$400 PS3 with Spider-man 3 BR RUMOR

[Timstuff]

Well, it's more like 450-1000+ for a stand alone. But that does bring up an interesting point. With a PS3 at $400, they are basically undercutting the other CE companies producing stand alones. Gotta suck for those companies.

Ever consider that maybe there will be cheaper BR players available too?

And it's certainly no worse than what Toshiba has done, selling their bottom-line HD-DVD players at a loss while other CE makers couldn't.

 

[Downhere]

Ever consider that maybe there will be cheaper BR players available too?

And it's certainly no worse than what Toshiba has done, selling their bottom-line HD-DVD players at a loss while other CE makers couldn't.

And when will these magical lower priced BR players come to fruition? This year or next? Will they be profile 1.1 or 2.0 compliant?

There is no proof that Toshiba is selling their HD DVD players at a loss. Can't say the same for the PS3. Either way, it is bad when Sony is undercutting their fellow CE partners. Like I said, they must be really happy.

 

[Ice-man]

PS3 is being sold at a loss, now that some manufacturing prices went down i think its at about 600-700 to manufacture one machine.

but theyll make all that back with software sales.

 

[KALEL114]

And when will these magical lower priced BR players come to fruition? This year or next? Will they be profile 1.1 or 2.0 compliant?

There is no proof that Toshiba is selling their HD DVD players at a loss. Can't say the same for the PS3. Either way, it is bad when Sony is undercutting their fellow CE partners. Like I said, they must be really happy.

Well, according to Panasonic, there will price cuts in the CE's also.

Panasonic: Blu-ray will win the war by New Year's Day

CHIBA, Japan--The decisive battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD is at hand, says a prominent Panasonic exec.

Blu-ray manufacturers are going to start cutting prices and go out on a promotional binge this holiday season, Matsu****a Electric Industrial's Kazuhiro Tsuga said during a briefing with reporters at Ceatec, a large tech trade show that started here Tuesday. At Matsu****a, which is best known for its Panasonic brand name, Tsuga is an executive officer who oversees networking efforts, some home electronics technologies and overseas labs, and other areas.
By the end of the Christmas season or the end of the first quarter, the writing will be on the wall. The format war in earnest may last only another year, he predicted.
"The BD (Blu-ray disc) companies will try to do our best to promote Blu-ray," he said. "The studios want us to put money in to promote it."
He added: "By the end of the year, you will see good products with very good promotion."
The Blu-ray coalition is also working on ways to cut the price of slim Blu-ray drives and recorders to allow the technology to infiltrate notebooks and PCs.
And wouldn't you know it--Matsu****a has new Blu-ray players on the way. The three models will handle 18 hours of full-HD programs on a dual-layer disc and will go on sale November 1 in Japan, according to Reuters.
Tsuga's no fan of combo players that conjoin Blu-ray and HD DVD features. Last year, he called the idea "stupid, stupid." He pretty much repeated the comment this year and said that Matsu****a still has no plans for such a device.
He downplayed Paramount Pictures' commitment to release movies on HD DVD exclusively, saying it only lasts for 18 months, and argues that studios are going with HD DVD "because big money came" to them. (Microsoft, Toshiba and Intel are the main backers of HD DVD.)

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9789392-1.html?tag=blg.orig

 

[Downhere]

Well, according to Panasonic, there will price cuts in the CE's also.

Panasonic: Blu-ray will win the war by New Year's Day

CHIBA, Japan--The decisive battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD is at hand, says a prominent Panasonic exec.

Blu-ray manufacturers are going to start cutting prices and go out on a promotional binge this holiday season, Matsu****a Electric Industrial's Kazuhiro Tsuga said during a briefing with reporters at Ceatec, a large tech trade show that started here Tuesday. At Matsu****a, which is best known for its Panasonic brand name, Tsuga is an executive officer who oversees networking efforts, some home electronics technologies and overseas labs, and other areas.
By the end of the Christmas season or the end of the first quarter, the writing will be on the wall. The format war in earnest may last only another year, he predicted.
"The BD (Blu-ray disc) companies will try to do our best to promote Blu-ray," he said. "The studios want us to put money in to promote it."
He added: "By the end of the year, you will see good products with very good promotion."
The Blu-ray coalition is also working on ways to cut the price of slim Blu-ray drives and recorders to allow the technology to infiltrate notebooks and PCs.
And wouldn't you know it--Matsu****a has new Blu-ray players on the way. The three models will handle 18 hours of full-HD programs on a dual-layer disc and will go on sale November 1 in Japan, according to Reuters.
Tsuga's no fan of combo players that conjoin Blu-ray and HD DVD features. Last year, he called the idea "stupid, stupid." He pretty much repeated the comment this year and said that Matsu****a still has no plans for such a device.
He downplayed Paramount Pictures' commitment to release movies on HD DVD exclusively, saying it only lasts for 18 months, and argues that studios are going with HD DVD "because big money came" to them. (Microsoft, Toshiba and Intel are the main backers of HD DVD.)

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9789392-1.html?tag=blg.orig

Well, the BDA has been spewing this sort of information since the beginning of the year. It seems they keep pushing back their date for when BR will win. First it was by Spring, then by summer, then by fall and now by winter. Also, most of the standalones have been announced for this year. Lowering prices by Panasonic standards is releasing a $500 dollar player this month. I think it's the DMB-30 or something, not positive on the model number but I do know the MSRP which is $500. So they really dropped the price from the previous model of $600. Wow, big price drop. Samsung and Sony are in the $450-500 dollar range as well with only the Sharp supposedly going to be sold at $400-450. Other than that you have players from Pioneer, Sony and others coming it at 800-1000 dollars and are not profile 1.1 compliant.

 

[Timstuff]

It doesn't matter if it wins tomarrow or 2 years from now, as long as it wins.

 

[Downhere]

It doesn't matter if it wins tomarrow or 2 years from now, as long as it wins.

Of course it matters. The longer the war goes on the less of a chance that BR will win. What gets me is the fact that the BDA continues to change when they will win. You would think that if BR is the success they say it is, it would have won a long time ago.

 

[Zenien]

Well the sooner one side loses the better, for HD media. People can argue prices all they want but the stalemate is a bad thing for HD media, and frankly, the BDA had their projected wins as foregone conclusions before Paramount and Dreamworks defected. HD-DVD was going to get slaughtered this christmas. HD-DVD group was desperate, and for good reason. Though the fact is Paramount and Dreamworks going had nothing to do with lower disc prices and all to do with a secret backdoor payout given to them that the BDA wasn't aware of until it happened.

 

[Downhere]

Well the sooner one side loses the better, for HD media. People can argue prices all they want but the stalemate is a bad thing for HD media, and frankly, the BDA had their projected wins as foregone conclusions before Paramount and Dreamworks defected. HD-DVD was going to get slaughtered this christmas.

I will agree that the longer the war goes on the less of a chance it will have to go mainstream. Although, I don't think it will ever go mainstream. At this rate I think niche status is probably what is in store for either format, even if one loses and one wins.

 

[cookiva]

Well the sooner one side loses the better, for HD media. People can argue prices all they want but the stalemate is a bad thing for HD media, and frankly, the BDA had their projected wins as foregone conclusions before Paramount and Dreamworks defected. HD-DVD was going to get slaughtered this christmas. HD-DVD group was desperate, and for good reason. Though the fact is Paramount and Dreamworks going had nothing to do with lower disc prices and all to do with a secret backdoor payout given to them that the BDA wasn't aware of until it happened.

NEVER!!!! NO ONE WINS!

 

[Zenien]

If that happens, adn this point it would be thanks to HD-DVD. All the peices were on the board with the arrival of the PS3, and this Christmas was set to be a clean sweep. The longer the war goes on the more consumer interest would dwindle. Toshiba should have manned up and joined the BDA instead of deadlocking the players, similarly how the BDA should have joined up with HD-DVD if the PS3 gambit proved unsuccessful, and how both sides should have put their differences aside to begin with, and how Toshiba should have just bowed to the will of the rest of the industry when it came to establishing the new standard prior to that.

 

[Downhere]

If that happens, adn this point it would be thanks to HD-DVD. All the peices were on the board with the arrival of the PS3, and this Christmas was set to be a clean sweep. The longer the war goes on the more consumer interest would dwindle. Toshiba should have manned up and joined the BDA instead of deadlocking the players, similarly how the BDA should have joined up with HD-DVD if the PS3 gambit proved unsuccessful, and how both sides should have put their differences aside to begin with, and how Toshiba should have just bowed to the will of the rest of the industry when it came to establishing the new standard prior to that.

How about the BDA man up and stick with what the DVD Forum mandated with HD DVD. The PS3 gamble hasn't proved to be successful, so you would think that they would "man up" as you say. I mean, if you think success is with being last in the console wars and overpriced for the general public is a success then I question your thinking process. Remember that both HD DVD and BR came about at the same time, but you have to love how Sony and Panasonic tried to thwart the development of HD DVD. You would think that a complete technology would be better for consumers, but it seems BR fans don't care about a complete set of standards for a format.

 

[Zenien]

Yeah the BDA should have maned up and gone with what the DVD forum mandated for the next house hold movie/video technology that the DVD forum had no business in. Especially with Toshiba having vito power in that forum, you have to wonder how that 'blessing' got through. Oh right. The fact is most of the industry wanted to go off and make a bigger more future proofed step and Toshiba had a chance there, a real chance, to be one of the founding members in that, but they decided to be stubborn, not realize the tide was against them and fracture the market.

I mean, if you think success is with being last in the console wars and overpriced for the general public is a success then I question your thinking process.

That's a nice way of applying what I said into a different context to suit your argument. I meant success in the HD space, if the PS3 gamble didn't pay off, which it did, then the BDA, baring actually attempting price parity, should have closed up shop.

The PS3 won't be as sucessful as the PS2, obviously, but it won't be dreamcasting either, and the potential gains of the next standard dwarf the dominance of the Playstation in it's prime.

. Remember that both HD DVD and BR came about at the same time

And the lines were drawn against HD-DVD as far as the industry jumping on, very early.

but you have to love how Sony and Panasonic tried to thwart the development of HD DVD.

ha.

You would think that a complete technology would be better for consumers, but it seems BR fans don't care about a complete set of standards for a format.

No one cares about stupid little java games, or even picture in picture. What people, what even the majority of people who have bought into HD right now want, is HD to succeed. All those extras HD DVD have mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, and BR did and still has the better chance of sucess, and what are all those little extras anyway, when Bluray will eventually get them. No one cares as long as Bluray will eventually be getting those features as well. I would like those features and standardized players and all that to be sorted out as soon as possible, but I'd like HD media to not end up as a niche format, which, with HD-DVD pulling a dirty move in the 11th hour that only stalemates things, seems like a greater possibility every day, and frankly, anyone who would rather have a niche market for these two, over BR being successful, is a fanboy. IF I had to choose between niche and HD-DVD I'd go HD-DVD, but that's not an as realistic scenario.

 

[Downhere]

Yeah the BDA should have maned up and gone with what the DVD forum mandated for the next house hold movie/video technology that the DVD forum had no business in. Especially with Toshiba having vito power in that forum, you have to wonder how that 'blessing' got through. Oh right. The fact is most of the industry wanted to go off and make a bigger more future proofed step and Toshiba had a chance there, a real chance, to be one of the founding members in that, but they decided to be stubborn, not realize the tide was against them and fracture the market.

The DVD Forum had no business in the next standard for High Def? Why is that? Sony and Panasonic could have tried to work with the DVD Forum on the next format but they decided to break away. They also decided to thwart the development of HD DVD by abstaining from voting, which Warner Brothers complained about. Luckily, the DVD Forum changed the rules so that abstaining would not do what Sony/Panasonic wanted it to do. So you say that Toshiba is stubborn but not Sony/Panasonic?

That's a nice way of applying what I said into a different context to suit your argument. I meant success in the HD space, if the PS3 gamble didn't pay off, which it did, then the BDA, baring actually attempting price parity, should have closed up shop.

The PS3 won't be as sucessful as the PS2, obviously, but it won't be dreamcasting either, and the potential gains of the next standard dwarf the dominance of the Playstation in it's prime.

Well, you should know about applying what one has said to suit your argument as you do it often. So the PS3 gamble has paid off? Last in next gen console sales. Atrocious attachment rates in regard to BR movies and the "trojan horse" hasn't been able to kill HD DVD either. Interesting that you think the gamble paid off. Well, we definately know that the PS3 won't reach PS2 levels that's for sure.

And the lines were drawn against HD-DVD as far as the industry jumping on, very early.

Yeah, especially when you have certain companies trying to sabotage it.

No one cares about stupid little java games, or even picture in picture. What people, what even the majority of people who have bought into HD right now want, is HD to succeed. All those extras HD DVD have mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, and BR did and still has the better chance of sucess, and what are all those little extras anyway, when Bluray will eventually get them. No one cares, except HD DVD fanboys.

Well, while you think no one cares about stupid little java games and picture in picture, why should the BDA even implement these features then? They aren't important and cause many headaches for those with stand alone players that are only 1.0 compliant. Heck, the movies don't even have to be profile 1.1 to cause problems, they just have to have Java menus to do that. The fact of the matter is BR shouldn't "eventually get them." It should have had them from the beginning. The BDA released a half ass format because they weren't ready for the prime time and still aren't. HD DVD has been complete from day one. A complete standard. It's funny, since BR doesn't have their profile mess fixed Blu-ray fans tout that interactive extras are not important but when the BDA gets its act together and actually has it working they will tout that it is the next best thing since slice bread. The hypocracy of it all.

It's amazing too. There are still no profile 1.1 players yet and most likely won't see one till Christmas (which will be a dual format player). So all these other profile 1.0 players are gonna have a good old time when more movies come out with 1.1 features, java menus, and good old BD+ (which is already causing problems for some owners with the release of The Day After Tomorrow and FF2). Gotta love blu-ray, they are so consumer friendly!

 

[Devil May Cry]

From neogaf:


No chrome strip
No memory card reader
Smaller 40GB hard drive
2 USB ports instead of 4
No Ethernet cable included in the box
No PS2 backwards compatibility




That's not so bad.

 

[Downhere]

From neogaf:


No chrome strip
No memory card reader
Smaller 40GB hard drive
2 USB ports instead of 4
No Ethernet cable included in the box
No PS2 backwards compatibility




That's not so bad.

No PS2 backwards compatibility is bad, at least to me. The whole reason I would buy a PS3 is to be able to play PS2 and PS3 games and of course BR movies. The backwards compatibility is a huge factor, at least to me.

 

[Zenien]

I would preferred it had they removed the wifi instead. But removing the GS would allow them to simplify the motherboard.

 

[BatMatt]

well I guess when you think about it would people pay an extra $100-$200 for backwards capability? Probably not

 

[Zenien]

I would have removed the Wifi as well if I was them.

 

[cookiva]

if wifi took off more than $20 of the final price, they definitly should have done so. Every dollar matters when its matched against the premium or elite 360

 

[Ice-man]

they can do the ps2 backwards compatibility with software emulation, similar to what Xbox360 does.

 

[Downhere]

they can do the ps2 backwards compatibility with software emulation, similar to what Xbox360 does.

From what I understand there is still some hardware involved, at least I remember reading that. Maybe it was Zenien that mentioned that, not sure though.

 

[Zenien]

There is still some PS2 hardware in the 'software emulation' PS3's. It's the GS/Rasterizer, apparently. I'm not sure how they could do full emulation, considering the bus between the EE/GS was 48g/s, greater then that between the Cell/RSX. It would be a nightmare to emulate, imo. But I'm nowhere near knowledgeable about these things to say that for certain.

 

[KALEL114]

BC really is not that big of a deal. The PS2 is already in over 100 million homes today. Buy a PS3 and just switch them out when you want. Plus, the PS3 is going down in price all the time $99 is not too far away probably. I really hope there is more to the announcement though.

 

[Timstuff]

PSP can run PS1 games amazingly using the official emulator and the Popstation homebrew app, so I don't see why software emulation of PS2 games wouldn't be doable on the PS3 with Sony's backing. I'm hopeful that it will still have B/C, it will just be a little more limited at first, as was the 80GB PS3 at first.

2 less USB ports makes almost as little sense. Well, we'll just have to wait and see how much of that is true and how much isn't.