PS3 specs, facts, speculations and rumours !

Latest rumors fueled by an independant guess-estimate by Merrill lynch says that the PS3 will cost $900 per unit.  I personally will eat my hat if it retails anywhere near that much.

Keep in mind this is a third party estimate, with no actual insider info, but it does pose an interesting question.  Will sony release this year and take big losses, or delay and let the cost of production drop before release?

Is that the cost of production or the price it will be sold at?

Originally posted by Unicron!
Is that the cost of production or the price it will be sold at?

I think $900 would be considered price of production. That is what I am t hinking. If that was the price of the console they wouldn\'t sell very many units. And seeing that  $900 is the price of production how big of a hit is sony willing to take on each unit?

ps3 has to retail for $399.99. Sony is going to have to take a huge hit on each console. You know microsoft will be trying to lower the price of 360 buy the time ps3 starts to launch.

Originally posted by QuDDus
I think $900 would be considered price of production. That is what I am t hinking. If that was the price of the console they wouldn\'t sell very many units. And seeing that  $900 is the price of production how big of a hit is sony willing to take on each unit?

If I remember well PS2 initially costed around $750 to produce.And despite the great sales Sony suffered huge losses for a few months until economies of scale took effect

It will take longer for them to recover now.Especially when we consider that this time around they are facing a greater competitor

ps3 has to retail for $399.99. Sony is going to have to take a huge hit on each console. You know microsoft will be trying to lower the price of 360 buy the time ps3 starts to launch. [/B]

Damn right and that was one of my initial concerns.

Things could look like Sega vs Sony.Back then Sony could reduce PS1\'s price without any problems.Sega was forced to reduce Saturn\'s price to remain competitive despite that this was hitting them badly financially.

XBOX360 I estimate it costing around $250 if the PS3 is released around July.If the release it November or even worse in 2007 they will have to compete with an even cheaper console that will be half the price of the PS3.And not only that XBOX360 will be entering its second generation of games.

If they do reduce the price too soon they will generate bigger losses that will be harder to recover from.

Keep selling the PS3 at high price and they wont be competitive.

Its a double edged sword

Only if PS3 demand is extremely and extensively high and inelastic and people are buying 2 or more games per console minimum, Sony will recover fast with minor problems to face.

If that will be the case I dont know

Originally posted by Unicron!
If I remember well PS2 initially costed around $750 to produce.And despite the great sales Sony suffered huge losses for a few months until economies of scale took effect

It will take longer for them to recover now.Especially when we consider that this time around they are facing a greater competitor

 

Damn right and that was one of my initial concerns.

Things could look like Sega vs Sony.Back then Sony could reduce PS1\'s price without any problems.Sega was forced to reduce Saturn\'s price to remain competitive despite that this was hitting them badly financially.

XBOX360 I estimate it costing around $250 if the PS3 is released around July.If the release it November or even worse in 2007 they will have to compete with an even cheaper console that will be half the price of the PS3.And not only that XBOX360 will be entering its second generation of games.

If they do reduce the price too soon they will generate bigger losses that will be harder to recover from.

Keep selling the PS3 at high price and they wont be competitive.

Its a double edged sword

Only if PS3 demand is extremely and extensively high and inelastic and people are buying 2 or more games per console minimum, Sony will recover fast with minor problems to face.

If that will be the case I dont know

Thats the only advantage microsoft has going to for them. Being able to offer their console at a chaper price.

My $0.02

Regarding the Sept Japan/US release: No way, I think the PS3 will be out late spring early summer in Japan. A sept US release sounds plausible though, EU should follow after that, hopefully November.

Regarding the nVidia “hint”: If you look closely there is no hint. We do not know what type of royalty contract Sony and nVidia have. Will nVidia get royalties as soon as a RSX is manufactured, or will they get royalties as soon as the RSX is put into a device? Maybe nVidia will get royalties per sold PS3? How long of a lag is there before Sony pays nVidia? We don’t know, so its pointless to speculate.
Btw Sony has DENIED PS3 slipping to 2007.

Regarding the laughable Merrill Lynch report: Their numbers are grabbed from the air, no one seems to take them seriously. The other report they did for PS3 BOM suggested a production price of around 494 USD, which seems closer to home. 800-900 USD is not realistic.

If you check the PDF you\'ll notice this.. They fail at BASIC math.



CELL at 230 USD? BD at 350? Maybe if Sony buys the stuff at retail.

That was funny indeed

A question for you Euros:

Does Sony still have to worry about making the PS3 PAL compatible for y\'all?  Don\'t most, if not all, TVs sold have a 60hz mode?

why do you all think PS3 will launch in Japan a few months before a US launch.  

I fully believe there will be a japan/us launch... maybe even euro coupled in there... but definetly japan/us.

[Viper_Fujax]

japan always gets shit first. Pretty sure they got the 360 first, and mm got to brag its demise.

[BizioEE]

TOKYO, Feb 20 (Reuters)

The latest from Sony...

Sony aims for spring launch of PS3 but could delay !

TOKYO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Sony Corp.\'s (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) game division said on Monday it still aimed to launch its next-generation PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console this spring, but the timing could be pushed back if it is unable to finalise the technology specifications.

"We\'re aiming for spring, but we haven\'t announced specific regions," a spokeswoman for Sony Computer Entertainment said, adding that some of the detailed specifications of the PlayStation 3 have not yet been finalised, such as those related to the Blu-ray drive and the input and output of video and sound.

"We\'re waiting for them until the last possible minute, but the launch could be pushed back if they\'re not decided soon," she said.

http://www.ps3gaming.com/forums/t299-sony-aims-for-spring-launch-of-ps3-but-could-delay-statement-from-sony.html

and...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/fun.games/02/20/sony.playstation.reut/index.html

Spring launch \'unrealistic\'

Most analysts took the report in stride as they already expected Sony to launch the PS3 this summer in Japan, followed by a U.S. launch before the Thanksgiving holiday in November. They expect a launch in Europe in early 2007.

"No one is seriously thinking a spring release is realistic any more," said Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities. "If I were Sony, I wouldn\'t be that worried about releasing as soon as I possibly could."

Kamide said Sony may wait until it is fully prepared, especially after seeing slow initial sales of Microsoft\'s Xbox 360 even though it was launched in time for the holidays.

Having led the worldwide console gaming market for the last decade, Sony is counting on the new machine to dominate in all aspects of networked home entertainment -- games, movies, music and more.

Yuta Sakurai, a senior analyst at Nomura Securities, said the price of the PS3 was more important than its timing.

"I don\'t think it matters when Sony launches in the U.S. as long as it\'s in time for Christmas," Sakurai said. He expects Sony to try to launch the PS3 in Japan in early summer, in time for the big selling season when schools go on holiday in July.

Sakurai estimated that Sony could charge at most 50,000 yen ($420) for the console.

Retail price estimates by analysts in Japan vary widely from about 40,000 yen to several times that much, primarily because of all of the technology that is packed into the machine, which is expected to be the size of a laptop computer.

[videoholic]

Originally posted by THX
A question for you Euros:

Does Sony still have to worry about making the PS3 PAL compatible for y\'all?  Don\'t most, if not all, TVs sold have a 60hz mode?

Well until they change their power, they\'ll never be 60hz, right?

Originally posted by THX
A question for you Euros:

Does Sony still have to worry about making the PS3 PAL compatible for y\'all?  Don\'t most, if not all, TVs sold have a 60hz mode?

Yep, I think so. There are still a bunch of losers with 50Hz only TVs that cant support PAL60 or NTSC, Sony cant forget about those.

Originally posted by videoholic
Well until they change their power, they\'ll never be 60hz, right?

Europe already has PAL60 for a long time.

It\'s quite superior imho  and yes, 100hz tv\'s are a substantial standard of Euro tv sales for quite some years.

[BizioEE]

BIZ: What can you tell us about Phil Harrison\'s keynote? Will we finally get some new information on the PlayStation 3?

JM: The answer is yes. In general, platform providers have a unique opportunity at the GDC to share knowledge with and inspire the people who will make or break their consoles, namely the game developers themselves. With that in mind, this GDC keynote, along with the Nintendo keynote by Satoru Iwata, have both been in development for several months, and contain significant editorial value and developer takeaway. I strongly encourage you to attend both platform keynotes.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/interview/?id=12048


so new PS3 info at GDC ? Yep !

RSX\'s official unveiling ? ...one hour speach intitled "beyond the box"...who knows...
...I\'ll stay tuned...(March 20-24)