Sony Says No Price Cuts for the Slimmed PS3
Tuesday next week is the slated U.S. debut of the trimmed down PS3 but Sony has insisted that the published prices for the new game console will stick amidst gamers' complaints that the tags were way too pricey.
John Koller, Sony Computer Entertainment America vice president for marketing, has reaffirmed in an in interview with tech news site Engadget that the announced retail price for the slimmer gaming machine will not go anywhere south.
At least not in any initiative that will come from Sony, Engadget said on Thursday.
"There's no price drop formally," Mr Koller declared.
But he quickly added that in the U.S. market alone, retailers have been lumping the PS3, old and new iterations, with promotional offers that lead to consumers getting the best bang for their bucks.
Sony, the company official added, has no problem with the practice as it benefits everyone.
Fans of PlayStation 3 were hoping that steep discounts would eventually be rolled out by Sony just to so woo the most buys this coming holiday season in light of the stiff competition not only coming from other game console makers.
The billion-dollar global gaming market has become an extended territory of smartphones and tablet computers, which in the pats few years have become the dominant devices not only for consumer's communication needs but also for their pleasure.
Gaming hardware makers suddenly found themselves competing with Apple and Android handsets, and soon enough with Windows-powered devices, leaving gamers to expect that console producers like Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony will cut back on their retail prices.
Sony said the new PS3 is a good buy by itself, with more storage capacity - from 250GB to 500GB - and pre-installed premium games for a price mark that will swell past the $US300 mark.
Mr Koller is convinced that the PS3 will sell more even as the Xbox 360 and Wii U are priced less because what consumers "really want is content and games and value."
All these are packed in a single console with the Sony brand, he added.
And if buyers were following a definite budget, Mr Koller hinted they can always go back to the older models of PS3, which remain abundantly available on many store shelves around the world.
Even these outdated machines, Sony said, will not get the price downgrades hoped for by PS3 fanatics.
They still sell between $US250 and $US300, Engadget said, leaving analysts to doubt if they can actually outsell the equally capable Xbox 360, which Microsoft now pushes at only $US199.
Would-be Australian buyers of PS3 are the biggest loser it appears in the Sony scheme of things as the current setting in the local tech retail market dictates that they pay more than many of their global counterparts.