DarkJedi’s Blog

The Console War : The Price of Battle!

News around the Internet is saying that Sony is about to lower the prices for their latest attempt at a console, The PlayStation 3 (even though it is not the easiest item to lower the prices on). Already the console is a big expense for Sony’s finances, but a price cut may be a way to get back into the game. However, recently the pricetag for the PlayStation 3 in Europe reached retailers ahead of the European launch in late march – and let me be the first the say that they are staggering! This should indicate to Microsoft that they have a good chance at beaten the air out of Sony once again by competing directly on the price.

If you take the country I live in, Denmark, as an example you could, if you choose to go the XBox360 way, instead of buying the new PlayStation 3, buy this for the same price as a new PlayStation 3 (based on the prices in Coolshop):

• XBox 360 Deluxe (20 GB version, headset, cabels, wireless controller, etc.)
• Extra Wireless Controller
• Final Fantasy XI
• Need For Speed : Most Wanted
• Condemned: Classics
• F.E.A.R.
• FIFA 06: The Road to World Cup
• GUN
• Kameo : Elements of Power
• Hitman: Blood Money
• King Kong
• Madden NFL 06
• Perfect Dark Zero
• Ridge Racer 6
• Tomb Raider: Legend

Then, if you wanted to buy a PlayStation 3 you would naturally want to buy and extra controller and a game… On your alternative XBox360 yoy could instead add the two major entertaining game titles: Gears of War and Lost Planet : Extreme Conditions! The choice seems pretty clearcut for me, if you are a gamer and buy the console to play games on… There are no really good games for the PlayStation 3, it is more expensive, it has less of the real community-features and there are tons of problems with it…

If you want a multimedia hub the answer is more tricky. The XBox360 already has DVD playback ability, but the software behind the scenes make it a poor choice. However, it does not suffer from the freezing problems troubling the PlayStation 3 during movie playback. Furthermore the PlayStation 3 has had a big problem with downscaling instead of using the 1080i output. Sony has tried to fix this problem, but coul not fix the hardware and was forced to make a software solution, which is certainly not the ideal solution to that problem!

As game consoles the two are almost evenly matched. The XBox360, in my analysis, is the strongest and the one with the best technical design. The PlayStation 3 suffers from poor design and limitations (not only in memory). The thing that sets the two apart, that in my opinion is the most critical choice is the fact that Microsoft understood that this generation of consoles are different from the last generation in more than horsepower. The main difference is not HD or better graphics, but the fact that our consoles are no longer isolated game machines that you only play with your friends when they come to your house – it is an online community connector! … And Microsoft understood this and did it right with Live!, which Sony only saw this too late in the designs and are now trailing far behind trying to catch up!

The game is already on between the two contender for HD gaming on the next-gen consoles and cost-efficiency is an important factor. Both Sony and Microsoft knows that improving the manufacturing process is the key to gaining some better margins – especially if the competitor lowers prices and you need to follow suit… For this reason the battle for reaching the 65 nm. manufacturing process is ON! Microsoft is well in the lead and has been since they started a year before Sony with their launch. They hold the key, both in terms of price and in terms of game titles! Sony is struggling to get exclusive titles, especially titles that could prove that the PlayStation 3 is a more powerful machine than the XBox360. Meanwhile Microsoft can sit back and wait on Sony to try and lower prices, which they would immediately meet with lowering prices on the XBox360 or making good-valued bundles, like they did during the Christmas sales. It isn’t funny being Sony these days!