SPOnG quizzed Sony Computer Entertainment UK’s managing director Ray Maguire about the £425 price tag on the 60GB PS3, why there are no cheaper 20GB PS3’s being made available at the UK launch and to find out exactly how many PS3s will be available in Blighty on March 23rd.
Firstly, why no 20GB models? Surely the price controversy could have been played down a little if the cheaper model, with no built-in Wi-Fi and no memory card slots, which Maguire has said in the past would retail for around £350, was also going on sale. Why isn’t it?
Maquire told us that, “The response that we’re getting back from the marketplace – not only from retail, but also from consumers – is that what they really want is the best. They want to go for the wireless model; they do understand that the PlayStation 3 is a machine which has a lot of downloads available right from day one, and that they want to put their own media on it from day one.”
He continued, "So a big preference has been shown towards the 60GB model. And when we look at the sales figures from both Japan and the US, that's reflected at retail. You can either have not enough of both in the marketplace for day one, or you can have round about the right amount of one."
But surely consumers can still get their photos and video on to 20GB PS3s via USB cables. Plus, the hard disk is user-upgradeable. Ah well, those arguments are all by the by as we are only getting the £425 60GB model this March, like it or lump it.
Whatever, lets get onto the other important question. How many are we getting?
“[The UK] constitutes just over 22 per cent of the market in PAL – I say PAL rather than Europe, because PAL now extends out to over 100 territories, and some of those territories are quite strong. For instance, we have some of the strongest Middle Eastern and Russian sales forces compared to competing products. That means my overall number is a bit lower than it would be if I had a less well-established product. So we’re round about the 22 per cent mark which, if you divided that into the million would give you 220,000 units.”
Maguire adds, “I think if I go down on bended knee, I might get a little bit more… I will try to get as many units as I possibly can. But it will certainly be the biggest launch that the games industry has ever seen, in terms of day one numbers into the marketplace. Probably over four times PlayStation One, and close to double the amount of PS2s. So, it’s going to be a logistical nightmare – that’s a lot of trucks to get around. Product is already on its way, on ships, at the moment, and there is more being generated every single day.”
Woohoo! So there’ll be plenty to go around at least. Finally, we asked Maguire if he was relieved, after the well-documented problems with the delay in Europe, to which he replied, “Absolutely. It’ll be great to finally unleash it upon the world in every area, and give people a chance to see exactly what the machine can do first-hand. Because I think PlayStation 3 is such an all-encompassing product that it’s hard to grasp all its elements until you see it and touch it.”
“Once it’s out with general consumers and they’re seeing it for the first time in many cases, then I think our job really begins. As people get an idea of what they want – more games, better games, wider genres – and we start making sure the games really start doing justice to the 1080 panels they’ve bought, then that’s the start of things.”
More games, better games, wider genres. Yes please Sony!!
Don't forget you can read the full interview right here.
Firstly, why no 20GB models? Surely the price controversy could have been played down a little if the cheaper model, with no built-in Wi-Fi and no memory card slots, which Maguire has said in the past would retail for around £350, was also going on sale. Why isn’t it?
Maquire told us that, “The response that we’re getting back from the marketplace – not only from retail, but also from consumers – is that what they really want is the best. They want to go for the wireless model; they do understand that the PlayStation 3 is a machine which has a lot of downloads available right from day one, and that they want to put their own media on it from day one.”
He continued, "So a big preference has been shown towards the 60GB model. And when we look at the sales figures from both Japan and the US, that's reflected at retail. You can either have not enough of both in the marketplace for day one, or you can have round about the right amount of one."
But surely consumers can still get their photos and video on to 20GB PS3s via USB cables. Plus, the hard disk is user-upgradeable. Ah well, those arguments are all by the by as we are only getting the £425 60GB model this March, like it or lump it.
Whatever, lets get onto the other important question. How many are we getting?
“[The UK] constitutes just over 22 per cent of the market in PAL – I say PAL rather than Europe, because PAL now extends out to over 100 territories, and some of those territories are quite strong. For instance, we have some of the strongest Middle Eastern and Russian sales forces compared to competing products. That means my overall number is a bit lower than it would be if I had a less well-established product. So we’re round about the 22 per cent mark which, if you divided that into the million would give you 220,000 units.”
Maguire adds, “I think if I go down on bended knee, I might get a little bit more… I will try to get as many units as I possibly can. But it will certainly be the biggest launch that the games industry has ever seen, in terms of day one numbers into the marketplace. Probably over four times PlayStation One, and close to double the amount of PS2s. So, it’s going to be a logistical nightmare – that’s a lot of trucks to get around. Product is already on its way, on ships, at the moment, and there is more being generated every single day.”
Woohoo! So there’ll be plenty to go around at least. Finally, we asked Maguire if he was relieved, after the well-documented problems with the delay in Europe, to which he replied, “Absolutely. It’ll be great to finally unleash it upon the world in every area, and give people a chance to see exactly what the machine can do first-hand. Because I think PlayStation 3 is such an all-encompassing product that it’s hard to grasp all its elements until you see it and touch it.”
“Once it’s out with general consumers and they’re seeing it for the first time in many cases, then I think our job really begins. As people get an idea of what they want – more games, better games, wider genres – and we start making sure the games really start doing justice to the 1080 panels they’ve bought, then that’s the start of things.”
More games, better games, wider genres. Yes please Sony!!
Don't forget you can read the full interview right here.
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Comments
schnide 1 Feb 2007 11:49
1/7
Oi Spong, do you really want the 20gig model? It's inferior, and Sony have figured out just as Microsoft have with the Core and Premium packs that lesser products are left sitting on the shelf. It splits the market and destabilises the brand.
The PS3 is supposed to be the most powerful console on the market. If you're spending a huge wedge for either model on so much kudos, who's going to want to be the consumer who has to say to their friends, "er yes I have one, but it doesn't do that"?
The PS3 is supposed to be the most powerful console on the market. If you're spending a huge wedge for either model on so much kudos, who's going to want to be the consumer who has to say to their friends, "er yes I have one, but it doesn't do that"?
Dreadknux 1 Feb 2007 13:12
2/7
The PS3 is supposed to be the most powerful console on the market. If you're spending a huge wedge for either model on so much kudos, who's going to want to be the consumer who has to say to their friends, "er yes I have one, but it doesn't do that"?
Makes you wonder why they bothered going for that strategy in the first place, save for "me too" bandwagon jumping. Even I could have seen that going for two different models was a bad idea.
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tyrion 1 Feb 2007 13:51
3/7
Svend Joscelyne wrote:
Makes you wonder why they bothered going for that strategy in the first place, save for "me too" bandwagon jumping.
For exactly the same reason Microsoft did; so they could announce a lower price point in the "from only" section of their adverts!
warbaby 1 Feb 2007 18:17
4/7
I quite honestly stopped reading after:
But it will certainly be the biggest launch that the games industry has ever seen, in terms of day one numbers into the marketplace. Probably over four times PlayStation One, and close to double the amount of PS2s.
Calling that one already, eh? Biggest launch ever...
Here's to hoping Sony catches some foot-in-mouth disease come March...
Maguire wrote:
But it will certainly be the biggest launch that the games industry has ever seen, in terms of day one numbers into the marketplace. Probably over four times PlayStation One, and close to double the amount of PS2s.
Calling that one already, eh? Biggest launch ever...
Here's to hoping Sony catches some foot-in-mouth disease come March...
tyrion 2 Feb 2007 09:08
5/7
warbaby wrote:
Calling that one already, eh? Biggest launch ever...
I've just finished reading this morning's MCV which, for those that don't know, is the UK's game industry trade magazine. There is an inevitable feature on the launch of the PS3, with comments from retail.
Here are a few of the quotes;
James Schall, Amazon wrote:
No matter what number Sony decide to give us, it won't be enough to satisfy the demand out there.
Gerry Berkley, Woolworths wrote:
PS3 is the hottest gaming system since PS2. Gamers have been asking to pre-order for some time.
Ross Edwards, Comet wrote:
I feel that demand will be so high that Sony won't need to bring down the price of the machine for a long time - I think we're talking over 18 months.
Those quotes are representative of the mood of the whole article. Retail are expecting huge demand that won't be met by supply.
If you compare the PS3's supposed 220,000 units in the UK with the Xbox 360's 87,000 sold at launch and the PSP's 185,000 sold at launch, you'll see that it may well be the largest launch there has ever been in the UK. I don't have concrete figures for the UK launch of the Wii to hand, but it sold 325,000 across Europe at launch, so you could estimate 100,000 or so in the UK.
So retail are saying they can sell everything Sony give them and Sony are saying they can supply more than the best ever UK console launch. I'd say that the PS3 launch is shaping up to be quite a good one.
Ditto 2 Feb 2007 10:45
6/7
tyrion wrote:
Here are a few of the quotes;
Look at the lanuch of any game system and you see almost exactly the same comments from retail, and therefore I don't think that this will be representative of how successful the PS3 will be at all...
tyrion 2 Feb 2007 17:55
7/7
Adam M wrote:
Look at the lanuch of any game system and you see almost exactly the same comments from retail, and therefore I don't think that this will be representative of how successful the PS3 will be at all...
Look at the launch of just about every console since the PS2 and you'll see that they have sold out in the UK. We loves our consoles, I can't see the PS3 being any different, especially since retail is saying the same "we are going to sell out" type things they say every time.