A short time ago Sony Computer Entertainment executive Ray Maguire was quoted in response to a question about a PlayStation 3 price cut.
"Well the pressure comes from the consumers obviously and so therefore there's always pressure on price," admitted Maguire, "but you know we have a business to run, and we have to make sure we're doing the right thing for the shareholders as well."
I am sorry, what? I know I am not a CPA, a high ranking business analyst, nor a senior executive at a multi-billion dollar company, but I can do basic math. Microsoft recently had some major price cuts on their hardware and has seen a big hardware surge in North America and especially Europe as a result. So let’s break out some hypothetical numbers shall we?
Speaking in a recent interview, Sony Computer Entertainment UK managing director Ray Maguire has suggested that future multi-platform titles from third-parties will be led on PS3 and will have to be downgraded for systems with weaker processors.
Discussing the topic of third-party publisher support on the PS3, Maguire said: "I think we now have an install base which is big enough for any third party to want to develop for.
Now the decision making part of development is which do you lead your development on? Is it easier to lead with the most powerful, both in terms of AI and graphics, i.e. PS3 and then just remove part of the functionality for the processors that aren't quite as strong? I would imagine that's very much part of the thought process now from a studio development point of view."
We're already seeing multi-format titles being lead on PS3, including the gr... More »
Sony Computer Entertainment UK managing director Ray Maguire has told VideoGamer that "nothing is ever exclusive" in response to questions surrounding exclusive DLC on Microsoft's Xbox 360.
Microsoft has tied up Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable content for some of this year's biggest games, including GTA 4, Fallout 3 and Tomb Raider: Underworld, leading to complaints from some PS3 owners that Sony isn't doing enough for them.
However, speaking to VideoGamer at the Games 3.0 conference in London earlier this week, Maguire rejected those complaints, saying he would "much rather that we (Sony) were investing money into making sure that we've got great R&D and we start producing games like LittleBigPlanet rather than paying other people a huge amount of money to stop people playing their product."
Maguire's "nothing is ever exclusive" comment is certain to add fuel to speculation that the high profile GTA 4 DLC that is due for release exclusivel... More »
Sony's Ray Maguire has said that there will always be pressure for a price drop on the PS3 by consumers, however he added that Sony has a business to run and has to do the right thing for its shareholders.
In short, to reiterate what has been suspected for several weeks now it appears like we can forget a possiblt PlayStation 3 price cut for the holidays.
To quote: Sony has rejected calls for a PS3 price cut in time for Christmas, claiming the perceived high price of the console won't be an issue during the crucial holiday season.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com at the Gamer 3.0 conference in London yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment managing director Ray Maguire said that while there will always be pressure on price from consumers, Sony "has a business to run" and has to "do the right thing" for its shareholders.
Microsoft has enjoyed a 360 sales surge in the UK following the price cut in September, which saw the Arcade cut t... More »
Per Grace Chen (Senior Manager, PLAYSTATION Store) today:
Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the PLAYSTATION Store weekly update.
Note: Qore Episode 05 debuts next week on Thursday, 10/9 celebrating Halloween with a scary game roundup featuring Fallout 3, Resident Evil 5, and Dead Space. Plus monster snowboard and skate master, Shaun White takes us on a tour of his new game. Episode 05 also features exclusive access to SEGA’s Valkyria Chronicles demo and some other creepy surprises.
Add-on Game Content
NBA Live 09 Oklahoma City Pack (free)
This pack contains the up-to-date uniforms, logos, arena art and cheerleaders for the recently announced Oklahoma City Thunder NBA franchise.
File size: 42 MB
NBA Live 365 ($19.99)
Get NBA LIVE 365 for daily updates to Dynamic DNA all season long. Dynamic DNA brings unprecedented realism to NBA LIVE 09 with real world results driving Player DNA that d... More »
The UK is set to get its own Qore-style weekly digital magazine available exclusively through the PlayStation Network. Packed with High Definition video content, the digital magazine will include news, reviews, features and downloadable content on games, movies and more.
The pioneering weekly product will be available to UK PlayStation 3 owners in early 2009, and is expected to subsequently roll-out to other European territories.
Press Release: Future and Sony to launch UK's first on-console digital magazine
Pioneering interactive high definition magazine to launch on PlayStation Network
Future, the special-interest media group, today announces that it has signed an agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment UK (“SCE UK”) to create an on-console, weekly digital magazine available exclusively through the PlayStation®Network.
The digital magazine will enable gamers in the UK to download interactive, high definition ed... More »
Researchers believe that our brains contain navigation systems much like satellite navigation with grids, compasses and in-built maps.
Recently, two researchers used the PS2 game 'The Getaway' to analyse how taxi drivers use their brain areas to navigate.
To quote: In a follow-up study, Dr Spiers and Professor Maguire used the PlayStation 2 video game "The Getaway" to examine how taxi drivers use their hippocampus and other brain areas when they navigate. Taxi drivers used the virtual reality simulation to navigate the streets of London whilst lying in an fMRI brain scanner.
The researchers found that the hippocampus is most active when the drivers first think about their route and plan ahead. By contrast, activity in a diverse network of other brain areas increases as they encounter road blocks, spot expected landmarks, look at the view and worry about the thoughts of their customers and other drivers.
Guardian writes: You can't knock the PS3 as a piece of a kit - it still works fine for me while I'm on my fourth 360 now - but you have to wonder if features like Remote Play - fiddly to setup, geekily impressive when it works - are symptomatic of a console that almost tries to do too much.
UK Playstation boss Ray Maguire has admitted what we already knew, namely that the PS3's slow start was due to the high RRP.
"The gamble that Ken Kutaragi took with the PlayStation 3 was to put in a high level of technology, so it has been a bit slow to market in some respects, but we're now seeing how people are starting to understand how the technology works. Historically, the installed base of any hardware platform has been proportional to its great gameplay, but also very attached to the RRP.
That was the second part of Kutaragi-san's gamble, as that hardware made the machine more expensive. But now we're in the second part of the PS3's cyc... More »
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