Sonys big day August 18th, what to expect, what Sony needs to do.

[swlovinist]

Sony has a big announcement coming August 18th at the GDC in Germany. Obvious speculations point to a price drop. My question to the forum is a two parter:


1. What do you expect Sony to do.

2. What does Sony need to do.


As many of you know, I have expressed being a long time Sony fan(PS2 and before), but have overall been dissapointed wtih how they have handled the PS3 and PSP. August 18th could be a great day for the company, or it could show more dissapointing news that leads me to think that the company should just start planning a comeback with the PSP 2 and the PS4.

My throughts:


I think that Sony will announce a price drop of $100 off the old PS3, and then announce a PS3 slim that is Backwards compatable and have the ablilty to be upgraded to being backward compatable. I think that the Slim price will be $350 with maybe a bundeled game or Blu Ray.

I think that if Sony can do the above, then the console race could still be on. Otherwise if they choose to just the price of the old hardware and still offer the slim at $399, then you can kiss their chance of catching up to the 360 goodbye.

As for the PSP go, I am not a fan. Not a bad idea, just poorly introduced and wrong price point. Since the product is not out, I can cross my fingers and hopefully the negative publicity they have recieved can change things for the better. If anything, the negative news of the PS3 for the last three years can go away after a great big announcement. Sony has alot riding on this holiday. They need a big change in direction and my fingers are crossed

[retrocollectorguy]

Sorry if its a little off topic but I thought Nintendo is winning the console war right now??

[Icarus Moonsight]

Sorry if its a little off topic but I thought Nintendo is winning the console war right now??

Oh boy! Were gonna have to watch you.

The BC enabled slim could spur my interest. Do I think it's possible? Considering their past 'big' announcements, I have a better chance to one day decide to shave my scrotum with a straight edge while riding in a bumper boat.

[j_factor]

I don't think they'll be bringing back PS2 compatibility. They'll probably just drop the price on the existing PS3 bundles, and/or switch out the bundled games (especially Uncharted, it's getting a little old, and the bundle is stalling its GH release). I don't see the supposed PS3 Slim coming yet.

I think the PSP 3000 is due for a small price drop, but they probably won't drop it because it would make the PSP Go look worse. I hope the PSP Go bombs hard. Fuck that system.

edit: The Magic Box says the 80GB PS3 is about to be discontinued. I doubt they'd revert to one PS3 SKU. But I remember past PS3 "price drops" that consisted of discontinuing the cheaper of the two models, dropping the remaining one to the cheaper price, and introducing a new one at the more expensive price, keeping the same two price points. I hope that's not the case again, because that was always annoying, and the PS3 really needs to finally drop below $400.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

After weeks and weeks of "Slim PS3" and price drop speculation, if they don't at least make those announcements I think there's going to be some disappointment.

I'm not sure about the PS2 BC and I don't want to get my hopes up. Based on recent announcements of new patented technology - I think that it'll be back in some fashion at some point in time, and that it should come back in order to please the segment of their userbase that wants it back - but I'm not counting on it this soon.

I think that any negative opinion of the PSP Go is a case-by-case, person-by-person basis and not enough of a universal outcry for them to re-route their current plans with that. Personally I don't have a problem with how they're handling it. If people want a pick up a PSP 3000 (or 4000 if they announce one) instead of a Go, the option is there and there's no reason not to.

[mr obscure]

Considering the giant financiel problems i think sony is going to say this:

Where out, where following the sega route,where only going to make games for other consoles.

[Hep038]

Considering the giant financiel problems i think sony is going to say this:

Where out, where following the sega route,where only going to make games for other consoles.

Hey you should make a thread about how Sony should quit the Video game business, that would be a great idea!

[Sonicwolf]

Considering the giant financiel problems i think sony is going to say this:

Where out, where following the sega route,where only going to make games for other consoles.

I dont think Sony would be able to really survive as a software developer.

[Dangerboy]

9_9

Back to the topic at hand.

They'll announce the Slim PS3. Price Drop will either be to $300 or not at all and will be saved for the Christmas season.

There's already speculation / confirmation of the Cell itself being used to emulate PS2 games, so what you'll see is THAT announced (though an odd market to announce it at), but it won't be implemented just yet. The new slims will probably feature a smaller hard drive, or at least make it more obvious that you can use your own.

If Sony claim's the cost making has been cut 70%, then the hard drive has to be a huge factor. They might even simply pull a 360 arcade and have built in 20 gig (or game saving), and then show you the huge open gap where you can place your own drive. This would be a viable angle since many people don't understand how Microsoft's proprietary HDDs are so flippin' expensive. If that slim beast still has the wireless network built in, it'll be a HUGE advantage.

They'll also probably bring up the PSP Go's functionality, and perhaps show how the current owners will get their media to the system. I'm willing to bet it'll involve the PS3, or through Sony's web-site and system serial / PSN account signing.

What Sony REALLY needs to announce is Blu-Ray movie price cuts...get them down to $20 (and not the crazy ass $30 - 40) and you'll see people start to welcome the system in more, even if needing to buy the hdmi cable and new tv to truly enjoy the full power.

[CDiablo]

I doubt there will be any PS2 BC. Theres no money in it. They will probably have controlled emulation and release "PS2 Greatest hits" at 15$ a pop and make a shit ton of money off of DD games. Why give the money to the ebayers if Sony can have it all?

[Bojay1997]

Considering the giant financiel problems i think sony is going to say this:

Where out, where following the sega route,where only going to make games for other consoles.

Why would they do that? They won both of the previous generations by wide margins. Yes, the PS3 and PSP haven't sold as well as they hoped, but they have sold and continue to sell. There is still a huge opportunity for Sony, as well as Microsoft to actually generate huge amounts of revenue in this generation, particularly if the downward trend of sales and lower attach rates of the DS and Wii continue.

[garagesaleking!!]

It has been make fun of sony week here at dp and i continue to enjoy it, lets just keep the threads coming.

[Matt-El]

Prediction: Sony will RAISE the price of the PS3 to 800 dollars, PSP go will now be 500 dollars, and there will be huge human sacrifice booths in Germany at the show to exchange your first born sons and daughters for a system.

[Sonicwolf]

Prediction: Sony will RAISE the price of the PS3 to 800 dollars, PSP go will now be 500 dollars, and there will be huge human sacrifice booths in Germany at the show to exchange your first born sons and daughters for a system.

Why Germany?

[kupomogli]

Hey you should make a thread about how Sony should quit the Video game business, that would be a great idea!

You're 24 hours late on that one. Or maybe that was sarcasm?

[Icarus Moonsight]

I doubt there will be any PS2 BC. Theres no money in it. They will probably have controlled emulation and release "PS2 Greatest hits" at 15$ a pop and make a shit ton of money off of DD games. Why give the money to the ebayers if Sony can have it all?

I think BC is extremely important, at least it is now. Sony made BC a standard market expectation with the launch of the PS2. It's now very much a part of the equation at least with all current systems having some BC plan. It was really a hypocritical back step of them to pull the rug out the way they did. I'm sure they would have rather not done that, they needed to cut cost somewhere. I would think, and suppose that they could have foreseen, that cutting BC was an unwise move because the cost saved was not equal to the sacrificed sales they would have had otherwise. One could almost view BC as a price reduction by the consumer cost of the old console... So they effectively raised the PS3 price (vs function) by $99-129 just by cutting BC.

The Wii was obviously well augmented by the software library of a third place console... Sony chose to ignore all this and still cut one of their greatest assets, the PS2 library. Hard lesson. Now let's see if it sticks or has gotten through.

[koster]

Sony can bundle a slim PS2 with every PS3, and thereby achieve 100% PS2 game compatibility.

But Sony will probably announce a small PS3 price cut, and say they will still make a profit on each PS3 sold...

[Icarus Moonsight]

Sony can bundle a slim PS2 with every PS3, and thereby achieve 100% PS2 game compatibility.

Throw in a roll of duct tape and they could market it as a DIY PS5!!!

I'm mostly interested in playing non-US/C region PS2 titles. Already have a NA Slim.

[The 1 2 P]

It's very obvious what they are going to announce. It's the newest version of Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiidge Racerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

[Sonicwolf]

It's very obvious what they are going to announce. It's the newest version of Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiidge Racerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

For five-hundred ninety-nine U S dollars!

[kupomogli]

It's very obvious what they are going to announce. It's the official release date of Duke Nukem Forever as a PS3 exclusive!!!!!!!!

Got some inside information. I heard this was going to be a Halo ODST and Killzone 2 killer.

[Sonicwolf]

Got some inside information.

And post it on gameFAQS for good measure.

[kupomogli]

I actually just found out that the Japanese are getting a porn service on their PS3 systems. Just think of how many systems will sell in the US when we get that?

Though, honestly. Who pays for porn anymore(probably alot of people) although the bailout would suggest otherwise. However. That porn company bailout was probably the biggest scam we've seen in quite awhile. All of a sudden they're needing a ton of money as soon as the government offers bailouts for other companies.

[The 1 2 P]

I actually just found out that the Japanese are getting a porn service on their PS3 systems. Just think of how many systems will sell in the US when we get that?

What do Warhawk, Lair, Heavenly Sword, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet and Killzone 2 all have in common? They were all suppose to lead the PS3 out of last place. If those games couldn't do it than what makes you think porn can do it?

Whats really holding the PS3 back is all those one-disc games. Remember kids, mulitple disc equals premium.