Good evening all you beautiful people. Just noticed that SG has re-instated the old $4/month subscription price. Nice. Wonder why they decided to bring it back down. I figure an extra dollar is justified, though they may need to provide a little bit more service (not that I have any idea what I could want since I love it to death already).
Anyway, on to other shit. Anyone hear aboutt he PS3 recently? No? Well, dig this. First of all, there is some serious speculation out there that the PS3 will NOT come out this fall. Currently, the hardware is not yet easily manufactured, and apparently the launch titles are behind schedule. Keep in mind that Sony hadn't set a hard release date for the console, but they were aiming for a release this year, and now its highly probably that they won't be able to meet it.
So that's the first part of the bad news.
The second part is that the machine could cost even more than people were anticipating. The widely circulated rumor was that the box would retail for about $500. Now try adding an extra $200 or so. That's right, ballpark estimates say it could cost $750. And it's still going to lose money!
As an aside, as most people may already be aware, video game consoles (as with most tech products) initially retail for less than the cost to manufacture them, simply to get the consoles out to the market at a 'reasonable' price and to spur people to buy games (where the real money is made). This known as a "loss-leader".
So, in actuality, the box costs about $900 to be made in Sony's factories and they sell it in the store for about $200 less. So, yeah. Obviously, Sony is not going to confirm the doomsayers. I figure the current "real" issue is the fact that the games are not ready. And I know Sony doesn't want to do what Xbox 360 did and simply port some new games over, they want brand-spanking new crack for all the kids.
The other issue is the price, because, regardless of when you get the box in stores, a $700 console isn't going to sell (unless you want to compete with the Neo-Geo and Jaguar). And if Sony wants to play ball with Nintendo (who are the only competition Sony has in Japan), they will have a price point so low that it will take literally a decade to recoup the cost (as most consoles take under 5 years to recover the cost of development).
On top of that, I think Nintendo does have a real advantage (though they will lose where graphics are concerned). PS3 is going to be in upper class and hardcore gamers homes, but Nintendo will sell for the rest of the world that doesn't want to take out a mortgage to play Final Fantasy XX (or whatever the hell). Check out Gamespot's article for the whole deal.
Yatta!
Anyway, on to other shit. Anyone hear aboutt he PS3 recently? No? Well, dig this. First of all, there is some serious speculation out there that the PS3 will NOT come out this fall. Currently, the hardware is not yet easily manufactured, and apparently the launch titles are behind schedule. Keep in mind that Sony hadn't set a hard release date for the console, but they were aiming for a release this year, and now its highly probably that they won't be able to meet it.
So that's the first part of the bad news.
The second part is that the machine could cost even more than people were anticipating. The widely circulated rumor was that the box would retail for about $500. Now try adding an extra $200 or so. That's right, ballpark estimates say it could cost $750. And it's still going to lose money!
As an aside, as most people may already be aware, video game consoles (as with most tech products) initially retail for less than the cost to manufacture them, simply to get the consoles out to the market at a 'reasonable' price and to spur people to buy games (where the real money is made). This known as a "loss-leader".
So, in actuality, the box costs about $900 to be made in Sony's factories and they sell it in the store for about $200 less. So, yeah. Obviously, Sony is not going to confirm the doomsayers. I figure the current "real" issue is the fact that the games are not ready. And I know Sony doesn't want to do what Xbox 360 did and simply port some new games over, they want brand-spanking new crack for all the kids.
The other issue is the price, because, regardless of when you get the box in stores, a $700 console isn't going to sell (unless you want to compete with the Neo-Geo and Jaguar). And if Sony wants to play ball with Nintendo (who are the only competition Sony has in Japan), they will have a price point so low that it will take literally a decade to recoup the cost (as most consoles take under 5 years to recover the cost of development).
On top of that, I think Nintendo does have a real advantage (though they will lose where graphics are concerned). PS3 is going to be in upper class and hardcore gamers homes, but Nintendo will sell for the rest of the world that doesn't want to take out a mortgage to play Final Fantasy XX (or whatever the hell). Check out Gamespot's article for the whole deal.
Yatta!