E3 2006: Sony's Press Conference, PlayStation 3 Pricing and Date
Published May 09, 2006
To prove this, he brings out a developer who is working on Warhawk, which will use these features. He starts a demo that seems to be completely out of control and has a hard time making moves.
Hiria returns for the final time. His closing statements begin, but not without one more important note: the date and price of the PS3. The break down is as follows:
A worldwide launch will be in two configurations, one with a 20 GB hard drive, and the other with a 60 GB hard drive.
The date for Japan is November 11th, with the 20 GB priced at 59,800 yen, and the 60 GB model will be set by the retailer.
November 17th will be the date for the rest of the world. In the US, the 20 GB model will retail at $499, and the 60 GB will run $599.
Europe features the same two models retailing for 499€ and 599€ respectively. Sony plans to have two million consoles at the worldwide launch, four million by Christmas, another two million by the end of the first quarter the following year. He thanks the audience and closes the presentation.
- E3 2006: Sony's Press Conference, PlayStation 3 Pricing and Date
- Published: May 09, 2006
- Type: News
- Section: Gaming
- Filed Under: Gaming: News
- Part of a feature: E3 2006
- Writer: Matt Paprocki
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Comments
Hate to sound Cliche: Been there done that!
Wii looks awesome. Nintendo brings innovation. Microsoft brings Xbox live 2.0. What does Sony bring to gamers? Blueray...HUH? And I used to love Sony as a brand for gamers because they brought entertainment to gaming. Now they're doing what I was afraid they would do. Instead of bringing value to gamers they're trying to fool gamers into buying some of their product (blueray) that gamers don't need or want. What does PS3 bring to us gamers that the others aren't? Seriously, I'm asking I'm desperate for Sony's answer. They didn't give it to my today.
I think Nintendo will price the Wii at $250 or less. It might not become the first choice of hard core gamers, but it will definetly be the 2nd console in my living room.
Also, $250 will appeal a lot more to parrents buyng a console for their kids and non-gamers in general.
PS3 is just seeming very unimpressive.
They are copying Microsoft's idea of releasing 2 versions of the system, which I didn't think was a great idea to start with. But, at least with Xbox 360, even if you buy the less expensive, bare-bones unit, you can still buy the hard drive and other options at your leasure, and eventually build up to everything that you would have gotten in the more expensive unit.
However, with PS3, you don't have that option. If you get the cheaper system with the reduced features, you're stuck. You can't upgrade it or add things on to eventually have what you would get with the more expensive system. I think this is going to upset a lot of people. You know that when this launches, everyone will want it, the more expensive units will be the ones to go first, and people will be mad that they have to choose between the cheaper unit with less features or nothing.
Then there is the controller, which now has the same essential feature as that of Nintendo. Can we say rip off? Now, I know it is common practice for one company to use a good idea that another one came up with. But usually there is a period of time between the two. In this case, they come out and say the controller has this motion feature, acting like its something completely new, original, and innovative, and trying not to bring up the issue that its essentially the same thing that Nintendo announced quite a while ago.
Even if Sony had been planning this for some time and didn't actually copy Nintendo's idea (Which I highly doubt), it really doesn't look good on their part to only just now announce it and try to make it seem like its original, after another company has been saying for some time that they are doing this.
At any rate, I have Xbox 360 now, I plan to get Wii. I doubt I will get PS3 at launch. I may get it eventually if the price goes down. The one thing that I may consider doing is buying a PS3, selling it on ebay while they are in high demand, doubling my money, then putting the profit cash I get off of it aside to eventually get a PS3 of my own when they are readily available. It all depends though. I really don't want to support Sony because they burned me and many others too many times.





That "fantastic innovation" quote is priceless. Can you say "Wii-mote?"
The $500 model isn't even worth buying, "the $499 model does not include wi-fi, memory stick support, or HDMI output."
That makes that $400 Xbox 360 purchase in November look pretty good, an entire $200 less that a properly equipped PS3.
And Nintendo is going to be sitting pretty with a $250 price tag for the Wii. I am sure we will get that confirmation tomorrow afternoon.
I was underwhelmed by the games, shocked by the blatant rip off, and quite frankly Sony did a better job at building PS3 hype at the 2005 E3.