joshd2012

For those of you who were looking at the PS3 for your Blu-Ray playback, you will be happy to hear that Sony has announced that all PS3s will now come with an HDMI v1.3 port.

Just to throw a little fire out there, the closest thing on the HD DVD side is the upcoming XA2 at $1000 (twice the price). Of course, that doesn't play games.

Spiky

Link?

So, what? The only difference for $100 is now a bigger HDD? Maybe a different controller, if they copy Xbox packages?

joshd2012

Sorry. There is a Japanese press release out there, but I don't have time to look.

http://news.com.com/Sonys+20GB+PS3+t...3-6118346.html

And the $100 gets you the bigger hard drive, WiFi, memory card reader, and possibly a second HDMI port (seen that reported in areas). Both systems have HDD and wireless controllers.

candyrocket786

So what difference am I going to see with my v1.1 port on my HDTV?

Mr. Cinema

Has there ever been a video game machine that offered great movie playback capability? I can't think of any...

flashburn

The PS3, duh!

kvrdave

Good news, and finally a smart one by Sony. I can't imagine why they didn't do this before.

darkside

This could be the first, but I doubt it.

That knock out of the way, I think Sony is doing a lot to improve the PS3. Price drop in Japan and HDMI 1.3 for all units. That is a good start.

The PS3 is going to be $425 in Japan, if they could launch in the US for $399.99 it would be on my radar. I would definitely consider it once its been out for awhile and I could be assured the quality of the unit is there. The 360 has held me off due to its quality issues, if the PS3 ends up being built correctly like the PSP I may make it my second console and I might even watch a movie on it if the playback is worthy of HD video.

joshd2012

The problem with previous machines, is that all the decoding is done via software, so many of them didn't have the horsepower to process the data as effectively as hardware decoders. With the Cell, that shouldn't be a problem, but we'll see.

kvrdave

I think there is just far too much new technology in this to not have some major bumps in the road, personally. If I do end up going for a PS3, it will be mainly for movies, so I will definatley wait to see how they do via reviews, then I will wait for all the kinks to get worked out. Even then, it probably isn't for me since I don't think it will be a great movie player. But maybe by then the prices on the others will come down.

Drexl

While this is good news for those who were going to get a PS3 just for movie playback, this could be a problem for people who need to use component video. Without that base of PS3s with no HDMI to be concerned about, we'll probably see the studios implement ICT sooner rather than later.

Spiky

The large base of CRT-RPTVs sold from 1999-2003 without HDMI or DVI is probably a bigger factor.

Drexl

True, but at least they're not making many new displays without HDMI. With a cheaper model HDMI-less PS3, it would be a factor even throughout the 5-6 year life of the console, whereas many of the people with component-only displays would likely upgrade within that time to HDMI-capable displays.

darkside

Its still going to be a factor if MS sells enough HD add ons.

gcribbs

Great news!

If they decide to blindside MS with a pricedrop to $399 on the base unit it will be a huge move from Sony. They needed it with all the bad news lately.

darkside

Its a big if though. They may only be worried about Japan and keep the price $499 here.

candyrocket786

If they have a price drop here, I might be more inclined to buy/keep it versus flipping it altogether.

...but that's a pretty big "IF"

Spiky

That's a 10,000 yen price drop. Around 17%. That's pretty serious, it must be costing less than expected. They wouldn't change what they said in May just for fun.

Coral

If it were costing less than expected to build, they would probably be cutting the price in all markets.

This is only happening in Japan because they have tough competition with the Wii there, and there's still a chance MS could cut into Sony's marketshare there with the impressive upcoming Japanese-aimed titles coming out.

candyrocket786

... and there won't be tough competition here?

Josh H

Nintendo is more popular in Japan than in the US.

In the US Sony is after gamers that want "adult" games like GTA etc. While nintendo is going for kids, non-gamers, and gamers that want more casual pick up and play games.

There is more overlap in Japan as gamers there are big on the quirky pick up and play games, so they are fighting for more of the same market over there.


Microsoft is Sony's main competition in the U.S. (and no threat at all in Japan as the 360 sold shit over there).

Coral

There will be tough competition here, but I think Sony is worried about losing a big chunk of market share in a market they've completely dominated - Japan.

I dont think the Wii is a big attraction in North America, but in Japan it could easily steal Sony's thunder (much like the DS has against the PSP). Japan is extremely important to Sony.

candyrocket786

ah...

Josh Z

It'll be a huge move to eat another $100 of their expenses on each unit sold, for a product that had high development costs and is already heavily subsidized? Sounds like a clear path to bankruptcy to me.

candyrocket786

Not if they're charging us up to a $100 per game