Playstation shenanigans outed, dissected

MIXED REACTION has emerged from the latest announcements and rumours regarding the next offering of Playstation from Sony.

A price cut was announced last week, and while this may appear to be good news for consumers, many reports haven't clearly stated that the price cut is only in Japan and is only applicable to the budget 20gb model of PS3.

It seems odd that Sony have already cut the price of the PS3 even before the launch of the console, a product which they were already planning to sell at a considerable loss. This seems a face-saving gesture after the announcement of the European delay due to lack of availability of blue laser diodes for the embedded Blue-ray drive - but the Japanese price cut will come as no recompense, and may even feel like a small slap in the face, to European gamers.

It's not just gamers who feel disgruntled and disappointed with Sony - nearly 2% was wiped off Sony stock after the announcement of the price drop. Analysts and industry commentators are also having their say - "It's ridiculous to decide to cut the price before they start selling the PlayStation 3" said Yoku Ihara to Bloomberg, head of equity research at Retela Crea Securities in Tokyo.Yoku didn't rule out further price cuts if sales did not go well - sales that will be limited by the extremely small first allocation of consoles Japan are expecting.

News that the low-end PS3 will contain a HDMI port, which has been included by Sony due to 'negative feedback', increases the similarities between the two models Sony aim to release. Apart from a larger HDD, the more expensive model only adds a card reader and built-in WiFi (both of which you will be able to buy for the lower-end console), which begs the question of the necessity for the two separate SKUs.

Also, rumours are coming thick and fast surrounding the possible pricing of PS3 games - talk of between $75 and $85 is rife, which is not being received well by the gaming press, nor by consumers. It would be relatively unsurprising if the new PS3 games were priced at this level, due to the concession and loss Sony is making on each PS3 system. Although a loss on each console is the norm within the industry, the scale of the loss for Sony on each PS3 means that income from the main revenue stream needs to be increased accordingly - i.e. game prices get ramped up. However, these rumours have been dispelled by Sony and it seems games will be launched at $59.99. Financial analysts must be wondering exactly how Sony is expecting to make a profit considering the forecasted losses the system is expected to make.

It seems that the online service for multi-player gaming for the PS3, hasn't yet been fully finalised and developers are still waiting for the finished product. A Finnish website linked here, is reporting that Sega producer Mie Kumagai has said Sony has yet to deliver network specifications so his developers can implement theonline features, confirming earlier rumours from other developers.

Further bad news for Sony comes from a (slightly biased) survey from marketing firm Ipsos Insight, which details a study done on behalf of Immersion who own patents on the rumble technology within joypads and whom successfully sued Sony for not licensing its patents, reports that 72% of consumers would prefer the vibration tech within their controllers, and don't care much for the directional capabilities that are being implemented into the PS3's new game pads - technology that was seemingly demonstrated shortly after the Nintendo unveiling of the Wii's revolutionary new controller.

Things are still not looking good for Sony and its Playstation 3. The history of the games industry is filled with examples of over-confident companies becoming detracted from the target audience and producing product which isn't necessarily desirable in the market. Sony have certainly demonstrated signs of ego, becoming less interested in the gaming audience and more concerned with shoving Blue-ray and DRM down consumers throats, without much consideration to the product's pricing or its availability on launch. It all seems set for a big upset for Sony. µ

See also
PS3 games are £52 each
Price cuts slated for Playstation 3
Shortages of PS3s hit US/Japan
Sony PS3 delayed in Europe