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!]
