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

[Michael St. Clair]

"The average age of a Nintendo GameCube owner, however, is according to Nintendo itself 23 years."

Methinks some soccer moms fill out surveys.

 

[Robert Ma]

These numbers mean little to me, I'm not a numbers guy when it comes to predicting console survival.

Me either!! eeew, PS2 has 95 crappy games, 5 good, and 3 great ones. It must be better the the xbox since it has more garbage games

 

[JoshF]

Michael, not sure what list you're referring to, but the one I've seen at IGN (Link Removed) doesn't look that great for Xbox. Plus, a lot of those "exclusives" like Unreal Tournament and Baldur's Gate are PS2 ports.
Nonetheless, you're right: support for Xbox looks decent for E3. We'll see how it all turns out when publishing time comes.

 

[Paul Richardson]

What happened? This thread went from intelligent discussion on the economics of console sales to the tired-old "Gamecube is for kiddies" argument.

 

[Robert Ma]

Sorry, about that. Couldn't stop myself.

Honestly, I am a little let down by the Xbox so far. I love Halo, and Madden Football (Just a port) and am eagerly awaiting Morrowind to be released. Obi-Wan is crappy but I enjoyed it anyway. Maybe I should try 007.

Overall, I'd say it wasn't $399 spent well so far, but hopefully that will change soon. The main reason I stayed away from PS2 was because of the scan rate it used outputting to the TV. The image didn't fill my RPTV right. The Xbox works just fine. And being a home theater junky, 5.1 audio in games....

 

[Aaron Cooke]

Me either!! eeew, PS2 has 95 crappy games, 5 good, and 3 great ones. It must be better the the xbox since it has more garbage games

I know this is just personal opinion but even just considering the 5 good and 3 great games, PS2 has to be better than an X-Box. I think the X-Box specs are amazing but literally the only game I want for it is Silent Hill 2 which i can also get on PS2.

I'll probably get an X-Box down the road when they come out with some games i'm interested in (namely Project Ego or whatever it's being called now) but for now I'm going with PS2.

Aaron

 

[Brian-W]

Just goes to show you that specs don't sell systems (X-Box).

 

[Alex Spindler]

What is my (newbie?) take on this?

Sony has had a year and a half (Oct 2000) of full price sales of hardware. They have maximized any profit that can be gained and/or minimized all loss from hardware sales for 10 million units. Now, after one year in the market and a leading platform for this competitive market, they lower their price. Now those who deferred purchase will be go out and buy the less pricey PS2. I can't help but think that this will increase their new sales (which I think are still besting the new platforms even at the $299 price).

Microsoft has had about six months of full price sales. If they drop their price now, they will have to deal with effectively one additional year of increased hardware losses than Sony has had to deal with. In addition, they are no longer dealing with a price advantage to the PS2, so they are no better than they were before (even keel with the PS2 in price).

The decision does nothing but help to solidify Sony's position and make it harder for MS and Nintendo to be more appealing. I can't see how this doesn't have a significant negative impact on Microsoft, especially in comparison to their previous assumption that they would be made cheaper than the PS2 for at least some time. I really hope they were planning a $100 drop. If not, they will be the expensive platform with the smaller library.

 

[Sean Eldridge]

Xbox has everything it needs to make someone's online game happen

If you only use broadband...

Sean

 

[Chris Beveridge]

As long as Capcom comes out with Tekki, or whatever they're calling it this week, with the same controller that they're getting in Japan, Xbox will be a worthwhile purchase. Much like the Dreamcast was for Virtual On with the sticks.

 

[MikeAlletto]

If XBox drops to $150 or even dare I say it $120 then I'll buy it, but I'll buy a Gamecube at $199 before an XBox. But then again I won't buy a Gamecube until some games that I'm looking forward to come out.

 

[Masood Ali]

$150 or less for an Xbox is wishful thinking. At that price, people would snap them up ungodly quick. I'd get one just to use as a secondary DVD player.

$199 will hold though. Even though there's a price war, both companies don't want to run each other into the red that quickly.

$150 for the GC is very likely.

 

[Dave E H]

Why is anyone declaring this round of the console wars over w/o seeing what the online shapes up as?

Personally, that's most of the reason I bought an Xbox (and probably will but the PS2 within 2-3 months.) I am really looking to see what happens with Halo online, etc. I'm looking at costs/performance/audience for the online gaming and really think that the best combo out there - price performance etc - will determine who wins this round of the console wars...

Just my $.02.

 

[Derrik Draven]

I think it's pretty ridiculous to think that the Xbox is doomed already. Hasn't even been out 1 year yet and the naysayers are at it again on yet another system.
How long did it take for the Dreamcast to fade away????
Even the mediocre; at best, 3DO lasted what, 4 years?
Let's see, I'm trying to remember what company it is that's backing the Xbox....something 'soft? Oh yes, Microsoft!!
Hopefully they have a bit more spare change lying around than Sega or 3DO did, to support their machine. Let's see: one of the largest companies on earth with billions of dollars in the bank. Check: day gots da cash.
But, no matter how much $$$ a company has, the machine had better be a nice piece of equipment. Xbox...hmmmm...hands down the best console ever and, the best right now, hardware wise. Check: they have a great piece of equipment.
Most important part: games. They have a killer app; Halo. More Halo's on the way and, many killer games coming out over the coarse of THE FIRST YEAR OUT so, I think we can ease up a bit on whining about the lack of games at the moment. Like I said, this is only the 1st year. Relax...sheesh!
Amazing how many people seem to conveniently "forget" the lousy ass 1st year of the PS2. I remember because I own one.
So, you know, I think the Xbox is going to be around...at least until Xbox II makes it's debut.
Will they "win" the console war? IMHO...no. But, I really could care less. As long as their machine is around and continues to improve on it's amazing gaming abilities, I'll be just fine. Someone has to be in 2nd place, and 3rd place, right?
Besides, I'd certainly hate to see the Xbox die out. I'd hate to have to go back down in sound/graphic quality to PS2 games.

 

[CameronS]

Sorry, about that. Couldn't stop myself.

 

[Paul Richardson]

Xbox and Gamecube will both survive this generation of the console wars, but PS2 will always remain #1 in terms of sales. That's not just my opinion, that's a fact. The only real competition is for the #2 spot at this point.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I find it interesting that the people who say Nintendo makes kiddie games don't realize just how many games Nintendo has made for its consoles and how good they were. Mario 64 looks kiddie, but its still considered one of the most revolutionary games, and GameSpot rated it the best one ever.

Back to the original topic, this PS2 price drop is just one of the many great price drops that are going to be announced within the next month. (some have already been announced)

 

[StevenK]

Sweet....!!!!! It looks like I'll be a 3 console household now. XBox, PS2, and DC! At $199, people should just stop b!tching about this and that and pick up both systems and play some frickin' Halo or FFX

 

[Romier S]

Plus, a lot of those "exclusives" like Unreal Tournament and Baldur's Gate are PS2 ports.

One quick correction here, Unreal Tournament is not a PS2 port. The box is getting Unreal Championship which is its own *original* Unreal game based on the Unreal Tournament 2003 engine (Unreal Warfare engine if you will).
As for Box games here is a list for you to mull over and I'm not including rumored crap here. Everything here has been confirmed (PS2+=coming to PS2 as well, GC+=coming to GC as well):
Deus Ex 2
Dead to Rights (PS2+)
World Series Baseball 2k3
NFL Fever 2003
Mace Griffion Bounty Hunter (GC+)
Ghost Recon
Metal Geart Solid Substance (PS2+)
Turok Evolution (PS2+ and GC+)
Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
Brute Force
Crazy Taxi 3 High Rollers
Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance (PS2+)
Batman Dark Tommorrow (PS2+ and GC+)
BloodRayne (PS2+ and GC+)
B.C
Black and White Next Generation (PS2+)
Project Ego
Breed
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Collin McRae Rally 3 (PS2+)
Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge
Deathrow
Dino Crisis 3
Hunter the Reckoning
Duality
Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind
Enclave
Gladius (PS2+ and GC+)
Gun Metal
Hitman 2 Silent Assasin (PS2+)
House of the Dead 3
Kingdom Under Fire 2
Kung Fu Chaos
Madden NFL 2003 (PS2+ and GC+)
MechAssault
Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing
Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance (PS2+ and GC+)
Operation Flashpoint
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Phantom Crash
Quantum Redshift
Rainbow Six Raven Shield
Raymen 3 Hoodlum Havoc (PS2+ and GC+)
Robotech Battlecry (PS2+ and GC+)
Splinter Cell (PS2+)
Soul Calibur 2 (PS2+ and GC+)
Shenmue 2
Sega Gt 2002
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars Jedi Starfighter (PS2+)
State of Emergency (PS2+)
Steel Battalion (Tekki)
Strident
Superman Man of Steel
Terminator Dawn of Fate (PS2+)
The Thing (PS2+)
Timesplitters 2 (PS2+ and GC+)
Toejam and Earl 3
Ultimate Blade of Darkness
Unreal Championship
XIII
Here is a list of Exclusives (PC ports that are exclusive to the box listed below) for the Box:
ToeJam and Earl 3
World Series Baseball 2k3
Panzer Dragoon Orta
House of the Dead 3
Crazy Taxi 3 High Roller
Dino Crisis 3
Unreal Championship
B.C
Project Ego
Steel Battallion
MechAssault
Crimson Skies High Road to Revenge
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Sega GT 2002
Shenmue 2
Quantum Redshift
Hunter the Reckoning
Brute Force
Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Deathrow
Kung Fu Chaos
Gun metal
NFL Fever 2003
(PC games coming to box eclusively):
Deus Ex 2
Rainbow Six Raven Shield
Ghost Recon
Operation Flashpoint
Kingdom Under Fire 2
Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind
Duality
Strident
Now just for comparison's sake I went ahead and took a look at the PS2's list and these are the exclusive big titles coming to the PS2 (I excluded ports that are coming for the box above):
Aliens Colonial Marines
Blade 2
Battle Engine Aquilla
Armored Core 3
Auto Modellista
Clock Tower 3
Akira Pinball
Alpine Racer 3
Broken Sword the Sleeping Dragon
Tekken 4
Final Fantasy XI
Socom Navy Seals
Devil May Cry 2
Dino Stalker
Everquest Online Adventures
F355 Challenge (DC+)
Fusion GT
Galerians:Ash
Genso Suikoden 3
Grandia Extreme
Gungrave
Shinobi
Headhunter (DC+)
Hundred Swords
Kingdom Hearts
Kessen 3
Legion Legend of Excalibur
Nobunagas Ambition Online
Onimusha 2
Red Faction 2
Run Like Hell
The Lost
Summoner 2
Twisted Metal Black Online
Way of the Samurai
Tenchu 3
Wipeout Fusion
Xenosaga
Zone of the Enders 2
Now this list is by no means comprehensive but I tried to get a majority of the confirmed titles that are coming. Just as a metric from the list above the PS2 has 39 exclusive titles, the box has a total of 31 coming. No doubt both sides have more games coming also. What does this tell you? It at the very least tells me that there are a shitload of good games coming out for BOTH systems. It also shows me that the X-box has a damn good bit of developer support.
I didn't include the Gamecubes list because most of the comparisons made are between the PS2 and the Box. Suffice it to say the GC will always have its place because of Nintendo's key franchises such as Mario, Zelda, Starfox, Metroid..the list goes on.
Now simply put I dont give shit who wins this supposed "war". I don't have stock invested in Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. I have absolutely no vested interest whatsoever in any of these companies. I play games. Thats what I love to do. The more the merrier. Be it on the X-box, Playstation, Gamecube. These hunks of machine of are there to allow me to play GAMES. I think allot of people need to remember that. To hell with a winner or loser. *WE ARE THE WINNERS*. We have these three companies fighting it out bringing cheaper accessories, cheaper console prices, better games why the hell would you want to pick a side????!!! Buy it up while you can and enjoy it and for the love of god please realize you do not wear a Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo badge on your shirt. (For those that do, your still not allowed to trash the other company)

 

[Steve Clark]

The decision does nothing but help to solidify Sony's position and make it harder for MS and Nintendo to be more appealing. I can't see how this doesn't have a significant negative impact on Microsoft, especially in comparison to their previous assumption that they would be made cheaper than the PS2 for at least some time. I really hope they were planning a $100 drop. If not, they will be the expensive platform with the smaller library.

The lower price will stimulate demand industry wide. For example, instead of the industry selling 10 million consoles this year, perhaps they will will now sell 14 million. Assuming a 25% market share for Xbox results in 3.5 million consoles sold instead of 2.5 million. If each console results in four titles sold, this is an incremental increase of 4 million XBox games sold, which along with the peripherals, should more than offset the $100 loss per unit.