God of War III Preview plus PS3 Price Cut Meeting Confirmed
Big ol' Sony leak oozes forth
Kratos
Information allegedly leaked from an annual briefing of Sony employees suggests that a PS3 price cut is on the way next March, that MotorStorm PSP is on the way and that God of War III is coming along nicely.
This apparently comes from a source that was in attendance going only by the name of 'Legends' via D+Pad. Sony has effectively confirmed that the meeting happened in a statement that said, "Information discussed within the confines of internal company meetings is confidential and subject to change. We do not have anything to announce at present and we do not comment on rumour and speculation."
So, that price cut. While it apparently wasn't made explicit that a PS3 price cut is coming, SCEE's president, David Reeves, apparently took to the stage and said that the company will be getting more competitive on price as of March 2009. While this could mean the PSP will be dropping in price, it seems more likely that the PS3 will be getting its price shaved or that a new 'added value' model will be introduced.
Reeves supposedly went on to note that the PS3 is out-performing the 360 in SCEE territories and that 2008 saw the division 'in the black' and out-performing its American and Japanese counterparts in terms of profit. Interesting stuff, although it should be noted that this could mean SCEE's margins are higher than other territories, while in terms of cold hard cash made it's still be behind.
It was also apparently stated that MotorStorm will come to the PSP, although no more detail was offered. Frankly, SPOnG can't think why Sony wouldn't bring MotorStorm to the PSP. Adding weight to that are listings on GAME's website and shopping.com for the game, although Sony said a while ago that the former was a retailer error and the page would be taken down shortly.
Also on the PSP front was mention of LittleBigPlanet for the handheld. Footage was shown, although Media Molecule's Alex Evans apparently didn't want to show it himself because it was from such an early build. Regardless of anything that happened at this meeting, such a port is already looking likely.
A spot of footage was apparently shown for Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 (which supposedly looks the same as Uncharted). Nothing new there, although the fact that the source reveals such unremarkable details as a confirmed game and a more-or-less confirmed game lends him/her credibility.
Then we get to God of War III. “Some of it looked like it could be in-game action because of the camera angles, but it all looked so good that it couldn’t be. CGI or not, everyone was pumped up by this. The anticipation is growing. God of War 3 could be amazing”, the source apparently enthused.
This dovetails nicely with comments by God of War's creator, David Jaffe, on his blog. Jaffe, who no longer works on the franchise, wrote that he had seen the game recently and said of it, "HOLY HOLY HOLY FUCKING HELL!!!!" In a good way.
So, not only does Jaffe concur that the game's looking good, his comments also show that Sony has been showing it off to staff and developers.
While this one needs filing as rumour, the fact that Sony confirms the meeting took place, Jaffe's comments and the general plausibility of the source's claims all make this look reasonably reliable.
Sources:
David Jaffe's Blog
D-Pad
This apparently comes from a source that was in attendance going only by the name of 'Legends' via D+Pad. Sony has effectively confirmed that the meeting happened in a statement that said, "Information discussed within the confines of internal company meetings is confidential and subject to change. We do not have anything to announce at present and we do not comment on rumour and speculation."
So, that price cut. While it apparently wasn't made explicit that a PS3 price cut is coming, SCEE's president, David Reeves, apparently took to the stage and said that the company will be getting more competitive on price as of March 2009. While this could mean the PSP will be dropping in price, it seems more likely that the PS3 will be getting its price shaved or that a new 'added value' model will be introduced.
Reeves supposedly went on to note that the PS3 is out-performing the 360 in SCEE territories and that 2008 saw the division 'in the black' and out-performing its American and Japanese counterparts in terms of profit. Interesting stuff, although it should be noted that this could mean SCEE's margins are higher than other territories, while in terms of cold hard cash made it's still be behind.
It was also apparently stated that MotorStorm will come to the PSP, although no more detail was offered. Frankly, SPOnG can't think why Sony wouldn't bring MotorStorm to the PSP. Adding weight to that are listings on GAME's website and shopping.com for the game, although Sony said a while ago that the former was a retailer error and the page would be taken down shortly.
Also on the PSP front was mention of LittleBigPlanet for the handheld. Footage was shown, although Media Molecule's Alex Evans apparently didn't want to show it himself because it was from such an early build. Regardless of anything that happened at this meeting, such a port is already looking likely.
A spot of footage was apparently shown for Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 (which supposedly looks the same as Uncharted). Nothing new there, although the fact that the source reveals such unremarkable details as a confirmed game and a more-or-less confirmed game lends him/her credibility.
Then we get to God of War III. “Some of it looked like it could be in-game action because of the camera angles, but it all looked so good that it couldn’t be. CGI or not, everyone was pumped up by this. The anticipation is growing. God of War 3 could be amazing”, the source apparently enthused.
This dovetails nicely with comments by God of War's creator, David Jaffe, on his blog. Jaffe, who no longer works on the franchise, wrote that he had seen the game recently and said of it, "HOLY HOLY HOLY FUCKING HELL!!!!" In a good way.
So, not only does Jaffe concur that the game's looking good, his comments also show that Sony has been showing it off to staff and developers.
While this one needs filing as rumour, the fact that Sony confirms the meeting took place, Jaffe's comments and the general plausibility of the source's claims all make this look reasonably reliable.
Sources:
David Jaffe's Blog
D-Pad
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Comments
SuperSaiyan4 24 Nov 2008 13:18
1/4
Its interesting that on one hand Microsoft go around telling everyone they are beating the PS3 in sales and are doing well and then their is Sony saying they are doing much better than the 360 etc in whichever way they want to look at it.
But what Microsoft have done is sell the 360 at a price point which yes is lower than the Wii and PS3 but its too cheap making it too cheap.
The Wii is seen as a must have toy and the PS3 as a luxury because of its technology.
However imo the 360 stands as a solid games console that does deliver and has the games and support to prove this along with the online.
But going back on the price cuts given how the market is at the moment its very difficult to offer price cuts when the economy is bad as it is especially with Japan being in recession also it could hit Sony even harder with a price cut on the PS3 now but what is better? Lower price and increased sales with a loss or a higher price point far less sales and a little loss?
Sony know what they can and cannot do in this case.
But what Microsoft have done is sell the 360 at a price point which yes is lower than the Wii and PS3 but its too cheap making it too cheap.
The Wii is seen as a must have toy and the PS3 as a luxury because of its technology.
However imo the 360 stands as a solid games console that does deliver and has the games and support to prove this along with the online.
But going back on the price cuts given how the market is at the moment its very difficult to offer price cuts when the economy is bad as it is especially with Japan being in recession also it could hit Sony even harder with a price cut on the PS3 now but what is better? Lower price and increased sales with a loss or a higher price point far less sales and a little loss?
Sony know what they can and cannot do in this case.
OptimusP 24 Nov 2008 13:35
2/4
How is a price-cut for Sony bad in times of economic crisis? Have you been keeping track of the raw resources prizes? They're all tumbling down which means it's cheaper to make things in general in a mid-term thinking (and eventually will boost up the economy again, we're actually gradually sliding into the "reset" phase of a economic crisis, after that it can only go up).
And the Sony-MS shouting match is a direct result of how their consoles are selling in the different terretories. The Xbox360 is selling like the Xbox, only good in the US, low-decent in Europe and abyssmal in Japan. The PS3 is selling like a over-priced Playstation would, nicely spread out over all the regions but not at market leader making numbers.
So you'll have these kind of seemingly conflicting messages but really they aren't.
And the Sony-MS shouting match is a direct result of how their consoles are selling in the different terretories. The Xbox360 is selling like the Xbox, only good in the US, low-decent in Europe and abyssmal in Japan. The PS3 is selling like a over-priced Playstation would, nicely spread out over all the regions but not at market leader making numbers.
So you'll have these kind of seemingly conflicting messages but really they aren't.
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tomfresh 24 Nov 2008 21:37
3/4
Aren't PS3' s made in China? I think they are therefore it would be doubtful that their production costs will really have dropped much as the Chinese economy hasn't really been touched by the global slump. And they are in a good position to ensure their citizens wages don't drop because they are still considerably cheaper to employ than workers in other industrial nations. So the price drop is probably because Sony are worried about being behind the others and then productions runs tend to become cheaper as time goes on anyway.
Or possibly they are gonna make a slim PS3 and they wanna get rid of what would become the chunky PS3's.
Either way it won't be cheaper resources, it may be cheaper to buy raw materials but if you bought the raw materials to make a PS3 i would be suprised if they reached more than £20, probably not even £5. It is the manufacture of all the seperate parts that would the value. So the price of oil might have an impact here but still buying electricity is more than just paying for the oil/coal that is burnt to produce the power, its paying for the chinese beuracrat's children to get into harvard or where ever.
athankyou
Or possibly they are gonna make a slim PS3 and they wanna get rid of what would become the chunky PS3's.
Either way it won't be cheaper resources, it may be cheaper to buy raw materials but if you bought the raw materials to make a PS3 i would be suprised if they reached more than £20, probably not even £5. It is the manufacture of all the seperate parts that would the value. So the price of oil might have an impact here but still buying electricity is more than just paying for the oil/coal that is burnt to produce the power, its paying for the chinese beuracrat's children to get into harvard or where ever.
athankyou
tyrion 25 Nov 2008 08:52
4/4
tomfresh wrote:
Aren't PS3' s made in China?
They are assembled there, but it's the source of the components that will affect the costs more than the assembly process. Granted a lot of those components will also be made in China and other "cheap labour" countries, but Sony will buy them at the going market rate and that will be based on the country they are bought in. Remember, the component manufacturers use Chinese fab plants to make themselves profits, not to pass all their savings on to their customers.
As the global financial crisis (or whatever we are calling it today) takes effect, fewer consumer devices will be sold, prices will have to come down to maintain the markets. That will cause a downward pressure on component costs. Component companies (and Sony is one of these too, remember) will cut unit profits to try and maintain volume profits.
Sony's problem is that it manufactures a lot of the components for the PS3 its self and therefore doesn't have that room to manoeuvre in costs because it's just shifting losses to another part of its corporate structure. Microsoft, for example, can muscle suppliers to reduce their overheads whereas Sony will be reducing profits in the semiconductors division to mitigate losses in the gaming division.