With next-gen console news being released at such a fast and furious pace these days, it's starting to feel a little bit like
Joystiq around here, so instead of reporting and analyzing every little snippet of new information in separate posts, we've rounded up the latest and greatest
PS3 revelations into one tight bit of prose. Since pricing is such an important issue to most consumers, we'll start there -- but unfortunately, the news ain't good. You probably already heard that those lucky gamers in Japan will be able to pick up their 20GB boxes for the equivalent of $428, but despite all the hoping and praying you've been doing,
Kaz Hirai has reaffirmed that the
recent price cuts apply to Japan only -- though he threw the rest of the world something of a bone when he also announced that everyone
will be getting an HDMI port on his/her low-end system. Speaking of
high prices, Impress is citing "multiple sources" in predicting that most Japanese PS3 games will cost in the neighborhood of ¥8,800 to ¥9,800, which is between $75 and $85 here in America -- ouch, that's like a whole month's allowance for us, and well above the going rate for 360 games. As long as we're dwelling on the negatives, we should also mention that not only will HDMI cables be absent from the box, both Hirai and
Ken Kutaragi are leaning away from even including component action with either package. Now on to the good stuff (sorry, there's not much). First of all, it's been confirmed that all PS3 games will indeed
ship region-free (though it's up to the developers to code in multilingual support, and Blu-ray movies will remain region-locked) and secondly, the inclusion of Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD (7.1 channels) is a done deal. Finally, and perhaps least importantly after all these downers, is the fact that the
Wii-inspired, rumble-free
controller has officially been dubbed "SIXAXIS" -- though without the shakin' action, we imagine that many of you could care less what they chose to call it. Anyway, that's all for now from the exciting PS3 frontier, but keep your broswer tuned to this channel, as we'll have just a little more
Sony-related amusement for you later today.
Read- No price drop [Via
Gamesindustry.biz]
Read- Japanese game speculation [Via
IGN]
Read- Region-free, no component [Via
PS3 Fanboy]
Read- SIXAXIS
Read- Dolby
posted September 25th 2006 4:39PM
And, a little remark to the guys who think Engadget is biased against Sony :
Engadget is not biased against Sony. Sony does a good job enough of being biased against themselves.
Forget the Ps3, I want a Wii.
jason... any cable that sony packs in (if any) isn't going to be any better than the $20 cable, so i don't really know what your point is.
I always think high price games are high quality. Just makes me think how awesome the games are going to be and that's all I care...
I'm just trying to understand why is Engadget refusing to also explain to people that the Japanese have always paid more for games than us Americans. Regular PS2 games in Japan cost what is the equivalent of $60 USD, while more popular games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest cost $75. So even if the article that claims the price of PS3 games is true, it seems in line with the price jump even Americans got (from $50 to $60).
It just seems extremely biased of Engadget to not mention that bit of data.
I have a friend who is a programmer for a game company that was bought out by sony in the last year and they have a PS3 dev kit that he says is freaking huge and very loud. I'm interested to see how it'll go from a 5U style server box to something that can sit near your TV without eclipsing it or destroying the sound because it's fans are so loud.
We'll see...
I'm sure the dev kits are a little junky because it seems Sony is barely getting their specs together at the last minute..... heck, the original 360 dev kits were G5's!
The games are priced at 60 dollars everywhere in the United States. As we learned from the lower priced version of the console, you cannot just convert the japanese price to U.S. dollars. I can't believe that you expect the price to be different from every press release since E3 because of a currency conversion. If you continue this line of reasoning you will find that if you try to figure out the American console price based on the UK console price, it will come to 800 dollars. This is contrary to everything else reported because it is a different place with different laws, taxes, and a different currency. The same thing goes for Japan. If Sony is as stupid as you keep saying they are, there should be plenty of real news about their mistakes (flaming batteries, rootkits etc.) to prove your point without making false predictions based on the exchange rate. Although I am sure everyone is going to be mad about the lack of A/V cables, I think we can all admit that in this day and age it would be very hard to include A/V cables that would please everyone. (They could be R/F, RCA, S-video, component, DVI, or HDMI). Rather than include all of them and raise the price of the console further, Sony elected to make it after market. People might feel entitled to an A/V cable at this price, but it was not an unreasonable decision to not include them. By the way, "could care less" means that your lack of interest is not as low as possible. I believe you meant "couldn't care less." So to sum up, everything you hated about the PS3 is the same as it was at E3, except that the cheap version will have HDMI, and the sound will be great.
Some of us are fortunate enough to have HDTV and 6.1 surround system. I'm looking forward to owning the new PS3 because, believe it or not, its currently a bargain. Have you seen the prices for stand-alone Blu-Ray disc players? Its just like back when PS2 came out. When I bought it, it was my PlayStation/CD player/DVD player. Its practically paying for the future. Now, I'm one of the many complaining about the exhorbitant price of a gaming system (and Sony's laptops) but Sony is looking out for the future. I'll wait until the hype dies down, though.
Wow, that price makes me sweat. It's still not as expensive as a PC and two games -- but still, a computer does MUCH more than a PS3...
By the way... whoever has even stepped out of the country knows that prices skyrocket on most items, including games. Example, Nike Air Max 360. Here, they're $160. In the U.K., if you translate the currencies, its upward of $200 U.S. I'm sure that the games in the U.S. will stay in the $50-60 range...
The loss of the rumble function is unfortunate and will be missed.
Wow, ever since I've gotten my x360 I've felt a little sick that I didn't wait and see what is going to happen in the next year of console gaming. Looks more and more like I made the right choice afterall...
why whould we want 2 HDMI outputs? what could you use that for?
many big companies have already stated that in the US, thier games will not exceed $59.99, or will atleast be competitive of the Xbox360 titles.
This hase probebly been said before, but.
Xbox360 premium pack $400
Years of XboxLive $99999+?
PS3 standard 20GB $500
HDMI or component cables $5-$20
Main features:
360 20GB HDD component video extremely old DVD format, or $200+ for HD-DVD.
PS3 20GB HDD HDMI, or component, Blu-ray and all older formats.
Only jap games will be more.
I own an Xbox360 and I'm EXTREMEMLY dissapointed. So far I have played nearly every game that has come out, except football,hockey etc, and I really only enjoyed Dead Rising, Cameo, and Perfect dark. Every other good game for the 360 was better on the PC. After this long I STIll don't see any games for the 360 that I want.
The PS3 however, has games that are Exclusive to it, and look fun.
I have A 360, but I'm not going to go around saying that it's awsome because I'm some poor dumbass idiot who bought one. I'm going to sell my Xbox360 and then save the cash and wait to play the PS3, if I don't like it then I'll buy some PC parts. But motorstorm, DMC4, MGS4, Warhawk, LAiR, and basically all other ps3 games look entertaining.
Also think of this, I just bought a gaming pc for over $1400, that I WILL be upgrading sometime in 2007. Millions of other people do the same, and sometimes they spend thousands just to meet the requirements of current games.
Those of you who criticise the PS3 probebly have a great reason to, but I bet that millions of you just want the price to be dropped so you can buy one with your wellfare money because your too damn lazy to get a job.
I have an Xbox 360 and love it. I can't wait for Wii to come out. Me and my wife will enjoy retro NES goodness. If I could get my hands on a PS3, I would only do so because I could sell it to some Christmastime sucker for 2X-3X its value.
Engadget biased much? I seriously thought you wouldn't buy into the hype. First, 47,600 yen is only $409. Not only that, but we are used to games being this expensive in Japan. 8,800 is not unreasonable and an extra $8 for next gen isn't too much of an increase. As such, you can expect PS3 games in the US to increase by about the same amount - to $59.
How did the Japanese get sony to abdicate to the new and lower price? American gamers need to start a petition boycotting the PS3 stateside unless we get the equivalent $428 (or cheaper ha!) price. A unified front of bitching and moaning could get KK and Hirai to realize just how many people they're alienating through these ridiculous marketing tactics. If that doesn't work, then we'll storm the sonystore in v for vendetta masks.
Come on people......I know not everyone has the time to get into what is REALLY going on.....it truely is irresponsible of engadget and many other online venues to post all this bull without even attempting to make sure the story is legit or at least give a disclaimer that they are just re-reporting something without even looking into whether it is legit or a rumor.
As posted by many people games in Japan have always cost more then in the US.....the default price for games in the US will be $59...the same as 360.
Don't believe everything you read....especially on the internet......without questioning it before accepting it as fact.
So either edgadget is biased or extremely reckless with their articles.....they certainly aren't alone tho....
Here's a question... I'm an american stationed (USAF) in Japan. Since these consoles are region free (or is it just the games?), I'm assuming that I can purchase it on the economy and save me some dough? Will I (or should I) even think about purchasing my PS3 here? I've been holding out to purchase one of these beauties...but with all the delays I'm feeling like is it really worth all the money they'll be asking up front. Can anyone give me some feedback please.
Where on Earth does Joystiq get it's selective vision from? (Not so) amazingly, only the negative press is put up.
How about Sony impressing everyone with the quality of games present at TGS? How about the *rumor* of high game prices being accurately labeled as *rumor.*
Most of what I hear about TGS, from less biased sources, are how good the games look and play. They gripe about not getting hard dates or numbers, and that's about it. I hope everyone in this forum isn't so blinded by Joystiq's lack of enthusiasm and selective quotes.
I bought a 6 foot HDMI cable at radioshack yesterday for 50 bucks. It was 109 dollars for a Belkin (of all people) 1 meter cable down the street at comp usa. The radioshack version is not only 6 foot, but looks a dream. So my suggestion to you all is to get the Radioshack cable, and be happy knowing your not paying out the nose. Plus radioshack has a great return policy, just keep the receipt. (FYI, im typically anti-radioshack, in fact I hate them for everything else they sell.)
I think it's funny all these people griping about money when they have computers which I doubt cost less than $1000. And I also doubt those PC's they paid that money for could play these next generation games. Too expensive is a tired argument. If you know where to get an XBOX 360 plus HD Drive w/ HDMI output plus 60gb drive for less than 600...let me know and I'm there.
Hmmm... so why is it then, that you can pre-order PS3 games for $59.95? Stop spreading FUD, Engadget.
http://www.gamestop.com/search.asp?sortby=default&searchtype=quicksearch&searchcount=12&Keyword=PS3&platform=0&find.x=0&find.y=0&find=Search
Sony is over there heads. Like im really excited for the Playstation 3. But that's really expensive games.
Where the hell is Gran Turismo Mobile? Wasnt that meant to be a release title for PSP?
Gran Turismo HD(the only title that would make me think about PS3), will probably see release in 2010.
Also us luck PAL region people will probably see PS3 for $800++, in about 2008.
Fck Sony are loosers.
Im still bitter about Gran Turismo 2000, that was mean to be a PS2 release title! It was even on the box!
STOP THE LIES SORNY!
YOU GOT LUCKY WITH NINTENDO GIFTING YOU THE PS1, RODE THAT OUT WITH THE PS2, AND NOW ITS OVER.
I know Sony fanboys are screaming bloody murder saying the Sony games in the USA are listed as $60 and not the $75+ that the Japanese games are listed at (after exchange rate). However, is this any different than the little media games that Sony was playing in announcing the cheaper PS3 (for Japan only)? Every Sony fanboy was having wet dreams about their $400'ish PS3.
Gran Turismo HD for PAL territories is scheduled for release in 2012 :)
Sorry euro fans.
PS3 is still too expensive after the price drop. Good that they made HDMI on both base and better version, but I'll still be getting the Wii.
it's getting way too expensive !! i gona move to wii.
These guys have completely forgotten the lessons learned when they dethroned Nintendo years ago. The really sad part is that when this turd hits the market and flops, the lion share of gamers will go over to Microsoft and Sony will become the biggest cautionary tale in history.
Sony is probably going down. ALL their products are so - called "premium" priced.
I believe that some games, the ones that are released on normal DVD's will retail for 59.99 here in the US, but the games that are released on Blu-Ray media will initially go for more due to the current prices of Blu-Ray media. As time goes on the Blu-Ray games will level out as the next gen media becomes more mainstream. Also, is it me, or does the PS3 network connection appear to be proprietary? I think that concerns me more than the game prices.
monoprice.com has quality hdmi cables for well under $20 USD, I've bought from them before. As someon said earlier, "IF" sony packaged an HDMI cable, the quality would likely be pretty poor anyway. But it would work fine, as it's digital, not analog.
Anyone in the market for HDMI cables (or any cables) should seriously check out monoprice.com. Not trying to advertise for them, but seeing people post these prices for HDMI cables just makes me feel bad. They have HDMI cables from 1' to 100' at $5-$130. I have been using a 35' HDMI cable from them for almost a year that I paid $40 shipped for. At the stores those were in the $200+ range at the time if you were lucky enough to find one.
Since when did $60 video games become acceptable as a standard? PC games are still $30-50 on release. Buying "into the future with BluRay/HDDVD" is such marketing BS hype. The future is all-digital formats. Physical media is obsolete in 5 years.
sony is not looking very good right now!
The problem here isn't that those of us who are informed can get a decent 6ft HDMI cable for $20-$30. It's the mom and pops out there who don't know any better. They'll be the one's buying a vast majority of the PS3's once supply catches up to demand (probably spring/summer of next year).
Now when they tack on the extra $60 for a cable (that is if they don't get suckered into a Monster or Audioquest cable sold at BB which are over $100), then they'll probably stop and hesitate about makeing that purchase for little Jimmy/Jenny. That's where Sony's gonna have a big problem.
The problem here isn't that those of us who are informed can get a decent 6ft HDMI cable for $20-$30. It's the mom and pops out there who don't know any better. They'll be the one's buying a vast majority of the PS3's once supply catches up to demand (probably spring/summer of next year).
Now when they tack on the extra $60 for a cable (that is if they don't get suckered into a Monster or Audioquest cable sold at BB which are over $100), then they'll probably stop and hesitate about makeing that purchase for little Jimmy/Jenny. That's where Sony's gonna have a big problem.
So leik, I don't know WHAT you guys are talking about hundreds of dollars in cables...
I can get you some for 30 bucks, I'll charge you 50 'since you say that you spend a hundred bucks ANYways..... o.o
I like the price drop in Japan, but in the long run, it will cost the Japanese gamers more money than NOT having a price drop....
$60.00 is a very nicely priced next-gen game, and if the developers have it region-free like most will I'm sure, then it's GREAT! they'll be saving money in the long run, instead of wasting more and more CD's and time to format in different languages, you'll stick it on here, BLUray. ftw.
Oh, and I don't know why everyone is bitching about PS3 is overpriced, with the value you get, you'll school everything... check it, I just spent over 1,350 on my computer, conroe 6400, nvidia 7900GT, P5B, 2GB Corsairs and It's not even going to be as powerful.... although, I much would rather play my PC, than this... XD well, own a pc forever, than a PS3 XD
I can make $600 in one month, working at $6.00 an hour. I can make $800 in a month at $6.00 but working full time.
See, I'm a poor bitch, honestly, I am.... but I buy all of my stuff, and yes, from a job, that pays SIX DOLLARS AN HOUR!
I'm a high school student and I"M not really even complaining, so all of you X fans, go fuck your circle of doom. ;)
~Sailent.
Xmas wiill be wiily interesting! :)
to be honest i think the ps3 design is tacky, it looks like you can you can fry some chips or somthing, its too big and beefy and overall its a playstation
much love jake xx