A part of me imagines those conversations went something like this:
Third-Parties: "Gotta make real life look bad, yo."
Cerny: "That sounds expensive."
Third-Parties: "Dis SONY, right? You guys got da munnies."
Cerny: "Last time we launched with a $800+ system, that didn't go well. We actually lost a lot of money. What you're asking for sounds like something in the 1500 range."
Third-Parties: "Sell it for 4. Let da games make da money. Just make sure dem games be lookin beautiful."
Cerny: "*Sighs*... we'll see what we can do... and... uhh... we'll keep in touch, Mr. Yerli."
4 ≈ One







