Chalk up another victory point against Sony's arrogant treatment of gamers.  With sony forced to knock 100 dollars off its PS3 it looks like we are finally putting a little bit of fear into Sony.  Ignoring us and not listening to what we want out of our games is going to lead you down a very dark and lonely road Sony.  One where your the nintendo of the late 90's.  Keep pushing out root kits, blue ray, and bad game titles.  Keep making more enemies of the common gamer then allies.  It absolutely serves you right.  Karma SOE.  Maybe you should watch my name is Earl.  (Not just for Joy ).   

What is so hard for Sony to realize these days? Consumers don't want your blueray player.  The market is exceptionally small your forcing all gamers to adopt.  If you want to compete offer the cheaper HD-DVD drive.  Or you can just let your new console go the way of the NeoGeo.   Stop trying to dictate to the marketplace.  No one likes dictators.  Save quiet possibly the few favorites of the dictatorship.  Stop ignoring the customers sony.  You have big deep pockets.  The consumer has the power to empty them.

Reducing the price of the PS3 is but a small step with this console.  You have to fix your other issues with the gaming public.  We have told you all along its more then the price.  Alot of us are not willing to let you have a proprietary digital medium.  We as consumers liked it when you worked with the other people on VHS and DVD.  We want the same for the next medium.  No one wants to deal with duel media formats.  Conform to HD-DVD.  Admit defeat there.  Your going to lose that war anyways.  Don't be the stubborn fool who wants to go down with the ship.  

Give us our star wars game back that you stole from us.  You heard me Stole.  There was 1000's of paying customers who played swg and we want our game back.  You violated our trust.  It would be one thing if evidence didn't support that a majority of the playerbase wanted the previous version.  However, your wrong.  The NGE was wrong and the decision to keep it in place is just as wrong.  So the actual cost today might be prohibitive.  Just remember the future cost is alot higher then you are predicting.  Look at what negative press is doing to your PS3 sales.  It may not just be disgruntled swg vets but you can be damn sure we are a part of it.  

Stop trying to kill digital media.  Rootkits on your CD's speaks of a wider issue you have with your consumers.  You don't trust us.  Maybe its because you as a company are untrustworthy? You know the old saying about those who cast the most suspicion on others don't you? People want affordable easy to use, replicated, and share digital medium.  Consumers are willing to pay for value in this regard.  I understand this is difficult to handle but you have to trust that records and CD's are a dead business.  The consumer is simply not going to exist in ten years.  Stop trying to delay the envitable.  Stop screwing with early adaptors out of the old business model.   You'll have to make your profit margins on "music" by being more of a content provider with subscriptions to your library.  It is just common sense that it will happen.  You have to have a worthwhile library and that will mean dealing with your music and video competitors and licensing the content for internet distribution.  Eventually your going to be like Comcast, or you'll be sold to the likes of Google.

If you have an adversarly relationship with your customers neither is going to be happy Sony.  We'll relish these times when your made to suffer at our hands.  You'll push our noses in any success.  You might want to try to catch more flies with honey.

Wow... I can practically smell the crazy coming off of that post.

So sony cutting prices by 100 bucks has nothing to do with technology prices going down, and better production lines?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/07/09/sony.price.reut/index.html

its a good read.

Originally posted by Danjak

Wow... I can practically smell the crazy coming off of that post.

Thanks I pride myself on lunacy.

Originally posted by JPR1985

So sony cutting prices by 100 bucks has nothing to do with technology prices going down, and better production lines?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/07/09/sony.price.reut/index.html

its a good read.

In a nutshell no.

They are doing it because of E3 and the beating they are taking at the hands of Nintendo.  

I think Sony had no option but to lower the prices.  I actually own a PS3 and it's a pretty nice machine.  I also own an Xbox 360 and in my opinion the PS3 is a little better.  However, the Blue Ray technology was ridiculous and it blew their launch.  People just can't afford $700 for a console, then $60 for a game on top of that...

Sony did what they had to do to compete.

Don't confuse Sony with SOE.  I serioulsy doubt much goes over the head of Smedley and reaches Sony itself. 

Originally posted by JPR1985

So sony cutting prices by 100 bucks has nothing to do with technology prices going down, and better production lines?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/07/09/sony.price.reut/index.html

its a good read.

Dont kid yourself, if the PS3 was selling well, and the cost to produce them was getting lower, there is no way Sony would pass  the savings on to the consumer!

The price is being reduced because they are being killed in total sales by the compitition, PERIOD!

Just my $.02

VolatileMan

Sony having to drop the price of the PS3 just means they lose more money per box even if they do sell more of them.

Which leaves Sony that much closer to their inevitable bankruptcy.

Originally posted by Wildcat84

Sony having to drop the price of the PS3 just means they lose more money per box even if they do sell more of them.

Which leaves Sony that much closer to their inevitable bankruptcy.

Actually, that's not quite true. We would have to know how much it costs to create each box as well as how many units they needed to sell.

For instance, it doesn't cost 300+ dollars to create each unit. It costs drastically less. However, they have money invested in research and development so that gets added on to the overall "how many units they need to sell at "x" price.

So let's say it costs $100 for each (it's possible it costs much less). Usually there is a 50% markup in price but it is not unusual to mark an item even higher if the market will bear it. A good example is Coffee.  A cup of coffee doesn't costs $3+ Dollars per cup but the market will accept that price.

So they already know in advance how much they can decrease the price and still make a good profit.

It's sort of like when you see the "get 10% off and bring this coupon and get an additional 10% off". Department stores know that that is not "20% off" and they also know that they are still going to make a profit, just not as large of a profit.

Getting back to the Playstation 3, it is also possible that Sony gets a small percentage of each game that sells. There are so many ways for them to tie in profits that they aren't going to be going bankrupt for this small cut in price. Now, did they shoot themselves in the foot expecting people to pay the original price? Well, it didn't help sales, that is for sure.

Originally posted by JPR1985

So sony cutting prices by 100 bucks has nothing to do with technology prices going down, and better production lines?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/07/09/sony.price.reut/index.html

its a good read.

PS3 was being outsold by the Wii by around 3 to 1 in North America and by over 6 to 1 in Japan.  That might be a reason to lower your price.

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Originally posted by Sovrath

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Originally posted by Wildcat84

Sony having to drop the price of the PS3 just means they lose more money per box even if they do sell more of them.
Which leaves Sony that much closer to their inevitable bankruptcy.

---

Actually, that's not quite true. We would have to know how much it costs to create each box as well as how many units they needed to sell.
For instance, it doesn't cost 300+ dollars to create each unit. It costs drastically less. However, they have money invested in research and development so that gets added on to the overall "how many units they need to sell at "x" price.
So let's say it costs $100 for each (it's possible it costs much less). Usually there is a 50% markup in price but it is not unusual to mark an item even higher if the market will bear it. A good example is Coffee. A cup of coffee doesn't costs $3+ Dollars per cup but the market will accept that price.
So they already know in advance how much they can decrease the price and still make a good profit.
It's sort of like when you see the "get 10% off and bring this coupon and get an additional 10% off". Department stores know that that is not "20% off" and they also know that they are still going to make a profit, just not as large of a profit.
Getting back to the Playstation 3, it is also possible that Sony gets a small percentage of each game that sells. There are so many ways for them to tie in profits that they aren't going to be going bankrupt for this small cut in price. Now, did they shoot themselves in the foot expecting people to pay the original price? Well, it didn't help sales, that is for sure.

---

The blue-ray drive alone costs Sony more than the sale price of the console, from earlier reports.

If it were true that the ACTUAL cost of the box were lower, they wouldn't have offered the console at the insane price they originally asked which was the CHIEF reason why the PS3 has failed. Well. maybe they would have, after all, this is Sony we are talking about, not a company that is competently or ethically managed.

Actually, when all is said and done, when Sony first launched the PS3 they lost money for each console sold. They were hoping to make it up with the sell of games, when it didn't sell well and neither did the games, they took a major hit.

Of course, I don't know how much it costs to produce PS3s today, but back in the day, there technology was new and very expensive for the prossesors they used and the Blu-Ray technology is just ridiculously expensive for both the buyer and manufactuer.

But, when all is said and done, Sony is a japanese company. Japanese companies have a very weird way of doing things. If you are lower on the corporate ladder then your boss (That usually happens) you can't tell him what to do. So, really, the PS3 was a series of bad mistakes made by the guy that made the original PS... and since he made the original PS, he is a god there. So mistake after mistake went unchallenged due to their structure.

There is the problem. They are going to have to adept to American markets if they want to succeed again, like the way Nintendo finally caught on and the way Microsoft has always been able to do it.

Originally posted by LordCaptain

Actually, when all is said and done, when Sony first launched the PS3 they lost money for each console sold.

I read that at launch it cost them close to $1000US per unit.

And here you had me thinking that gamers actually DID something to "score one." But no... it's just Sony sucking at what they do. Again.

The PS3 while it does cost an arm and a leg is a good console.  IMHO the price drop is in reality due to sales  figures.  The Playstation brand has some great titles associated with it and once some of those titles actually come out I think that will have a bigger influence on PS3 sales than just dropping the price.  

Games will always be the deciding factor on which consoles earn our hard earned $$$.   Unless you can afford to buy them all.

As far as consoles not making the companies a profit,  We don't get to see the actual accounting figures. We the consumer want the most for the least we have to pay and if we think the hardware manufacturer is losing money on it, that seems to soften the blow when we plot hundreds of $$ down for their console.     When you add game sales as well to the mix I am sure each, Sony, M$ and Nintendo are going to make a profit in the long run.

Xbox 360 is having its problems as well and M$ has lost over a $billion on it and most of that is on repairs.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/07/06/xbox.360.warranty.ap/index.html

Apparently M$ is willing to step up and acknowledge their problem with an extension of the warranty to 3 years now.

Sony going to go bankrupt any time soon, NOT likely.  Will they change their current market strategy. Probably.   Will I buy a PS3 anytime soon, not likely at least until something like FFXIII hits the market or Final Fantasy Online 2 or any number of other great games that will be a Sony PS3 exclusive. 

You buy what you will play...The games are to expensive to just buy them all.

All that matters is that Sony is hurting, and will hopefully, eventually, go belly-up.  Will it happen?  Probably not.  But articles like this give me such a hefty dose of schadenfreude... all that needs to happen now is the return of Godzilla, and all will be well.

Originally posted by blackdog

The PS3 while it does cost an arm and a leg is a good console.  IMHO the price drop is in reality due to sales  figures.  The Playstation brand has some great titles associated with it and once some of those titles actually come out I think that will have a bigger influence on PS3 sales than just dropping the price.  

Games will always be the deciding factor on which consoles earn our hard earned $$$.   Unless you can afford to buy them all.

 

As far as consoles not making the companies a profit,  We don't get to see the actual accounting figures. We the consumer want the most for the least we have to pay and if we think the hardware manufacturer is losing money on it, that seems to soften the blow when we plot hundreds of $$ down for their console.     When you add game sales as well to the mix I am sure each, Sony, M$ and Nintendo are going to make a profit in the long run.

Xbox 360 is having its problems as well and M$ has lost over a $billion on it and most of that is on repairs.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/07/06/xbox.360.warranty.ap/index.html

Apparently M$ is willing to step up and acknowledge their problem with an extension of the warranty to 3 years now.

Sony going to go bankrupt any time soon, NOT likely.  Will they change their current market strategy. Probably.   Will I buy a PS3 anytime soon, not likely at least until something like FFXIII hits the market or Final Fantasy Online 2 or any number of other great games that will be a Sony PS3 exclusive. 

You buy what you will play...The games are to expensive to just buy them all.

 

 

The PS3 is costing Sony as a whole.  Profits where down 15% in January due to the PS3.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6154482.html

The gaming unit cost them 1.6 Billion dollars through March.  They just knocked off an additional 100 dollars.  Sony gaming currently is being floated by the other businesses of Sony.   The PS3 has taken a company that made 1.85 billion annually to a projected $490 million for this year.  Sony's not going bankrupt anytime soon it is gambling hard on the PS3 and needs it to be successful.  Lunacy be damned.  If this was nintendo and they lost 1.6 billion on the Wii we'd be sounding there death sentence.

Nice, then it's just another $200 before I care about it then :D

Originally posted by AveBethos

SNIP

Don't confuse Sony with SOE.  I serioulsy doubt much goes over the head of Smedley and reaches Sony itself. 

But one day, soon I hope, some smart kid accountant in Sony Entertainment - SOE's parent - is going to say to himself: 'Hey, we're running a Star Wars game here, one of the most commercially successful franchises of all time so how come these figures don't make any sense....?'. And when that day comes, Smed had better book the first plane out of Austin to Venezuala to avoid some very awkward accounting questions.

The OP addressed this topic 100% SPOT ON!  ...Well played son

Good to see the fighting spirit in our fellow gamer/consumers who are sick of the likes of

Sony, EA & the other tossers that just rip us off & take the piss