E3 08: Breaking! Sony Confuses With More PlayStation 3 SKUs
The 80GB model of the PlayStation 3 has become synonymous as a final avenue for gamers to find their oft desired backwards compatibility. So, imagine the immediate joy, and the ensuing horror, in finding that the 80GB PlayStation 3 would be arriving in September as part of a new "Core Pack" at the pleasing price of $399.
Be warned, this is not the 80GB PlayStation 3 that you know and love--Oh no. This rogue SKU is the presently scorned 40GB model harboring an 80GB hard drive.
What will become of the 80GB Metal Gear Solid 4 backwards compatibility equipped PlayStation 3? Will is Sony so content to maintain backwards compatibility as a premium that one must search for?
How does the extra 40 gigabytes strike you? Will you now be rationalizing a PS3 purchase, or will you instead wait to find out if Sony will provide a new SKU for a system featuring backwards compatibility?
Photo courtesy of Joystiq.
Noun
Posted to E3, Hot Stuff, Video Games on 15 July 2008
· Comments (6)
Other stuff like this: Bad Ideas, Disappointment, New, Sad, SKU, SKU Craziness, Sony PlayStation 3
Seriously, is this how you treat your loyal customers? By scamming them?
Are they thinking that people won't notice?
Do they think PS3 owners are not hardcore gamers? Do they think people won't notice after they bought it?
If so, then thank god they lost exclusivity of FFXIII. They deserve to be stabbed in the back for their own stupidity.
I'm sure they did this so they can keep producing PS2s and milk that cow dry. They pretty much did the same thing with PS. The difference was that all PS2 had backwards compatibility.
These companies really need to stop with all the SKUs. One system, one price.
Not to sound like a snot, but If you can't afford it then maybe you have other priorities you need to attend to first.
Let me remind you, that I think $400 is way too much for a video game system. So I say this being a price sensitive consumer.
This isn't like healthcare or food, where it wouldn't make sense to buy more than you need.
This is a luxury item. Microsoft and Sony need to stop playing musical chairs with the features.
Personally, had Sony kept backwards compatibility in the PS3 I would have considered it. I have a catalog of PS1 and PS2 games that I still play and my PS2 is starting to show it's age.
Unfortuntely for Sony, I broke down and bought an Xbox 360 last January in response to the release of Ace Combat 6 and Halo and I don't regret it.
Also, kudos to Microsoft for finally making the Xbox 360 HDD useful in gaming. I can't wait to starting electively installing games. Should help keep down the disc swapping and load times.
Odd, I was given the impression that this would be replacing the 40GB PS3, as well as the current 80GB PS3...
they are doing a disservice to their consumers by not including BC for the people that have been supporting their business.
the whole "some have BC, some don't" mess is a major "We don't give a fuck how long you have been giving us money (for our previous games and systems)" statement to me.
Microsoft is only slightly less guilty.
Nintendo has the consumer minded approach- provide full BC of at least one generation.
but none of this means anything if we don't kick and scream how much we want this feature.
It's their way of having a pseudo price-drop. They've lost too much money on the PS3 already that they can't afford to have a price war with Microsoft. As hard drives get cheaper with time, they can throw in an 80 for the price the 40 was a while ago, and most media outlets will report it as a "price drop".
As for the backwards compatibility, when they were doing the R&D for the PS3 they deemed it important as it had been a big thing with the PS2. However, when Microsoft announced that their BC was only going to be software based and got away with it without major backlash, Sony realized they could get away with it too. Expect backwards compatibility to disappear altogether - Sony will be quite happy to resell you your PS2 games as downloadables on the PlayStation Network in the near future - especially if you're one of those people who's too lazy to hook up the PS2 or sells the old system each time a new one comes out.
BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY! GRAAHAH RRR EEE EERRRRRRR GRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR WEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR WAHHHHHHHHAWAW
*faints*