Sony: "Price doesn't make or kill a platform"

[Sully99]

Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton has said that the success of a platform is not reliant on price but in the value of its features.

Tretton discussed the value of gaming in an interview with Fast Company. "I think that consumers respond to value. If you're passionate about something you find a way to go out and get it and gamers are very passionate," he said.

Tretton makes the common comparison between the cost of a game - an experience of dozens of hours for around $60 - and the total expense of seeing a movie at cinema, which usually provides two hours of entertainment at a similar cost.

"When you're buying a platform, when you're buying technology, you're hopefully buying a device that you're going to enjoy for many years. If you look at an investment comparable to a game device be it a system or a portable - whether it's an iPod or cell phone - people are used to spending several hundred dollars to get a portable device," he goes on to say.

"Typically it comes down to; 'how good is the system and how bad do I want it?' And it's not to say that the price of the platform isn't a consideration, but I don't think price makes or kills a platform. Something that's lousy and very inexpensive is not going to be successful. Something that's pricey will ultimately find its audience if there's enough value there."

Tretton makes no specific reference to the price of its next portable, codenamed NGP. However, rumours suggest the console will cost between $250 and $350.

Meanwhile Sony has warned NGP could be subject to delays after suffering production problems during the Japan crisis that has devastated the country.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/29692...ill-a-platform/

 

[Veho]

"Typically it comes down to; 'how good is the system and how bad do I want it?' [...] Something that's pricey will ultimately find its audience if there's enough value there."

Sounds like a buildup to quite a hefty sum. If anything, statements like this one hint at a high price. "Sure, the console is $500, but you'll be using it for a long time, so it's really not that much per hour of use." Yup. $500.

Okay, maybe not $500, but my hopes for a $250 price tag just flew out the window.

 

[Oveneise]

My friend has been saying this for a while, but the price DOES matter to the average customer. You want to get the most bang for your buck. I'm guessing it'll be in the $300-$400 range.

 

[Deleted member 473940]

LOL! Thats a pretty obvious hint.. THAT ITS GOING TO COST YOU AN ARM AND A LEG TO BUY THE NGP!

Now seriously. It can mean a lot of things, for example that they are not concerned about its price and will offer the best. OR just high price.. like Veho said.

 

[nryn99]

if it's that expensive, maybe i won't plan to buy one.

 

[ThePorks]

Jeez I hope its not $500, that means it will be around £599 in the UK judging by previous hardware pricing. That would just be ridiculous financial suicide for Sony. If they thought the PSP had a bit of a slow start, the NGP will be dead even before the sexed up pre-order figures are out.

 

[machomuu]

Well, I guess I'll have to wait a few years, before I was doing it as a choice for the library to grow and the like, but now...

Well, it's a hint for now, so we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I don't really know.

I mean maybe Sony saw that the 3DS launched at a relatively high price and saw it sell well and thought they could sell their console for a slightly higher price (I'd say $300-$350 is a safe bet) and get somewhat equal results. On the other hand, when they were offering high prices on the PS3 and the like, the sales never really skyrocketed until it "slimmed" down (with the PS3 Slim launching for half the price of what the launch PS3's sold for).

I'm still hoping it'll be $250 as rumored, but I'd be willing to go $300-$350.

 

[Deleted member 473940]

300 Dollars, or 350 dollars would mean around £300 pounds for us.
And.. isnt that a bit too much for a handheld?

I dont think many people would apriciete paying around £300 for a handheld..

 

[Recorderdude]

Price doesn't make or kill a platform, eh? Tell me, guys, how many of you actually forked over $500 for a pandora, the portable that costs as much as a fairly good laptop?...didn't think so. How 'bout the rediculously expensive neo-geo MVS? Any gaming veterans buy one of them new?

Didn't think so.

 

[BlueStar]

Thing is, even if you buy it, a high price for the unit may well lead to a smaller user base which could deter third parties from making games for it.

 

[Issac]

Tretton makes the common comparison between the cost of a game - an experience of dozens of hours for around $60 - and the total expense of seeing a movie at cinema, which usually provides two hours of entertainment at a similar cost.

First, Tretton is swedish for 13.
But anyway, this statement!? a game for $60 yea okay... that's about 400 SEK, which a psp game costs here... but a movie at a cinema? That's like 80-100 SEK.. that's between $12 and $15!
HOW can anyone say that it's a similar cost?

 

[MelodieOctavia]

Price doesn't make or kill a platform, eh? Tell me, guys, how many of you actually forked over $500 for a pandora, the portable that costs as much as a fairly good laptop?...didn't think so. How 'bout the rediculously expensive neo-geo MVS? Any gaming veterans buy one of them new?

Didn't think so.

Pandora's downfall was over many things, not just price. It was also the value of the console vs price, and the fact that it's a completely open platform meaning that the possibility for third party games on the same level as the 3DS or NGP is slim to none.

Ultimately what killed them was to little units, and way too late to join the party, combined with the fact that it took them YEARS to ship out the units that people pre ordered in the first place.

QUOTE(Sully99 @ Apr 6 2011, 09:49 PM) Tretton makes the common comparison between the cost of a game - an experience of dozens of hours for around $60 - and the total expense of seeing a movie at cinema, which usually provides two hours of entertainment at a similar cost.

First, Tretton is swedish for 13.
But anyway, this statement!? a game for $60 yea okay... that's about 400 SEK, which a psp game costs here... but a movie at a cinema? That's like 80-100 SEK.. that's between $12 and $15!
HOW can anyone say that it's a similar cost?

I think He means price vs time spent. $10 for 2 hours of entertainment, vs $60 for 15+ hours of play....

 

[Veho]

But anyway, this statement!? a game for $60 yea okay... that's about 400 SEK, which a psp game costs here... but a movie at a cinema? That's like 80-100 SEK.. that's between $12 and $15!
HOW can anyone say that it's a similar cost?

A cinema ticket costs between $12 and $15, and the movie lasts an hour and a half to two hours. A game costs $60 but it takes you from ten to a hundred hours to complete, so the price per hour of gameplay is comparable (if not much much lower) to the price per hour of movie watching.

 

[Raika]

Right... Slap a ridiculous price tag on it (OVER $9000) and say that the price doesn't make or kill a platform.

Seriously though, they still shouldn't overprice the damn thing, or there wouldn't be as many people buying it. There's this thing called affordability...

Kid: HEY MOM DAD GET ME A NGP PLEASE
Parents: How much is it?
Kid: IT ONLY COSTS
Parents: No.

 

[Snailface]

"Price doesn't make or kill a platform"

That's true, but I'm betting it leans heavily toward the latter. I don't like Sony's logic here (if they're trying to justify high prices, of course).

 

[Issac]

A cinema ticket costs between $12 and $15, and the movie lasts an hour and a half to two hours. A game costs $60 but it takes you from ten to a hundred hours to complete, so the price per hour of gameplay is comparable (if not much much lower) to the price per hour of movie watching.

Oooh, Okay, Now I see it!
It was written so that I mistook it for: "A game costs $60 and last for a long time, while a movie ticket costs the same and only lasts a couple of hours".. my bad

 

[Law]

Metal Gear Solid 4 cost me $20 and lasted 16 hours first playthrough.

A cinema ticket here is about £8/$12~. That's a pretty big difference in entertainment time for the price.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Right... Slap a ridiculous price tag on it (OVER $9000) and say that the price doesn't make or kill a platform.

Seriously though, they still shouldn't overprice the damn thing, or there wouldn't be as many people buying it. There's this thing called affordability...

Kid: HEY MOM DAD GET ME A NGP PLEASE
Parents: How much is it?
Kid: IT ONLY COSTS
Parents: No.

I have a feeling their demographic is more for the adult audience and not really that "broad" appeal Nintendo went for. It's probably aimed at the people who are willing to spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on gaming stuff. It feels like the PSP kinda became that way, with most of the games aimed at a "core" audience.

 

[NostalgicMillennial]

pretty much

....fuck you.

yea we're going to make it expensive...

but you won't care...you'll buy it regardless...so if we make it $550....you will still buy it..

because you're a mindless tool who doesn't question anything.

if you want it bad enough. you'll pay $900 for it...it's whatever WE want

the economy and consumer opinion mean nothing.

we are going to price the NGP high and you're going to have to deal with it...or you will go without and be the "have not's"

what other choice do you have?.....

THATS what they are pretty much saying.


and people wonder why SONY CAN EAT MY FUCKING SHIT

Anonymous needs to punish sony in another way besides taking away the PSN for everyone else...

expose the CEO's bank accounts...their identity...something....something to make the person in charge of making sony a DiCK company suffer.