Sega Exec Demands PS3 Price Cut

By: Jarrod Sarafin, News Editor
Date: Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Source: Reuters

This isn't the first time an executive from an established 3rd party developer has demanded that Sony give a pricecut for its PS3 console. It won't be the last one either. Sega executive Masanao Maeda asking Sony to look at the numbers and change their strategy sooner rather than later.

From Reuters:

"Name brand, price and software are what count," Sega Corp. corporate director Masanao Maeda told Reuters in an interview on Monday. Sega Corp. is the game unit of Sega Sammy."Since it's getting difficult to make software availability a differentiating factor, superior marketing and pricing strategy will be the key for Sony," Maeda said.

Game software publishers are increasingly offering new titles for multiple consoles to maximize sales and to recoup hefty development costs in a timely manner.

Sony, which has dominated the $30 billion global game industry over the past decade with its PlayStation and PlayStation 2, saw a slow start for the PS3 due mainly to its high prices and lack of attractive software titles.

This is coming on the heels of a recent report of Nintendo outselling Sony 6-to-1 in Japan (a former Sony dominated country).

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Comments/Responses

avihandler • Jul 04, 2007, 03:46am •

In the words of Megatron, "fall....FALLLL !!!"

bdd • Jul 04, 2007, 09:23am •

How dumb can you be? Sony also came out saying that they don't need exclusive games either the other day. So Sony makes there system $600 and it will play worse version games as the Xbox and maybe Wii? That's smart.

tiredjay • Jul 04, 2007, 10:07am •

With the number of successful first party franchises that Sony has, they're right when they say they don't really need that many exclusives.

jetpackjesus • Jul 04, 2007, 12:29pm •

Sony has lost GTA, they've kinda lost MGS if they continue to release it on other consoles later, they're losing Square, and I can't really think of any other significant exclusives for Sony other than God of War and I guess Ratchet and Clank, which I've never played before. Sony definitely isn't doing great on the software front. Besides, Sony's success has always been dependent on releasing more games than one would think possible. The sheer size of Sony's software library was a big factor in their success. They need third party help to continue that strategy.

I have a question about the Wii. Is it selling any software? Evey time I read an article about how great the Wii is doing, it talks about these non-traditional gamers who are playing it. Unfortunately, they all seem to be playing Wii Sports and nothing else in the stories.

atari05 • Jul 04, 2007, 12:40pm •

bdd - I agree with you that some of the titles that are cross platform look better on the 360 HOWEVER, what do you expect when they where MADE on the 360 and then just ported over to the PS. RFOM looks great and just so a small bit of what can be done on the playstation3. As far as loosing exsclusives its happening in xbox land too. most of these Devs are making games on all consoles as to recoupe costs so IMHO its not that its cause the PS3 can't do what they want it to, its because they need money from both camps to pay off the expensive of making the game as quickly as they can so they can work on the next title.

But I also think that if they make a decent showing at e3 with titles, revamped store, and some addtions to PSN that a 100 dollar price drop would help them push out some machines.

popa • Jul 04, 2007, 02:36pm •

Sony is making the gamble that games that can only be made using their advanced architecture will ultimately win the day even though, because of the multi-core nature of this machine, the developers must learn an entirely new way of programming. Most systems isolate the programmer from architectural changes and it’s this unavoidable break with tradition that’s causing the delay. Personally I think that Sony will eventually find themselves with the right technology at the right time, but it’s going to be a struggle.

tiremfej • Jul 04, 2007, 03:46pm •

In all honesty by the time the programmers finally get a handle on programming for the PS3, the third generation of Xbox will be out, and I won't matter anymore.

I truly feel that Sony's arrogance has cost them this time. They did say, "We can release it without any games, and it will sell". That's one of a multitude of high-brow talk from their execs.

It certainly is a powerful machine, I don't think it matters right about now. With the 360 pushing out better graphics and getting most of the once Sony exclusives, it is hurting them badly. They're pushing it as an affordable BR-DVD player, but HDTV hasn't even made mass penetration into the marketplace yet...

shogunpimp • Jul 04, 2007, 10:55pm •

How is Sega's statement a "demand for a price cut." It sounds like good advice to be sure, but I love it how this site makes it sound like Sega has that much clout still.

TheWatcher • Jul 05, 2007, 10:09am •

As much as I love the Sony PS and PSP, I REFUSE to buy a PS3 until the price is dropped to $450

smegforbrain • Jul 05, 2007, 10:20am •

Demands from a company that is no longer relevant... oh the irony.

"So Sony makes there system $600 and it will play worse version games as the Xbox and maybe Wii?"

How will the PS3 play worse versions than the Wii or 360? If anything, some of the reviews I've seen (particularly for Spidey 3) say that porting to the Wii was a waste of time.

"They're pushing it as an affordable BR-DVD player, but HDTV hasn't even made mass penetration into the marketplace yet..."

And if the 360 hasn't helped HD-DVD get into the marketplace already, it probably never will.

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