It doesn't take a whole lot of analysis to figure out that a $100 price cut will result in a boost in sales, but market research group
NPD seems to think that the PS3's new $299 price point could have a particularly big impact on Sony's numbers once next month's sales are tallied up. While it's obviously not a sure thing, NPD expects sales of the PS3 to jump between 40% and 60% over the course of September, noting that "the USD 299 price point is important to getting to a point where the next segment of price-conscious consumers can jump into the market and it most certainly will re-energise sales of the platform." It's also quick to point out, however, that those sales might not be enough for Sony to take the lead in US console sales for the month, adding that "other systems might too take a price cut," and that "content is still the key motivator of a hardware purchase decision."
Update: Joystiq offers a clarification from the original quote that, historically, price cuts tend to lead to a 40 to 60 percent increase in sales over the previous, higher priced month. The group is not specifically predicting PS3's sales, just pointing out what's happened in the past -- it's a subtle but important difference.
[Via
gamesindustry.biz]
posted August 24th 2009 9:16PM
Wow, analysts pointing out the obvious. Gee, I wish I am one. I want to get paid for pointing out obvious things.
Next: Analyst predicts new iPods will be introduced next month.
My neighbor;s obnoxious ADHD kid wants one for Christmas. Now that there is a cheap version of the PS3 for $100 less, I suspect that he and lots of other undeserving kids will get one for Christmas.
But what pisses me off is that there are still PS2 games coming out and this PS3 has no Backward Compatibility. when they stop manufacturing PS2, how are we suppossed to play these PS2 games?
It NEVER makes sense to make today's gamer abandon their old library of game disks. I love whipping out old Konami games like Gradius V and contra shattered Soldier when I get bored. What about people who own PS2 Guitar Hero or Rock Band
for me Backwards compatibility is the deal breaker. I'd rather go on EBAY and pay full price for a 60GB PS3.
it simply can't be more cost effective for SONY to keep building PS2's than it would be to simply integrate BC into the PS3. Looks like they will never learn how to stop screwing up.
I KNOW!!! How about sony never stops manufacturing PS2's until the stop making games for it, because you know, if something costs $10 to make and sells for $100, why not keep making them, especially if people keep buying them!
DUUUHH!
I bought a 60gb ps3 with backwards compatibility because I thought it was the ideal ps3
not only can it play ps2 games natively, but it can also boot pirate ps2 iso's off a usb 2.0 hard drive by using swapmagic usb
the ps2 can do this too, but since it only has usb 1.0, the loading times are way too slow to play in many cases
but then I quickly learned that the 60gb model sucked. it was loud, hot, and since it was the launch model, I knew it was only a matter of time until it broke.
I sold it as soon as I saw the spy pic of the ps3 slim.
I dont care anymore if the ps3 will have backwards compatibility or not - because soon our pc processors will be powerful enough to emulate ps2 games right on the computer - just buy a ds3 and play!
It is really too little too late. If you don't have a next gen system by now then you are not a gamer. Any SERIOUS gamer already has a 360. Hardcore gamers such as myself have a PS3 also but only use it for the exclusives and Blu-Ray. Sony NEEDS more exclusives. They will get some 360 owners to purchase it, but when their friends are all playing on live they will buy the game for the 360. BTW, I love my PS3.
That's pretty impressive. But did they take in to account the Xbox 360 price drop?
They upped the capacity 60 gigs and took out the cords that were more of a selling feature. How is that a price cut?
@Matt, yeah they took out a $3 cord that was why it dropped $100
@deinfinityx:
If its 3 Bucks why would they take it out of the package at first point?
Maybe both consoles will see better sales?
@Matt
ROFLMAO, go to school kid. A cable that costs £9.99 should definately not affect your decision to buy a product or not. That is just sad
So what do you guys think the odds are of a Fatty PS3 price drop below $299 anytime in the near future?
(I'm interested in making the switch to blu-ray... if it drops low enough, might be worth it over the ~$100 Magnavox at Wal-Mart)
I see a short period left for the fatty PS3.
Look at how fast Sony replaced the PS2 Fatty with the PS2 Slim.
I wish this turn out to be true, but I'm sure this won't do a big change. I think this is turning into a race to the bottom without any real improvement in sales.
If the Wii turn to $200 we might have such a dramatic change in the 50% raise in sales, not so sure about the other 2.
Why would you buy any other Blu Ray player? (Folks with >$5k home theaters need not reply) If digital distribution doesn't poke it's head into the sunlight by winter 2010, I'll have one of these on top of my 360.
The other Blu-ray Disc Association members must be angry as hell at Sony for DESTROYING their margins! Good luck winning industry support for your next format, Sony.
Yea, they have completely undercut their competetion with a device more powerful more expendable than a simple blu-ray player for the same price.
Their next format release is going to be heavily debated (but since blu-ray is such a large disc it should take a while (most might even forget it by then).
Man, you're not up with the times. You can get a decent profile 2.0 Blu-ray player from Panasonic for ~$150! We're not living in 2007! Check your sources before you post!
i pre-order my ps3 yes!!!
If I had the money I would definitely pick up one of these new PS3s. I mean, $299 is a lot in my opinion for a game console but seeing as this has Blu Ray and a 120 Gb HDD, it offers great value...more so than the 360.
Xbox360 has 120Gb... But:
-No WiFi
-Pay For Online Play
-No Blu-Ray
So... the PS3 seems a better deal.
I hear of the Argument of high price for a gaming console, then I think of a time when dishing out a few grand for a now sub par arcade machine that only ran one game was acceptable. This generation is totally spoiled to the core.
Netbook or PS3? Probably a PS3. I hear about the superiority of XBOXLive but. I don't feel like paying for something that should be free. Both Wii and Ps 3 offer free Online gaming. Most of my friends have PS3 and they don't seem to mind the Online experience. Why would I?
i like pizza but if i had the money i would buy one
Newsflash: lower prices sells more units. More at 11.
maybe but when this Xbox 360 craps out i'm probably buying a new one or nothing.
When parents walk into Walmart and see XBOX360 for $_______ They don't see what cables it comes with or Hard Drive size.
THEY SEE THE PRICE.
Leave it to the Walmart or Best Buy employees to attempt to add on peripherals such as an extra controller for jimmy or HDMI cables that the parent doesn't realize they don't need.
off topic: how is the slim ps3 compared to a standard BR player, sizeside...
You can play games on a PS3.
Since when did Nantucket Police Department start doing market analysis??!
$299 should have been the LAUNCH PRICE fof both the PS3 and the Premium 360.
Who doesnt need an extra controller or a HDMI cable?
me because my brothers moved away and my HD tv broke
I have Netflix on my 360 and on demand for Cablevision. NEITHER's picture looks anywhere close to Blu-Ray or the now defunct HD-DVD.
Does anyone know how smooth the online play is on the ps3 (compared with the xbox360).
I am not sure what you mean by "smooth". Most games run fine, as in, no lag or crazy hiccups. It is easy to jump in and out of games or find games etc. It just doesn't have stuff like cross-game chats or universal skill matchmaking (most devs have to implement the feature themselves, I believe).
All in all, playing COD (MW and WaW), I have had zero problems with servers, finding games, player skill match ups, and hooking up with friends to play. A solid, *FREE* experience.
The only downside is that since the PS3 does not ship with mics, it limits the amount of people that have them. The more I think about it though, it might be a good thing. A lot of the hardcore players are gonna pick up mics and it weeds out your asshole players that are gonna use the mic to sing you a song and other such nonsense. (not to say it still doesn't happen, but not nearly as much on live).
Also factor in the reliability rate vs the Xbox unreliable rate ( which mainstream news have reported ), PS3 is a superior choice.
A couple of things to consider about those stats. One is that there aren't a lot of sales data points to consider for consoles dropping from $399 to $299. Most consoles start at $299 or less from the outset. Second is that we are in the worst global economic downturn since the invention of video games. Not exactly a rosy outlook for for anyone.
If they could ahve double whammied it with the slim and FF13 they would have sold some serious consoles.
All those sales and yet still no worthy games, sad really. Oh well, my original backwards compatible 80gb ps3 is a really nice dvd/blu ray player. I leave my 360 to do the gaming since it has a proper controller and games. Am I the only one who loathes the ps3 controller? man I can't stand that thing.
I love the ps3 controller, as much as the 360 controller. I think it feels just fine.
The 360 controller is probably more comfortable for people with larger hands, but overall I think the Dualshock is a way better controller. I prefer the flat face buttons to the rounded 360's, and the Dualshock's D pad is miles better than the 360 controller. I think really the only better thing about the 360 controller would be that it has better battery life.
@ urdaddy,
Give up the "no games" thing. You are living in the past. XBox360 over the last year can't touch the PS3 in exclusives as a whole, and the newer multiplayer games are now identical on both systems with the edge sometimes going slightly EITHER way. In fact, there are some developers that have recently come out and stated that they have gone as far as they can with XBox360 games, but not at the limit with PS3 games.
Now that it's at $299. I'm gonna patiently wait for one more price cut to $199. Then I'll be able to buy one.
Or you could just save up an extra 100 dollars and not wait 2 years.
Personally I'm waiting until it's free.
i personally own and prefer an xbox over ps3, but microsoft better drop that price down, because ps3 now looks like a way better deal. if they dont, well they should at least bundle free accessories like wi-fi adapter + killer app games like halo 3 ODST or forza 3 (no Lego or Sonic games please!)
MS will drop the 360 price down. The PS will AWAYS be the most expensive Console this Generation for the fact of it having a Blu-Ray drive and Built-In HDD as Standard. MS can always cut the price anytime they like. Soon Nintendo will have to do the same thing now that sales have slowed.
Even with this PS3 price drop, I just don't want one. Backwards Compatibility was such a HUGE IMPORTANT thing for Sony Playstation owners on the PS2 and early on with the PS3, and yet NOW that Sony has changed their tune, It's NOT a big deal anymore. What a Joke. Sony keeps cutting out features of the PS3 it's a laugh. What's next??? On the other Hand, the 360 has Gained Features, HDMI, Expanded Internal Memory, more Xbox Game Compatibility, to even better Media Center Extender Capabilities, and Netflix, to the FREE Massive Multi-Player game 1 Vs. 100 with LIVE HOST. The list continues to grow.
There's still not a game on the PS3 that leaps up at me and just makes me want to buy a PS3 to play it. I'm really not a fan of the controller, it feels awkward, cheap, and to small for me to use. I'd rather play a Wii, and I'm not really a fan of that either. I already have a Blu-Ray player. I can't believe SONY was still to cheap to not add a IR port on the new PS3 Slim, continuing that dumb move.
FREE online isn't a big deal to me. At the most it's a whole $4.17 a month, WOW,.... Yet can be found cheaper where it's down to about $3 a month if you know where to look. WIFI I could care less about. Don't want it. Won't use it on a Gaming system no matter what it is. I've had ZERO problems with my 2 360's. Price has NEVER been a factor for me on getting a PS3 or not. Games I want to play, and features I like is what gets me to buy whatever console I buy. If you like the PS3, great...
I'm just getting annoyed at you Sony fanboy's adding these so called Extra 360 costs, and yet forget the PS3 ones. For me, one would have to be one of the IR to Bluetooth Adapters, that's about $80 right there. That's one thing alone cost more then 2 years of LIVE service. Built in IR on the 360 so I can control it great with my Logitech 1000 Remote with the rest of my system.
Good work defending, fanboy.