Sony exec pours cold water on PS3 price-cut hopes
Not budging despite Xbox 360 reductions
Despite Microsoft's Xbox 360 price cuts and an analyst warning that the PlayStation 3 is too expensive, Sony is sticking to its guns by refusing to reduce PS3 prices.
Kazuo Hirai, President and Group Chief Executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, told the Financial Times last week that gamers shouldn’t hold out any hope for a PS3 price-cut this year.
“The answer is yes, if you’re asking ‘Are these the prices we’re going with this Christmas?’,” he told the paper.
Hirai’s comment echoed one made in August by David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), when he said that SCEE is “not going to drop the price this year”.
The 40GB PS3 currently retails for around £300 ($512/€378), while Microsoft recently cut the cost of all three Xbox 360 models by around £20 in the UK to bring the cheapest model's cost down to around £130 ($222/€166).
However, Hirai added that because the Arcade - the cheapest of the three Xboxes - doesn’t include a hard drive, the PS3 offers better value for money because all its models come with a Blu-ray player as standard.
COMMENTS
Wow, AC, that's amazing!
You had a PS1 that allowed you to save games without purchasing a seperate memory card? Where did you get it?
Oh, wait, you were just being a lying idiot. Never mind.
Well that's crap.
I can install NXE, IF I delete all my gamesaves...
Sounds like a real hardcore gamers console, where you can't save your progress. Even my PS1 allowed me to do that without buying additional add-ons. Everything about the Xbox is nickel and diming you these days for required extras.
Seriously..
...who pays £35 per year for Xbox Live?
I've never paid more than £12 for a legitimate 12 month card... sure it's not as straightforward as DD, but blimey!
As for HD Audio on the PS3, yet it can decode and Bitstream all of the HD Audio - had a rocky start with DTS-MA mind.... it's not the best BR player anymore though, you can get a couple of excellent machines for far less if you want BR, then use the money saved to buy an Xbox 360 Premium :)
Try £162.50 for a Samsung BD-P1500 BR player, great if you haven't got an HD amp as it converts any HD audio to Full Bitrate DTS so sounds excellent.... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0016J72SM/202-3314281-8268652?ie=UTF8&tag=spoavetstu-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=1634&creativeASIN=B0016J72SM
PS3 is a good allround unit, but for me it's compromised in every aspect for my needs... it may suit others but not me. TBH my biggest gripe is the god-awful controllers, they are so uncomfortable to hold for me....
@Other AC (Non-Compulsory NXE)
Unfortunately, it seems as though the NXE is a required update.
In the US Microsoft has started a program to offer owners of certain consoles cheap refurbed 20gb HDD's or free 512mb mem cards (I believe).
With any luck this will make it's way to other regions in due course.
Re: NXE
Do check the latest press release, Anonymous Cowtards.
The Arcade comes with a memory card big enough to install the NXE, unless you've already filled it with saves. If it's just Arcade games filling it, you can delete them and re-download without additional cost at any time.
If you're a Core owner with a mere 64Mb card, Microsoft will offer to give you the bigger card for free, or you can have a discount on a hard drive instead if that's what you'd prefer.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/hardware/memoryupdate/default.htm
