I never doubted that they' d be able to launch in Spring, the PS2 was a rushed launch just to counter the Dreamcast, so it' ll be interesting to see how they manage things this time

Taken from Magicbox!
http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm

P L A Y S T A T I O N 3

- Reuters reported that Sony has confirmed a spring 2006 launch date for PlayStation 3, but no territory was specific, so the system maybe launched in Japan first. Sony has denied the online reports about the PS3 launch been pushed back to Q4 2006.

- PSM has reported new tidbits regarding to PlayStation 3, based on info provided by anonymous developers.

* There are far more game titles in development for PS3 than originally expected in US.
* Some developers have already received the final development hardware for PS3 in early January 2006.
* The performance of the PS3 hardware is faster than expected, PS3 also possesses a Digital Video Recording (DVR) function.
* Sony will have a content download service similar to iTunes, but will offer high definite films and music.
* PS3 will have Media Center capabilities similar to Xbox 360, but with more functions.
* Video and audio can be streamed over a home network, Sony is planning for a location free rendition over PSP.
* PSP will be able to exchange data with PS3; it is possible to upload multimedia contents from PSP to PS3.
* PS3 will have firmware update capabilities similar to PSP.
* PS3 will have more BluRay functionalities than a regular BluRay Player, because the Cell and RSX processor can do a lot more tasks while reading the discs.
* PS3 will launch in US in Autumn 2006, certain game titles will have online functions at launch.

If that' s the case (and i don' t want to second guess PSM now do i?!), how come Sony has been so quiet since TGS?

The information they list seems aimed at 360' s previous (due to a lack of knowledge about PS3) advantages (media center, comprehensive online service, updates etc). And while this is certainly interesting news, i' ll be happier when its confirmed.

The DVR function is interesting. I guess 360' s TiVo-esque capability will be announced officially before long, as well as other not yet officially public information about the console.

It' s certainly turning out interesting. They have to be spying on each other (real industrial espionage). It all seems very tactical to me. Sony aren' t saying anything officially but informations being leaked, Microsoft have announcements yet to be made...

Huck it, ...bring on Revolution!

it' s funny how it says no territory was specified but then later on it said US in fall of 06.

How do they plan to keep it resonable enough for consumers to buy it if they keep adding expensive features? I Don' t think they will make it by spring unless they rush it and with sony that means lots of bugs will most likely be a rampant problem.

The CES show said the controller and even the case were still concept ideas meaning the final ones aren' t even done yet and like i read the problems is making enough consoles to go around. Let' s say they want to release 1M units by spring and even if it takes 1 minute to make one machine (on the production lines i mean) 1,000,000 units ÷ 60mins = 16,666.67 hours which = 694.4 days with just one machine/plant and how many plants do they have making? Even 10 plants working nonstop is about 70 days which is which is over 2 months. That is also taking into mind if the final hardware is even completed yet (which i don' t think so seeing how they weren' t last month).

So all i can say is good luck they will need it.

Perhaps it' s all been a ruse.

PSM is a lame magazine. From Sony saying they won' t be having an online service last month, to now having one, to it supposedly being able to do everything 360 can do and more etc...

It sounds like viable information and it' s the way they' d need to go if they want to counter 360' s additional capabilities but so much info that' s not official, and with no official word...dunno what to think.

I' ll be buying the damn thing anyway but the price is gonna be sky high based on what we do know and this stuff. It costs Microsoft more than $700 to produce every 360, ...if PS3 can do more and has more stuff (like Blu-Ray wich adds $101 to every console) then surely PS3 would cost more to produce. If that' s the case you should bear in mind that although a big company, they' re nowhere near as big or as rich as Microsoft and still can' t afford to lose much money on their consoles.

I don' t think they' ve hyped it up enough yet to make spring launch.

The other interesting bit is how much Japanese developers, retailers, and consumers think the PlayStation 3 is going to cost.

What is the expected retail price of PlayStation 3?
# Developers: 40,000 yen (US$339) average
# Retailers: 40,000 yen (US$339) average
# Consumers: 50,000 yen (US$424) average

My original figures were pretty close to that of the retailers and developers listed above. I originally listed $299. But $299 - $350 is basically where my thinking has always been, DESPITE Sony claiming that its going to be expensive..

I know its naive on my part to think it could remain that cheap given all of the features listed above but NAIVE has always been my middle name

And no mxpx, I haven' t forgotten - I' ll wear that Ricky Martin avatar with pride come time for Sony to announce the price of the PlayStation 3

Ofc Sony can afford to lose money on their ps3,wtf are you talking about majik?
Sony make money on publisher paying them royaliest for being able to make games on their platform,and when you have 80 million sold ps2 and 100 million psx,you got your money covered.
Its not like the publisher gonna say,hey lets go over to the 360,how much has the xbox360 sold yet?
like 3 millions or less.
Where are all the gamers?
They haven' t chosen side yet,and the big mainstream audience is still out in fact more then sony could hope for,the most of them are still on ps2,buying ps2 games and feeding sony,and they probably jump to ps3 afterwards.

The diffrence between sony and ms in this console war is that,ms lost money on eevery console AND on their game market,basically not enough games was sold to pay off the price they had to pay for the console manufactring cost and to pay its employs.

i don' t see how it' s possible to release the PS3 for anything less then $500-700 and they keep adding stuff to it. Just the video card alone (if sony is telling the truth about being as powerful as 2 7800 ultra' s) alone is $1000 and even just one 7800 ultra is $500 not to mention the Cell CPU seeing how that is expensive and new and Blu-ray being expensive and new.

Like Kenny K said " it wil be expensive" and he said it twice which is not a good sign especially from a arragant cocky dork like him, and they might lose much more money per console then MS this time around and MS has LOTS more money then Sony and if the games are more expensive and complex to develop for i don' t see how developer' s will stick around when there is a cheaper alternative (X360 for the high def stuff) and a more innovative alternative (obviously the Rev for the different stuff) as well.

I was telling my friends i think E3 will determine it. If sony has a lame showing with nothing hardcore and concrete and Nintendo has a HUGE showing with their Rev with playable demos and stuff. THe hype for PS3 will plummet and the hype for the Rev will skyrocket. All the news shows and press will be quoting the song " don' t call it a comeback" and call them the Phoenix (hehe pardon the pun ) who rishes from the ashes to be back to be poised to reclaim the #1 spot especally being the cheapest console by far among the 3.

I think it' s going to be the same thing as with the 360. They will release it in spring(in Japan) but there will be a HUGE shortage.
I' m sure Sony is willing to lose money on every sold console just like MS so listing all the capabilities and basing a price on that will not reveal the price.
Reduce the estimated price with at least 100$ and you' ll be closer.
I think the price will be 500$-600$. That will make sence for regular people as you can look at it like this: Console 400$, + Blu-ray player 200$. That way it will look as if the PS3 has the same price as the 360 but with a cheap additional Blu-ray player packed together.
Sony will also order huge amounts of parts which will give them reduced prices. Mass production!
I' m expecting Sony to blow our minds away at E3 this year. They will make everything they can anyway. Anything else would be stupidity beyond what humans can understand.
If they have Firm-ware as with the PSP they will gain lots of support from publishers and developers as it will be a huge blow to piracy. They might also make lots of profit with different online services. Not to mention their share of the Blu-ray sales which I think will be the biggest reason for them to really lower the PS3 price.

Why didn' t they just wait and make a good system for 2007 - now their chances for a good hardware are so low ...it seems like a huge dissapointment is coming from sony this year.

PS3' s production costs are supposedly in the region of 54, 000 yen (approx $500, not including labour). So if Sony launch at $399 and lose the $100 on every console sold (same thing happened with PS2, it sold at a loss for more than a year). Now Microsoft lose about $126 on every console they sell but Microsoft can afford to do that forever anyway so Microsoft' s position doesn' t count.

Since Sony are expected to lose at least US $1 billion due to the nature of next gen components being more expensive.

Sony need to sell at a loss to gain market share. Technically a foreign company selling an item at a loss in the US market to gain market share is called " dumping" and is illegal and subject to import tarrifs.

While PS3 will eventually make money as long as it sells then they needn' t worry. But they can' t sell at a loss for long, even the money they make on software will be less due to developers having to use Blu-Ray (and the money they spent developing that is rediculous).

Ken Kutaragi actually said " It' ll be expensive" and " I' m aware that with all these technologies, the PS3 can' t be offered at a price that' s targeted towards households. I think everyone can still buy it if they wanted to,"

What i was saying is that Sony can' t actually afford to sell the console at a loss like Microsoft can. Microsoft could lose double what they lose already and it wouldn' t bother them.

I' ll be buying it regardless.

It' s not coming out in spring, end of story...

At all?

How do you know what the production costs are? It' s not even finished and we don' t even know what exactly will be in it. The cheapest Blu-Ray player will be $1000 and i read the PS3 Blu-Ray will be better then normal players because of the cell processor can do more things.

By the way MS is losing $300 per console. I ma tryign to find the story and it was at a few places but it was a while ago when it was released saying that the X360 costs $700 to make. And it doesn' t have nearly as many things and theey claim the PS3 will have. The Blu-ray alone is alot of money extra, not to mention the power of 7800 ultras, and now they claim a DVR which will add another hundred or so. Like Kenny Said " it will be expensive" and he said it twice and by the way he said " I want people to work MORE hours so they can afford to buy our stuff" i will find you the actual quote but you know if it said expensive twice plus he said " the PS3 is NOT a game machine, it' s a Super COmputer for the home" and he said that to make the HIGH price point seem worth it. Don' t think of it as a expensive ghame machine and to try and think of it as SUPER COMPUTER. I have no doubt no matter what the price is the Sony fans will buy it but they alone cannot keep it afloat it' s up to the masses like the average hoe who is a casual gamer and i have serious doubts they want to spend $500+ for this seeing how Nintendo' s is only $200 approx. and they have a MUCH big library and the old school game will bring in lots of old school gamers like parents who played mario bros and all the old odd games they played years ago. Don' t underestimater the power of nostalgia. The New Zelda alone should drive sales for people who don' t have a GC and want to play it.

...no offence, but your post smells fishy...

...like your letting your personal....ahh... ' preferences' .... cloud your judgement?....

..Objectively, Quez is right.... most own Playstation 2, and most will own Playstation 3..... ...revowhat?

.....$500 - $700 dollars for a consumer gaming product seems like more anti-Sony FB dreams to me.....

...regardless of building costs etc, the speculation that PS3 could retail for anything more than $450 is totally ridiculous....

Edit: ..damm too slow.... ...i ment your earlier post dude..

.....is it really conceivable that Sony intend on abandoning their HUGE market share buy out pricing their product to the casual gamer?....

...wouldn' t that be akin to shooting your self in the foot?....

i am not anti-sony fanboy i have all 3 and a REAL gamer doesn' t care about what system it' s for i will play any game if it' s cool and fun despite who it' s for and by. Gamers play " games" not consoles.

I am not the only one who believes it. Do you honestly think it will be less then $500? Plus what about the expensive quotes and saying " it' s not a Game Machine it' s a super computer for the home" ? A lame excuse to make the expensive price tage seem feasible.

Honestly i don' t care for Sony they have horrible customer service and they have faulty crap. I prefer Nintendo because i grew up with them, they have the funnest games, they have great customer service, and their stuff it built to last. They care more about fun games then flashy graphics.

Watch you will see anythign less then $500 (even that is being generous) they wil be taking a monstrous hit and if they don' t sell the games they are in a world of hurt and i read on couple of stories Devs might leave, the dev cost are too high and complex for small game companies.

THey are arrogant and cocky that happens from being nunebr #1 too long look at nintendo? THey were #1 the king of games and their hard ass ex president Yamauchi got the same way, the thought they can do no wrong and look what happened? You ego gets over inflated and it may seems like great ideas and that you can do no wrong and you fall on your face. SOny has been on top for a while and if you are on top the only way to go is down, they need to be humbled some and inflate some of that hot air. It Happened to Nintendo and they had to rethink their whole strategy and look what they came up with. Something lots of people are excited for like press, devs, and consumers.

...hey, i don' t dislike Nintendo but....

...Sony brought gaming into the mainstream!.... ...they have made MEGABUCKS!!!

...i can' t believe that they are going to throw all that hard work away by releasing some obscure, ultra expensive, specialist piece of hardware that no one will be able to afford....

...that has to be dumb right?.... ..i know Sony may piss people off but.....

...come on!....

..Adam, please put an end to all this speculation....

Sony will launch at around $399 and will take a loss. There' s no other way if they intend to maintain the marketshare.

Losing US $1 billion (which sounds right to me) at first then re-couping later.

I don' t think that was the initial plan but i' d say it won' t be far off now.