An interview with Sony Computer Entertainment America chief Jack Tretton in the latest issue of Game Informer revealed some troubling news for consumers waiting for a lower-priced PlayStation 3. When asked point blank whether price drops for the PS3 will be "as soon or as drastic as they were for the PlayStation 2," Tretton responded with a curt, "No." For reference, the PS2 was reduced from $299 to $199 in the United States on May 14, 2002, 565 days after the Oct. 20, 2000 release date. Using this data and Tretton's above answer, we can expect that the PS3 won't come down in price until at least June 4, 2008. The reason for the shallower pricing curve? According to Tretton, the increased investment in R & D and hardware makes the system "a lot more difficult to cost reduce" than the PS2. "There's a heck of a lot more under the hood and it costs us more money to make it," Tretton told Game Informer. Despite this, Tretton doesn't seem to think the system's price will hurt its position in the marketplace. "I think the consumers that get their hands on a PlayStation 3 clearly see the value and not only want to buy one for $599, in some instances they're willing to pay ridiculous prices to buy one on eBay," Tretton said. If sales continue to remain slow & steady, do you think SCE will be forced to lower the price sooner than they've clearly planned?

Dreamcast, I don't think Sony can lower the price. They are already taking a bath on the PS3. They are losing over $200 per console sold. They'd have to shave a couple hundred dollars off of the PS3's manufacturing cost just break even. Sony has put themselves of at the mercy of their competitors when it comes to pricing. They have to be reactionary where as Nintendo and MS can proactive with pricing. Nintendo and MS are able to drop their prices and make a profit NOW. They are using Sony's high price to pad their profits. Nintendo could have sold the Wii for a profit at $200 last holiday and MS could have sold the Premium 360 at $350 for a profit. When your competitors have the ability to sell their products between $500 (360) and almost $700 (Wii) cheaper than your manufacturing costs, you are in trouble. In other words with the money it takes Sony to manufacture one 60GB PS3, MS and Nintendo could manufacture two premium 360s and one Wii. I think the money they are losing on the PS3 is the real reason they are unable to lock down exclusives. Sony doesn't have the capital. They took out an 800 million dollar loan just to launch the PS3. The PSP hasn't exactly padded Sony's cash reserves either. As much as Sony wants the PS3 to have a "ten year" life span, I just don't see that happening at this point.

Well saying they can lower the price in some months or even a year would be a suicide right now .Nobody would buy the console in the following months .Dont expect them to say they will lower the price or that being possible until they effectively do it .Well ,as with all the other consoles ....they negate the possibility until they do it .Same as with the Ds Lite (it was "wild and unlikely speculation " until the day they announced it ) ,the Zephyr ...etc etc

I agree, if Sony implied a price cut was coming soon, people would wait on the sidelines for a price cut. The same thing would occur if Microsoft and Nintendo cut prices, people would sit on the sidelines waiting for Sony to cut prices. I believe this occured last generation in year 1 of Gamecube. Sony and Microsoft cut prices and Nintendo said they weren't going to. Gamecube sales slowed and a week or two later Gamecube was $150. All three console will see price cuts within a month of each other, guaranteed. Another point is that for Sony to cut prices at the same pace as PS2 (33%), their first NA price cut would have to be $166.66 / $200. Rememeber that the PS3 is basically 400/500 in Japan already, it only follows we'll see the same thing in NA soon. I expect a NA price cut in May/June then a September European price cut.

Not to far away, it happened before a year.

Ok Leo-J, you've had your fun...

I read this before looking at the dates... I knew something was off.

I would say what I really think of leo right now but it would just get me banned...

LOL,

fuck, I was going to answer lol

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