Sony Faces Heat from Game Publishers to Cut PlayStation 3 Price

[Takavach]

Sony Corp. is under pressure from video game publishers to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 console, or risk seeing more development funds shift to Nintendo Co.'s Wii.

To quote: PS3 sales in the next 12 months are likely to total 14 million, compared with 28 million Wiis and 9.7 million Xbox 360s, according to the Daiwa Institute of Research, a Tokyo-based researcher and consultant.

Price cuts have an immediate impact.

Sony reduced the PS3 price from $499.99 in October 2007 and sales more than doubled in the next month. In September, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft released its lowest-priced Xbox 360, at $199.99. The company almost doubled Sony's U.S. shipments from October to January after trailing PS3 in the prior three months, NPD data show.

"Anytime a console manufacturer reduces the price, software publishers benefit," Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer of Ubisoft Entertainment SA, Europe's largest video-game maker, said in an e-mail.

Game makers now focus development in two directions: one for the top-selling Wii and the other for Xbox 360, PS3 and personal computers.

Titles for Microsoft and Sony are typically more expensive to produce. Sony posts a loss on each console it makes at the current price, according to researcher iSuppli Corp.

"The publishers need the PS3 install base to grow in order for most of these games to be profitable," said Evan Wilson, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon. "It's an easy equation for them, but it's very different from the one that Sony has to take on."


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[tawana85]

I think its worth the price it is.. for how many different things that can be done with it. Way more than xbox

[Scrapy]

they should give us full hardware access in linux, linux is pretty much useless to me right now since i have my pc right next to my ps3, but if my ps3 could use the hardware fully it would kick my pc's ass.

sony would also sell shit loads more consoles if people knew they where also getting a FULLY working computer aswell.

but unless they give us proper access to the hardware in linux, the ps3 does need a massive price drop....

i paid $700 for my ps3, its not backwards compatible, some of the games look and run shit on ps3 compared to 360, *splinter cell double agent anyone?*.

ps3 exclusives are amazing tho, i don't have killzone2 yet but keep playing the demo for now

i think i overpaid for my ps3, i don't even have a blueray collection apart from the 2 movies that came with the console... but then again im not even into movies... i baught the thing to play games not watch movies.

but with all that, i love my ps3 and would not part with it.

i also have NEVER owned an 360, and never will... but my brother has, all 3 of em -he got a ps3 when his last 360 died.

[Darkskyva]

ok a price cut would be nice, but lets think about it. @ $400 you get alot that comes with the ps3 and lets say you have no net you can still upload sound, movie, and pics to it so easy and watch movies on it with blu-ray.

now like alot of people we have net, so now PSN is up there with xbox live with DLC and great games. we have Home and we have PS3news.

ok to get back to the point, a $400 ps3 is still a good price you get loads of stuff, and yes $300 would be great but we dont NEED it.