March 16 (Bloomberg) -- 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.
Sony, which has resisted calls for lower prices, is likely to shave $50 to $100 off the PS3 this month or next, said Mike Hickey, an analyst with Janco Partners Inc. in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Starting at $399.99, the PS3 is $200 more than the lowest-priced Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. and $150 more than the market-leading Wii.
Three years into the latest generation of game consoles, Sony is stuck in third place, data from the manufacturers show. The Tokyo-based company, once the dominant player, has half the worldwide users of Wii, even though the PS3 has earned praise for its processing power, graphics and Blu-ray movie player. U.S. sales of the PS3 have declined for three straight months.
“If they can’t meaningfully increase their install base, then you will likely see a capital reallocation,” Hickey said.
In 2008, Activision Blizzard Inc., the world’s largest game company, generated 32 percent of its console revenue from Wii titles. That compared with 19 percent for PS3, according to Activision.
Electronic Arts Inc. is releasing some titles solely for Wii as part of a push to stem two years of losses, and showcased games for the Nintendo player at a company event last week.
“You can’t ignore the guy who has half the market,” said Peter Moore, head of sports games at Redwood City, California- based Electronic Arts, maker of the “Madden NFL” series.
‘A Ways to Go’
“Sony obviously still has a ways to go with their pricing,” Moore, a former executive in Microsoft’s Xbox division, said in an interview. Electronic Arts is committed to the PS3 and expects a cut eventually, he said. PS3 games increased to 27 percent of the company’s console sales last quarter, bolstered by a popular soccer title.
Sony has no immediate plan to reduce prices, said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America in Foster City, California.
“Everybody in the development community would love for the PS3 to be free, so they could just sell razor blades,” Dille said in an interview. Sony is concerned with profitability, as well as the installed base, he said.
Sony, the world’s second-largest consumer-electronics maker, is in the middle of a corporate overhaul, cutting 16,000 jobs and closing factories. Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer took over the main electronics business last month and named Kazuo Hirai, who leads the game unit, to head a new division combining Vaio computers, the Walkman and the PlayStation.
Exclusive Games
Sony is benefiting from exclusive titles for PS3, including the recently released “Killzone 2,” and non-gaming deals like the one announced March 10 to deliver movies and television shows for NBC Universal over the PlayStation 3, Dille said.
Earlier this month, PS3 weekly sales in Japan topped Wii and Xbox ahead of the release of Capcom Co.’s latest “Resident Evil” installment, the Web sites GameSpot and IGN Entertainment reported, citing researcher Media Create.
Not everyone predicts a big shift in spending, because PS3 and Xbox 360 share many titles and costs. Game companies who fail to commit enough money to PS3 risk losing business, said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games Inc., the Cary, North Carolina-based maker of “Gears of War.”
“You make very good money on PlayStation 3 if you develop a good game,” Rein said in an interview. “You can very easily take that game to Xbox 360 or PC.”
Seventh Generation
U.S. traded Sony shares gained 11 cents to $19.49 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have declined 11 percent this year.
The seventh generation of game systems began hitting stores in November 2005 with Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Sony and Kyoto-based Nintendo followed a year later. At the end of December, Sony had sold 21 million PS3s worldwide, compared with Nintendo’s almost 45 million Wii players and Microsoft’s 28 million-plus Xbox 360s, according to the companies.
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.
Two Directions
“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.”
วันพุธที่ 29 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2552
Sony shows PlayStation 3D
Sony has showed off impressive 3D technology that allows the on-screen action to appear as though it's standing off the screen, in similar ways to 3D presentations at IMAX cinemas.Special versions of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (said to be playable) and WipEout HD were used to wow crowds at the currently-running CES show in Vegas.
"Don't get caught up with specs," said a rather bullish Sony rep when asked about the tech behind the impressive display. "We're not going to talk about specifications. This is just a look at what 3D could look like if Sony decided to move in this direction," they added. To the naked eye the image appears to be a doubled-up mess (pictured, courtesy of Ars Technica).
Slap on a pair of normal-sized glasses with clear, slightly tinted lenses and the 3D effect comes into play. It'd be nice though, Sony, if you could at least tell us if this is possible on a normal HDTV and if the PS3 has the processing grunt required. If not, roll on PS4 or 5 because we can't bloody wait for this.
"Don't get caught up with specs," said a rather bullish Sony rep when asked about the tech behind the impressive display. "We're not going to talk about specifications. This is just a look at what 3D could look like if Sony decided to move in this direction," they added. To the naked eye the image appears to be a doubled-up mess (pictured, courtesy of Ars Technica).
Slap on a pair of normal-sized glasses with clear, slightly tinted lenses and the 3D effect comes into play. It'd be nice though, Sony, if you could at least tell us if this is possible on a normal HDTV and if the PS3 has the processing grunt required. If not, roll on PS4 or 5 because we can't bloody wait for this.
Sony announces new initiative for PS3 adoption
Following the PlayStation 2 price-cut announcement, Sony has now revealed that they will be heavily discounting the console further with the purchase of a PlayStation 3.
Yesterday Sony announced that the PlayStation 2 would finally drop below €100 in Europe and $100 in the US. The new recommended retail price will be available from today, that is apart from in the UK, where the console will remain at its current £94.99 price.
To follow this new pricing initiative, Sony has announced that they will now be including a slim PSTWO with every PlayStation 3 sold. The package will go on sale this summer for a RRP of $419.99 - only $20 more expensive than the PlayStation 3 itself.
It's not quite what we were hoping for, but it will certainly please PlayStation gamers who miss the PS3's backwards compatibility.
"Just as PlayStation 2 is delivering on a 10-year lifecycle and helped expand and solidify the DVD format for home entertainment along the way, we believe PlayStation 3 offers the same promise by helping secure the Blu-ray format and delivering unprecedented value as the total home entertainment solution for the next decade," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA.
"For this reason we will be selling both consoles in one exclusive package for only $419.99. This will allow buyers to enjoy the 1,900 titles available for the PlayStation 2, whilst also taking advantage of the PlayStation 3's growing library." The scheme has only been announced for the US, but we'll update you as soon as we hear from SCEE.
Yesterday Sony announced that the PlayStation 2 would finally drop below €100 in Europe and $100 in the US. The new recommended retail price will be available from today, that is apart from in the UK, where the console will remain at its current £94.99 price.
To follow this new pricing initiative, Sony has announced that they will now be including a slim PSTWO with every PlayStation 3 sold. The package will go on sale this summer for a RRP of $419.99 - only $20 more expensive than the PlayStation 3 itself.
It's not quite what we were hoping for, but it will certainly please PlayStation gamers who miss the PS3's backwards compatibility.
"Just as PlayStation 2 is delivering on a 10-year lifecycle and helped expand and solidify the DVD format for home entertainment along the way, we believe PlayStation 3 offers the same promise by helping secure the Blu-ray format and delivering unprecedented value as the total home entertainment solution for the next decade," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA.
"For this reason we will be selling both consoles in one exclusive package for only $419.99. This will allow buyers to enjoy the 1,900 titles available for the PlayStation 2, whilst also taking advantage of the PlayStation 3's growing library." The scheme has only been announced for the US, but we'll update you as soon as we hear from SCEE.
Sony cuts price of PlayStation 2, not PS3
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sony Corp said it cut the price of its older video game console, the PlayStation 2, by 23 percent to $99.99, in an attempt to woo budget-minded families.
The price cut, effective April 1, could sustain the life of the PS2, which has sold more than 136 million units since its debut in 2000, making it the world's popular gaming system, Sony said on Tuesday.
The news follows -- and momentarily puts to rest -- rumors on video gaming websites and blogs that Sony might cut the price of the PlayStation 3, its more powerful console. The PS3's least expensive model sells for about $400.
Sony said that the sub-$100 price will draw in a new wave of customers ranging from lower-income families to gamers who may have passed on pricier new systems. In addition, it may give incentive to retailers to keep PS2 on store shelves.
Sony dominated the global video game industry for a decade starting in the mid-1990s, but sales of the PS3 have lagged behind those of Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii console and Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360.
Microsoft's sales got a boost in September after it cut prices on some Xbox 360 models by about $50. The company said it sold 28 million units worldwide in 2008, outpacing the PS3 by over 8 million units.
While still considered pricey, video game consoles continue to post robust sales even as consumers think twice about discretionary spending amid the recession.
Most generations of new console are retired after about a decade, when developers move on to focus on more advance machines. Not true for the PS2, which sold some 2.5 million units in the U.S. alone last year, and remains profitable for Sony even at the new price level, according to John Koller Hardware marketing director at Sony Computer Entertainment.
He said that developers are making plans for the system as much as 3 years out, with up to 80 new games are in the works for the system this year and another 70-80 due in 2010.
"There is no reason to slow down any of the momentum on the console now," he said. "There is no retirement tour or clock on the wall. As long as it continues to sell at the viable levels that it is, we are going to sell and market the platform."
Asked to comment on any plans that Sony has for cutting the price of the PS3, Koller said: "We feel good about where PlayStation 3 is. We continue to monitor the business."
Despite the resilience of the PS2, so-called "next generation" consoles are still the industry's first priority. The PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are often a centerpiece in the home that can deliver many hours of disc-based, online and collaborative gaming. All but the Wii play DVDs and can stream Internet movies.
Citing that reason, Microsoft said Sony's price cut does not address the future of the video game industry.
"We believe, however, that the future lies in the growth of current generation consoles and Xbox 360, as the fastest growing games console last year...will continue to drive the market," said Microsoft's Chris Lewis, who is Regional Vice President of Interactive Entertainment Business in Europe.
The price cut, effective April 1, could sustain the life of the PS2, which has sold more than 136 million units since its debut in 2000, making it the world's popular gaming system, Sony said on Tuesday.
The news follows -- and momentarily puts to rest -- rumors on video gaming websites and blogs that Sony might cut the price of the PlayStation 3, its more powerful console. The PS3's least expensive model sells for about $400.
Sony said that the sub-$100 price will draw in a new wave of customers ranging from lower-income families to gamers who may have passed on pricier new systems. In addition, it may give incentive to retailers to keep PS2 on store shelves.
Sony dominated the global video game industry for a decade starting in the mid-1990s, but sales of the PS3 have lagged behind those of Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii console and Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360.
Microsoft's sales got a boost in September after it cut prices on some Xbox 360 models by about $50. The company said it sold 28 million units worldwide in 2008, outpacing the PS3 by over 8 million units.
While still considered pricey, video game consoles continue to post robust sales even as consumers think twice about discretionary spending amid the recession.
Most generations of new console are retired after about a decade, when developers move on to focus on more advance machines. Not true for the PS2, which sold some 2.5 million units in the U.S. alone last year, and remains profitable for Sony even at the new price level, according to John Koller Hardware marketing director at Sony Computer Entertainment.
He said that developers are making plans for the system as much as 3 years out, with up to 80 new games are in the works for the system this year and another 70-80 due in 2010.
"There is no reason to slow down any of the momentum on the console now," he said. "There is no retirement tour or clock on the wall. As long as it continues to sell at the viable levels that it is, we are going to sell and market the platform."
Asked to comment on any plans that Sony has for cutting the price of the PS3, Koller said: "We feel good about where PlayStation 3 is. We continue to monitor the business."
Despite the resilience of the PS2, so-called "next generation" consoles are still the industry's first priority. The PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are often a centerpiece in the home that can deliver many hours of disc-based, online and collaborative gaming. All but the Wii play DVDs and can stream Internet movies.
Citing that reason, Microsoft said Sony's price cut does not address the future of the video game industry.
"We believe, however, that the future lies in the growth of current generation consoles and Xbox 360, as the fastest growing games console last year...will continue to drive the market," said Microsoft's Chris Lewis, who is Regional Vice President of Interactive Entertainment Business in Europe.
Sony PS3 Street Fighter IV FightStick
The official Street Fighter IV FightStick controller for the Sony PS3 was designed for fighting game fans to recreate the quality, gameplay and precision found in arcades.
Using an arcade-style joystick and 30mm quick connect buttons along with realistic spacing and an eight-button layout, the Street Fighter IV FightStick brings the arcade experience right into your home.
With separate turbo settings for each button and great ergonomics, prepare yourself for hours of competition, no quarters necessary.
Using an arcade-style joystick and 30mm quick connect buttons along with realistic spacing and an eight-button layout, the Street Fighter IV FightStick brings the arcade experience right into your home.
With separate turbo settings for each button and great ergonomics, prepare yourself for hours of competition, no quarters necessary.
Samsung BD-P3600 is as speedy as the PS3, packed with features
In almost every standalone Blu-ray player we review, you're likely to find a comment about its disc-loading speed and how it inevitably doesn't compare with the Sony PlayStation 3. For once, that's not the case, as the Samsung BD-P3600 is flat-out faster than the PS3 at loading most movies and its operational speed is just as quick.
It also has a nearly comprehensive feature package, including 7.1 analog outputs, 1GB onboard memory, an included Wi-Fi adapter, and Netflix and Pandora streaming. Top it off with excellent image quality on Blu-ray movies and a sleek design, and the BD-P3600 is one of our top choices for a standalone Blu-ray player.
It also has a nearly comprehensive feature package, including 7.1 analog outputs, 1GB onboard memory, an included Wi-Fi adapter, and Netflix and Pandora streaming. Top it off with excellent image quality on Blu-ray movies and a sleek design, and the BD-P3600 is one of our top choices for a standalone Blu-ray player.
PLAYSTATION®3
The PLAYSTATION®3 system software update may include security patches, new or revised settings and features and other items, which will change your current operating system.
We encourage you to check this page from time to time for software updates and to always maintain your system to use the latest version of the system software.
An update to the PS3™ system software was released on April 2, 2009. You can use this update to upgrade your system software to version 2.70.
We encourage you to check this page from time to time for software updates and to always maintain your system to use the latest version of the system software.
An update to the PS3™ system software was released on April 2, 2009. You can use this update to upgrade your system software to version 2.70.
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