PS3 Price cut of 20% - Japan [Archive] - Team17 Forum

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WORM1234
22 Sep 2006, 18:06
Sony is to cut the Japanese cost of its forthcoming PlayStation 3 console by 20%, the consumer electronics giant announced in Tokyo on Friday.
The price cut is aimed at boosting the launch of the machine and making it more competitive with the Xbox 360.
The price for the North American and European launch will stay the same.
The surprise move will see the 20 gigabyte version of the PS3 sell for 49,980 yen ($430) when it goes on sale on 11 November in Japan.
No changes to the price of the higher end model - 60GB version - or European and US prices were announced.
Gaming community
Sony has previously been criticised by the gaming community for the high cost of the new console. The lack of an announced price cut for the US and Europe markets may also raise some gamers' ire.
In the US, the system with a 20GB hard drive will cost $499, while a model with a 60GB drive will cost $599. European pricing is 499 and 599 euros respectively.
The new Japanese price puts the console in the same range as the basic Xbox 360 machine combined with an add-on HD-DVD player, which cost 49,600 yen together.
Japanese gamers are eager to get their hands on the machine
Sony hopes the price cut will deflect criticism after a series of delays to the PlayStation 3 console, concerns about price and apathy from some gamers about the capabilities of the machine.
When the new console is released in November it will compete with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii.
Nintendo's new console will cost 25,000 yen or lower in Japan and $250 (£133) or less in the US, while Microsoft's Xbox 360, which went on sale last November, starts at $299 in the US and £209 in the UK.
PlayStation boss Ken Kutaragi, speaking on the opening day of the Tokyo Game Show, also said that all 20GB consoles would come complete with an HDMI connection, important for playing high definition graphics.
Previously, Sony had said that only the top end 60GB model would come with the connector.
High definition
He said that it had now become apparent that there was a need for the high definition capability.
Mr Kutaragi also took the opportunity to apologise to games developers for delays in the release of the PS3.
Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion
The new console was originally scheduled for launch in Spring 2006, but technical hitches postponed the worldwide release until November this year.
Earlier this month, Sony was also forced to announce that European gamers would have to wait until 2007 to get their hands on the next generation console after delays in production.
Japanese gamers will be able to buy the console from 11 November. More than 200 of the consoles are on display at TGS.
"What is important is that we get more consoles sold to make up for the price cut and get more game makers and chip makers in our camp," Mr Kutaragi said at the conference.
No further delays
He said the company's focus was now on ensuring that no further delays occur.
The announcements were made in a question and answer session following Mr Kutaragi's keynote speech at the opening of TGS.
The speech, titled Next Generation Entertainment created by the PS3 was almost devoid of any announcement about the new console.
Instead, Mr Kutaragi took the opportunity to outline his vision for a future of networked gaming and game development.
He told the audience that game developers need to innovate and be prepared for a new generation of networked gaming in the future.
He told the games industry that advances in computer hardware and internet services could change the way games are made.
Gamers' content
Content generated by gamers, such as digital photos and video, could be harnessed by game makers, he said.
In addition, data such as digital maps of the real world and blueprints of new cars could be used to make more realistic and cheaper games, he said.
"You might think this is a long way off, but it is not," he said. "If the data is available, we can utilise it."
The Tokyo Game Show takes place from 22 to 24 September at Makuhari Messe conference centre in Chiba near Tokyo.
Source: BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5369720.stm)
So, WHY NOT THE UK?! :mad:
EDIT: Sorry for the spaces, it was copied from the BBC News site.

Xinos
22 Sep 2006, 20:26
For god's sake man, don't space every sentance like that!
Edit: Oh, you copypasted it. Still, it's a much easier read at BBC's site.

robowurmz
22 Sep 2006, 21:30
Hmm. I know...just buy a japanese console if you live in the UK. Beleive it or not, The UK and Japan are in the same DVD and TV region, meaning that they both use PAL. So, go to Japan, buy a console, come back, and have fun. They have the same wall plugs too.
Sorry Americans. $600 it is...

Kelster23
22 Sep 2006, 21:59
Hmm. I know...just buy a japanese console if you live in the UK. Beleive it or not, The UK and Japan are in the same DVD and TV region, meaning that they both use PAL. So, go to Japan, buy a console, come back, and have fun. They have the same wall plugs too.
Sorry Americans. $600 it is...
And Canadians too, right? :(

robowurmz
22 Sep 2006, 22:12
Uuuuhh...Thinking....
YES!
Canada also is in region 2, if I remember. That means that Canadians use PAL.
I think.
Or do you guys and gals use NTSC?

Star Worms
22 Sep 2006, 23:08
Is it just me who's getting sick of a new thread for each announcement about the Wii/PS3?
How many Japanese people do you think visit this forum anyway?

Kelster23
22 Sep 2006, 23:20
Uuuuhh...Thinking....
YES!
Canada also is in region 2, if I remember. That means that Canadians use PAL.
I think.
Or do you guys and gals use NTSC?
How do you tell?

Star Worms
22 Sep 2006, 23:26
http://www.pixela-1.com/images_new/Cable_NTSC_PAL_SECAM_map.jpg
From a quick search on google. I don't know how accurate it is though.

robowurmz
23 Sep 2006, 09:02
How do you tell?
I have a DVD region thing for my Ps2.
It lets me watch DVD's from any region, and it detects which one they are from. Region 2 is PAL. ANd it says, "This DVD is region 2; UK, most of EUROPE, Japan, and Canada."

WormOfFire
25 Sep 2006, 06:30
http://www.pixela-1.com/images_new/Cable_NTSC_PAL_SECAM_map.jpg
From a quick search on google. I don't know how accurate it is though.
"SECAM"
Wtf is that?
Never heard about it...thought there were only PAL and NTSC.

SupSuper
25 Sep 2006, 17:47
Please note that DVD regions and encoding systems are entirely different things.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/DVD-Regions_with_key.png/800px-DVD-Regions_with_key.png (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/DVD-Regions_with_key.png)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/NTSC-PAL-SECAM.png/800px-NTSC-PAL-SECAM.png (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/NTSC-PAL-SECAM.png)

*Splinter*
26 Sep 2006, 12:36
It isnt DVD though, its blu-ray which has a whole new coding system so regions will be different
I cant remember what went where though...

Bolton
29 Sep 2006, 03:26
I hope the PS3 fails miserably....

Pigbuster
29 Sep 2006, 05:25
By the way, I guess that I should mention this somewhere...
"...At this year's E3, the only game at Sony's booth to showcase the motion-sensing capabilities of the controller was Warhawk, and because that game only sensed tilt, the misconception spread that it was a limit of the controller's function. We recently spoke to Sony representatives who confirmed that the PS3 controller is capable of recognizing all three axes (X, Y, Z), as well as positive and negative distance. In short, this means that the controller theoretically has the same motion-sensing potential as the Wii remote."
Okay, I wasn't going to say that they copied Nintendo when all the duelshock had was tilt...
But that seems to be a blatant rip, right there.

robowurmz
29 Sep 2006, 07:17
I used to have a controller for my PS2 called the "Air-Pad". You could use digital controls, analog controls, or tilt it around.
And that was back in 2003.
I broke the controller by mistake. I was carrying it down the stairs to use it on my PS2, and I dropped it.
Oops.

Xinos
29 Sep 2006, 10:18
It isnt DVD though, its blu-ray which has a whole new coding system so regions will be different
I cant remember what went where though...
Global regionfree?

Iguana
29 Sep 2006, 10:42
Okay, I wasn't going to say that they copied Nintendo when all the duelshock had was tilt...
But that seems to be a blatant rip, right there.
If I remember correctly, Sony announced that they were working on motion sensing technology back in 2003, and considered adding it to their controller. They probably thought it was useless and scrapped it, yet bought it back up when the Wii's concept became popular. Does this mean Nintendo ripped them off? Not really, seeing as motion sensing in video games was here since the Atari.
And even though the Wiimote's design would work better for certain concepts (such as sword swinging), most third party developers would probably pick the PS3 for their motion sensitive games, since the advanced hardware is definetely an advantage. Does this mean the Wii will fail? I hope not, there are tons of games I was looking forward to, and I'm really interested in seeing how Nintendo are planning to use motion sensing. And really, having them go third party and develop games for PS3 would truly suck.

Pigbuster
30 Sep 2006, 16:51
most third party developers would probably pick the PS3 for their motion sensitive games, since the advanced hardware is definetely an advantage.
I don't think the Duelshock makes a lot of sense to be motion sensitive, really.
The Wiimote makes more sense since you actually point at something. The duelshock doesn't point at anything, so it couldn't be used in FPSs, for instance.

*Splinter*
2 Oct 2006, 16:54
I don't think the Duelshock makes a lot of sense to be motion sensitive, really.
The Wiimote makes more sense since you actually point at something. The duelshock doesn't point at anything, so it couldn't be used in FPSs, for instance.
Yeah but you could say it the other way round: doesnt make sense pointing to steer a car, whereas dualshock fits (kind of) like a steering wheel (hands in same ish shape anyway)

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