According to Gamesindustry.biz, Sony Computer Entertainment MD Ray Maguire has revealed the UK price point for the full-spec PS3: £425. In a video interview he told Eurogamer TV, "I don't think it's an expensive machine; I think actually, it's probably a cheap machine... If you think a Blu-Ray player by itself might be GBP 600-700, and we're coming in at just GBP 425 - it's a bargain."
This is clearly Sony's corporate line, but some may feel such a comparison is a misnomer. Early adopters of new audio visual formats are not necessarily gamers - few self-respecting home cinema enthusiasts would have purchased PS2 as their first DVD player, for example. Although it was cheaper than purpose-built models at the time, the specifications and interface were not as good, and the machine itself didn't fit comfortably into established home entertainment set-ups. PS3 is undoubtedly sexier as a home entertainment machine, however, and as Blu-ray is Sony's baby, it may be a more tempting prospect for the usually snobbish tech intelligentsia.
Of course, all this may be academic. While commentators have expressed concern and even astonishment at this price point, they seem to be forgetting the relative lack of machines likely to be available at launch: just two million. Frankly, Sony could double the price and those units would still never touch the shelves. Pre-orders will gobble them up, and amid the panic and the hype, demand will grow. When the next lot hits the global market, they'll be swallowed up too.
Sony didn't have a great E3... so what? If failing to impress the specialist media always led to disaster, Hollywood would have fallen into dust decades ago. And those pundits making comparisons between PS3 and N64 (i.e. a once dominant force releasing controversial technology a year after its competitors) are overlooking key factors. N64 launched into a market which had effectively been revolutionalised by PlayStation on a global scale. In comparison, Xbox 360 is still struggling in Japan - which remains the psychological hub of the industry.
Yes, Sony is bullish, just as Nintendo was 10 years ago. But, unlike Nintendo, clinging in 1995 to the archaic cartridge format, it is looking ahead. Hi-Def is the future. The ball is there for Sony to drop, not for its competitors to snatch away.
