E3 2006: Kutaragi speaks out on price of PS3

PS3 News | Leave it to consumers, says Ken.

It may not be launching until November, but already the price of the PlayStation 3 has emerged as one of the hot topics of this E3. Opinions have been plentiful, and the latest comes from Sony president Ken Kutaragi, who has declared that it'll be gamers who decide whether or not the PS3 is worth the asking price.

Speaking to Japanese economic newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Kutaragi asserted that, "Price setting is always a headache for us. No game machines are comparable to the PS3, which is neither a genuine game console, home electronics [product] nor a personal computer. It is a new kind of product," an observation that harks back to his comments about the PS3 "not being a games machine". He rounded off with, "Consumers will decide whether it's expensive or cheap. If a product offers charm, then buyers will be convinced."

He also drew comparisons with the original PlayStation, a machine which launched in December 1994 with a price of ¥39,800 ($465AUD / £190), a tag which far exceeded that of Nintendo's 16-bit SNES/Super Famicom, which was retailing for just ¥12,000 ($140AUD / £60) at the same point in time. Despite this price difference and the criticism it attracted, the PlayStation would go on to enjoy colossal success. Whatever happens, this Christmas is set to be more interesting than most in the console race.

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7 Comments

plungmonies

5 years ago

not to sound the pessimist, but is this not the spiel Trip hawkins gave us over a decade ago with the 3do?

mqphu1

5 years ago

I think this is a smart/strategist move from Sony. Let me explain.
Sony set the price of the PS3 at the top end for a game console.
This will achieve two points:
1) Hardcore gamers will buy it anyway, this means more profits for Sony.
2) The general public will question why the PS3 is so much higher than Wii (for example)?
- this generates free publicity.
- consumers will try to understand everything about the PS3
- why PS3 is so good and expensive? (free advertising).
- Such questions as what is Bluray? What is network gaming?
How good is the graphics? What sort of games?
- How good is the HD movies?

These questions make the PS3 a household name around the world.
Although consumers hesitate to buy it at launch because of the price, Sony doesn't care because they have enough fan base and loss less per console sold.
Years later when the price of the Bluray players drop, Sony lower the price of the PS3. Consumers will adopt it and buy it.

This is the business model Sony had for the PS and PS2, and its proven to work perfectly.

Xamerkapsy

5 years ago

The biggest problem Sony is going to face, is that their major market will be people with expendable income, and how to sell it to those people over an Xbox 360 or Wii.

There will be a lot of magazines that aren't gaming based, that will still report on the release of this console, aswell as it's competitors, and judging by the specs vs price, a lot of people will be dumbing things down to "The Xbox 360 has more game on it now" or "The Wii's controller works in more directions than the PS3 and has rumble."

To be honest, I think Sony has gotten too big for it's boots and has been unable to see past it's own nose.

Marka

5 years ago

I'll just wiat for the first price drop before I buy. Meanwhile i'll buy a Wii on launch.

Jag

5 years ago

yea i might doo wat marka is gonna do but first i'll do some extensive reseach on the ps3 price best place to buy predictions etc then i'll make my move

Nev

5 years ago

I guess you could say that, with the PS3, Sony is after the same market as Nintendo - non-gamers.

Nintendo is trying to lure them in by offering them an affordable console with simple games that are fun to play.

Sony, on the other hand, is offering them a high-end consumer device which is good at things OTHER than gaming.

As to which approach works... it's hard to say. I could see my Dad buying a PS3 for the Blu-Ray playback (if the format is a success), but I don't think he'd buy a Wii for any of the games they've shown so far.

Truth be told, I think most Wii consoles non-gamers end up owning will have been bought (and set up) for them by a gaming family member. But as long as Nintendo's getting the money, I guess it doesn't matter.

I think the only prediction that is 100% likely is that Microsoft will fail miserably in the Japanese market. And that puts them at a disadvantage, while the other companies' futures are pretty much up in the air at this point.

Joseph

5 years ago

Sony sated about how the PS2 and PSX sold even with a higher price tag.

Do they forget they had how many months ahead of the others? They would have definetly played a key role into people buying it. If the GameCube and Xbox had been released along side the PS2, we would've seen a different story unfold. Now it seems the tables have turned...

Xbox 360 has been released pretty much a whole year before the PS3, and the Wii will be launching roughly around the same time as the PS3. But will we see something similar to how the GameCube fell behind the Xbox despite only two months release date difference (for PAL regions anyway).

Sony, wake up.

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