PS3 low-end package gains HDMI, loses $100

[Agent X]

Oh, my...looks like someone woke up the sleeping giant.

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060922/japan_sony_...ation.html?.v=2

 

The low-end PlayStation 3 package (with 20 GB HDD) is now planned to sell in Japan for the equivalent of $410, about $100 lower than previously announced. They have also added an HDMI port, which was previously announced to only be present on the high-end model.

 

Let's hope that SCEA makes a similar price drop announcement for the US market, because things would get very interesting around here.

[Atarifever]

With a price drop like that they'd be the unquestioned winner of next gen anyway. No one could take on Sony's brand name when it was at a reasonable price. The only reason they seemed to be set for a fall was because of stupid things like a huge price and a crippled, un-upgradeable core system. I don't think things would "get interesting" as it's all over for the other console manufacturers at that point. Especially now with the Wii at $250. If Microsoft responds woth a price drop as well, the Wii won't look like such a cheap system anymore.

Edited September 22, 2006 by Atarifever

[Atari Master]

I'm still not getting one, as the Wifi adapter will probably cost a ton.

 

Also, from what I can understand this deal is Japan only.

[carpecarne]

Yup, it's apparently Japan only.

 

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3153875&did=1

[Cheese007]

Whatever chance 360 had left in Japan was killed by this announcement. SONY, if you know what's good for you, do this in the U.S.

Edited September 22, 2006 by Cheese007

[moycon]

Whatever chance 360 had left in Japan was killed by this announcement. SONY, if you know what's good for you, do this in the U.S.

 

So it went from a 0% chance to what? Do they factor in null numbers?

[MCHufnagel]

Whatever chance 360 had left in Japan was killed by this announcement.

What chance did the XBox 360 ever have? Without the games Japanese like, it will never be popular. A company never wants to abandon a market, but MS might be better off writing off the JP market. Who knows they might sell more if it was only available as a quirky import.

 

I doubt that this deal will come over to NA any time soon though. Maybe when the PS3 has it's first price drop, this will come over here.

Edited September 22, 2006 by MCHufnagel

[Atari Master]

Whatever chance 360 had left in Japan was killed by this announcement.

What chance did the XBox 360 ever have? Without the games Japanese like, it will never be popular. A company never wants to abandon a market, but MS might be better off writing off the JP market. Who knows they might sell more if it was only available as a quirky import.

 

I doubt that this deal will come over to NA any time soon though. Maybe when the PS3 has it's first price drop, this will come over here.

 

Eh, they had some game from the creators of Chrono Trigger that they were banking on.

 

Anyway, I don't know. Sony has already pissed off so many people due to their arrogance. Even at TGS, people were pretty pissed that they barely showed any good gaming stuff.

 

I think it's time Sony lost their #1 place in the console market. Let Nintendo or MS have it, though I'm afraid of what could happen if Microsoft got hold of it...

Edited September 22, 2006 by Atari Master

[MCHufnagel]

Whatever chance 360 had left in Japan was killed by this announcement.

What chance did the XBox 360 ever have? Without the games Japanese like, it will never be popular. A company never wants to abandon a market, but MS might be better off writing off the JP market. Who knows they might sell more if it was only available as a quirky import.

 

I doubt that this deal will come over to NA any time soon though. Maybe when the PS3 has it's first price drop, this will come over here.

 

Eh, they had some game from the creators of Chrono Trigger that they were banking on.

 

Anyway, I don't know. Sony has already pissed off so many people due to their arrogance. Even at TGS, people were pretty pissed that they barely showed any good gaming stuff.

 

I think it's time Sony lost their #1 place in the console market. Let Nintendo or MS have it, though I'm afraid of what could happen if Microsoft got hold of it...

I wasn't talking about games from JP developers, I was talking about games that would never leave the JP market. How many of those types of games did the XBox have? How many does the XBox 360 have? MS will probably never be a player in the JP market. If Sony does piss off enough people, then Nintendo will win that market not MS.

 

Now in the rest of the world I can easily see MS grabbing the greatest share of the console market, or making it tough for whoever does grab it. I will buy a Xbox 360 by next Christmas. I don't know when, if ever, I will buy a PS3.

[panamajoe]

Whatever chance 360 had left in Japan was killed by this announcement. SONY, if you know what's good for you, do this in the U.S.

 

So it went from a 0% chance to what? Do they factor in null numbers?

 

even the Gamecube sells better than the 360 in JP at the moment...

[Atarifever]

Whatever chance 360 had left in Japan was killed by this announcement. SONY, if you know what's good for you, do this in the U.S.

 

So it went from a 0% chance to what? Do they factor in null numbers?

There's no reason to suspect they had a zero percent chance. Many North American products (movies, i-pods, baseball, Coke, Mcdonalds, etc) all sell well in Japan. As well, doesn't Windows do well there, leaving no reason to think they particularly dislike Microsoft.

Also, once, all North Americans bought gaming systems from North American companies, but we certainly changed. Are we assuming for some reason Japanese consumers are less able to change than we were? Also, at one point Sega only really did well in the European Market, but a second system with some slick advertising and fun games quickly led them to steal more than half the North American market from Nintendo. There was no reason to rank Microsoft's chances at zero. They're a mega rich corperation who can afford to spend tons of money trying to make small amounts of headway into that market. They have every chance in the world of succeeding there eventually.

[jsoper]

There's no reason to suspect they had a zero percent chance. Many North American products (movies, i-pods, baseball, Coke, Mcdonalds, etc) all sell well in Japan. As well, doesn't Windows do well there, leaving no reason to think they particularly dislike Microsoft.

There was no reason to rank Microsoft's chances at zero. They're a mega rich corperation who can afford to spend tons of money trying to make small amounts of headway into that market. They have every chance in the world of succeeding there eventually.

They'd better slim down their footprints then, Japan likes small products. The first Xbox was too plain big, even the original controller were huge. The 360 is better, but right now posters at avsforum.com are bitching about the additional shelf space the HD-DVD add-on will need. If overweight Americans in big houses think a product is large, it must really look bloated to Japanese eyes.

[moycon]

There's no reason to suspect they had a zero percent chance.

 

LOL Have you kept track of how many units have been sold in Japan since the launch? Have you seen the last months numbers? There is a perfectly good reason to for me to suspect that the Xbox 360 has a 0% chance of coming out on top in Japan friend. It's called logic. Unless you would honestly have me believe that MS was going to turn it all around here soon? Maybe Novemeber right?

 

Naturally you are correct. Even though the people of Japan hate Microsoft and everything it stands for, Even if the Japanee's produced games are some of the worst on the 360...if Gates throws enough cash around folks might forget the Nintendo and Sony over there...I'll tell you what though, even though you make a compelling arguement, I'm still gonna bet the 360 (This is what the discussions about, The 360... Not the Xbox 720 five years from now, or the Xbox 1440 11 Years from now) comes in dead last in Japan, Wanna bet?

Edited September 22, 2006 by moycon

[Atarifever]

There's no reason to suspect they had a zero percent chance.

 

LOL Have you kept track of how many units have been sold in Japan since the launch? Have you seen the last months numbers? There is a perfectly good reason to for me to suspect that the Xbox 360 has a 0% chance of coming out on top in Japan friend. It's called logic. Unless you would honestly have me believe that MS was going to turn it all around here soon? Maybe Novemeber right?

 

Naturally you are correct. Even though the people of Japan hate Microsoft and everything it stands for, Even if the Japanee's produced games are some of the worst on the 360...if Gates throws enough cash around folks might forget the Nintendo and Sony over there...I'll tell you what though, even though you make a compelling arguement, I'm still gonna bet the 360 (This is what the discussions about, The 360... Not the Xbox 720 five years from now, or the Xbox 1440 11 Years from now) comes in dead last in Japan, Wanna bet?

Opps, I missed the fact that the person you responded to said "had left", and thought they said "had". Well, I'm hardly going to take a bet on a done deal. The 360 *might* do better than the Xbox at this point, but unless Sony gives out cancer with the PS3 and the Wii controller actually strangles people who use it, you're correct.

 

I jumped the gun there, because I'm so used to everyone saying "OMG. Japan is crazy biased against Western technology. They'll never buy anything made in North America because of bias".

[Atarifever]

There's no reason to suspect they had a zero percent chance. Many North American products (movies, i-pods, baseball, Coke, Mcdonalds, etc) all sell well in Japan. As well, doesn't Windows do well there, leaving no reason to think they particularly dislike Microsoft.

There was no reason to rank Microsoft's chances at zero. They're a mega rich corperation who can afford to spend tons of money trying to make small amounts of headway into that market. They have every chance in the world of succeeding there eventually.

They'd better slim down their footprints then, Japan likes small products. The first Xbox was too plain big, even the original controller were huge. The 360 is better, but right now posters at avsforum.com are bitching about the additional shelf space the HD-DVD add-on will need. If overweight Americans in big houses think a product is large, it must really look bloated to Japanese eyes.

Well, you're right there, but then, you could as easily say "consumers in general like small products". Outside of cars and TVs, what do we like to buy that's big in North America (hahaha NE146. Yes, we saw yours under your coffee table). There's a reason people like the i-Pod Nano and small lap tops. Also, when was the last time a friend of yours had one of those big analog brick phones and you didn't make fun of them? If the original Xbox could have been the size of the Wii and still did everything it does, do you think it would have sold worse? The PS2 slim did well around here, and people prefered the portability of the SP to the original GBA. DS lites seem to have North Americans excited. Even the 2600 had a smaller version released. We don't want our technology being bigger than it needs to be because it takes up too much room already.

[shadow460]

If Sony doesn't add HDMI into our budget PS3, what's to stop up from importing a budget PS3 and modding it?

It might cost you the same amount in the end, but you get a little more bang for your buck with the chip installed.

[Video]

Could people do me a favor and not announce shit like this unless it applies to the US market (sorry, Importing DOESN'T apply)

 

As for American consumers changing, that has more to do with no american company making a system, and Japanese releasing several, not Americans not supporting American stuff.

 

When X-Box came out, I bought it, more to support the US, than because I wanted it. Turns out, it was awesome and I made the right choice anyways, as it had many of the best games....but that's beside the point. And MOST people will have an X-Box, especially around here, so it's definately a popular Idea for people to buy a US system.

[CPUWIZ]

Could people do me a favor and not announce shit like this unless it applies to the US market (sorry, Importing DOESN'T apply)

 

As for American consumers changing, that has more to do with no american company making a system, and Japanese releasing several, not Americans not supporting American stuff.

 

When X-Box came out, I bought it, more to support the US, than because I wanted it. Turns out, it was awesome and I made the right choice anyways, as it had many of the best games....but that's beside the point. And MOST people will have an X-Box, especially around here, so it's definately a popular Idea for people to buy a US system.

 

I imagine that the U.S. announcement of $399 and $499 isn't too far behind.

[ninjarabbit]

Whatever chance 360 had left in Japan was killed by this announcement. SONY, if you know what's good for you, do this in the U.S.

 

So it went from a 0% chance to what? Do they factor in null numbers?

 

even the Gamecube sells better than the 360 in JP at the moment...

 

Hell I think even the orginal non-backlilt GBA sells better in Japan than the 360

[Atari Master]

Could people do me a favor and not announce shit like this unless it applies to the US market (sorry, Importing DOESN'T apply)

 

As for American consumers changing, that has more to do with no american company making a system, and Japanese releasing several, not Americans not supporting American stuff.

 

When X-Box came out, I bought it, more to support the US, than because I wanted it. Turns out, it was awesome and I made the right choice anyways, as it had many of the best games....but that's beside the point. And MOST people will have an X-Box, especially around here, so it's definately a popular Idea for people to buy a US system.

 

I imagine that the U.S. announcement of $399 and $499 isn't too far behind.

 

Ken says the US will get no breaks on the price.

[sega saturn x]

There's no reason to suspect they had a zero percent chance.

Actually there was, and it's loosley tied into the fact the x box isn't aimed at the japanese (who have dismal taste in games imo). The japanese adore "pulse" games as I call them. Meaning all you need is a pulse to play them. Think every japanese rpg ever made ever. The 360 is getting more "pulse" games like trusty bell and endless undiscovery (horribel names) but i think it's safe to say the 360 bread will always be buttered in america. Where FPS and free roaming games dominate all else and the 360 seems to have no shortage of those being made. If you want more proof of japanes lust for RPG famitsu gave like 18 of the top 20 games ever made to RPGs and the other 2 were zelda games. And if memory serves like half of the games was square soft crap.

Edited September 23, 2006 by sega saturn x

[Atari-Jess]

If you want more proof of japanes lust for RPG famitsu gave like 18 of the top 20 games ever made to RPGs and the other 2 were zelda games. And if memory serves like half of the games was square soft crap.

 

Perfect scores

 

Only six games so far have received perfect scores. They are listed in chronological order:

 

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)

2. Soul Calibur (Namco, for Dreamcast)

3. Vagrant Story (Squaresoft, for PlayStation)

4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo, for Nintendo GameCube)

5. Nintendogs (Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)

6. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)

 

Games that received a near-perfect score of 39 include:

 

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo, for Super Famicom)

2. Virtua Fighter 2 (Sega, for Saturn)

3. Ridge Racer Revolution (Namco, for PlayStation)

4. Super Mario 64 (Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)

5. Tekken 3 (Namco, for PlayStation)

6. Cyber Troopers Virtual On Oratorio Tangram (Sega, for Dreamcast)

7. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)

8. Final Fantasy X (Square Co., Ltd., for PlayStation 2)

9. Resident Evil 4 (Capcom, for Nintendo GameCube)

10. Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)

11. Gran Turismo 4 (Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)

12. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (Konami, for PlayStation 2)

13. Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix and Buena Vista Games, for PlayStation 2)

14. Dead or Alive 4 (Tecmo, for Xbox 360)

15. Ōkami (Capcom, for PlayStation 2)

 

Now, if by famitsu, you meant the READERS of the magazine, then its a little different.

 

Mind you this doesn't validate your argument because at the same rate, when you check gamefaqs "greatest games of all time"

often enough they happen to have been made all in the past 5 years.

 

anyway, here is the reader list:

 

 

1. Final Fantasy X (2001)

2. Final Fantasy VII (1997)

3. Dragon Quest III (1988)

4. Dragon Quest VIII (2004)

5. Machi (1998)

6. Final Fantasy IV (1991)

7. Tactics Ogre (1995)

8. Final Fantasy III (1990)

9. Dragon Quest VII (2000)

10. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

 

 

11. Dragon Quest V (1992)

12. Far East of Eden 2 (1992)

13. Sakura Taisen (1996)

14. Dragn Quest IV (1990)

15. Final Fantasy V (1992)

16. Xenogears (1998)

17. Dragon Quest II (1987)

18. Sakura Taisen III (2002)

19. Kingdom Hearts (2002)

20. Streetfighter II (1992)

 

 

 

So if you looked, Famitsu itself invalidates your claim, but the readers of famitsu are pretty close. Your argument still fails.