Sony Makes The First Move......PS2 Price Down To $199 (1 Viewer)

[Masood Ali]

Read It Here
Effective immediately.
The PSOne, as well as many peripherals, also dropped in price. Meanwhile, Sony is hinting at lowering their average software price below the industry standard $49.99. Now things are definitely getting interesting...it's a buyers market.

 

[Raymond_H]

Great News!

So, would I be able to go down to Best Buy tomorrow and pick up the PS2 for $199.99.

I have been waiting patiently since the X-Box came out in November for the PS2 to cut its prices. Now it has and I'm ready to pounce.

Ray

 

[dave_brogli]

i read this to this morning..... how rad is that? i already have a ps2 but now i am going to buy a ps1 for my son (hes 4) for 50.00 hell yeah....... hopefully the games will start dropping in price to

 

[Rob Lutter]

Expect Microsoft to meet or beat that price by the end of next week. I see an XBOX in my future

 

[JoshF]

Cool. I can go get that extra PS2 memory card for $10 less now, too!

 

[jmascio]

Guys, FYI...the price drops have already been implemented at Ebgames and Gamestop online.

 

[John Kilroy]

Lying whores.

Sony PR Rep, May 8:

"We're definitely comfortable at $299"

"We have stayed firm at $299 when not one single person thought we would, and we have sold almost 10 million units in North America so far, so we're pretty happy with our position right now. I can't imagine that we need to change our strategy one iota."

"We're definitely sticking at $299 right now, that's where we are"

Sony finally woke up and smelled the Xbox.

 

[BrianB]

Lying whores.

Oh *come on*.

 

[JoshF]

According to sales figures, the Xbox is a bit too far away to smell, even on the warmest of days.
I wonder if Microsoft will drop the Xbox below $199? I have a feeling they might.

 

[BrianB]

According to sales figures, the Xbox is a bit too far away to smell, even on the warmest of days.

I have it on good authority (and nothing to do with Camp) that the PS2 continues to outsell the XBox 3:1 at Toys'r'Us.

 

[Camp]

That "sale" of Xbox accessories at another retailer shouldn't look like a sale anymore. Rather, as a hint.

 

[Camp]

I have it on good authority (and nothing to do with Camp) that the PS2 continues to outsell the XBox 3:1 at Toys'r'Us.

Easily. We can't give Xbox away.

 

[JoshF]

Doomsday ahead for the Xbox? The developers I know definitely think so.

 

[Adam Tyner]

That "sale" of Xbox accessories at another retailer shouldn't look like a sale anymore. Rather, as a hint.

Accessories for pretty much every system -- GBA, PS2, Gamecube, and even the Dreamcast -- were on sale at KB Toys along with the Xbox, and at the same discount.

 

[Evan S]

Doomsday ahead for the Xbox? The developers I know definitely think so

Can somebody please enlighten a gaming newbie as to why this is. Looking at the specs of the two units, it would seem the X-Box has a great technical advantage over the PS2 and with full 5.1 digital sound for all games as well as other feature advantages, it's the system I'm leaning towards getting when the price drops are implemented.

I can understand the public's affinity with Sony seeing as they had an established market with PS1 and the software is compatable with PS2...however, before Sony hit the gaming market, they were going head to head with industry leader Nintendo and were able to crack that market and gain share because of a better system technologically than the N64 at the time.

Why can't Microsoft do the same? With all their resources, what is going wrong and why are developers reluctant to make software for this fledgling system?

These are questions I want to know before I buy. I don't mind buying a system with less support in the industry as long as the support it is gaining is at least supplying it with quality titles as I usually stick to 3-5 great games and get my money's worth out of those, so a library of 400 titles doesn't interest me much. However, if the system is going the way of the dodo, I would like to know that ahead of time, because even with a $100 price drop, a shelf life of 6 months won't do me much good.

Thanks for the input.

 

[BrianB]

Why can't Microsoft do the same? With all their resources, what is going wrong and why are developers reluctant to make software for this fledgling system?

Mainly because Sony have way way way more units out in the marketplace already - the XBox is playing catch-up & is still being outsold by the Playstation. It means there's a bigger market for software sales on the PS2 than the XBox.

 

[Jason Borchers]

This is just the excuse I've been waiting for.
Might as well pick up a $50 PS1, too.

 

[Steve Clark]

Doomsday ahead for the Xbox? The developers I know definitely think so.

Oh come on. The XBox has sold at least 2 million consoles in the U.S. since November and I do not believe these were given away. In fact, these were ALL sold for $299. The lower price should get things going again for the XBox during a typically slow period for the industry. The lower price should stimulate demand industry wide and bring in more new, old and multi-console gamers. The XBox will most likely have huge sales during the next holiday season. There are still a lot of potential customers out there for all three console makers that still have a Playstation One and a Nintendo 64 and have not upgraded yet. If the PS2 outsells the Xbox and Gamecube by a 3-1 margin come Christmas, then I believe we can call the PS2 the King. In addition, the XBox has outsold the Gamecube in the U.S. so far. Finally, the XBox has a very good selling ratio for software titles sold with a new console.

It is surprising that Sony decided to be an industry (MS) follower when a few days ago it arrogantly stated that it would not follow the price cut of the XBox because it did not need to do so as it was the industry leader. This will force Nintendo to lower its price on the Gamecube by at least $50, however I do not see the price dropping below $129. This will cut into the $100 price advantage that the GC enjoys and I am sure MS and Sony hope to cut into the market share of the GC moving forward. With these price cuts, I feel stupid for paying $90 last year for the little Gameboy Advance that I can not see on the unlit monitor.

 

[Andre F]

Looks like I have to head out Circuit City to get a low price gurantee refund...
-Andre F

 

[Evan S]

Mainly because Sony have way way way more units out in the marketplace already - the XBox is playing catch-up & is still being outsold by the Playstation. It means there's a bigger market for software sales on the PS2 than the XBox.

Brian, this is a concept I am familiar with. What I'm saying is that about 7 years ago, when Sony debuted the Playstation 1, they were in the same situation as Microsoft is in now. Nintendo dominated the market with the N64. However, the Playstation was so much more technically advanced than the N64 that developers decided to write games for it just to see what it could do. They came out with a nifty mascot type game to compete with Mario (Crash Bandicoot) and the rest is history.

What I'm wondering is why these same developers are not trying to test the limits of the X-Box capability and why Microsoft is not trying to come out with some kind of marketing scheme centered around a unique gaming character or showcasing the inherent technological advances that could make the X-Box a better console down the road. Just dropping the price by a C-note doesn't tell the public "this is why you should get our system"..better colors, faster processing, 5.1 sound. All it says is that Sony is kicking our ass and we better do something.

If Microsoft wants to win this war, they had better change the course of their marketing strategy and fast. That's what I'm getting at. My question is not why the inadequacy exists, but why developers and Microsoft are not doing anything about it except lowering price (which is immediately being followed by a PS2 price drop).