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I seem to remember...
Last year...
When the PS2 was about to launch...
Sony had managed to start such a marketing frenzy around the PS2 that they were even talking about the machines imminent release on the national news...
Anyway…
At one point, one of the news reporters asked Sony why were we paying so much more for the PS” in the UK than pretty much everywhere else in the world...
To which, in response, Sony PR spokes-person said (and I'm paraphrasing here)
'Everybody else sells their products in the UK at over inflated prices, why should we be the first to stop?'
Now, I’ve wondered since then...
Was Sony being outrageously cheeky... So blatantly over pricing their product, that they would even mention it on national prime time TV?
Or is it actually a fair point?
We complain about over-pricing, and apart the car pricing (which is still higher than the rest of Europe); no one has really done anything about the inflated prices asked for goods in the UK...
Just Cos I Dunno?
Last year...
When the PS2 was about to launch...
Sony had managed to start such a marketing frenzy around the PS2 that they were even talking about the machines imminent release on the national news...
Anyway…
At one point, one of the news reporters asked Sony why were we paying so much more for the PS” in the UK than pretty much everywhere else in the world...
To which, in response, Sony PR spokes-person said (and I'm paraphrasing here)
'Everybody else sells their products in the UK at over inflated prices, why should we be the first to stop?'
Now, I’ve wondered since then...
Was Sony being outrageously cheeky... So blatantly over pricing their product, that they would even mention it on national prime time TV?
Or is it actually a fair point?
We complain about over-pricing, and apart the car pricing (which is still higher than the rest of Europe); no one has really done anything about the inflated prices asked for goods in the UK...
Just Cos I Dunno?
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I seem to remember...
Last year...
When the PS2 was about to launch...
Sony had managed to start such a marketing frenzy around the PS2 that they were even talking about the machines imminent release on the national news...
Anyway…
At one point, one of the news reporters asked Sony why were we paying so much more for the PS” in the UK than pretty much everywhere else in the world...
To which, in response, Sony PR spokes-person said (and I'm paraphrasing here)
'Everybody else sells their products in the UK at over inflated prices, why should we be the first to stop?'
Now, I’ve wondered since then...
Was Sony being outrageously cheeky... So blatantly over pricing their product, that they would even mention it on national prime time TV?
Or is it actually a fair point?
We complain about over-pricing, and apart the car pricing (which is still higher than the rest of Europe); no one has really done anything about the inflated prices asked for goods in the UK...
Just Cos I Dunno?
Last year...
When the PS2 was about to launch...
Sony had managed to start such a marketing frenzy around the PS2 that they were even talking about the machines imminent release on the national news...
Anyway…
At one point, one of the news reporters asked Sony why were we paying so much more for the PS” in the UK than pretty much everywhere else in the world...
To which, in response, Sony PR spokes-person said (and I'm paraphrasing here)
'Everybody else sells their products in the UK at over inflated prices, why should we be the first to stop?'
Now, I’ve wondered since then...
Was Sony being outrageously cheeky... So blatantly over pricing their product, that they would even mention it on national prime time TV?
Or is it actually a fair point?
We complain about over-pricing, and apart the car pricing (which is still higher than the rest of Europe); no one has really done anything about the inflated prices asked for goods in the UK...
Just Cos I Dunno?
Yeah, you're right, it seems as though nothing is being done.
Anyone else know anything?
Anyone else know anything?
dvds are a rip off here but £300 for a console is a rip off. In spring 2002 with the launch of the GC you could get a GC and decent dvd player for that, and the gc is better
sorry bout extra rip off
got over exited with dissing playstaion
and pricing
got over exited with dissing playstaion
and pricing
Does anyone think Sony were right in their pricing policy?
Armitage Shanks wrote:
> Does anyone think Sony were right in their pricing policy?
Let's see...
High-spec 128-bit PlayStation 2 console...
PSone console...
CD player...
DVD player with DTS surround and digital optical output...
In one package...
Price £299...
And Sony still making a loss on every machine sold...
In my book, that qualifies as a bargain!
Seriously though, I know PS2 wasn't/isn't cheap, but I don't see how anyone can complain for what you get. This is not a mindless defence of Sony, it's genuinely how I feel.
Okay, so not everyone needs it to play CD's, DVD's or even PS1 games - but the functionality is there. The PS1 did far less, and cost the same when it was launched. In real terms, a PS2 is cheaper than PS1 - not only in hardware price, but software too. When PS1 was launched, paractically every game was £44.99 - most games on PS2, including the massive GT3, are priced at £39.99 - which, I might add (and this is not a dig at Nintendo), is cheaper than many N64 games!
Anyway, those 'extra' items...
PS1 emulation was a very clever move by Sony, guaranteeing not only a large number of 'loyal' customers, but also large increase in PlayStation brand ownership as PS1 machines were traded in and sold on cheaply on the 2nd-hand market.
DVD capabillty... if Sony hadn't included DVD-video capability they'd have been slaughtered for that, too. If you bought a DVD-ROM drive for your PC and it didn't play DVD films, you'd be slightly miffed, would you not?
CD capability... well, as a DVD drive can play CD's, you'd expect that functionality also. Notm uch more to say on that one.
No-one's belly-aching about the Xbox price, which is about the same and the machine won't play DVD's 'out of the box'. Okay, it might be a more powerful machine, but it *is* almost 18 months since PS2's original launch in Japan - obviously progress has been made. PS3 will be more powerful still, then Nintendo's next machine will be better, then Microsofts, then PS4, and so on.
Having said that, the GeForce 3 card *alone* will cost you £399 RRP and it's useless without a high-spec PC to plug it into! Why no complaints about that? I have one in my PC, and I've yet to see anything looking remotely as sexy as GT3. There was nothing to touch PS2 at its launch, and I'm not convinced it's dropped far behind now.
So over all, yes - I think the PS2 pricing is just fine.
£299 is, though, the maximum price I think any new console can be launched at, for just the basic 'console and controller' package. Any higher and sales will probably be reduced significantly.
> Does anyone think Sony were right in their pricing policy?
Let's see...
High-spec 128-bit PlayStation 2 console...
PSone console...
CD player...
DVD player with DTS surround and digital optical output...
In one package...
Price £299...
And Sony still making a loss on every machine sold...
In my book, that qualifies as a bargain!
Seriously though, I know PS2 wasn't/isn't cheap, but I don't see how anyone can complain for what you get. This is not a mindless defence of Sony, it's genuinely how I feel.
Okay, so not everyone needs it to play CD's, DVD's or even PS1 games - but the functionality is there. The PS1 did far less, and cost the same when it was launched. In real terms, a PS2 is cheaper than PS1 - not only in hardware price, but software too. When PS1 was launched, paractically every game was £44.99 - most games on PS2, including the massive GT3, are priced at £39.99 - which, I might add (and this is not a dig at Nintendo), is cheaper than many N64 games!
Anyway, those 'extra' items...
PS1 emulation was a very clever move by Sony, guaranteeing not only a large number of 'loyal' customers, but also large increase in PlayStation brand ownership as PS1 machines were traded in and sold on cheaply on the 2nd-hand market.
DVD capabillty... if Sony hadn't included DVD-video capability they'd have been slaughtered for that, too. If you bought a DVD-ROM drive for your PC and it didn't play DVD films, you'd be slightly miffed, would you not?
CD capability... well, as a DVD drive can play CD's, you'd expect that functionality also. Notm uch more to say on that one.
No-one's belly-aching about the Xbox price, which is about the same and the machine won't play DVD's 'out of the box'. Okay, it might be a more powerful machine, but it *is* almost 18 months since PS2's original launch in Japan - obviously progress has been made. PS3 will be more powerful still, then Nintendo's next machine will be better, then Microsofts, then PS4, and so on.
Having said that, the GeForce 3 card *alone* will cost you £399 RRP and it's useless without a high-spec PC to plug it into! Why no complaints about that? I have one in my PC, and I've yet to see anything looking remotely as sexy as GT3. There was nothing to touch PS2 at its launch, and I'm not convinced it's dropped far behind now.
So over all, yes - I think the PS2 pricing is just fine.
£299 is, though, the maximum price I think any new console can be launched at, for just the basic 'console and controller' package. Any higher and sales will probably be reduced significantly.
What Wookie siad but without the bit about the Xbox being more powerful, because it's more complicated than that.
Well said Wookie. GAD worthy it seems. And yes, I totally agree with you.
What pleases me even more, is that just before the GC and Ex-box are released, the PS2 will drop its price dramatically in competition with its rivals. You never know, £200 might just be a possibility.
Fingers crossed.
What pleases me even more, is that just before the GC and Ex-box are released, the PS2 will drop its price dramatically in competition with its rivals. You never know, £200 might just be a possibility.
Fingers crossed.
Bonus wrote:
> What Wookie siad but without the bit about the Xbox being more
> powerful, because it's more complicated than that.
It is indeed. I was going to mention architectures, custom chips, and how my 8MHz Amiga 500 was better than the 50-66MHz PC's of the time, but I couldn't be bothered! :-)
> What Wookie siad but without the bit about the Xbox being more
> powerful, because it's more complicated than that.
It is indeed. I was going to mention architectures, custom chips, and how my 8MHz Amiga 500 was better than the 50-66MHz PC's of the time, but I couldn't be bothered! :-)
It's far too dificult to explain to people about here, they would rather believe the hype.
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