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Hirai claims that price was never PS3s problem photo

Per a little article over at MCV, Kaz Kirai claims that PS3's greatest problem was never the launch price point, but in fact meeting the supply and demand for the console. Here's a tidbit from the original interview:

“I think the original price-point was the right price-point,” Hirai stated. “This was evidenced by the issues we had at launch when we couldn’t supply enough units to consumers in the Japanese market and the North American market, and it was a huge challenge to try and meet that demand because of all the production issues we had.

Ok, Kaz? Let me help you out here. Coming down from copious amounts of illegal substances is always a challenge. Just breathe in and focus on what I'm saying. THE PS3 IS FREAKIN EXPENSIVE. Now repeat it slowly, over and over, so it sinks into your consciousness. Maybe it will be of some use to you in understanding the reactions of the general public to your console.

It greatly disappoints me that Sony continually tries to find excuses for the issues that PS3 has suffered, but it's even more distressing to hear them saying that supply is the issue when the console has been readily available in just about every store I've set foot in in the past 9 months. At least this is not as bad as the time Jack Tretton offered to give us twelve hundred bucks for each PS3 we could find on stores shelves. Last time I checked, I believe Penny Arcade raked in about $13k on that.

A plea for Sony: PLEASE stop condescending to us and PLEASE face reality. PS3 is a beautiful console and it is worth the price. Now either push out a game library that makes the price easier to swallow, or give it a price break so gamers will be willing to buy it while that happens. Either way, it's better for you and better for us. I guess I should have seen this downward spiral coming after those damn baby commercials, but I was blinded by dumb hope.

[Thanks Joe!] 


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44 comments | showing # 1 to 44

JACK of No Trades's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 11:53
JACK of No Trades
Stupid business man.
tom90deg's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 11:53
tom90deg
Sigh..It seems to me that Sony is refusing to admit any sort of wrongdoing, or that their plan was anything less than inspired from on high with shining lights and harps. I think it would do a world of good if Sony actually came forward and said, "Ok, we admit that our price point may have been too high. And we admit that we were wrong in leaving out rumble. We'll have those things fixed shortly" I don't know about anyone else, but I would like a PS3, if it didn't cost a kidney, and if it had some good games. Honesty can go a long way to restoring faith, but faith can't buy you everything.
Tull's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 11:53
Tull
His comments should make people who are still waiting for that holiday price cut to worry. He doesn't sound like a guy who thinks another price cut is necessary.
Cowboy TTop's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 11:55
Cowboy TTop
Shows how deluded they've become. They remind me of that Iraqi general, who said to press, they'd crush the allied troops just as they were on the other side of the river nearby.
SkaGoblin's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 11:58
SkaGoblin
Allow me to play Devil's Advocate...

(Plays pinball for a bit)

Anyway, is it possible that Kaz's perspective on "supply problems" came from stores, buying into the hype that this would be the greatest electronics launch in the history of mankind, overbought. So while there was plenty of units "in the channel" (to use retailer-speak), all Sony saw was a huge gulf between supply and retailer demand. Once the stores had them, they couldn't sell them, but frankly, strictly on a spreadsheet, number-crunching basis, that wasn't Sony's problem.

Not to excuse his or Tretton's dumass remarks or anything
DeusPayne's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 11:59
DeusPayne
I wish I was as flexible as Kaz is. It must be hard to get your head that far up your own ass.
schnodder's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:03
schnodder
well, the PS3 is worth the money - if you like it or not.
Outer Heaven's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:04
Outer Heaven
Yeah, well, corporations generally never admit fault. I mean, how many tobacco companies STILL won't admit that smoking causes cancer? Corporate mouthpieces practically invented modern bullshit talk. I suppose it's understandable; lies have probably them lots more money than the truth ever has. But it's still really irritating.
AngelsDontBurn's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:07
AngelsDontBurn
The PS3 being worth the money is all up to the person. I think it's alright. Of course mine is getting kinda dusty.

Hirai is full of excuses though.
bhive01's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:08
bhive01
@Schnodder, more quality titles would certainly help it though. This fall/winter is looking up. I'm glad I have my PS3. IMO, it was worth the price I paid ($400 used).
Brian Keljore's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:09
Brian Keljore
The only thing I can think of that expresses my reaction to this article is Cam Clarke's masterfully preformed Blood Elf laugh from World of Warcraft.
JonDarkwood's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:13
JonDarkwood
I can't believe companies being run by delusional people like that can turn a profit...
automagV's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:15
automagV
Lame lame lame. The gaming community is much smarter than he seems to think.
Mike Maloney's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:19
Mike Maloney
Well, to be fair, demand did outweigh supply at launch...for a month or so.
Tino's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:26
Tino
I like my PS3, but I don't like when Kaz or Tretton try to say things like this with a straight face. They may live in a fantasy dream world but me and my PS3 do not.
Lord Raoh's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:36
Lord Raoh
sigh

i cant believe people when it comes to the price of the ps3

i have the 360, not cause of price but because at the time most of my friends had it and it had more games out

price wise? yall cant be serious..


for me its the same price

i paid

399 for the 360, 50 for an additional controller, 50 dollars for live, 20/30 dollars for the charge and play kit, and the best one yet, 100 dollars for the wifi cause i aint running cable in my house no more, its all wireless for me, my wii came with built in wireless

so thats 399 + 99 + 59 + 20 + 50 = roughly 620

with the ps3 only thing i would have to buy is the extra contoller so that would be what? 599 + 50 - roughly 650?

a 30 dollar difference?


price for me is not the issue its the games or lack there of..

i really dont understand how people are so easily blinded by the price

its one thing to say that at least MS gives you options, true, and thats a good thing, but majority of the people i know dont want a core 360, run wireless at home and need more than one controller, oh and marketplace and xbla and multigamer games are worthless without the 50 dollar live account

so yea thats my final total and i'm sticking to it..


yeah if little timmy's mom doesnt want to shell out for live, still runs dial up and only buys a core and timmy has no friends to play with, then sure its cheaper
Tull's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:50
Tull
Whether they don't want to admit to a big mistake in regards to the PS3's price point they really should just stop talking about how right on the mark the price was and just move on. They should just pretend the original price never happened and talk about other things. Make gamers think about something else to complain about instead of always bringing up the price.
CaffeinePowered's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 12:57
CaffeinePowered
I thought shareholders had this man silenced, apparently not
flaakmonkey's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:03
flaakmonkey
Blu Ray should have been an add on like the HD was to the 360.
B-Radicate's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:04
B-Radicate
No system is wortht the money until there are enough quality games to warrant owning it. For me, the Wii isn't even worth it yet. I only own Scarface and while entertaining, I still play more 360.

PS3 will be getting a kick this fall with Ratchet & Clank, Drake's Firtune, and UT3, but it still isn't worth it to me at the current price. I'll wait 'til they drop it $400 AND package it with (at least) component cables. I don't wanna spend an extra $40 right out the gate on top of an extra controller and some games.

Does he realize if the higher price was "the right price" that a lower price should be selling more? It's the opposite right now. So, wtf?
TempyMcTemp's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:09
TempyMcTemp
Mike,

Both KAZ and jak trenton were right. For the month of December. It's to bad for jack trenton the article quoting him @ 1200 a ps3 was run in January/ February.

Right now it makes not to much sense to drop the PS3 price. Even the Wii is having trouble selling.

If thanksgiving comes around and he is still spewing this crap, I'm gonna have ta sell my Sony stock.

PS3 =500
1 game a month=12x60=720$

gaming for a year = 1220= too fucking much

I'm getting way fewer games than I did at the beginning of the 'last gen.'
entropyman's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:18
entropyman
to be honest the ONLY thing that has kept me from getting a ps3 is price- it is thinking like that that has been killing sony
Lord Raoh's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:18
Lord Raoh
hey tempy, i agree on too much for games, thats why i love my gamefly account

i rent and if i keep its at a rental price not full

the month of november alone has about 10 plus games i want to check out

aint no way i'm buying each one, but i'll rent them and check them out
covah's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:24
covah
And I claim bullshit
infinity's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:24
infinity
colette: 1
kaz: 0
king3vbo's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:29
king3vbo
You know, Lord Raoh is right... I payed 600 bucks when it was all said and done for my 360 (wifi and extra controllers).

But 360 has better games so thats why I bought it. I am waiting for a PS3 to get to 400 before I buy it... but its prolly gonna be 600 after games, controllers, etc
BlackDove's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 13:33
BlackDove
Mandatory PA reference:

Sony's Lies.



It's what's for dinner. This ain't anything fresh.
RskimB's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 14:10
RskimB
As someone who's been waiting for the magic $400 mark i think i'll just laugh at good ol' Kaz's spindoctoring
Monte's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 14:18
Monte
I actully do think Kaz is right about the price not being the PS3's problem.
Looking at what Lord Raoh and king3vbo have mentioned, the 360 isn't at all much cheaper... yes it did have a nice $200 less of a price tag, but that's before extra stuff like several years of xboxlive (4years=$200) and some such; when all is said and done, the PS3 is only a little bit more expensive than the 360 (even cheaper for those that buy the hddvd). If the price for the 360 is acceptable to people, than the price of the PS3 should be as well.

The PS3 REAL problem was not it's price but it's library. The PS3 had no good games for it, there's Resitance and warhawk which both i heard are good, Lair is a love of hate kind of game, and Heavenly sword looks good but is rather short... other than that the PS3 doesn't really have anything... It's not that $600 is too much, it's that the PS3 is not WORTH $600... big difference right there... even at a lower price like $400 the PS3 would probably be doing almost as bad with it's lack of games.

Just think about this... If the PS3 had games like MGS4, FFXIII, White knight story, or any other damn system-seller game as it's launch titles, along with other hit games coming soon, would the PS3 be in a bad spot with the $600 price tag? I think it would not cause with a strong library the $600 looks like money well spent.

A heavy price isn't doing the major damage to the PS3, it's the serious lack of great exclusives that is doing the job.
grrza's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 14:22
grrza
Worst PR ever. srsly. I think this:
PS3 is a beautiful console and it is worth the price.
is absolutely key. All they need to do is frame the price by calling their 1337. It's just really astounding the way they can completely deny the high price tag.
Cheeburga's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 14:26
Cheeburga
Yeah, it was totally the supply.
They had dusty PS3's everywhere.
It was the price.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
Necros's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 14:35
Necros
Dammit Sony.
Rpg_Worshiper's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 14:48
Rpg_Worshiper
"PS3 is a beautiful console and it is worth the price. Now either push out a game library that makes the price easier to swallow, or give it a price break so gamers will be willing to buy it while that happens."

I'm glad you said this. Rather than just bashing Sony or it's expensive console, you give a solution. I find that most video game websites just like to say...Sony sucks...FIN. Good article.
brainderailment's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 15:16
brainderailment
This is probably their pre-emptive denial of the 40gb ps3 that everyone knows about via the FCC.
qo_op's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 15:30
qo_op
How are some of you calling the ps3 expensive when you are spending upwards to a total of 700 bucks just to outfit your 360 with wifi and and other peripherals?? I don't get it.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 15:58
Mxyzptlk
What's with all the noobs adding up peripheral prices trying to defend the PS3's price? Looking for a new home after getting burned by SDF or something?
Fading Star's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 16:09
Fading Star
Can I buy some pot from you?
Gameboi's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 16:25
Gameboi
Silly Hirai. Had Sony priced the PS3 more in line with the competition from the start, things might have turned out so much differently than now. Live and learn.
Upgrayedd's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 17:35
Upgrayedd
L O L
drdentz's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 19:19
drdentz
The thing is, no one thinks about the peripheral's prices when they first buy the console.

People don't walk into a Wal-Mart thinking to themselves, "Hey, in reality, the 360 would be more expensive because you have to buy the wifi which is a hundred bucks, xbox live for 50 bucks and blah blah blah". Most people wouldn't really think ahead like that.

They see the 360's console price as $400 and nothing more. This is why PS3s don't sell because of that $600 price tag.

Also, 360 ftw.
zaqu's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 19:20
zaqu
ps3=awesome

sony=teh retarded
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/01/2007 19:32
Jim Sterling
L.



O.



L.
snattu's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/02/2007 08:32
snattu
Really people... Are you stupid or just unable to read? Obviously he was talking about the price within a certain time frame, i.e. launch.

Did Sony sell everything on launch? Yes, pretty much. That means that a) the price was market clearing b) price was under the market clearing point. Either way, the price was not too high. Anyone claiming otherwise has obviously no understanding about economics.

People are arguing that the price is too high, because they personally think that it is too high. I think it's very funny when people with a) no understanding about the basic principles of economics b) no stake in the company c) no insight in the strategy of Sony speculate about their longterm strategy and incremental parts (pricing, marketing, etc.) of that strategy.

Really people, get a grip.
Raidensolid's Avatar - Comment posted on 10/02/2007 22:14
Raidensolid
Two words.


No Shit.
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