PSXE Poll Update: Expecting A PS3 Price Cut At E3

At this point, the rumors hint at an enormous number of huge announcements at this year's E3, but it seems our readers expect one above all others:

A price drop for the PlayStation 3. It has been a hot topic of conversation for months now and in reality, it has been a controversial subject surrounding Sony's next-gen machine since it launched with a relatively extravagant $600 price tag. Since the 2008 holiday season, both gamers and analysts alike have been calling for a price cut but Sony has remained adamant; they're simply not prepared to bring the price down $50 or $100. Therefore, the official word on this has always remained the same. But it appears that our readers are buying into the horde of supposed evidence that has been revolving around the Internet, and that's perfectly fair. We've seen some very compelling pieces of information lately, and it remains a possibility that the PS3 will have a more attractive price tag after E3 is over. But now that we've established this, we're going to switch gears a bit-

Most of you are aware of how most Japanese developers feel they are lagging behind Western designers in the video game industry. Hence, many, including Square-Enix and Konami, have expressed a strong desire to "expand Westward;" in other words, they want to produce more games that appeal to gamers in this neck of the woods. This has received a mixed reaction and it'll be interesting to see what you think. Do you believe this is a good thing? Or would you rather have the distinct separation from the past, when Western and Japanese titles were often very different from each other in terms of both style and gameplay? Vote now to express how you feel on the subject.

5/17/2009 Ben Dutka

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Comments (57 posts)

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GuernicaReborn
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 10:35:35 PM
Reply

I think Japanese developers can appeal to Western gamers while still keeping their games distinctly Japanese. What I don't want to see is Japanese developers pumping out FPS war titles. There is still a market for RPGs, just look at the attention that FFXIII is recieving.

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kratos17
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 10:42:22 PM

yeah doing what you do best will only encourage others to do the same

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Mr Bitey
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 10:50:17 AM

I hope so. Unfortunately the western market is the largest and most lucrative. An over whelming majority of people in the west prefer FPS & third person shooters. So naturally eastern developers are going to try and cater to western preferences. While there are still great RPGs this gen, they are far out numbered by FPS. I think the trend is only going to expand more over time, but I hope I'm wrong.

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ace_boon_coon
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 2:45:20 PM

they can appeal more just by makin ps3 exclusives. they're tryin to appeal to western markets by makin games for the 360 and it's not working. it's a japanese fightin game comin out named blazblue and it looks sick. i just think they need to keep their style.

1 up, 0 down

piratedrunk
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 10:37:25 PM
Reply

As long as they "stick to their roots" as you put it I am all for it. I think some interesting games could come out of this. That said I hope this gives them confidence to creat some games that are heavily influenced by Japanese culture as counter projects to their western focus.

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kratos17
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 10:40:23 PM
Reply

i still think they should keep the current price tag for the 80gb and 160gb
but also have the 40gb on sale for $300
this will prove a benefit for publishers, non ps3 owners, and sony

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migabyte
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 10:46:19 PM

Problem with that is that any smart person would buy the 40gb and then just upgrade, they wouldn't really sell too many 160GB. I had no problem upgrading and I have no experience with that sort of thing.

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Gregory Freeman
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 10:52:13 PM

i think a 40gb for $299 60 for $359 and 80, 160 at their price...

that would be the best way to do things...

maybe even a 20gb system like the arcade 360's.. $199-$259

i cant see many negatives with this strategy... it would boost sales like crazy!

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KevinCairo
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 1:37:51 AM

Mordakai,
You have the wrong idea entirely. A smaller harddrive would create such an insignificant reduction in the manufacturing price that selling it for $100 cheaper would be financial suicide. PS3's are (although model unspecified) still selling at $40 under production cost; this means that Sony loses $40 on each unit sold. A 40gb for $299 would probably mean losing $130 on each unit and a 20GB for less would mean an even greater loss. They cannot make a price cut until the PS3 is profitable in its hardware sales and that will still take a while.

I say no price cut. Hardware sales are still relatively competitive considering the price point and that's all Sony can really ask for as of now. Once the manufacturing cost is down to like $300-ish, I think they should drop the price to a 0% profit and just try to bank off the PSN and software.

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Highlander
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 1:43:00 AM

@kevin

45nm Cell and RSX would lead to considerable drops in chip costs. BluRay drive prices are tumbling as volumes continue to ramp, components continue to become less costly. The cost of the HDD is a relatively fixed cost regardless of capacity 40/60/80/100/120/160/200GB are all within a few dollars of each other in the volumes that Sony buys.

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KevinCairo
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 12:35:33 PM

Highlander,

Yeah, I understand that. All I'm saying is that slapping a smaller hard drive in a PS3 does not warrant a considerable price difference.

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Highlander
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 1:16:56 PM

Kevin,

I completely agree with you on that. I was more getting at the cost reductions on the Cell and RSX with their die shrinks that should be in place now, as well as the pretty rapid drop in the cost of making a BluRay drive. But I agree with you, I'll be surprised if there is a price cut announced before September/October.

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Byakko2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 11:03:39 PM
Reply

America is a very diverse country, so I believe they should stick to their roots. War games are just the flavor of the month (a very long month), and honestly we need less of those. The PS systems were built on diversity, so there's something for everybody. RPGs do just fine over here in the west, they don't need the limelight. All that does is get tools like Adam Sesslar on G4TV to talk trash on solid RPGs for ratings. I don't want to hear anymore Halo nerds talking about a genre I grew up on, and they know nothing about. There's enough of a market for JRPGs here, we don't need the genre to gain unwanted attention, as it would ultimately lose its appeal in the long run.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 11:22:59 PM
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All I know is I want my JRPGs, as to the price drop, I'll be surprised if they do it yet. The fact that everyone WANTS one so bad just shows how many people are ready and willing to buy a PS3. Whether they know it or not, Sony is quietly creating hype among the people for its system. I bet they wait a bit longer then when they cut it, it'll fly off shelves like mad.

6 up, 0 down

kratos17
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 11:48:37 PM

i completely agree
if the ps3 dropped in price

(there will only be chaos) lol

cant wait for god of war 3

4 up, 0 down

tes37
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 11:29:03 PM
Reply

Blu ray probably isn't cheap, but it's not the major part of the cost. 8 processors, which I like the idea of them being there, is more than likely the culprit. Only time reduces the cost as technology cheapens by those who buy early, like me.

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Highlander
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 1:44:59 AM

The three most costly items in PS3 are Cell, RSX and BluRay.

The 8 processor cores on the Cell are all on a single chip, it's now no more costly to make than any other processor, so the Cell is not dis-proportionately expensive.

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Scarecrow
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 11:43:48 PM
Reply

No, they should stick to their traditions and just give us jrpgs dammit!

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HeXeN
Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 11:55:27 PM
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Bringing most of the PS1/PS2 franchises back to the PS3 should bring those loyal fans back and a price cut will bring in new console owners.

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kratos17
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 12:10:58 AM
Reply

im still hoping for downloadable ps2 games on the psn store

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Robochic
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 12:13:18 AM
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I agree with Worldendswithme 100%

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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 12:27:10 AM

Thank you :)

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slackernz
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 12:46:34 AM
Reply

If the ps3 slim rumours are true, they HAVE to cut down the price of the current version of the ps3

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Highlander
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 1:41:01 AM
Reply

The folks at SquEnix are missing the point, the whole damn point.

Games are pop culture, games are art, games are linked to our culture, games are to some extent both a reflection of our culture, and to a small extent a driver of our culture. But the national identity, the culture of a nation, or particular ethnic group, or region, or state. These things are not linked to games, they are linked to a shared history of adversity and joy, struggle and surplus, disaster and triumph. The history and shared experience is what shapes out culture. For a Japanese game developer to express such a strong desire to court westerners feels almost like they are turning their back on their own culture as if it's something less than the western culture they so wish to embrace.

This is so wrong, I just don't know where to begin. Japanese people are Japanese people. What I know of the culture of Japan, I by and large like and appreciate. But that in no way makes me want to abandon my own culture or that of my adopted nation.

I don't want to blend the culture of my home nation with that of my adopted nation simply because to do so dilutes both and I lose both.

For as long as I have played video games there have been games from Japanese developers that have unique style and design, unique story types and character archetypes, game mechanics and styles of story telling. Japanese games have always had a distinct feel to them. Square Enix an others please take note. This is and was NOT a bad thing. Western interest in the culture - especially pop culture - of Japan is probably at an all time high. Now is a good time for Japanese developers to push games in the west. However, that does not mean westernizing the game. If you dilute the identity of the game by incorporating more western influences you destroy that which people are expressing interest in.

As an example, look at the PSP Idol Master games. They are anime style, with Japanese street fashion and J-pop to the MAX. If you decided to bring these games to the west and replaced the J-pop with some bubble-gum pop crap from Disney along with western styled teen pop-stars, the game would instantly lose any charm that the anime, j-pop and japanese street fashion once granted it.

Rather than attempt to dilute, disregard or disguise their culture by moving westward, perhaps the Japanese game developers might wish to consider simply performing localization of games by translating the text, and offering subtitles and/or dubbing (if the budget allows) of the original game, rather than re-developing it for western gamers?

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BikerSaint
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 1:55:47 AM
Reply

Confucius say....

""ou go West young grasshoppers!

But remember one wisdom.......

"always taste much better eating rice, when richly flavored only by "Eastern" spices".

Last edited by BikerSaint on 5/18/2009 2:01:32 AM

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OriginalSin
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 2:06:21 AM
Reply

A price cut doesn't bother me seeing I already bought mine 2 years ago so a price cut won't affect me all. On the other hand I hope it will happen eventually as it will definitely heat up thing in the "console war" situation. I think there are a lot of people who'll buy a PS3 in the very same day as the price drop. Will be good for Sony and consumers alike for me it just won't really mean anything as I already own one.

I think that the Japanese should make games the way they do now. Otherwise we won't have any diversity anymore. I like things the way they are now...

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OriginalSin
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 5:32:22 AM
Reply

Hey guys just found something... Sure you guys might have seen this before. But if a price cut is going to happen anytime soon I think most of the people will expect a PS3 slim as we've all seen and heard about in the last week or.

But from what I've seen/heard the new "slim" PS3 looks like crap, but I was just browsing around and found this article with a picture:

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/pictures-is-this-the-ps3-slim-

Well I'm not saying it is going to look like that but doesn't it make some sense that it might rather look like this than the other design. Well I hope so....

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Nynja
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 3:55:09 PM

PSXE has had a couple articles about the rumors and pics.

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telly
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 9:49:16 AM
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I just don't think they have much of a choice. 360 and Wii are consistently outselling PS3, and as the gap in total system sales grows Sony will have a harder time making up lost ground, third parties will be less inclined to bring versions of games to the system, etc. I'm sure they're not happy about it considering how much they will lose on each system sold, but if they're serious about winning, or even competing, with Microsoft and Nintendo in this country it is time to get the PS3's price in the same ballpark as the competition.

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ace_boon_coon
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 2:58:17 PM

ps3 has out sold 360 this week and has been out selling wii in japan for weeks now. even with the high price tag

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telly
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 6:24:36 PM

No need to get snippy, Ben. Perhaps I should have specified I was referring to recent U.S. sales -- let's say, over the last six months, or since 360 had a price cut. We all know PS3 outsold the Wii for a few months in Japan (though Wii was back on top in the week-to-week sales, last I checked.) But I'm baffled by your suggestion 360 and Wii haven't consistently sold more than PS3 since late last year (in the United States.)

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 10:35:28 AM
Reply

"I just don't think they have much of a choice. 360 and Wii are consistently outselling PS3, and as the gap in total system sales grows"

Wrong on both counts. I suggest getting your facts straight.

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Nynja
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 11:41:10 AM

Did you see the article on Spong about the letter from some lawyers telling them to remove the article and pictures of the PS3 slim? Sounds as if a manufacturing plant is trying to cover their a*ses. Puts a bit more truth in the possibility of a PS3 redesign.

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Highlander
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 1:20:57 PM

@Nynja

Don't the describe that as locking the barn door after the horse has bolted? ;-)

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kratos17
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 2:55:26 PM

if you look at a the sales each console had through the years it would be obvious that the ps3 would sell the most if they was at the same price

but because of sony's 10 year plan it would be too early for a price cut
and also the 360 and wii need new hardware so they will most likely get a new system around late 2010 early 2011

but also sony cant ignore the chartz

but well just have to wait and see what happens

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Nynja
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 3:57:35 PM
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@Highlander;

lol sure does. What I found interesting was the letter also asked to keep the notification (the letter itself) confidential. Obviously Spong either missed that part or just doesn't care.

@Ben;

You didn't get one of those, did you?

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Nynja
Monday, May 18, 2009 @ 3:58:41 PM

Dammit, I thought I hit the reply button... my bad.

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