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Minter, the founder of Llamasoft, has criticised the PlayStation 3, saying it is “expensive” and is lacking launch games. The comments made in Edge continue, Minter adding:
“They [Sony] seem absolutely certain that even when they say it’s going to be considerably more expensive than existing consoles… nevertheless us eager customers will rush out in droves to buy it because, hey, it’s a new PlayStation.“
The ‘no one can beat us’ stance from Sony, has led Minter to call the platform holder “incredibly arrogant.“
Most people in the industry are predicting a successful launch for the PlayStation 3, selling out across the world, but it’s the period following the launch that is casting doubt over the long term success of the console. Priced substantially higher than the competition at a staggering $599 (£425), the relatively low priced Xbox 360, and expected low price point of the Wii could well leave Sony and the PS3 in tricky situation.
Sony chief executive Howard Stringer doesn’t see the high price as a problem though, noting that “you’re paying for potential,” and that “if the PS3 lives up to its total potential, then I don’t think anyone will be worried about Nintendo or Xbox’s cheaper price.“
Only this week San Diego-based DFC Intelligence sent out a memo pointing towards Sony’s downfall, predicting that the current market leader would lose out to Microsoft and Nintendo in the next-gen console war.
“Sony has done very little to justify why the system is worth a premium price for consumers that don’t care about raw hardware performance and are not hard-core audio/visual consumers,” DFC said. “Unfortunately we believe that represents over 90% of the consumers in the marketplace.“
DFC Intelligence went on to add: “A $600 price point is okay for launch but it will not fly in holiday 2007. If Sony wants to drive unit volume 2007 needs to be not only the year of price cuts, but the year of drastic price cuts. There is going to be a shakeup in the video game industry and even if Sony executes perfectly there could be a new market leader in two years.“
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