Is Sony pulling a fast one?

[JoeSp]

Just a few radom - totally unfounded and rediculous thougths!

1) What if Sony drops the PS3 a $100 at launch.

By setting the price high it has everyone talking about the PS3 , the problems, the price, the games prices! Heck, they have made every news media possible. You could not buy that much advertisement.

2) What if waiting for HDMI 1.3 is a way of making the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player more valuable?

What's that you say? First read the specs on HDMI 1.3. Higher video bandwith allowing up to 48 bit color! Able to pass lossless audio codecs (Dobly DigitalHD and HD-DTS). You would not have to have any HD audio decoding in the player which adds considerably to the higher cost of standalone Blu-Ray players ($1000 and up). You would only have to upgrade your A/V receiver to one that does the HD audio decoding for you. Most of us with Home Theater systems who want more HD will do that anyway with or without a PS3.

3) What if Sony is serious about FREE ONLINE GAME PLAY?

How many of you currently play online? How much do you pay for the privalege? HOW DOES FREE SOUND? Of course you must follow with games people want to play but FREE?

4) What if Sony is really serious about ending the used video game market?

You really think 3rd-party developers are cringing about that? Heck they are throwing parties hoping Sony does exactly that. And BTW, this is not something new. Microsoft has been working on exactly this problem for sometime now.

Piracy is killing our gaming. Companys are not willing to put their entire resources behind a product when they know that you will be able to go into a store and buy the game used for $5 or $10 dollars less a week or two after they release a new product and the programers get nothing (they only receive their share on new sales)! I see this as a form of piracy. How much better would a game be if the programmers were getting their fair share? If you don't believe me make yourself into a programmer. Now tell me how you feel if after your product hits the market it can be resold a week or two later for $5 to $10 less and you get nothing!! That's right nothing! You think if Sony pulls this off they are not going to get 3rd party support -- puulllease!!!

5) What if the CELL really works?

Ah, the billion dollar question. IBM seems to think it works. The yields are not high but they are not saying that they do not work. Parallel processing is the future. Even Intel's new Conroe processors are doing parellel processing by having two cores use the same cache! These chips are unbelivably fast! A 1.8 Conroe outperforms a 3.8 AMD FX 64 chip! If the CELL processors actually works then Sony will have made a generational leap in the console market.

Does that mean better gaming? It should but better hardware does not always mean better gaming. The people who come up with the idea and the ones who code the game are the ones who determine what gameplay we will enjoy. WE decide if the gameplay is worthy. But are there any programmers out there who believe that parellel processing cannot result in better gaming?


What if the PS3 is for real?

Well, this is a good question. We really haven't seen one yet. Sony is supposed to show a working one at the Tokiyo Game Show. How's that worked out? Until one actually shows up somewhere- anywhere we are just speculating about the PS3. But what if it just shows up? What if the smoke and mirrors clear and there really is a PS3? This could only be good for gaming as competition is what drives invention and ingenuity and ultimately -- better gaming!

 

[xccell]

Very well said! I completely agree with your theories. I hope Sony advances the bar in this next generation of gaming, because I am really pumped up about all the great gaming possibilities that await us.

 

[T2k]

Sony has been caught numerous times lying about their upcoming products - I don't believe a single word until at least one fully working prototype has been confirmed/tested by a 3rd party.

When you feel you are getting "pumped up about all the great gaming possibilities" remember: Sony has always been a dispecable liar and still is. PS3 may or may not be so great - don't get worked up just yet.

 

[xccell]

Sony has been caught numerous times lying about their upcoming products - I don't believe a single word until at least one fully working prototype has been confirmed/tested by a 3rd party.

When you feel you are getting "pumped up about all the great gaming possibilities" remember: Sony has always been a dispecable liar and still is. PS3 may or may not be so great - don't get worked up just yet.

Bust my bubble why don't you.

 

[Tom_P]

I stopped buying Sony products about 8 years ago for the same reason "Lies". I only support the PS platforms. And to be honest we can have a Super Powerfull game console but technology develops so fast that I a year or two I will be almost obsolete.
Microsoft on the other hand didn't use the full capabilities on the original Xbox, so I just scratch my head everytime I think that I'll have to spend over $500 on a PS3. :yikes

 

[ebonovic]

Your #4 (Used game Market)...

Here is the problem...
With new games costing $60, and only going up....
That is even getting to a price point that I am only going to buy 1 game a quarter tops (and I have a good paying job, not a hourly rate like the teenage target market).

Used games are a viable business... And is the only way I will purchase some games. In fact, I am more incline to purchase the $12 games via XBL for the 360, then some of these new $60 titles...

It is also one of the reasons I am really intrested in Wii
I enjoy my 360... but I simply can't keep dropping $60 on a game, that if I don't like it... I can't even return it for half price back...


Piracy seriously sucks.... But... I have felt this for many years.
If you simply charge a reasonable price for the software/games; You would eliminate the vast majority of piracy.

If you only charged $20 for a new title... you will probably sell more then 5-1 then you do now... so ultimately that means for a $60 game.... $100 instead of $60 (with the modest maybe $1-5 to manufacture the disk/box/packaging... that is still $25 more in revenue....

I think the same for MS-OFFICE and other titles ($500+ for MS Office... charge like $50, and you won't have any piracy issues to worry about)

 

[jbcheshire]

ebonovic,
I have a 360 and i agree with you about paying $60 for a new game. So, I have a membership ($10 a year) to EBgames and GameStop (they are merging by the way). This allows you to buy used games at 10% discount, it allows you to try them out, AND if you don't like them then you have 7 days to return them... Can't beat this deal. So, I hardly buy a new game unless I have tried it on Xbox Live first on its free demo download...

 

[JoeSp]

Guys, This is piracy in its most blatant form. I can understand not wanting to pay $60 for a game. However, the process of being able to buy back the game and then resell the game while keeping all the profit is a form of piracy. All programming houses will flock to the PS3 if they find a way to prevent this from happening. Don't worry, if Microsoft has not been able to do this neither will Sony!

Simple way to solve this type of loss is to have companies doing this type of business pay a fee to the game developers every time they resell one of their titles. Don't see this happening -- so I see developers trying to find ways to do this.

The used market came about because of the magnetude of games and money involved in the gaming market. Developers are loosing millions and millions of dollars over this and they would not be unhappy if Sony found a way of making their games unresellable. I don't see this happening either.

 

[damaged]

After Sonys rootkit fiasco, I hope every game and music cd and dvd they make gets pirated 1000x over.

 

[korsjs]

garth brooks made a big deal years ago about music shops selling his used cds. he said he should get a cut of it. i don't remember what happened, but i don't think much came from his complaining.

 

[jbcheshire]

So, selling used games is pirating??? sorry you feel that way.
I guess the same should be said for all of the used books, cars, clothing, and furniture out there?? I guess the next step is that blockbuster and netflix are pirating by "renting" out the games too??...

 

[SatinKzo]

Yep, goodbye resell shops and heck, even ebay. You don't think clothing and auto etc manufacturers won't jump on this if they see one industry get away with it. What about all those new pristine homes developrs build? Are they gonna restrict you from selling your home cause they won't make any money off it when you sell it? I would like to see (if someone keeps those numbers somewhere in gov't) how much of the economy is based on secondary sales of products.

 

[Kaluyen]

After Sonys rootkit fiasco, I hope every game and music cd and dvd they make gets pirated 1000x over.

Totally agree.... no PS3 or Sony TV for me anymore :down

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

IF they make it stop running "pre-owned" games (the ONLY ones I buy are pre-owned and ONLY after the price is under 20 bucks) Then a mod chip will come out to bypass this. I will NEVER buy a PS3 but if microsoft does it I will add the mod chip in a second. If they make it so I have to pay 60+ for a game I will either stop getting games, get them for the PC ("cars" is 19 for the pc and 39 for the XBOX-what a joke) or get the games from "another source".

 

[JoeSp]

I guess you guys don't mind working for free? Hey, I not against reselling what you own, but the Supreme Court has already said that computer code belongs to the person who orginated the code and brought it to market. So, by that definition, a business that resells software is basically pirating from the manufacturer of that software. Why not give those manufacturer's a cut of the resell price? Then it would not be pirating! Then everyone would be happy!

 

[ronjohn]

A lot of EULAs have no reselling, sub-licensing, loaning, renting, etc in the agreement. I do not believe however that reselling is "pirating" as you are saying. One license was sold originally and one license is in use after reselling. As long as the seller has not made a copy, no more licenses are being used than were sold.

I also think that the content providers are spending more money and creating more bad will with their tactics than they are saving. The Sony CD protection that cost $40 million and was defeated by a 80 cent sharpie is one example. There have been several Sony DVDs that have caused me problems. House Of Flying Daggers would not play in my DVD player for a week until I updated the firmware because of the copy protection. A friend was able to make a copy from Blockbuster the same day I bought mine. I rented one a couple of months back, can't remember which, that would not play in my newer DVD player. My friend was able to make a copy again. I just gave up. They cause more problems for honest people than they adjust the actions of dishonest people. If dishonest people can still copy, and new copy protections prevent me from watching an honest DVD, I am about ready to just give up and wait till they show up on premium channels.

 

[SatinKzo]

Why not give those manufacturer's a cut of the resell price? Then it would not be pirating! Then everyone would be happy!

If they would lower the initial price in return for residuals on re-sales, then I would whole-heartedly support it. Video games are getting out of control on price, luckily they are a luxury I choose to do without (although I do believe my 2 daughters will be playing a Wii a few months after it is released and some solid games come out to take advantage of the controllers. Kids don't need high end graphics, just good gameplay and plain fun games)

I firmly believe that the best way to fight piracy of anything is to make it affordable to the mass market. Video game systems and games are pricing themselves out of alot of homes, especially with everything else going up.

Hey RonJohn, I agree completely with your post. I am sick of renting a DVD then having to upgrade the dang firmware on my DVD player just cause the copy protection is screwing it up. I just end up ripping the dvd and buring to a RW disc and watching it most times this happens as it is just a PITA to contantly update the FW on the player.

 

[T2k]

I guess you guys don't mind working for free? Hey, I not against reselling what you own, but the Supreme Court has already said that computer code belongs to the person who orginated the code and brought it to market. So, by that definition, a business that resells software is basically pirating from the manufacturer of that software. Why not give those manufacturer's a cut of the resell price? Then it would not be pirating! Then everyone would be happy!

BS.
Why not give a resell cut for the farmer when potato is being sold on the market? Why not give EVERY SINGLE PRODUCER a resell cut from EVERY SINGLE RESALE?

This whole idea is totally crazy - it must have been some retarded loser managers' idea...

 

[JoeSp]

I agree with SatinKzo on lower intial cost for a piece of the resell pie. This would generate alot of income and just might increase intial sales of a particular title.

Tk2, The distribution channels for food is not much differant then software. We are talking about end users (the consumer) reselling games back to the retailer (EB ad the like) allowing said retailer to resell game at a lower cost keeping the entire profit and shorting first release sales. Now explain to me how after you eat that potatoe (what else are you going to be using a potatoe for?) are you going to resell that potatoe? Well , I am waiting?

 

[ronjohn]

What about cars? Cars are a closer example that potatos. By selling used cars, the used car dealers are cutting into the sales of new cars. If only new cars were allowed to be sold, and used cars were required to be kept by their original owners or demolished, then Ford and GM would not be in trouble right now.