PS3 600 dollars? Sony is on crack

Bront said:

Personaly, I like Nintendo's thinking on the Wii. "Let's ignore what the hardcore gaming comunity wants, because we want to reach out to all audiences." So, launcing at $200-250, the new Wii will have 480P, so will look pretty good even on the new TVs, but you won't be loosing much on an older one, and you're not paying for the high end expensive gear you need to make things look pretty one one. Then, design a controler that will interest the general public, and hopefully make some games more intuitive and engulphing experience. Finaly, let's offer our old library of games to be played on this consol as well.

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I like Nintendo's thinking far more than I like Sony's (Microsoft's plans are also flawed, but probably the most solid of the three in my book) but there's still a serious problem with it. The odds are pretty good that as soon as Sony gets any kind of decent PS3 availability, MS will do a major price cut on the 360. And I can't see many people picking up a $200 Wii over a $200 360.

Bront said:

Here's the problem with your first point. In a couple of years, the tech in the PS3 will be obsolite enough that there will probably be another generation of consols out there.

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Yeah, but I won't be buying those right away either. Even if MS decides to launch the 360 2 in 2009 (4 years after the 360, like the 360 was 4 years after the Xbox. Which I doubt, since short life cycles tend to turn off poeple. Hurt Sega in the long run, anyway).

Sony takes a more long view of their consoles. Generally 6 years. So we won't be seeing the PS4 until 2012.

drothgery said:

I like Nintendo's thinking far more than I like Sony's (Microsoft's plans are also flawed, but probably the most solid of the three in my book) but there's still a serious problem with it. The odds are pretty good that as soon as Sony gets any kind of decent PS3 availability, MS will do a major price cut on the 360. And I can't see many people picking up a $200 Wii over a $200 360.

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I dunno. I'm sure it will sell, but it will offer completely different sorts of games than the 360 or PS3. You won't be able to play serious games with that controller and frankly, mock sword fighting games or whatever have zero interest in me (and a lot of other adults, I imagine).

trancejeremy said:

I dunno. I'm sure it will sell, but it will offer completely different sorts of games than the 360 or PS3. You won't be able to play serious games with that controller and frankly, mock sword fighting games or whatever have zero interest in me (and a lot of other adults, I imagine).

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Serious games like what? FPS are supposed to be easier with that controller.

Bront said:

I think Nintendo is going to rock the market, and Sony is only hurting itself. With the price, and the way people need to stretch their entertainment dollar, I think the Wii is in a position to make a potential killing.

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I'm certainly not a hardcore console gamer, and so I have ZERO interest in the PS3, and the biggest factors in that are a price I am not remotely interested in paying even half of, and grand new features that I am not interested in having (and I agree that push for Blue Ray is the waste of Betamax all over again). So, when they are easily available, I'm planning on picking up a Wii, but mostly because I'm finding fewer and fewer games for my current Gamecube.

One long term drawback to Sony's strategy is the potential that people like me might be a significant portion of the market. You see, not only am I going to make a single purchase of a Wii instead of a PS3, but I am a dad with kids who are now getting really into video games. Although my wife and I originally started with a Playstation, for the next generation we bought a Gamecube, and with this next wave, we're going with a Wii. Both of those decisions have been largely due to price, because like a lot of families, we have to thrifty with things like that.

Therefore, my young little consumers are being raised strictly on Nintendo consoles, not Sony or Microsoft, and the price and lack of unnecessary (to us) feature bloats are the biggest factors in this. So, I don't doubt that Sony and Microsoft will keep capturing the current hardcore console gamers, but Nintendo is gearing itself up much more for wider appeal and with that, families and the the young consumers who will be buying their own consoles in 10-15 years.

There's nothing wrong with Sony's move towards targetting a smaller and smaller niche of hardcore console gamers with deeper and deeper pockets, after all, that's the best way to get the most cutting edge technology developed. I just wonder if that's really a sustainable business model in the long run, especially when they are trying to push a new Betamax.

Jdvn1 said:

Serious games like what? FPS are supposed to be easier with that controller.

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AND you'll still be able to use the older style controllers just fine. Both a more classic NES looking one when you turn the 'remote' on its side, AND Gamecube controllers can be hooked up to the system.

Jdvn1 said:

Serious games like what? FPS are supposed to be easier with that controller.

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That's still up in the air. Once the fanboy bleating had got out of the way after E3, more 'level-headed' commentators have noted there are serious issues with the Wii's control and gameplay.

"Zelda Wii controls like ass" was one of the more amusing quotes.

It's definitely a wait and see (or, more accurately, "wait and try") for the Wii. It may be only able to handle certain types of games - though hopefully FPSs are one of them.

kenmarable said:

Therefore, my young little consumers are being raised strictly on Nintendo consoles, not Sony or Microsoft, and the price and lack of unnecessary (to us) feature bloats are the biggest factors in this. So, I don't doubt that Sony and Microsoft will keep capturing the current hardcore console gamers, but Nintendo is gearing itself up much more for wider appeal and with that, families and the the young consumers who will be buying their own consoles in 10-15 years.

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And might end up to be hardcore console gamers.

Really, I'm not sure the above means anything. I played Nintendo almost exclusively in the early years - and then dumped them wholesale when they no longer met my needs (*cough*N64*cough*). "Being raised" on a certain console will likely net zero results in game system preferences.

Ankh-Morpork Guard said:

AND you'll still be able to use the older style controllers just fine. Both a more classic NES looking one when you turn the 'remote' on its side, AND Gamecube controllers can be hooked up to the system.

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I had the impression the SNES controllers would work too, but I'm not sure.

Oh, haven't seen you post in a while. How's the art?

Arnwyn said:

That's still up in the air. Once the fanboy bleating had got out of the way after E3, more 'level-headed' commentators have noted there are serious issues with the Wii's control and gameplay.

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Well, the articles I read were by non-Nintendo-fanboys (some who claimed to only like PS, for example), who actually tried the controllers in FPS situations.

Regardless, the claim that one can't play serious games with that controller certainly does not have a solid basis.

Jdvn1 said:

Well, the articles I read were by non-Nintendo-fanboys (some who claimed to only like PS, for example), who actually tried the controllers in FPS situations.

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Yep, same here (except some were Nintendo 'fans').

Regardless, the claim that one can't play serious games with that controller certainly does not have a solid basis.

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Of course it has a solid basis (as per some articles that are out there). Whether that will be the final result, though, is unknown.