In Other News: PlayStation 3 Gets Cheaper
From time to time I like to dive into other news surrounding our favorite hobby. I like to stay diverse in my uberness ya know. It seems like the pricing merry-go-round continues as Sony brings another version of its PlayStation 3 console to the market. Equipped with a 40-gigabyte hard drive and no support for backward compatibility, the new PlayStation 3 will retail for $399. It will be available on November 2nd.
Yes, you heard that right. Those of you opting to pick this little gem up will have to do so knowing you will not be able to play that stack of PlayStation 2 games. Backward compatibility has never been an interest of mine but it was a strong selling point from Sony. I’m surprised they opted to go this route and even more surprised at the comments from Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America.
“Backward compatibility is a nice secondary consideration, but it’s far from the number-one priority,” Tretton said.
Where are all the hecklers about Microsoft’s stance on backward compatibility now? I’ve just never been interested in it on my Xbox 360. I applaud both Sony and Microsoft for making it low priority. How appealing will this be to Sony fans?
:D
October 18th, 2007 at 9:09 am
I like the option of having backward compatability, but it doesn’t make or break a purchase for me.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:27 am
I say if you want to play PS2 or old Xbox games get a used system for 50 bucks and there ya go LOL.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Personally, I couldn’t care less about BC anymore. It’s a nice option to have when a console launches but there just isn’t as much time to go back and play old games anymore. I think this is a good move on Sony’s part. This price point, along with some great games coming out this fall should boost PS3 sales.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:48 am
i did consider the backwards compatibilty for the 360 before i bought one.
but maybe thats because i bought games for the xbox worth about 10x a 360 haha.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:56 am
I’ve never cared about BC either. There are pleanty of people that do though. I think that function is only useful at launch when few native games exist for a new console. It’s a pretty big reversal in philosophy for Sony though. I guess they figured if MS’s BC was scrap why should they care either. A classic case of lowering your product to the level of your competition. Besides the platform has been out almost a year now and there are enough native games to keep somebody occupied. Like someone stated, if you want to play old games keep your old console or pay $50 for a used one.
October 18th, 2007 at 10:16 am
BC is just a waste of time. If you want to play BC games, buy a previous-gen console. I paid 400 dollars for a system that brings me into ‘next gen.’ Not once since I purchased my 360 have I had any desire to play a BC game. As for the PS3 price point, it is kind of interesting. They should have released this in the first place to gain more market share. I may even consider buying one now. BTW, is this a permanent SKU or just a limited time offer? Also, when will this SKU be released?
October 18th, 2007 at 10:20 am
this will be available next month and from all the reports, it looks to be permanent.
October 18th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Did you get that info from Top Secret Government Reports Deacon?
October 18th, 2007 at 10:53 am
$399 for a system that won’t play God of War……NO SALE.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:02 am
@DR, nope. i just clicked on the link in the article. haha
October 18th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Oh, I thought you had top secret government connections.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:15 am
oh i do. just i didn’t use them for this
October 18th, 2007 at 11:52 am
The 80gig PS3 is now 500 bucks O_O.
October 18th, 2007 at 11:57 am
there’s only one thing that bothers me about PlayStation. and it’s the controller. the games bother me too but overall, i just really can’t stand the controller.
had it not been for that, i might have a PS3 right now.
October 18th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
I love the PS3 controller but I really would like some games to play before get one.
October 18th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Yeah, I didn’t know until recently that the 80G isn’t fully software BC, it still had the graphics chip of the PS2 in it. 40G having no BC will be a blow to a lot of casual gamers. …let alone let’s not forget that it is losing two USB ports and the memory card reader.
October 18th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
@ $400 its still just a cheap bluray player with no games…..and now even less games. Off topic - Hey D you gotta check out the unreal 3 demo.
October 18th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
i plan to hit that this weekend…been playing a lot of Enemy Territory of late.
October 18th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
But when you think about it Sony is still making games for the PS2 such as God of War 2 and other games so why not make it BC. I still play my PS2 but I won’t buy a PS3 unless I want to get a BlueRay player. The PS3 just doesn’t have a good library of games even if they dropped the price to $199.00 .
Plus with the war between HD-DVD and BlueRay, I’m not sure which player to invest in yet so I’ll stick with my regular DVD’s.
October 18th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
totally agree…I hate the PS controllers as well…I have no desrire to own a PS3…MG and FF don’t appeal to me..
October 18th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
When sony puts a coupon for free cookies in the retail box I am so getting one.
October 18th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
they’d have to be oreos for me. but seriously, if they made a new controller, i’d grab one.
October 18th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Why would you get a PS3 if you have the GROL
October 18th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
green right of life baby! woot!
October 18th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
BC is a waste of time, but Sony constantly slammed Microsoft’s non-full Back Compat.with their snide remarks, and also would slam the idea of multiple SKUs. Now here’s Sony less than a year later with 3 or 4 SKUs out at least (since they keep lowering and rising the price on the 60GB/80GB), and no BC at all.
Hopefully they’ve learned to stop running their mouths so much and actually just do something good for the gamer for once. If they’d stop voiding people’s warranties because they used a surge protector or third party controller, maybe I could say Sony is turning itself around, but they are still horribly untrustworthy and they’re not even pretending to be out for the interests in the gamer,
October 18th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
GRoL. its spreading…..
October 18th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Horray for GRoL …..GRoL FTW!!!! I’m gonna put a hurtin on my 360 tonight…TF2 and H3 all night!!!!
October 18th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Well I don’t eveb own one PS2 game, I’ve never bought any PS or PS2 games so I don’t know what I’m missing I guess. I might pick up a PS3 now since $400 for 40GB HDD is double the storage capactity of the xbox360 premium console. I really don’t care that I’m not be able to play that stack of PlayStation 2 games.
Isn’t God of War 2 on PS3, I’ve been wanting to try the new PS3 game Ratchet & Clank, Resistance: Fall of Man, the next SOCOM, and that Killzone game if it ever comes out.
October 18th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Is this the 3nd or 4th suk from sony this year? It’s still does’it compaire to a 80 or 120 gb hard drvie on the 360. This is not “fanboy” talk just real facts.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
I would like BC, but I’ll probably get one and not sell my PS2
October 18th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
@Col Hartman, GOW2 is a PS2 title, but the game is playable on PS3 (w/ BC support, of course). And Resistance is a “must-have” for PS3 owners. I’m looking forward to trying out Heavenly Sword and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune as well.
@Souf Centrol, same here. I have a PS2 Slim - Silver Redesign console. And the 80gig is very enticin’, especially w/ ANOTHER $100 off at sonystyle.com.
But I think I’ll hold on a lil’ longer to see if Sony will drop the price on the 60gig.
October 19th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Huge reversal for Sony and they do have a bit of egg on their face. With the 360 I couldn’t care less about BC mainly because I had already played any game on the Xbox that I wanted to play. With the PS3 that is not the case. There are still alot of games I wanted to check out on the PS2 and the BC would have held me over until the big hitters came out on the PS3 next year.
This move gave me more reason to wait on a purchase. I like the $399.99 price point now all they have to do is get some AAA can’t miss games and I will be onboard.
October 19th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
[quote comment=""]Huge reversal for Sony and they do have a bit of egg on their face. With the 360 I couldn’t care less about BC mainly because I had already played any game on the Xbox that I wanted to play. With the PS3 that is not the case. There are still alot of games I wanted to check out on the PS2 and the BC would have held me over until the big hitters came out on the PS3 next year.
This move gave me more reason to wait on a purchase. I like the $399.99 price point now all they have to do is get some AAA can’t miss games and I will be onboard.[/quote]
Yeah I agree. BTW when you play God Of War 2 on PS3 does it got to 720p in HDTV or is it uly like all Ps2 games.