Apparently making money isn't one of those things the chaps at Sony Computer Entertainment like doing, because they've made it blatantly clear that even with the newest PS3 slim model coming to the marketplace, the older models will still retain a price tag very close to the Wii U's launch price.
While I originally griped about the Wii U's price in comparison to its specs, I have an even bigger gripe with the fact that six year old hardware is still selling for almost an equivalent price of brand spanking new hardware.
In an interview with Engadget, VP of hardware marketing, John Koller, spoke out against price cuts for the aging PS3 and its older models, saying...
"There's no price drop formally, but the thing that's been happening in the market over the last year or so is that there's been so many retail price promotions, and so many different gift card offers and all those things, being done by all of us (Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony), that we've heard from our consumer, ‘Enough with all these weird price moves. What we really want is content and games and value,'"
'Weird price moves'? Um, okay. I thought it was getting better value for your dollar, but anyone who lays down $270 for a PS3 or $300 for the new 500GB PS3 Slim may as well wait for November to roll around and get a Wii U for the exact same price. Spec wise the Wii U just runs circles around the current gen console, that's not to mention that other than Uncharted you can get many of the other multiplatform titles on the PS3 for the Wii U, including Assassin's Creed III.
The only people who might see that bundle as a deal would be uninformed gamers or casuals who know absolutely nothing about video game consoles, otherwise you're just kind of cheating yourself.
What's more is that Koller says Sony is in the console race for the long haul. In a separate interview with Gamespot [via The Verge], Koller stated that...
”We are increasingly bullish on the PS3's prospects not only this year but over the next few years. I think when you look at the types of content coming to the PS3, the consumer coming in… through the 250GB Uncharted 3 bundle or…through the Assassins' Creed III 500GB model, they're getting unique content.”..."We're going to continue supporting the PS3 for the next few years,""And we're going to continue supporting it not only that long, but as long as there is a development spigot that's running hot. And I can tell you right now, the development spigot for PS3 is very hot. A lot of great games coming,"
It will be interesting to see how the PS3 handles itself in a next-generation market environment, especially with heavy rumors supporting Microsoft's move into the next-gen console race starting next fall in 2013. While neither company has revealed any concrete information on next-gen consoles, Nintendo already has a leg up on the competition launching the Wii U this year, and by comparison they're doing so at a competitive price point (even if we don't all agree with it.) Sony will have to play some market-Chess with both the PS3 and potentially the PS4 if they really want to leverage themselves out of third place.
