Makingmusic,

Off topic: I like BC because I don't want to have a PS3, PS2, Wii, GC, XBOX, XBOX 360 hooked up to my enterainment center on top of my HD-DVD, BluRay,Beta, VHS players and with a decent A/V receiver it is even more cluttered. Note I do not have an HD-DVD player nor a PS3 at the moment I did have a PS3 with full BC and was happy with it. In fact I am hunting for a new 20GB/60GB PS3 because it is important to me. And yes I do have VHS and beta both a lot of footage is shot in Beta today and some professional cameras still use them.

On topic.
1. The 20GB was not widely promoted and it was not widely available therefor the price has come down over 200 dollars for the widely promoted widely available PS3 today the 40GB.

Ok ... I have a PS2. A fat one with a hard drive in the back. However, there was only one way I'd ever BUY a PS3. I have a ton of 360 games that I've played for review and put them on the shelf. A dude offered a PS3 for 360 games. I traded him 14 360 games for a 40gb PS3. Essentially, it was just a trade. And I had every intention to flip it as soon as I could. And guess what? I am. I found the 20gb PS3 around the block and bought it. Now, I have two of them, and selling the 40gb. The PS3 will sell much faster than me flipping games any day.

And as far as BC, look through my posts. I have ALWAYS - ALWAYS said I'd never buy a PS3 without it. Guess what? I paid like $30 total to have that 40gb PS3 shipped to me. And in the end, I still got what I wanted - a PS3 with full BC.

I am purple now - I have Blu Ray and HD DVD, but still, that's only because I have a PS3. Will I get the free 5 Blu Rays? You bet ... but I am still a huge HD DVD supporter. I can't say I am red because I have a Blu Ray player in the house, right?

How am I bashing a console that I OWN? If it's a turd, it's a turd. I will be truthful and honest - and the PS3 is hyped as the second coming and it's anything but. I have several HD DVDs - I have one Blu Ray and will have a few more. So what - it's my opinion. And I can truthfully say I am not impressed by the PS3 - especially saying it's better than the 360. Sadly, it's not - not right now. Maybe later, developers will churn out better games.

Biased? No. I stepped into the PS3 world unbiased and open. Yeah, I wasn't a fan of Sony - especially after getting burned by past Sony purchases - but I said 'Hay ... a PS3 with BC.' I got it, a few games and downloaded some demos. Yeah, it's cool, but based on what I saw - I also watched a few Blus on it - but still, I am a journalist and review video games. I have the mentality of breaking consoles and games down - and to make a case to buy it or bury it. I took the PS3 through its paces and can say it's a good system - has some cool games and Blu Ray, but it's worth just $300 to the average gamer.

I can say that because - unlike fanbots on this site who own just one system - I have first-hand knowledge.

And since you are good at researching apparently, find the post where I said I didn't have the space for a PS2 AND a PS3. Several other gamers can take that approach, but why should they? Why pay for a feature that was in the PS3 to start off with? Sony's clueless ... 

Fixed

nuff said.

 i dont care if they had 15 price drops it is selling more the 360 and thats what counts....HD-DVD had 3-5 price drops this year and Blu-ray still outsells it. people want ps3 more then xbox and sales are starting to prove that

 Your statement that the PS3 is public enemy #1 on this site. 

Sure there are more Wii fanboys here than PS3 or 360 but you will have a very hard time making a serious argument that there is some conspiracy against the PS3 going on behind the scenes.  At best you could make a case that there are times when Wii fanboys get off their leash and need to be reigned in, but that happens on all sides of these issues.

Yes a price cut (even if the overall price hasn't changed) does stimulate demand. But it only does so in a minor way. The real value of a price cut is in bringing the price of the product into a new range of affordability and in doing so you are able to tap an entirely new market of consumers who previously didn't see the value in your product stacking up to the price, but now do. That is where the major stimulation to the demand comes from.

You can shuffle the price around all you want in a supermarket but you are talking about a market where people are constantly required to purchase what they have already purchased and will always need to make future purchases of the same items over and over again (ie the items they enjoy eating). The result is that a price shuffling, as you described, in that market can stimulate demand by enticing people to buy early to take advantage of the percieved deal. But since I don't need to purchase a PS3 every couple of weeks to stay stocked up, like I do on say...cans of sweet corn, the stimulation effect is significantly reduced.

Another major difference between the two is that in a supermarket the people who are purchasing food are usually intimately informed about the value of the product and can make an extremely informed decision about whether or not that product is worth the price. With the PS3 the vast majority of potential buyers are certainly uninformed as to the PS3s features and capabilities and very likely are unsure whether or not the value justifies the price.

Now what all of that means is that in a supermarket the consumer is willing to ignore the price shuffling because he knows what product(s) he wants. But also we know that the consumer is going to continue to buy the product whether we give a price cut or not (since they have already purchased it before) and that its unlikely we will get new consumers from a price cut (unless the price is too high currently) since the people who like the product are already buying it. Now with the PS3 the price shuffling just adds confusion to the task of figuring out if the product is worthwhile at its price. But with a price cut we know that we can garner new customers because it is immediately obvious to all consumers that a lower price is a much better value.

Sorry for sounding dumb, but what were the three Xbox360 price cuts?

Arcade/Core was 299, now 279.
Premium was 399, now 349.
Elite was 479, now 449.

That is really one price cut. If you want to count it as three than you have to count the PS3 cuts.

60gig 599 to 499
20 gig 499 to 399

Technically

60 to 80 gig HDD would be a price cut. And 20 to 40.

Both have had numerous cuts in Japan.

Edit: For the record, this is an argument over symantics.  And my post is only meant to point out that it is just an excuse to get out the flame throwers.    

The fact is that Sony confused everyone with their multiple models, so don't blame people for simplifying the situation.

In Europe, a PS3 used to cost 600 eur and now it costs 400. There's only one model available. This further confuses the problem, since people here are usually talking about the worldwide situation.

We can argue definitions and pedantism all day, but the fact is that Sony did abnormally high price cuts less than one year after launch. Try spinning that!

It must be very hard for Sont fans to see there console company of choice go from the run away winner by a long lng way to struggling to even catch up on second place.

Doesn't matter how you look at it, PS3 is not in the position people thought it would be before launch.

WTF? Why is this being argued? Does it make the PS3 look bad if it got 2 price cuts or something?