bluntman72

I thought the HD-DVD players didnt use the blue laser, but rather they used a red laser that was similar in technology to the original DVD players.

Qui Gon Jim

Excellent analysis, hitting it right on the head.

I still have my doubts that it will hit the US this year. It is supposed to launch in 7 weeks. Production has not started yet. How the blue hell will they come up with 50,000 units a week? I just don't see it happening. If anything, there will be a token release of a low quantity of systems.

darkside

No, they use blue lasers as well so a shortage hurts everyone. However, I don't think a standalone disc player is going to move many units for either format for awhile so I don't know if that will be a major problem. HD DVDs and Blu-ray standalones are looking for sales in the low hundreds of thousands compared to the PS3 that Sony needs to move in the millions of units.

Movie format is one thing, but a shortage of PS3s means lots of people buying 360 and Wii consoles this Xmas instead and Sony could really be screwed if that happens.

We are caught up a lot on the Hi-def movie war which honestly may never exploid big for either format or at least could take a long time, but the battle for dominance with Microsoft is the real war Sony can't afford to lose. 360 has a big Christmas and Sony could lose a huge chunk of the American market. If the Wii takes a big chuck of the Japanese market as well Sony could see their big market share squeezed way down in 2007.

Its going to be interesting.

Coral

I keep hearing "US and Japan", but as with many things "US" is considered North America. I wonder if Canada will be getting any.
If it is released in Canada, I'm tempted to pick one or more up (if at all possible) to flip for a nice little profit.

With NHL 07 looking as good as it is so far, and with the PS3 being almost impossible to get - the 360 could have a nice market share in Canada.

The more marketshare the Wii and 360 take away from Sony, the smaller the Blu-Ray market will be (and it remains to be seen what percentage of gamers will buy into it as a movie format in the first place).

Sony's hurtin'.

Maybe MS could capitalize on it and reduce the 360 price in Europe by $50, or offer a tempting bundle with FIFA or PSE. Gotta strike while the iron's hot.

Supermallet

I'm number one on my pre-order list at FYE (so I can resell on ebay, nobody panic). I actually wonder if they'll even get one of either version.

Something somebody mentioned on AVS:

"This is going to seriously hurt game developers depending on the PS3 and may cause many to bail on that platform."

This is something I didn't even consider but could very well be true and could hurt Sony even more.

candyrocket786

I doubt you'll ever see it.

I guarantee you that the damn employees will get first dibbs.

Supermallet

Actually, at this particular store (it's in the same mall where I work), the employees only get dibs on ones where the customer cancels their reserves. Either that or by reserving it themselves like any other customer. But I am first on the list.

Spiky

It was something ridiculous like 10/90. But the 360 base model was completely worthless, for games. The base PS3 is more an issue for movies, the games won't really be affected. So guessing a breakdown at this point is difficult.

Supermallet

I don't know, the lack of a memory stick reader on the $500 PS3 could really crimp my gaming style.

pinata242

For argument's sake, what incentive does Sony have to actually create any of the $500 models? They could be 100% $600 and they'd all be gone. Just chalk up your not finding the cheaper one up to demand. At least they "offered" it...

Spiky

Sony's incentive is that the $500 model makes them more money. Or loses less, I suppose. $100 for all the additional features (below) is probably a good deal for consumers. At least that's my guess. It doesn't actually sound like there's a greater cost (Sony's cost) for the differences, so I'm really not sure. Maybe the controller included will be different, too? That would affect the cost differential.

Unless it changes, the differences are a smaller hard drive, no wireless network, no memory card reader, no HDMI in the cheaper model. The wireless is the only item that will matter to most gamers, they don't necessarily want to run a wire or put it near their net hookup. Some could find it cheaper to use an external wireless access point instead of buying it built in. The larger HDD is negated by the wireless networking since it won't be for games, just multimedia. But that could be streamed instead of stored on the PS3's drive. Many collections wouldn't be small enough to fit, anyway. The HDMI is all that would matter to me.

My guess would be 30/70 just to make the shelves look right. More of the $600 model.

RockStrongo

Yep and unfortunately, they dont include an hdmi cable with it (at least thats the rumor so far).

RoboDad

That sounds about right to me, too. They might go as low as 60/40 (again with more of the $600 model), but aside from the lowered per-unit loss there is no real incentive for them to do so. Whatever mix they distribute, the units will all sell out hours, if not minutes.

Damed

If it's anything like the XBOX 360 release, Canada will get them, and our numbers are lumped into the "US" numbers - meaning whatever we get will mean that many LESS in the USA. Chains like BEST BUY, WALMART, EBGAMES and so forth are North America Wide, so they would place orders on that level.

Spiky

Meh, we know where to get better ones already. I received 2 HDMI cables with my HDTivo, don't use either of them.

Drexl

I think it's possible that there will be just as much demand for the lower-priced model (for those buying it strictly for games). With the 360, the hard drive was the big factor with the Premium system. You need something for saving games, and since the memory cards cost $40, it was only $60 more for the Premium with its larger and faster hard drive storage. That plus some other considerations like a wireless controller made it a no-brainer.

With the higher costs involved here, I could see a lot of people who want the cheaper system just so they can play certain games without spending as much.

I think the split will be in favor of the more expensive model at first, if only because they know that some people will buy it anyway just to have it, even if they wanted the cheaper model.

RockStrongo

For informed consumers it isnt a problem, but Sony is relying on J6P to figure it out on his own.

Spiky

Ah, but that's where their secret pact with Monster Cable, Best Buy, and all other related entities comes in to rip off the poor consumer on cables.

How else will anyone make money on this bloated product?

Noonan

I would have no problem getting the cheaper model. My TV can't handle 1080p even though I just bought it a few months ago and by the time the copy protection kicks in for Blu-Ray discs I'll already have or want to get a stand alone player. Until then, 1080i through component is fine with me.

RockStrongo

I bet the bank that Sony got the loan from sure is making a killing.

Vipper II

Then you tell them what 'HDMI' stands for and their head just explodes, like in Scanners. "Too. Much. Information. To process."

bboisvert

I was thinking this whole situation was funny on a couple of levels. One, the fact that RCA cables were confusing to him. Two, the fact that a $10 DVD player (ten. frigging. dollars.) wasn't a good enough deal to hang onto.

There's NO WAY that this person will ever embrace HD (from a tech or price perspective). It just ain't happening. He'll go to his deathbed watching standard def cable, DVD, and VHS on his 25" tube.

Spiky

You should see this thread we had on our local HD forum. We never did figure out how real it was, some good comedy, though. Here's a sample: "It's crazy! How could TrueValue [hardware store] not carry TVs?"

http://hdtvtwincities.com/forumbb/vi...ighlight=sears

The Bus

That's sort of funny. Sony's financial services division is its most profitable, in terms of profits over sales. Least? Its consumer electronics division.

DthRdrX

698 million - 20 Japanese lenders.