DFC Intelligence on PS3 Price’s Effects For Sony and the Gaming Industry

Ever since Sony officially announced its PlayStation 3 and revealed that it will sell for $499 for the 20GB model and $599 for the $60GB, many analysts have tried to put their 2 cents worth with regards to how this will affect the next-gen wars. Game industry research firm DFC Intelligence is no different.

This time off, the ‘predicted’ detrimental effects of the Sony console’s high pricing are aimed at the whole gaming industry and not just at Sony. “The higher priced the hardware, the lower overall industry growth will be. The video game business model has been to build an installed base of tens of millions of users in a very short time frame. A key factor in this model is relatively low cost hardware…,” says a report issued by DFC.

DFC further notes that with the PS3’s price finally out, changes in preferences has already occurred. As the $200 difference with the Xbox 360 is a significant one, DFC asserts that some gamers who were holding on to their money for the release of PS3 might now make an easy decision to transition over to the 360. They reiterated that the Sony brand name is not enough for gamers to stick to the PlayStation especially since the only next-gen gaming console out right now offers a rich software line-up.

Before all Sony purists raise hell, let me point out that these are just calculations and analysis of things to come. Until the PS3 is out, nothing is really final – no matter what analysts say…let us not take their word for it. But they are sure interesting to read about. Gamers can all prove them wrong or correct. Six months to go and we’ll see how “true” these speculations will turn out to be.

Ever since Sony officially announced its PlayStation 3 and revealed that it will sell for $499 for the 20GB model and $599 for the $60GB, many analysts have tried to put their 2 cents worth with regards to how this will affect the next-gen wars. Game industry research firm DFC Intelligence is no different.

This time off, the ‘predicted’ detrimental effects of the Sony console’s high pricing are aimed at the whole gaming industry and not just at Sony. “The higher priced the hardware, the lower overall industry growth will be. The video game business model has been to build an installed base of tens of millions of users in a very short time frame. A key factor in this model is relatively low cost hardware…,” says a report issued by DFC.

DFC further notes that with the PS3’s price finally out, changes in preferences has already occurred. As the $200 difference with the Xbox 360 is a significant one, DFC asserts that some gamers who were holding on to their money for the release of PS3 might now make an easy decision to transition over to the 360. They reiterated that the Sony brand name is not enough for gamers to stick to the PlayStation especially since the only next-gen gaming console out right now offers a rich software line-up.

Before all Sony purists raise hell, let me point out that these are just calculations and analysis of things to come. Until the PS3 is out, nothing is really final – no matter what analysts say…let us not take their word for it. But they are sure interesting to read about. Gamers can all prove them wrong or correct. Six months to go and we’ll see how “true” these speculations will turn out to be.