I’m usually not in the position to tell anyone I told you so … but, I told you so!
It is now official that the “price cut” was nothing more than a used-car or discount-appliance store type inventory closeout sale, so that they can release their new version of the system and get back to business as usual. Don’t get me wrong, you can view the inclusion of one game and 20 more gigs of Linux room storage space, even with the exclusion of the hardware PS2 chip (which I’m on the record as strongly disliking) would be a better deal, but in the end I buy the perception of it being a news grab and sniveling move to be reality.
It’s evident from Jack Tretton’s comments and interviews that he views the PS3 still as the best of the best, and that we should all just know that, get the system, and keep on drinking the Kool-Aid. That kind of delusion seems best at play here when in the end, the fanboys can scream “price cut”, and the realists can realize that it’s far from it. That kind of delusion will allow Sony to continue to scream towards third in a three-system race without them even realizing it (until it’s too late).
Wake me up when the August and September sales numbers come out and Sony loses their comparability with a 360 Elite system once again. I sense their July gains will be very short lived.
And Microsoft, listen up! I’m calling it right now. You will lower the 360 price on or around November 1st, and should you do that with your new cooler chips and more efficient manufacturing process, it’ll be as good as firing a sawed-off shotgun right into the heart of Sony’s chances to catch up.
Update (7 PM): A good read of the full interview of David Reeves, the Sony Europe exec who let this out of the bag, shows that in truth, there is not drastic difference between the end result of the new packages in Europe and North America, except the new package in Europe was never brought out as a price cut
Europe’s new package? The system, two games and an extra SIXAXIS for 500 Euros. It’s important to also know that they have always has the “software emulation” version of PS2′s compatibility, so what they were given, and advertised to by Sony is a value-added, not a price cut. Of course the older version of the system will drop in price, but will do so at the discretion of retailer. That’s not drastically different than North America, except that Sony isn’t trying to tell you it’s a price cut, they’re giving you an honest take as to what it is and letting the market do the rest. Bagder said that the interview in the comments was skitophrenic … maybe instead it exposes Jack Tretton’s comments as such.
3 Responses to Sony’s SKU Change IS Reality: Shame On You!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
It might be some wishful thinking that all the 60Gbs will sell out that quick. Seriously though, Sony is coming across as schizophrenic in this whole situation. Did you read some of Reese’s comments?
Just read the whole thing. The entire company doesn’t seem to be on the same page, that’s for sure. At least with the 360, they’ve got their one hardware, and one plan for upgrade across-the-board, and one common voice. They’re well organized. Sony’s all over the place.
The Europe extra pack-in stuff is good for them, and really in their market it’s fair since they began with the chip-less PS3, so they’re really getting more value-added with no loss at the same price. If I was living there and was on the fence, that would make me think about it.
Nonetheless, that vision for the system doesn’t seem to be sound.
Are they ever on the same page? It seems as if there are a number of internal departments that don’t communicate with each other. Look at the price drop announcement. They couldn’t even get that straight. They need to stop doing PR and start doing damage control.