Sony continues to play defense over PS3 pricing, HDMI

Somehow, we suspect Sony's brass are not very happy right now. Instead of spending their time at E3 fielding softball questions about the Playstation 3's graphics, they're playing defense, as they continue to face queries about the new console's pricing and the missing features on the lower-priced version. In an interview with CNN, Sony's Kaz Hirai said the pricing -- $499 for the 20GB PS3 and $599 for the 60GB version -- was justified by the inclusion of technologies like the Cell processor and Blu-ray, and added that the "totality" of the product is a "good value for consumers." Hirai also defended the lack of HDMI on the 20GB PS3, commenting that "there's not a discernible difference between what you get between HDMI and other forms of high definition." While that might be the case with current Blu-ray flicks, all movie studios (including Sony Pictures) have reserved the right to implement the Image Constraint Token in future discs, which could force anyone using analog outputs -- including owners of the 20GB PS3 -- to watch downgraded video. We assume Hirai's familiar with the issue, so we have to wonder whether his claim that the PS3 is "future-proofed" is just a little bit disingenuous. All it would take is one Blu-ray disc with ICT for owners of 20GB PS3s to realize they've been locked out of the future.

[wish @ May 11th 2006 11:12AM]

eh, no big
this just means i'll be puttin the extera c-note on the ol' visa in november

[Anonymous @ May 11th 2006 11:12AM]

Sorry, all you PlayStation fanboys . . . looks like PS3 is going the way of the N-Gage.

[#1 @ May 11th 2006 11:15AM]

Sony is missing the point, this is still widely viewed as a game machine, and nobody wants to drop that kind of money on it. Personally i would prefer less hardware features (high def) and more content features, xbox live is great, the nintendo wii is showing some innovative ideas, Sony seems to just want to sell expensive hardware.

but i guess they are trying to make money, i dunno, i think my gaming days are over, im 23

[Big Sam @ May 11th 2006 11:15AM]

With all the missing features on the lower tier PS3, will there even be a way to transfer your saved games and downloaded content to the higher tier version if you decided to upgrade? Since any media will be DRM'ed to hell, even if it is possible to move contest, will Sony allow it?
In other words, avoid the PS3 "Core" like the plague.

[zak @ May 11th 2006 11:17AM]

honestly, if you bought the XBOX360 bundle and plan on buying the new HD-DVD drive, youre going to be paying about as much, total, as you would for the premium version of the PS3.

[James Rainey @ May 11th 2006 11:18AM]

Aside from us geeks, how many teenagers are really going to take advantage of some of the advanced video options for the 20G unit? All joking aside, I doubt very many.

While many of us will place this in a room with our best televisions, many many gamers will attach this to a spare television with fewer connection options, maybe S-Video if they are lucky.

Sony is making a smart move. This increases the odds of them selling units to drive game development. More Games = More Consoles. As many Hi-Def TV's are still struggling to include HDMI connections, I'm not sure if this will prove to be an issue for Sony.

[Jason @ May 11th 2006 11:27AM]

This is actually pretty smart on Sony's part. Right now the percentage of homes that even HAVE an HDMI enabled set is probably less than 5% but that number is growing.

So you sell them the budget PS3 now and in a few years when they get a new HD with HDMI and get some protected content Blu-Ray they will happily go out and plunk down more $$ for a 2nd machine (which by then Sony will actually be making money on the hardware).

[daaper @ May 11th 2006 11:27AM]

I guess I don't understand why anyone would even want the lower-priced unit -it doesn't seem worth it for what you'd be giving up. As for the price...meh, the 360 is still going for $500+ on Amazon. I don't think $600 is really that much for the loaded version. Get over it. If you don't want it, don't buy it...that's the only way things are ever going to change.

[soupbun @ May 11th 2006 11:32AM]

ahh, but don't you see that's what Sony wants you to realize, so that you'll HAVE to buy PS3 V2.0. Good way of forcing people to double dip. Buying premium or not, it seems like I'd rather be the early Nintendo adoptor than Sony. It seems like Wii will be alot more polished off the get-go than PS3, and it's cheaper to beta test, to boot.

[daaper @ May 11th 2006 11:39AM]

Good point soupbun, I think the revolution (not calling it wii, sorry...dammit, except for right there). Is the only one I am seriously considering buying near release. I plan on picking up a 360 after a price drop a little after the new year, then PS3 sometime a year after that. Just too much money to risk on early bugs and ill-fated formats.

[Mike @ May 11th 2006 11:39AM]

I think Sony realized that they might have gone overboard with the power of the Playstation 3. I agree with #2; most, if not all, people widely view the PS3 as a gaming machine- playing Bluray discs is merely an extra feature. The problem that Sony is running into is their system is too powerful, so powerful that the price is astronomical.
Now they're looking for ways to justify the PS3's price and they're doing so by trying to show people that it is more than simply a gaming device; it also is a Bluray player as well. When one considers that HD-DVD drives are selling for about $500, suddenly the PS3 does seem like quite the bargain. What Sony is trying to do is show people the Bluray player side of the PS3 but everybody is still seeing the gaming console side of the PS3 and the general consensus is that $600 for a console is a ridiculous price to pay.
Since Bluray discs haven't even been released yet, people are still seeing the PS3 as an overpowered, overpriced gaming device. This might change in the months ahead, however, when we see more games taking advantage of its raw power and more and more people become "addicted" to its fantastic processing power, and when the release of Bluray discs drives demand for Bluray movies.
In short, it's hard to see the value of the PS3 now, but if we consider future features and the lifespan it's probably going to get (roughly 10 years, which is what Sony is aiming for) it suddenly doesn't seem like a bad deal at all. People might not be clamoring for it in the short-term, but when/if Bluray becomes the standard for Next Gen movies (which would definitely be in the long-term) popularity for it could skyrocket.

As for me, I've saved up for 2 years for the Playstation 3. You can bet I'll be first in line.

[R. Boyd @ May 11th 2006 11:41AM]

I usually buy the latest and greatest for my son. PSP, xbox, etc....No friggin way I'm dumping $600 on this unit. I'll wait it out, he can stay happy with the PS2, PSP and XBOX.

[[noodle] @ May 11th 2006 11:42AM]

im still going to buy 3 of them..and sell 2 on ebay. ;]

[Tsunamii @ May 11th 2006 11:43AM]

You know Microsoft is smiling when even the fan boys are on the defense. Oh people don?t have HDMI it?s a smart move for Sony,, Ya, ya,ya. Get over it Sony dropped the ball. Current rumors are $100 for the HD add on for the 360, so how is that the same cost as PS3?s big bundle? Even fan boys should be able to do simple math?

[Semi @ May 11th 2006 11:43AM]

US people have it good!

"The console is due to go on sale in November, with prices starting at $499 in the US and 499 euros (�341) in Europe. "

by current exchange rate :
499.00 USD
United States Dollars = 388.404 EUR
Euro

i dont know what sony is playing at , it should be 399 euros!

i'm getting my ps3 from america if it plans on a 100 euro hike for europe, even if the damn games and movies are region encoded!

(i'm from UK, still not sure what the prices are gonna be here)

[Mike @ May 11th 2006 11:47AM]

#12- $399 (Xbox 360) + $100 = $499 (PS3). The math seems rather clear to me. Granted it's the cheapest PS3, but somehow I believe that his point is pretty clear anyways: with the HD-DVD add-on, the Xbox 360 will cost about as much as the PS3.

[badbob @ May 11th 2006 11:49AM]

I don't really understand this debate about the HDMI port on the "higher-end" unit. Shouldn't the HDMI port be just another AV cable that the person with the "lower-end" model needs to buy?

The Core xbox360 doesn't come with the component cables of the premium model but comes with standard composite cables. So does this mean the core xbox360 can't do HD and one needs to buy the premium one to get it? OF COURSE NOT! Just go get the extra component cables when one gets the HD TV. It's like expecting the basic PSP package without the headphones and memorycard to not support music and mp3s.

It would be really dumb if the PS3 were any different.

[Justin @ May 11th 2006 11:54AM]

badbob...the $499 version of the PS3 does not have a HDMI port....so to answer your question...no you can not just go buy a cable. Are you dumb?

[John @ May 11th 2006 11:58AM]

What version of HDMI does this ship with? Does it support MP3 playback via CD-R or hard drive?

[Josh @ May 11th 2006 11:59AM]

#5 you couldn't have gotten it more wrong.

"The Playstation 3 is looking like its going to blow 360 right off its feet. Just because it was released later than 360 doesn't mean its down& out."

That's not what people are getting down on it for. They're coming down on the fact that it's overpriced for a game machine (in like a 3DO kind of way) and even the "cheap" version is crippled by Sony in a way that is handicapping it for the future of content--which by the way is what they're trying to sell you.


"Playstation's fan base is MUCH MUCH larger in America and Japan than the XBOX simply because most people don't like 360's controller (I love it cause its big for the hands)."

Sorry, but this is the stupidest thing I've read all week. The 360 controller is widely accepted to be the best console controller ever made for functionality and ergonomics. The "too big for the hands" thing was out with XBOX 1 and the "Duke" controller...by the way that was like 5 years ago and remedied quite quickly with the Controller S, which is where the 360 gets its design roots.

"I'm ultimately going to buy the 60 GB hard drive PS3 because I want to have every single option. Furthermore, I know on launch day, the higher cost PS3 will be easier to get simply because everyone is going to go after the cheaper one first."

You obviously didn't stand in line for a 360 with a handful of people who don't know anything about the system. I can tell you after doing this a few times on console launches there's about half the line of parents who want to get this as a christmas gift for their children:

parent: "Which one should I get?"
everybody in line: "The premium"
Parent: "Why?"
everybody in line: "because the cheap version is crippled and you'll spend more after you buy it in accessories to try to get it to perform like the expensive version."
Parent: "Okay, I'm buying three of them."


"I am not impressed by the WII. I've played first person shooters like Time Crisis, Soldier of Fortune and Counter Strike and I can say that first person shooters need to be extremely violent to be fun - something Nintendo has never done well since they market to kids. What you're gonna get is a bunch of rail type shooters with a silly looking gun and a controller from a powerpoint presentation."

Again, this is one of the dumbest things I've read all week, and reeks of Sony/MS fanboy mentality pinning Nintendo as a "kiddie" company. If you could gather anything from this year's E3, it's that Nintendo has soul and they honestly seem interested in invigorating the state of video games and perpetuating it beyond the realm of the best graphics and fastest processors, something which competes directly with PC gaming...a fight you can't very well keep up when you have 4-7 years between generations of consoles. Try to appreciate Nintendo for not trying to be first, but trying to be the best for the other two groups of people who want to play games and not be over-wrought with tech specs and $600 systems.

[Brent @ May 11th 2006 12:00PM]

Both will sell fine. People on a gadget blog are going to think "No HDMI?!? Blasphemy!!!", while Joe Everyman is going to think "WTF is HDMI? A 20GB hard drive is plenty for my kids". So those of us who know the difference (and I'm guessing we're the minority) will shell out the extra $100 for HDMI and extra HD space, while the average person buying a PS3 for little Tommy is going to pick up the cheaper one. Either way, PS3 is gonna sell.

[RP @ May 11th 2006 12:02PM]

4. honestly, if you bought the XBOX360 bundle and plan on buying the new HD-DVD drive, youre going to be paying about as much, total, as you would for the premium version of the PS3.

15. #12- $399 (Xbox 360) + $100 = $499 (PS3). The math seems rather clear to me. Granted it's the cheapest PS3, but somehow I believe that his point is pretty clear anyways: with the HD-DVD add-on, the Xbox 360 will cost about as much as the PS3.

I love this comment. Problem is, what about the people who cannot afford even a fully loaded Xbox 360. At least for Xbox 360 $299 and the price of a $30 memory unit will get you up and running. If you want to be running on the PS3 its $499. Do the math. This is why the PS3 is doomed.

[St.clair @ May 11th 2006 12:04PM]

num 15#
No you can't just get a HDMI cable for the lower verision ps3 it doesn't have a HDMI port. Which probably means it can't encode out the HDMI or support HDCP. This is the same problem the Xbox 360 might face with there HD-DVD addon. No one knows if it can support HDCP. If all you had to do was get a HDMI cable then they wouldn't of made a point to say the lower verision doesn't support HDMI.

[Ben @ May 11th 2006 12:08PM]

Well, Sony has just lost me as a customer. I cannot justify spending that type of money on a PS3. I have thought it over since the announcement, and I am surprised to say that I will probably just buy my first xbox.....

[RazorElite @ May 11th 2006 12:10PM]

Saying the 360+HD DVD will cost as much as the low end PS3 is also assuming that the 360 will still be sold at $400. Even so, with such a combination, consumers have a choice and are not forced into the future. If Bluray fails, consumers are still suck with a $600 system where one of the most prominent features isn't heavily supported anymore....just like the PSP. With the 360, you would've only spent $400 for what you really want, games, and invest more only if you were interested in more. It's all about choice. Not to mention, there is no way you can defend an un-upgradeable console system, especially after spending $500 on it. No matter what Sony or all the fanboys say, it's ridiculous and plain dumb. Whether you want the features or not, whether they are useful or not the features left out on the lower end system should easily upgradeable. Dumb move Sony, dumb move.

[Chris Chance @ May 11th 2006 12:10PM]

its funny how everyone pits the ps3 as better yet even delveopers say they are getting about the same out of both systems... as for the whole 399+100 = 499 = ps3 the fact is when the hddvd addon comes out near ps3 launch xbox360 will be in gear for its first price drop .. with the amount sony is loosing on its ps3 it will be 1-2 years before we see ANY pricedrop. yes i like the ps3 yes it seems like a pretty darn good console... but its just another attempt by sony to shove formats down your throught (sp?)

as for all of those that are missing the fact game pricing has been left out from the ps3 dont forget that bluray media is about 20-30x as expensive as a dvd... and in that case in the new dvd war... hddvd is about 1/10th the price of bluray in both manufacturing and media cost... you forget times in the US and europe arent at there best cash isnt falling out of peoples wallet... if i see a 1000$ player and 500$ player and both videos play the same ill be going after the 500$ player... and if the media for the 500$ player is 5-10$ more than a dvd and includes a regular dvd on the flipside of the disk IM CHOOSING THAT why? cause the bluray is 15-20$ more per disk

[mando @ May 11th 2006 12:12PM]

i think most are missing the point, and i suspect that most people here defending the price 'because you get a blue ray player', dont even have a TV that can support it. i dont want a blue ray player. i want a game machine. i dont want 1080anything. i want a game machine. i dont want to re-buy my movies. i dont want to watch movies. i want a game machine. get it?

[Chris Chance @ May 11th 2006 12:14PM]

nicely put 25 ... and if u want a movie what do you do? DUyeee you buy what you want you dont have it shoved in your face ... and ripped from u're wallet

[badbob @ May 11th 2006 12:16PM]

Justin,

So what you're telling me that for some reason, the HDMI port can't be made available on a cable that attaches to an universal AV port but has to have its own dedicated port? Are there even pictures of the back of the e3-2006 PS3?

[CUBS-BEARS-BULLS-RULE @ May 11th 2006 12:18PM]

NOT MUCH PARENTS WILL BUY THERE KIDS A 500 OR 600 DOLLAR SYSTEM I CAN SEE THAT THE 360 WITH HD DVD ADD ON WIRELESS ADAPTER WOULD COST MORE THAN THE PS3 BUT THE 360 DID IT SMART NOT MUCH PEOPLE COULD AFFORD ALL THAT IN A SYSTEM AND PEOPLE JUST WANT TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES AND SOME DON'T OWN A HD TV LOTS OF CASUAL GAMERS JUST CARE ABOUT HOW THE PLAYS FEELS AND LOOKS. SOME PEOPLE DON'T HAVE WIRELESS INTERNET OR 1080P TVS THE ONLY THING GOOD ABOUT THE PS3 IS THE GRAPHICS THOUGH BLUE RAY DISC'S CAN HOLD A SHIT LOAD OFF STUFF ON IT TO MAKE GAMES LONGER

[stewart @ May 11th 2006 12:19PM]

Do you really think Microsoft can come out with external HDDVD Player for $100 when they are $500 in the store. More likely $200 or $250. So $399+$200= $599 which is price of $599.

No body is sure that external USB HDDVD has the bandwidth to tranfer HI Def videos.

As for the PS3, it may be too much technology- but that is not always a bad thing.

[Ross @ May 11th 2006 12:19PM]

I don't think Sony think about there customers. All they want to do is sell extremely exspensive hardware. Unlike Nintendo's Wii they have no inovation atol in any of there consoles. Sorry sony but you just arn't cracking the vidoe games shell anymore.

[zak @ May 11th 2006 12:20PM]

21. I love this comment. Problem is, what about the people who cannot afford even a fully loaded Xbox 360. At least for Xbox 360 $299 and the price of a $30 memory unit will get you up and running. If you want to be running on the PS3 its $499. Do the math. This is why the PS3 is doomed.

guaranteed that when the HD-DVD drive comes out for Xbox 360, all games will be put in that format, forcing people to buy it. because game manufacturers arent going to waste the time to put it into two different formats, because microsoft cant wait for the hardware they want to use to be released.

so yeah, that 360 will be nice, to run the games that are released until the HD-DVD drive is released.

i agree that the new PS3 is overpriced, but not much more overpriced then the xbox360 is, and not as much as the xbox360 is going to be, when the HD-DVD drive is released. yeah, it sucks for people that cant afford it, but if you cant afford it, dont buy one. if you cant afford a $400 or $600 system, you cant afford the $60-70 per game.

[David @ May 11th 2006 12:20PM]

Price is high but with FFXII and God of War 2 still coming out for the PS2...I can wait it out. Xbox has not wow'ed me yet into buying it. Nothing against the system but I have nt seen any must-have games yet. I am too old for Nintendo but I might get a DS Lite to kill some time while I wait for next gen to sort itself out...

[Crivens @ May 11th 2006 12:25PM]

I'm betting it's just so they can say "from $499", even though no-one is going to buy the core system. Well, they won't if the XBox 360 experience is anything to go by, and the core system was hardly any different, and you could upgrade to the same spec really easily (unless you really really wanted the slightly different front). Not so with the PS3.

Never know, hopefully v2 (HD-DVD built in with bigger HD) of the 360 will come out before the PS3 and be amazingly cheap. That would give Sony something to think about.

Strangely though I've changed from being totally gibbering about the PS3 to being totally excited about playing online Jedi battles with Wii light sabres instead. Just the sound of a light sabre raises the Wii up massively compared to "you can play sword games". Oh yes. :)

Cheers

[BRYAN @ May 11th 2006 12:25PM]

HDMI is a big deal for the BluRay movie functionality. You will own a $500 down-converter. The problem is... most consumer?s don?t know, and don?t care to look it up. They will happily play their PS3 on a SDTV set, and swear its High Def with their composite video connection. I am routing for Nintendo. At least they understand what gaming is all about... fun.


" and I can say that first person shooters need to be extremely violent to be fun"

are you kidding.

[Loban @ May 11th 2006 12:25PM]

#32: "I am too old for Nintendo..."

Hmmm, is 26 too old for good games. Cause the Wii is the only console that has been worth buying in a long time, since the SNES. I get my fill of shallow, pretty shooters on my kickass PC. I play consoles for truly enjoyable games to play with friends and family, hence no 360 or PS3 for me.

[Chris Chance @ May 11th 2006 12:26PM]

uggg the HDDVD isnt for games its been said already games will always be dvd on the 360 not hddvd... the hddvd is only for those that actually want to watch hddvd movies

[bear999com @ May 11th 2006 12:27PM]

You can say that buying the 360 HD-DVD add-on makes the prices similar but at least I have a choice. Microsoft isn't making you buy it. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are new unproven technologies. The only true difference is Sony owns Blu-Ray, Microsoft doesn't own HD-DVD. Sony is forcing us to buy it, Microsoft is giving us an optional choice. Sony knows the patent money for Blu-Ray is worth a hell of a lot more money than the video game market so they have decided to use all of us. Gamers want great games period. We have been betrayed.

[Trojan @ May 11th 2006 12:28PM]

If it were as simple as including an HDMI Output on the PS3's Universal AV Port, don't you think Sony might have said that by now, considering all the flack they're getting for dropping HDMI on the cheap system?

And if they can just pump it out on the Universal AV Port, why have a dedicated HDMI Port on the high end system in the first place?

Engage your critical thinking skills, please.

[Robert Aitchison @ May 11th 2006 12:29PM]

It does all boil down to blu-ray.

Either the blu-ray drives are so expensive they forced Sony to charge this much for the Ps3, or more likely Sony charged as much as they did for the PS3 to keep fron undercutting the price of early stnadalone Blu-Ray drives too much.

In any case I think it will cause the PS3, the pricing, at over $500 is a tough pill for all but the most hardcore hamers to swallow, consumers aren't going to see the inlcusion of blu-ray as anything resembling a major selling point. For those users aware of blu-ray they are already palnning on waiting to see whether blu-ray or hd-dvd win the format war.

If blu-ray wins the PS3 will be to blu-ray players what the PS2 is to DVD players, not really practical for most people. If hd-dvd wins the blu-ray format will continue only for PS3 games and will be in effect a proprietary PS3 only format (like UMD is to the PSP).

Either way initial sales will be hurt dramatically by the high pricing, then again all the combatants in the next-gen console wars have made at least one critical mistake and two of the three haven't been released yet, the XBOX 360 suffered from shortages (some architected by Microsoft and some not) and more important by quality issues. The PS3 is grossly overpriced and the Wii, well they called it the Wii.

[CUBS-BEARS-BULLS-RULE @ May 11th 2006 12:33PM]

THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A SECOND THE 360 NO BUILT IN HD DVD, WIRELESS INTERNET CONNECTION, MOTION SENSING CONTROLLER, SD CARD READER, OR HDMI PORT ALL THE 360 ADD ONS IS MORE ATHAN THE PS3 BUT 360 GIVES U A CHANCE IF U DON'T WANT HD DVD OR HAVE WIRELESS INTERNET

I AM FOR 360 AND WII


WHAT ONES R U FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DIEGO @ May 11th 2006 12:36PM]

is the hard drive removable on the ps3?

[Chris Chance @ May 11th 2006 12:38PM]

Sorry to burst everyones bubble.. and sonys whole "well the cell is more expensive because it will allow us to be on top for 8 years instead of 5" as i said in another thread BULLSH*T wanna know why.... ps3 is launching now and guess what? intels already realeasing a pc chip that will be surpassing the ps3... 8 years my a*s its gonna be another 4-5 years console just like it always has been just more expensive

Core 2 Extreme: http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/05/11/intel_makes_its_core2extreme_gaming_case/page2.html

[Chris Chance @ May 11th 2006 12:40PM]

41: no apparently just like everything on the ps3 u're... well... stuck with what sony gives u

[ZildjianKX @ May 11th 2006 12:41PM]

Want happened to the dual HDMI ports the PS3 was suppose to have? I can't output to two TVs now like they bragged about?

[r @ May 11th 2006 12:42PM]

Does the PS3 play games?

Are there any completed games right now?

Is it going to launch with any games?

Sorry I hope I'm not "off topic"...

[DIEGO @ May 11th 2006 12:44PM]

that sucks sony really screwed there customers with the ps3

[tLo @ May 11th 2006 12:45PM]

First off I don't know of anywhere that you can buy an Xbox 360 for $299. Secondly, many people were willing to fork over two to three times the current cost of the $399 Xbox 360 core system when it was first released.

The Playstation 3 will offer WiFi, Bluetooth, SD Memory, Compact Flash, backwards compatibility, 20gig hard drive and BLUE RAY drive for $100 more. That is well worth the extra hundred bucks. So stop your whining and bitching about the cost because when it boils down to it people will pay.

enjoy!

[saboola @ May 11th 2006 12:48PM]

A lot of you think you are going to waltz in to a Gamestop this holiday season, plunk down 600 bucks, and walk out with a system. Let's be reminded that they have come into the nasty habit of forced bundling with these system launched. I can easily see you being forced to spend over 1000 dollars on a bundle. That's expensive, a little too expensive for most people.