May 26, 2006
In a poll by Japanese magazine Famitsu, readers in Japan have delivered their verdict on PlayStation 3 and Wii's launch plans with 73% saying they believe Wii will "win" the hardware war.
Nearly 70% of readers said they are most looking forward to Wii. 21% voted for PlayStation 3, while the others voted for systems already released. 88.4% of readers believe PlayStation 3 is too expensive, while 10% believe it's "about right".
Read More @ Next Generation
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May 23, 2006
According to reghardware UK, British gamers may only be offered the 60GB version of Sony's PlayStation 3, a senior company official has suggested.
In an interview with UK games industry weekly MCV, Sony Computer Entertainment's UK operation, Ray Maguire said: "The lower-end, 20GB version of [the] PlayStation 3 has no Wi-Fi, no HDMI and none of the other slots in it, so it's really a question of where we would position it. It's more likely that we will only launch the 60GB version."
"We have time to watch the yen and be flexible, but that 60GB version looks like £425 in the UK at the moment," Macguire told MCV. "High trade margins in the UK are likely to see it come in with that kind of street price, though it's ultimately up to retailers."
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May 20, 2006
According to Merrill Lynch analysts the Xbox360 will kill the Play Station 3, mainly due to pricing.
The report states:
"The PS3 will not only be significantly more costly than Xbox 360 at launch, but will continue to operate at a cost disadvantage for several years... The Xbox 360 could be selling at half the price of PS3 in the latter half of 2006. Taking Sony’s weakened financial condition and Microsoft’s deep pockets into consideration, we conclude that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 should emerge as the early winner in the next round of the game console wars."
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In a recent interview with gaming site CVG, Sony's Euro CEO David Reeves admits key PS3 launch titles like Heavenly Sword will now appear in 2007 missing the November 17 launch day. He follows up this comment by saying "for the first time we are not going to go just for hardcore gamers".
"[Sony] have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000" Following that he says "the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even it didn't have games."
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May 18, 2006
Sony's PlayStation 3 video-game machine will go on sale in Japan Nov. 11, and on Nov. 17 in North America and Europe, the company said
The PlayStation 3 console _ an upgrade of the hit PlayStation 2 _ will sell for 59,800 yen (US$536; euro421) in Japan for the model with a 20-gigabyte hard disk drive, Sony Corp.'s video game unit said in a statement.
In the U.S., it will sell for US$499 (euro390) for the model with a 20 gigabyte hard drive, and US$599 (euro470) with 60 gigabytes. In Europe, it will sell for euro499 (US$633) for the model with 20 gigabytes, and euro599 (US$760) for 60 gigabytes.
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According to GI.biz , retail sources in the UK have said that Microsoft has intimated to them that the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 will be priced such that console and peripheral combined are cheaper than Sony's PS3.
At E3 last week, Microsoft discussed its plans to launch a HD-DVD component for the Xbox 360 later this year, but did not reveal any further information regarding the pricing of the unit.
The Xbox 360 retails at GBP 279 in the UK, with the Core System version selling for GBP 209, while the 60GB model of the PlayStation 3 is expected to cost between GBP 399 and GBP 419 when it arrives in late November.
Microsoft's alleged comments to UK retailers seem to suggest that the HD-DVD peripheral, which allows playback of high definition movies using Toshiba's next-generation DVD standard, will be priced below GBP 130, making an Xbox 360 and HD-DVD player bundle into a potentially attractive option at Christmas.
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Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony slammed rumours that the 20GB PS3 will not be compatible with wireless controllers, and that consumers will not have the option to upgrade the hard drive.
"Both queries to my knowledge are completely false," a spokesperson told GI.biz.
"Both configurations will support bluetooth PS3 controllers. The only non-upgradeable feature of the 20GB configuration will be the HDMI output."
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