s because of the cheaper price.
Who knows if Nintendo’s Wii will be a success. If the controller works well, then I certainly hope so. However, even if the console finds its own place in the market, if the current specs are correct it can’t compete graphically with the 360 and PS3. Regardless of the quality and originality of Nintendo’s lineup, there are gamers who won’t be interested because they’ll want realistic and more adult oriented games. Grand Theft Auto, Halo, etc were massive system sellers in the last generation, but I’ve yet to see any games like these announced for the Wii. Going by Nintendo’s very unique approach with the Wii, I don’t see how the system is going to dominate, when the system isn’t offering mainstream gamers what they want.
Sony didn’t exactly show an impressive line up at their conference. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII were the only things that really excited people. The rest were generic crap like The Getaway which has always been a mediocre at best series… And Square Enix is producing Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games for the Wii as well.
Also, the attempt to copy the motion sensing deal will only reinforce Nintendo’s standing toward the initial nay sayers. Couple that with an absurd price for the PS3 and Nintendo, as I said before, has a good chance this time, I just hope they make the most of it.
The Xbox 360 doesn’t have an absurd price though, and that could be Sony’s downfall. A rival console that is offering almost exactly what Sony’s console is in terms of features, with a more mature online service, but without Bluray support (although, in the end, will that matter?).
Yes, I agree that Red Steel certainly isn’t kiddy. But if you look at the majority of the games for the Wii, there’s lots of interesting looking games, but a lot of them are very “Nintendo”. Those kinds of games didn’t help Nintendo gain first place last generation.
Also, the Final Fantasy game that’s coming to the Wii is another Crystal Chronicles, which judging by the Gamecube version could be considered less mature than the PS2 Final Fantasies in terms of character designs. It’s not going to help Nintendo gain the bulk of the Final Fantasy crowd, when the next game in the primary FF series is headed for PS3. The Final Fantasy fanboys will buy the PS3, just wait and see.
I think this pseudo-Wii-ability incorporated into the Ps3 controller is not really a good idea from Sony’s prespective.They would do better by “ignoring” Wii and in that way influenciating people (which they can).
First off, I’m not entirely sure that you can say Sony ‘copied’ Nintendo’s motion sensing idea. I would’ve thought that to get it working by this stage they would’ve had to have started work on it before Nintendo announced what features their controller would have. Though having said that, I don’t see this motion/tilt sensing pish to be something that most mainstream gamers will appreciate so much right now; it could just become another EyeToy luxury. And vibration is an important part of gamess nowadays, so I think not having it will disappoint a fair few people.
A fraction of the consoles price tag must go toward the cost of manufacturing two different consoles. Microsoft got it right with the 360, making the base units exactly the same but including different peripherals at retail, so you could upgrade if you wanted to. With Sony’s strategy, you’d have to buy a brand new console if you wanted the extra features. The hard drive isn’t upgradeable seperately, as its built into the machine itself. Granted though, I wouldn’t pay the extra $100 if I was going to buy a PS3 because I wouldn’t care so much for all the extra features. So it’ll be interesting to see how this strategy will play out.
As for games, well Al3x is right. Only MGS4 and FFXIII interested people, and we all already know how FFXIII will play/look/etc. As far as games go, I was amazingly disappointed - though in hindsight not surprised - that there wasn’t anything of spectacular fanfare to note in their conference. It looks to be just ‘same old, same old’ from Sony, as we’ve come to expect. The problem for them is that they now how Microsoft making up significant ground on them. The generation AFTER the 360/PS3/Wii should be most interesting indeed, because Sony will have to start being a lot more innovative to stay ahead, as the PlayStation brand is becoming ever the more dull and predictable.
This is true, but nearly every console launches at an excessively high price point initially. When the manufacturing costs go down, so will the price of the machine, and that is when everybody will start picking them up by the bucketfull
What we saw could have been a simple prototype. They easily had enough time to incorporate such things after Nintendo unveiled their controller. The limited tilt or whatever sensors on the PS3 pad are nothing special or new technology. Nintendo had implemented tilt sensors in GBA cartriges in the past for a Yoshi game.
