Konami defends inflated MGS4 bundle cost

The folks at Konami have been trolling the forums again, kids, and this time they're fighting back. Reps from the game-maker have issued a statement on the company forum addressing the furor over the inflated cost of the forthcoming, limited edition Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle. According to Konami, the bumped up price ($600 for a 40GB version of the PS3, plus Dual Shock controller and MGS4 game) is due to the special material used to create the gunmetal gray system and controller casing. The company seems to take issue with the fact that some are calling it simply a "paint job," and points out that the run of units is only 10,000, and the package also includes a version of the game with an extra disc of additional content. To put it another way: this is the deal of a lifetime!

[Via Wired]

[Ignatius @ May 30th 2008 7:57PM]

It's fanboy tax.

[MoonMan @ May 30th 2008 9:10PM]

Will all the kids of Welfare parents please put their hands up and complain about the price...

[Colin Potter @ May 30th 2008 10:32PM]

fanboy with bad taste tax.

its not attractive in any way... and unless its actual metal i see little point (metal would act as a heat sink assuming they used aluminum or the like)

[hurricane @ May 30th 2008 11:24PM]

Yeah this is a waste of money unless you are really a collector... (not entirely sure if fanboy is the proper term for that but oh well) I mean, there is a bundle with the 80GB PS3 and MGS4 and Dualshock 3 for $500 (which is $100 less than this bundle)...

[maty @ May 31st 2008 6:29AM]

Lol.


I don't see the problem. In the UK we pay $600/£300 for a standard 40GB model with GT5 Prologue. That's it. No Gun Metal Green, no MGS...

I've no idea why they're complaining! Thats great value for us UK'ers!

[Flashpoint @ May 31st 2008 2:16PM]

I'm going to buy the $500 80GB MGS4 +DS3 package on June 12th. I never knew they'd have a $600 sku with a 40GB. THAT'S RIDICULOUS.


I am very happy I waited so long to get the system...I just wanted it to come with the DS3 already inside and now I'm getting the largest HDD with the game and the controller at a good price.

YAY ME.

[ghacon @ Jun 1st 2008 1:58AM]

This is a load of Rubbish, manufacturing costs have come down considerably and Konami a RIPPING loyal customers - yeah you know the people that fill your pockets!!

[Garst @ Jun 2nd 2008 3:53AM]

The term you're looking for is "price gouging." It's fanboy price gouging.

[adrian @ May 30th 2008 7:58PM]

Sounds like nonsense to me.

[MIKE @ May 30th 2008 9:12PM]

Either that or Economics.

Average Cost goes way up on a run of 10,000 units, if in fact the casing is different from the standard glossy casing of the PS3.

Now, even if it WAS just a paint job, it would still be worth it... you're paying for the a)low supply of this item and b)high demand for the cool look. If you've graduated from high school, you should know that those two forces combined means a super high price. But don't mistake that for an over-priced item, this is the fair price.

Of course, we shouldn't expect geeks to understand this stuff, or ponder it for more than 30 seconds, nor should we expect the company to stoop to explaining it in these terms (which they did not).

[Colin Potter @ May 30th 2008 10:35PM]

MIKE

please explain to me how

a) The cost of a run of 10,000 units increases by $100 each due to some mysterious paint process, a total "cost increase" of 1 million dollars

b) This looks cool?

[PCIV @ May 30th 2008 10:49PM]

Well... If it costs them a hundred million to make 1,000,000, that's $100 per machine. By doing only 10,000, and let's say it cost them 2 million dollars, that's $200 per machine. $100 increase, due to production costs. That's why machine made rugs are so much cheaper than man-made ones, mass production brings the cost per piece down.

Even me, in Grade 10, knows that...

[hurricane @ May 30th 2008 11:29PM]

But you see, PCIV, that Konami (the publisher of MGS4) doesn't actually manufacture the PS3 (I'm wondering how exactly this gunmetal grey PS3 model is going to be done myself... well, not really, but it just crossed my mind, so...).

[Shaun @ May 30th 2008 11:50PM]

I don't know why MIKE got voted down. He is correct. I doubt it's just a paintjob, they're probably using a different material to make it. The PS3 has a plastic case, this one's metal, so they have to make new molds, order new materials, maybe they have to rework the insides a bit for the electric/grounding/static stuff. I don't know anything about that, but it's definitely different for a metal case and a plastic case. All of this costs money, and the new material they're using is also definitely more expensive than the plastic of the PS3. And they won't get bulk discounts cos they won't be buying material for millions PS3s.

And there's the supply/demand thing.

Colin Potter, yes, gunmetal does look a whole lot cooler than shiny black plastic. Or did you think gunmetal is just a fancy name for plastic with gray paint?

[Mobile Phone Diva @ May 31st 2008 12:02AM]

Shaun, do you have one and can confirm it's metal? Because I missed where they said it was made of metal, all I saw was "different material". If it really is metal, that could make a difference, but I still think they could have offered more drive space.

[Pochi @ May 31st 2008 1:29AM]

@Shaun

"I don't know why MIKE got voted down."

Because most of the commenters here are imbeciles (fact). The people low ranking him are the same people who think "ALL MEDIA SHOULD BE FREE!" and so forth. Explanations ruin everything.

[R0B3RT @ May 31st 2008 1:39AM]

Guys do you even realize that there are no different parts to make new molds for all there doing is clanging the feeding color beads. Plant plate/pieces are my buy heating pellets mainly white with color a few color bend and inject into a mold. It that simple other than changing a release agent no difference.

[Nick Ritch @ May 31st 2008 1:53AM]

It's not nonsense. It makes perfect sense. Have you ever shopped for appliances? You want stainless steel you pay extra. You want the cool blue or red LG washer and dryer set you pay extra. So I just think of this like an appliance it costs as much as some.

There are 4.29 million ps3s currently in the US and only 10000 people or .23% will own this color. And the More the PS3 sells the Rarer this becomes.Which makes this an even better deal because there are only a few of them being made.

[Shinigami @ May 31st 2008 9:36AM]

Mike was right about it being more expensive, but Konami never said the inflated cost was completely due to extra work applied. Actually 10,000 consoles (as far as I understand their manufacturing sizes) can be made in one day, because you only make few casing elements "of different material" and pay extra to people. How much extra? $0,1 or $1 but certainly not $100 (as far as I know, people receive few cents for each part they worked with). You don't pay extra for shipping.
So, for manufacturer PS3 "limited edition" should be "profit-making edition".
Demand and supply is impossible to calculate without actually supplying product and seeing the demand, so they are guessing. They are guessing that there will be a lot of people who are willing to pay any kind of extra (including hundreds of dollars) for the "limited edition" product. For some people that means a lot of additional value in the product, while for others it means nothing.

Verdict: if you absolutely need that PS3, you'll buy it for $1,000. If you can live without it, don't bother screaming about unfair price policy (PS3 price was unfair to begin with). When making a decision, think of it as a plastic PS3 with a different paint applied and heavily inflated cost. You ca get the same stuff for $80 less if you buy PS3 40gb, DualShock3, and MGS4 separately (if controller and game cost $60 each, PS3 costs $400).

[bethel03 @ May 30th 2008 7:59PM]

Wonder how much these will be going for on e-bay once they're all sold out...

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ May 31st 2008 6:16AM]

One time deal... Exclusive unit... Specifically for the fans... $600?...

I personally see no problem.

Question is: would they be able to maintain the status of exclusivity?

Because if the bundle will sell well (e.g. thanks to smart eBayers), Konami might be tempted to print some more of the bundles, effectively ruining its exclusivity. Otherwise deal is good.

[Joe Commisso @ May 30th 2008 7:59PM]

Buy. Wait till they sell thru the 10,000. Sell on Ebay. Crazy people buy it for a couple hundred more. = Profit.

That is if anyone like MGS that much, I personally never cared for the game.

[Hellios @ May 30th 2008 8:05PM]

goddamit, that bluetooth headphone is going to cost way too much than I'm willing to pay for it on ebay.

[aron @ May 30th 2008 8:14PM]

Special Material? Instead of using black color pellets when they mold it, they use this olive color. Sure it's not paint, but heck, it's even easier.

[OGHowie @ May 30th 2008 8:18PM]

They never explained why the Japanese version of the same bundle is $100 cheaper than the USA version. To ward off eBay scalpers?

[EK @ May 31st 2008 1:51AM]

Someone mentioned that The same model in Japan is $100 cheaper. That is why it sold out one hour once they opened for pre-order. I already ordered one of the US model but I don't think they are going to sell as well as the other bundles with regular PS3.

[Alberto @ May 30th 2008 8:19PM]

Ok, I understand if the casing is made out of a "special material". But seriously folks...it's the same PS3. I guess if you are a hard core fan it's ok....still smells like "sheep" bate to me. I just want decent games to start coming out.

I say save your money...you can put the savings toward that large screen display you want to play your PS3 games on. That's a better investment.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ May 31st 2008 6:19AM]

> I understand if the casing is made out of a "special material".

I wonder how Sony would handle repairs and replacements?

Does Sony has any history of such "exclusive" units?

[frak @ May 30th 2008 8:20PM]

Anybody read the forums? A lot of ebayers are canceling their orders. They don't expect it to sell well on ebay. Also the post that this article is based off of provides very little proof that it is an actual konomi rep talking.

[OGHowie @ May 30th 2008 8:24PM]

It is a Konami rep. The same thing was posted on the Konami forums by a moderator.

[TocaLaGuitara @ May 30th 2008 8:26PM]

The thing that really gets me is that there will be a 80GB/Backwards compatible bundle for $500, but the gunmetal gray system, which is 40GB and cannot play PSone/PS2 games, is $600. I will be lining up at my local Gamespot, that's for sure.

[X820 @ May 30th 2008 8:34PM]

Oi it can play PSone games but not PS2 games.

[Ignatius @ May 30th 2008 9:15PM]

It can play SOME PS1 games provided you buy them (again, usually).

That's like saying the Xbox 360 was backwards compatible with the Atari because you can buy games that were made on the Atari.

[DanB91 @ May 30th 2008 11:08PM]

@Ignatius

no u can pop in any PS1 game into a 40gb and it will work

[james Walker @ May 31st 2008 12:13AM]

You would think SONY learned something when the HIGH price of the PS3 hurt them when it 1st came out,with gas price's and home market all messed up, SONY HAS NO LOVE FOR US HURTING AMER.

[Lein @ May 30th 2008 8:27PM]

Over-priced or not, it still looks a hell of a lot better than the Halo 3 Xbox 360 (and accessories.)

[Zeus @ May 30th 2008 8:34PM]

I ordered this as a collector (not ebay, or to play on) but will likely cancel now that Konami has revealed 'Limited' = 10,000 units. What. the. f-bomb.

[iceykitsune @ May 30th 2008 8:35PM]

Unless it is made out of ACTUAL gunmetal, the price is ridiculous.

[Teddy @ May 30th 2008 8:42PM]

The fact that the Konami limited edition PS3 has been available for pre-order now for several days and not sold out speaks volumes. Had it been the 80GB model, all 10,000 would have been sold by now and Konami knows it. One of those 10,000 PS3s would have been shipped to my home if it had 80 gigs inside (plus PS2 BC, card reader, 2 more USB ports).

As for anyone thinking about buying these PS3s and eBaying them, good luck. You'll probably end up giving someone a very good deal as you try to get some of your money back.

Next time Konami, do your homework and don't ship an inferior model for more money. Some of us would actually pay $699 if it was a 80GB model, me included.

[gabe @ May 30th 2008 8:51PM]

400 $ is way too much for a gaming system

coming on get real bro.

$700?

[Colin Potter @ May 30th 2008 10:28PM]

thats very true, however you can use a powered USB hub, switch out the HDD for a much bigger one, and use a USB card reader... the only difference then is the BC

[PeterF @ May 31st 2008 1:20PM]

@Colin yeah but you wouldnt have ugly boxes sitting outside your PS3

[Teddy @ May 30th 2008 9:05PM]

My point is with some people, as long as they're getting all of the features of a cheaper model, not fewer features, some will pay even more for an "exclusive" model. At the very least they would spend $100 more for it with no hesitation.

"400 $ is way too much for a gaming system"

The PS3 is more than a gaming system, do you want it for 100 bucks ?

[Ignatius @ May 30th 2008 9:17PM]

The main selling point is usually the game console itself, not its multimedia strengths. I didn't buy my Xbox 360 to watch movies off of the XBLM, I wouldn't buy the PS3 to watch Blu-ray movies.

[PCIV @ May 30th 2008 10:52PM]

Funny thing. Lots of people DO buy the PS3 to play blu-ray...

[Ridgecity @ May 31st 2008 3:17AM]

Yeah, the Ps3 is Living... and you get a thumb for a penis...

[xValentine @ May 30th 2008 9:24PM]

Sheesh... $600 bucks is the cost of a normal 80GB PS3 here in our country..

That's why I don't see the $600 value expensive :)

[jbodar @ May 30th 2008 9:32PM]

Wait, Konami is trolling forums? Are they calling people "nubs" and questioning their sexuality?

Maybe I just have a different definition of trolling. Don't feed the Konami reps!

[Teddy @ May 30th 2008 9:33PM]

I think the main selling point used to be the game console itself (games and only games), now it's a little murky as to what the selling point of the current generation of consoles are (gaming, online, casual market, multimedia/blu-ray). Nintendo decided to take the casual route which is working great so far and MS/Sony decided to take a broader multimedia route with gaming as a vital component of this approach.

Anyway, we're getting off track here. Konami made a bad move and they know it.

[Jlivengo @ May 30th 2008 10:15PM]

Konami making a bad move? Konami would sell all 10,000 units if they tacked on another $100. They're just taking some of the profits the ebay jackles would've gotten.