60GB PS3 EOL'd, get yours while you can

[Maximus]

This is how it will go down:

Sony sell-out of 60GB versions in about September, the market is flooded with the 80GB+Motorstorm version.

At the Tokyo Game Show, Sony will announce that they are removing Motorstorm from the box and that the 80GB sans Motorstorm will retail for $499 and that remaining boxes with Motorstorm packed in will go for $549.

The whole point of this exercise is to get limited b/c into through the back door, that's all.

[cawgijoe]

I think this is pure speculation and FUD.

This article doesn't make business sense at all and smells like day-old road kill.

I will send an e-mail to a couple of the AV mags to get their take. Will report back if and when I get an answer.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by cawgijoe

I think this is pure speculation and FUD.

This article doesn't make business sense at all and smells like day-old road kill.

I will send an e-mail to a couple of the AV mags to get their take. Will report back if and when I get an answer.

Much appreciated. I also PM'd paidgeek and asked him to look into this or see if he could connect with anyone from SCEA.

[dakota81]

I'm not surprised by the comments, though I really think it's foolish of a move. They could have sold so many more PS3s if they kept the 20gb model, and they'll sell so many more if they keep the $499 60gb model.

Originally Posted by MovieTime

I heard the 80 GB is missing some features compared to the 60GB...could this be true?

It's missing the PS2 hardware, Sony's moving to pure software emulation for PS1 & PS2 games, just like the European 60gb model.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by dakota81

I'm not surprised by the comments, though I really think it's foolish of a move. They could have sold so many more PS3s if they kept the 20gb model, and they'll sell so many more if they keep the $499 60gb model.

Correct, although to be frank: They need/needed to have a few more compelling titles out there. It's all about the games, in the end.

It's missing the PS2 hardware, Sony's moving to pure software emulation for PS1 & PS2 games, just like the European 60gb model.

FWIW, I was angry on behalf of the Europeans when they got shortcutted like this to begin with.

I'm just sorry they're cutting any kinds of corners whatsoever on these machines, especially at these price points. It just shouldn't be. Hardware emulations gurantess 100 percent performance without any doubt, suspense, or angst. I have a hard time believing that it really makes that big of a difference in pricing.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by CJ P

I don't know that its a fake out or scare tactic, but there are reportedly a lot of PS3s that have been shipped but not sold. Potentially millions.

Sony shipped 5.5 million by the end of March (they had projected 6 million). 3.6 million have sold. So, there were several million unsold worldwide, matching the unsold Xbox 360.

If Sony sells out the 60GB then it will mean a huge boost to PS/3 numbers sold.

And, I would also argue that selling 2 million units in the summer/early fall would be clear proof to Sony that $499 is the price point they need for calendar Q4.

Gary

[JTK]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Sony shipped 5.5 million by the end of March (they had projected 6 million). 3.6 million have sold. So, there were several million unsold worldwide, matching the unsold Xbox 360.

If Sony sells out the 60GB then it will mean a huge boost to PS/3 numbers sold.

And, I would also argue that selling 2 million units in the summer/early fall would be clear proof to Sony that $499 is the price point they need for calendar Q4.

Gary

Absolutely agreed!

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by JTK

Apparently these are superior pieces of hardware.

Again, I'm someone who bought a 360 at launch and kept it until August or September of last year and had it destroy a bunch of discs and I also remember MS's promises about how the software backwards emulation was going to be "great" and "no problem" and you can see what that's been worth even to this day.

So when I see talk like: "88 percent backwards compatible"... Whatever. It could be more, could be less. It's still a corner that's getting cut that just shouldn't be. There shouldn't be ANY corners being cut on these machines.

1. Hardware BC was only ever put in because the software BC wasn't ready in time for launch. In a way it was never meant to be there. So rather than taking something away it could be seen as "rewarding" early adopters with better hardware. Although it wasn't out of the goodness of their heart. They were in a bind to provide a solution at their expense. Which they did. For a year.

2. Sony isn't MS however. One of the reasons I DIDN'T get the 20GB was concern that the built in wi-fi would mean remote play would be gimped. I didn't trust them . Why? I had only used one Sony product in the last 10 years - the PS2 my son bought with his own money. I had no relationship with them. I've been rather impressed they have been keeping to their word with the PS3 functionality promised. My initial fears were unfounded. As many things have turned out to be..media server, upscaling etc. They didn't leave the smaller base of 20GB owners wishing they had bought the 60GB.

3. The PS2 AND PS1 software library absolutely dwarf the xbox library so it takes more resources and time but will never match having "PS2" hardware inside I would suspect.

Originally Posted by JTK

I just hate the idea that Sony is needlessly cutting ANY kinds of corners when they really shouldn't be, especially at these kinds of price points.

As I said they added costs for almost a year now until they could get the software emulation out and back on track to the original launch plan - from that perspective it's not cutting any corners although I understand what your saying.

Originally Posted by JTK

I thought the savings were going to be passed on to the customer and yet they want to lock in still at that prohibitive $599 figure and nothing else?

One SKU doesn't mean $599. It means one SKU. The current 80GB + MotorStorm is a Limited Edition. Not sure which region of Sony exec this came from either.

Originally Posted by JTK

Doesn't make sense to me.

Exactly. Because it doesn't

Originally Posted by JTK

MS isn't going to drop at all. Why should they when their direct competitor is making life easy for them by sticking to these higher prices.

They could and we don't know what the pricing strategy will be.

Originally Posted by JTK

At least Sony is finally going to see some big guns show up on their system in time for Christmas.

Huge guns and a few holiday season exclusive ones as well. Note: I wasn't aware the developers behind Haze were the guys that developed GoldenEye when they were at Rare. Makes this game even more appealing from a pedigree point of view.

Originally Posted by JTK

They have a real chance to strike back at MS now that MS is reeling from this bad hardware news and failure rates issue.

E3 was a watershed - first strike.

Originally Posted by JTK

This is how they capitalize on that? Sorry, I don't get it. Not everyone is going to want that MotorStorm game and yet they're going to be forced to pay for it if they want a PS3. 20 extra gigs on the hard drive is fairly negligible.

Not really known at this point I would say. Again look at the way they are positioning the PSP. Base package plus limited edition game bundles. The current 80gb packaging is a limited edition bundle alongside the 60gb base package.

Originally Posted by JTK

I think they really need to keep something alive at that $499 price point...unless this 80 gig MotorStorm setup drops to $499 for Christmas.

. Might be even better.

And don't forget the 5 blu-ray offer.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

This is how it will go down:

Sony sell-out of 60GB versions in about September, the market is flooded with the 80GB+Motorstorm version.

At the Tokyo Game Show, Sony will announce that they are removing Motorstorm from the box and that the 80GB sans Motorstorm will retail for $499 and that remaining boxes with Motorstorm packed in will go for $549.

The whole point of this exercise is to get limited b/c into through the back door, that's all.

Agree.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by ps3andlovinit

1. Hardware BC was only ever put in because the software BC wasn't ready in time for launch. In a way it was never meant to be there. So rather than taking something away it could be seen as "rewarding" early adopters with better hardware. Although it wasn't out of the goodness of their heart. They were in a bind to provide a solution at their expense. Which they did. For a year.

And it's superior and 100 percent effective vs. software emulation with varying degrees and opinions of percentage of effectiveness.

2. Sony isn't MS however. One of the reasons I DIDN'T get the 20GB was concern that the built in wi-fi would mean remote play would be gimped. I didn't trust them . Why? I had only used one Sony product in the last 10 years - the PS2 my son bought with his own money. I had no relationship with them. I've been rather impressed they have been keeping to their word with the PS3 functionality promised. My initial fears were unfounded. As many things have turned out to be..media server, upscaling etc. They didn't leave the smaller base of 20GB owners wishing they had bought the 60GB.

Agreed.

3. The PS2 AND PS1 software library absolutely dwarf the xbox library so it takes more resources and time but will never match having "PS2" hardware inside I would suspect.

I look at what a slimline PS2 costs right now and take into account that there's a profit margin that has to be had.

Thinking on that...I just really have a hard time believing that Sony really saves a bunch of money by going from hardware to software emulation, but perhaps they do. Obviously it's a done deal so me harping on it is futile.

For some people, this feature will be more important than others.

As I said they added costs for almost a year now until they could get the software emulation out and back on track to the original launch plan -

Orginal launch plan...I seem to recall talk about dual HDMI outputs and a bunch of other goodies that ultimately never saw the light of day.

...from that perspective it's not cutting any corners although I understand what your saying.

One SKU doesn't mean $599. It means one SKU. The current 80GB + MotorStorm is a Limited Edition. Not sure which region of Sony exec this came from either.

The communication and language from Sony needs to be cleared up very quickly because right now, this negative buzz is completely destroying the glow they had coming out of E3, and then some.

This negative buzz is also overshadowing MS's hardware woes and disproportionately so.

Exactly. Because it doesn't

They could and we don't know what the pricing strategy will be.

Huge guns and a few holiday season exclusive ones as well. Note: I wasn't aware the developers behind Haze were the guys that developed GoldenEye when they were at Rare. Makes this game even more appealing from a pedigree point of view.

E3 was a watershed - first strike.

Not really known at this point I would say. Again look at the way they are positioning the PSP. Base package plus limited edition game bundles. The current 80gb packaging is a limited edition bundle alongside the 60gb base package.

. Might be even better.

And don't forget the 5 blu-ray offer.

Of course. It's not all bad news by a longshot and perhaps it ends up not being any bad news at all.

Sony needs to get out there ASAP with clearcut, clean, specific language where everyone understands exactly what's going to happen where, when, how, and why.

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

This is how it will go down:

Sony sell-out of 60GB versions in about September, the market is flooded with the 80GB+Motorstorm version.

At the Tokyo Game Show, Sony will announce that they are removing Motorstorm from the box and that the 80GB sans Motorstorm will retail for $499 and that remaining boxes with Motorstorm packed in will go for $549.

The whole point of this exercise is to get limited b/c into through the back door, that's all.

At least this makes sense. I hope you're on the right track here.

[Blus Brother]

IMO just have to wait and see - I am sure they have some kind of plan up their sleeves. You never know until the moment it happens - just like when last week Sony said there will be no price cut and then 2 or 3 days later there was. I dont like the underhanded things like that but it happens everywhere. Now to see if SCEA has something to say about it.

[Frode]

It's not FUD, sadly. Here's a video interview with Kaz Hirai which says the same thing:

http://atvs.vg.no/player/index.php?id=10235

(just ignore the Norwegian bits as they're not really important)

[RichiPuppy]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?op...=6427&Itemid=2

False says scea

[Frode]

Okay then something is seriously messed up at Sony. Kaz Hirai is the prez and COO of SCEI, which means he should outrank pretty much everyone out there.

[Crackbone]

Originally Posted by RichiPuppy

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?op...=6427&Itemid=2

False says scea

Never trust a SCE Euro press release, ever. They are always garbage.

[whippersnapper]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Sony shipped 5.5 million by the end of March (they had projected 6 million). 3.6 million have sold. So, there were several million unsold worldwide, matching the unsold Xbox 360.

If Sony sells out the 60GB then it will mean a huge boost to PS/3 numbers sold.

And, I would also argue that selling 2 million units in the summer/early fall would be clear proof to Sony that $499 is the price point they need for calendar Q4.

Gary

Gary, you're spot on. And you're "keeping your wits while others lose theirs". So, congrats. At his point in the Blu-ray format life cycle, $499 is clearly a critical price point. Sony's not dumb enough to lose sight of that now that they've achieved the "big Mo".

[binarymelon]

I think the smart thing to do would have been create two 80gb bundles at 599. One with Motorstorm and a Bluetooth headset and another with a sports game like the new Madden or something and an extra controller. Once the 60gb version sells out start selling the 80gb in an unbundled form at the 499 price point. This would give value to the bundles and keep a 499 system on the shelves.

[Shin-Ra]

Kaz just says they're discontinuing the 60GB model, it doesn't mean they won't reduce the 80GB PS3 to $499.

They're not going to share the full story with us until it happens, right now they want people concentrating on what's on offer now.

[RichiPuppy]

also on the blog

http://blog.us.playstation.com/

My guess of the sku and sell out of the 60gig system he is referring to is that eventually they are going to phase out the ee engine, either it be an 80gig with no game, or a 60gig with no ee. If you're worried, buy now.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by Shin-Ra

Kaz just says they're discontinuing the 60GB model, it doesn't mean they won't reduce the 80GB PS3 to $499.

They're not going to share the full story with us until it happens, right now they want people concentrating on what's on offer now.

Yep. They could even reduce it to $399..but they aren't going to pre-announce pricing changes months and months in advance. Nobody does that. If they did there would be a campaign about how stupid they are to freeze the existing channel.

Who the hell knows? The Shadow? Seems just as likely at this point.