What do you think Sony needs to do to sell more PS3's in the US?

The PS3 is selling allot more than it did last year. And it's really doing a good job overseas. But it's still in 3rd place in monthly sales here in America. What do you think Sony can do to make it more appealing to the ave consumer.

-777-

I think the simple answer here would be lower the price. The problem is it would mean taking an even huger hit in regards to losing money (per system, as they already lose money on just the system now). Once the big name titles hit, such as MGS and LBP, it may be able to pick up more steam. Also, as the lineup rounds out more and more, it will become more appealing. MS hit early and got a head start on it's library b/c of it, and Nintendo aimed at a slightly different market (Blue Ocean strategy). Combine those with the price, and you got Sony in third. Once enough games are available and BluRay secures its win, things may look better for Sony.elemental_drago

Well put!

-777-

Get a firmware update that helps it play 360 and Wii games, just to knock out the competition. :P Although there are no games that I want to play on the Wii, and I just got Gears of War for PC so that particular solution wouldn't solve anything for me.Liquid-Prince

That would be awesome!

I had a 360, my gf bought me the ps3, once I tried it, I sold my 360, because:

Sony is doing everything right in my opinion,

bluray has a "sexier" name for marketing purposes (though, apparently sony failed miserably once before...with a small video tape format called Beta),

Sony is releasing better PSN content (come on, wild arms vs...what is on xbl that is good again? Puzzle quest that is cheaper to buy for ps2?)

Sony is also releasing 2 major products for "free", those being The Agency (spy MMO) and Home (virtual life), which will draw a lot of attention...

The ps3 is a way better machine than the 360, for one, is doesn't have the freakin hardware failure rate, another, it has built in Bluray, you don't need to buy a stupid external hd-dvd player to watch movies in HD on it, and...well...sorry pirates, but it's obviously way harder to mod to steal games for...also good in my opinion.

As per the games themselves, ps3 has a couple nice exclusives (Folklore, Uncharted, Dark Kingdom *I liked it.*), whereas, most of 360's exclusives are PC games now as well (except mass effect, which rules btw)once the new final fantasy gets a release date, you watch, numbers will continue to rise, and quick.

The only thing they need to do would be to put out good games. The PS3 is selling well right now at the current price point. I asume next year that they will lower the price in the holiday and while releasing good games(MGS4 and Killzone 2 among others) and the PS3 sells will increase.GANTZ0

Ditto. A price drop is not needed. People didn't have a problem paying $400 for the 360, they shouldn't have a problem paying $400 for the PS3. Especially since it offers better quality hardware and more features. All they need is to release more games.

offer americans subprime financing lolgrand17

Yes americans like spending there money in the long run(360 and all its addons) rather than up front(PS3)

I had a 360, my gf bought me the ps3, once I tried it, I sold my 360, because:

Sony is doing everything right in my opinion,

bluray has a "sexier" name for marketing purposes (though, apparently sony failed miserably once before...with a small video tape format called Beta),

Sony is releasing better PSN content (come on, wild arms vs...what is on xbl that is good again? Puzzle quest that is cheaper to buy for ps2?)

Sony is also releasing 2 major products for "free", those being The Agency (spy MMO) and Home (virtual life), which will draw a lot of attention...

The ps3 is a way better machine than the 360, for one, is doesn't have the freakin hardware failure rate, another, it has built in Bluray, you don't need to buy a stupid external hd-dvd player to watch movies in HD on it, and...well...sorry pirates, but it's obviously way harder to mod to steal games for...also good in my opinion.

As per the games themselves, ps3 has a couple nice exclusives (Folklore, Uncharted, Dark Kingdom *I liked it.*), whereas, most of 360's exclusives are PC games now as well (except mass effect, which rules btw)once the new final fantasy gets a release date, you watch, numbers will continue to rise, and quick.

Andrew_Xavier

killzone2 final fantasy mgs4 resistance vs. castlevania, countless contra games, paperboy, mario galaxy, halo 3, gears of war, zelda twilight princess, mass effect metroid prime and a couple hundred bucks I would love to have a ps3 but its pricy and the weak line up in the future I'll get one because Ive always trusted sony in the long haul personally I hate halo but when the time came to put the ps2 away the 360 had the nice price and good online community alot of people would risk the failure rate no matter how much of a pain it is I own two 360's and Ive only had one error on one of them which was e74 and it sucked because it was 50 bucks to fix but alot of people will take that chance

I think the simple answer here would be lower the price. The problem is it would mean taking an even huger hit in regards to losing money (per system, as they already lose money on just the system now).elemental_drago

I think the price matches the competition jus fine. I've also read in recent news that the cost in making PS3's has been cut in half so their not losing as much money per system like they used to.

[QUOTE="elemental_drago"]I think the simple answer here would be lower the price. The problem is it would mean taking an even huger hit in regards to losing money (per system, as they already lose money on just the system now).Soulreaver9

I think the price matches the competition jus fine. I've also read in recent news that the cost in making PS3's has been cut in half so their not losing as much money per system like they used to.

Although, for what you're getting it's a steal at it's current price, the PS3 is still the most expensive. It's a $400/$500 system competing with one at $280/$350/$450 and another at $250 respectively. To some, they'll see what each has to offer (games, peripherals,HD content, etc.) while others may simply be looking for simple, game-related leisure. Those are the people who may be turned off by the price. That's all I'm saying.

huge rpg lineup for those rpg fans still hanging on to their PS2's. FFXIII is not enough.

another price drop?

Online multiplayer games (i think thats what appeals to americans most besides halo and madden)

Make it come in different colors, it will sell, just look at the gameboy.

advertise it more.

Off America a financing program. $80 per year for 5 yrs. Or around $1.54 per week for 5 yrs. Similar to financing a car.

[QUOTE="Soulreaver9"]

[QUOTE="elemental_drago"]I think the simple answer here would be lower the price. The problem is it would mean taking an even huger hit in regards to losing money (per system, as they already lose money on just the system now).elemental_drago

I think the price matches the competition jus fine. I've also read in recent news that the cost in making PS3's has been cut in half so their not losing as much money per system like they used to.

Although, for what you're getting it's a steal at it's current price, the PS3 is still the most expensive. It's a $400/$500 system competing with one at $280/$350/$450 and another at $250 respectively. To some, they'll see what each has to offer (games, peripherals,HD content, etc.) while others may simply be looking for simple, game-related leisure. Those are the people who may be turned off by the price. That's all I'm saying.

That seems to be the problem these days, people buying systems without doing a little research. It's real easy and would only take about 15 minutes. Even if you didnt care for anything else but gaming you look at the ps3 and think 400 bucks is alot, but then you see the $280 360 and think thats a good price. Seems that way at first until you find out you need live to play online so even with the 3 months subscription thats 20 bucks added then you find out that all you got was a small memory card so now you gotta fork over 100 bucks for a hard drive and thats for the cheap hard drive. Add all that up and you get 400 bucks. Seems pretty even to me, as far as price goes only the wii has the advantage.

[QUOTE="elemental_drago"][QUOTE="Soulreaver9"]

[QUOTE="elemental_drago"]I think the simple answer here would be lower the price. The problem is it would mean taking an even huger hit in regards to losing money (per system, as they already lose money on just the system now).Soulreaver9

I think the price matches the competition jus fine. I've also read in recent news that the cost in making PS3's has been cut in half so their not losing as much money per system like they used to.

Although, for what you're getting it's a steal at it's current price, the PS3 is still the most expensive. It's a $400/$500 system competing with one at $280/$350/$450 and another at $250 respectively. To some, they'll see what each has to offer (games, peripherals,HD content, etc.) while others may simply be looking for simple, game-related leisure. Those are the people who may be turned off by the price. That's all I'm saying.

That seems to be the problem these days, people buying systems without doing a little research. It's real easy and would only take about 15 minutes. Even if you didnt care for anything else but gaming you look at the ps3 and think 400 bucks is alot, but then you see the $280 360 and think thats a good price. Seems that way at first until you find out you need live to play online so even with the 3 months subscription thats 20 bucks added then you find out that all you got was a small memory card so now you gotta fork over 100 bucks for a hard drive and thats for the cheap hard drive. Add all that up and you get 400 bucks. Seems pretty even to me, as far as price goes only the wii has the advantage.

That, my friend, truly is a notable problem these days. However, some of the market may also be comprised of those stereotypical mothers (to, you know, generalize a portion of the populace) who are looking for a cool b-day or x-mas gift for their child. When the extent of your knowledge on video games is "my son likes them" it's hard to blame them for not looking past the initial price tag. (let alone knowing where to startwhen it comes to researching these things)At that point, no one can say their heart isn't in the right place, though. :)

I think the simple answer here would be lower the price. The problem is it would mean taking an even huger hit in regards to losing money (per system, as they already lose money on just the system now). Once the big name titles hit, such as MGS and LBP, it may be able to pick up more steam. Also, as the lineup rounds out more and more, it will become more appealing. MS hit early and got a head start on it's library b/c of it, and Nintendo aimed at a slightly different market (Blue Ocean strategy). Combine those with the price, and you got Sony in third. Once enough games are available and BluRay secures its win, things may look better for Sony.elemental_drago

I'm sick of hearing this... its aleady inexpensive for what you get. People are too dumb to realize this. Yes its true, cheaper will sell... but don't complain when they take out the wifi and B/C.

You can't have your cake and eat it too (FYI: not specifically talking about the person I'm quoting)

[QUOTE="grand17"]offer americans subprime financing lolDuhQbnSiLo

Yes americans like spending there money in the long run(360 and all its addons) rather than up front(PS3)

True dat.

It could be rough for sony, Not to bash the American makret, but most people I talk to seem to be into shooters and free range go anywhere games like GTA 4 and whatnot now. If they can have all the games that are planned for this year actually come out this year, they should be able to rise in sales pretty well. They seem to have a slew of games coming out and if they multiplats run better and have something extra to them that Microsoft doesn't have then they will be ok.

Let's just name all the exclusive games just for the sake of it

Hot Shots Golf 5

Haze

Tekken 6

Motorstorm 2

MGS 4

Little Big Planet

Gran Turismo 5

Infamous

Resistance 2

Killzone 2

White Knight Chronicles (hopefully)

The Agency

Nobi Nobi boy (maybe in U.S and other territories)

psn games from David Jaffe

Heavy Rain

Afrika

Eight Days (maybe)

War Devil Enigma

Naughty Dog Project 2

If they can push the Eye a bit more and show why it's cool

then you have cool multiplats that run equally well like Burnout, Devil may Cry and Soul Calibur 4. The only problem is going to be GTA 4. Microsoft has got exclusive episode content with their version coming 6 months at a clip. If Sony can get something equally as good or better than that, those exclusives plus the multiplats should bring in some people.

That is 20 exclusivesand maybe ones we don't know about plus all the other cool games this year except Ninja Gaiden 2.

But then again some of those cool ones could do bad in sales like Ratchet.

The big deal here is that 360 and Wii have a market they appeal to. 360 has the "mature games" and Wii has simple fun games. Some of sony's features like keyboards and mods aren't being used in a lot of games. If they can guarantee keyboard and mouse support for all shooters and really push the mods and whatever other features they have in the future more then they can atleast be on par with everyone else if not start to gain more ground. If Killzone 2sucks and LBP is laggy or isn't as great and no one buys resistance and tekken and all of that jazz thenSony needs to start on the next machine and look at themarket more heavily. If they don't update home enough and if they run into performance problems with that then noone will trust themanymore.

People have Jobs,School and a life and not everyone can afford a high price for things as well as time to playthe games.Society isbecoming more active and physical than it was before. People are trying to lose weight and that sort of thing. This is one of the reasons why wii is so successful is because you can jump right in and play and don't have to master the material or have previousknowledge of how games work in order to play. I myself like actually mastering and so forth and that is why I enjoy the Ps3 more.

I apologize for the long post

they need more exclusives

and more exclusive shooters that are waaaay better than gears of war and halo

and they need to have the better version in every wayof each 3rd party game

it needs more better racers too

and better rpgs than the competition

In terms of the PS3, there's nothing left Sony can do. To possibly help with the PS3 sales, they could prorbably discontinue production on their last gen system (PS2). Other than that, all Sony can do is be patient.

start making 40gb's bc...

Again for those of you saying "lower the price" I agree........with the others that say JUST SHUT UP!!! Look at what you get for a minimum of $400 (WiFi, Bluetooth technology, BR player, reliability, free on-line, rechargable controllers without extra accessories, HDD standard and free movie ($500 gets you BC, 2 more USB ports, memory card readers and Motorstorm). So stop being so damn cheap. If anything Sony needs to do is just one thing. Since they reduced production costs by 50%...bring back the 60 gig with EE, or put them iin the existing SKU's instead. If Sony does that, forget lowering the prices, they won't be in the stores long enough, thereby murdering the 360 and closing on the Wii and really bring those 120 million PS2 owners in the fold. That would be game....set....and match! Anyone else...?DMC2677

agreed 60GB>80GB>40GB

a price cut to at least $300 maybe like a 20 gig no backwards 2 usb ports,a lot more exclusives and a better online community something to compare. im not saying there isnt any good exclusives this year and a good online network already just need to be better

[QUOTE="DMC2677"]Again for those of you saying "lower the price" I agree........with the others that say JUST SHUT UP!!! Look at what you get for a minimum of $400 (WiFi, Bluetooth technology, BR player, reliability, free on-line, rechargable controllers without extra accessories, HDD standard and free movie ($500 gets you BC, 2 more USB ports, memory card readers and Motorstorm). So stop being so damn cheap. If anything Sony needs to do is just one thing. Since they reduced production costs by 50%...bring back the 60 gig with EE, or put them iin the existing SKU's instead. If Sony does that, forget lowering the prices, they won't be in the stores long enough, thereby murdering the 360 and closing on the Wii and really bring those 120 million PS2 owners in the fold. That would be game....set....and match! Anyone else...?04JETTA

agreed 60GB>80GB>40GB

Well I actually really love my 40gb but I think you have a very smart point for those hooked on their ps2s still. Well said

Again for those of you saying "lower the price" I agree........with the others that say JUST SHUT UP!!! Look at what you get for a minimum of $400 (WiFi, Bluetooth technology, BR player, reliability, free on-line, rechargable controllers without extra accessories, HDD standard and free movie ($500 gets you BC, 2 more USB ports, memory card readers and Motorstorm). So stop being so damn cheap. If anything Sony needs to do is just one thing. Since they reduced production costs by 50%...bring back the 60 gig with EE, or put them iin the existing SKU's instead. If Sony does that, forget lowering the prices, they won't be in the stores long enough, thereby murdering the 360 and closing on the Wii and really bring those 120 million PS2 owners in the fold. That would be game....set....and match! Anyone else...?DMC2677

I see a few problems here. To start with, I'm not sure who "you" is, but you are on a forum largely populated by people who already own the PS3 (myself included). Thusly, we paid the current price or more, and a price drop won't really effect anyone who isn't planning on buying a second/third/whatever unit. When we say drop the price, we mean to reach a larger group of prospective buyers. Now, for the current price it certainly is a steal for what you get. That is, if you want all that. If you don't give a hoot about Bluray or BC or all those extras, you wouldn't really want to pay extra for it. (for example, I don't buy tampons, even when they go on sale, because I have no reason to pay for them when I'm not going to use them. Know what I mean?).And for those of you thinking, well than the PS3 simply isn't for you so move on, that's not a sound business strategy. Sound business plans include reaching as many people as possible whilegaining as muchmoney as possible in doing so.

As for the EE, nice as that would be (no arguement there), that is part of the reduced production costs. As such it's probably, currently, in the bets interest to continue to leave it out to maximize there profit or allow for them to lower the cost of the PS3 (maybe returning to the same net loss they were at before) to, once again, reach a larger financial demographic. Granted they could also play their hand a different way and keep it where it is, in the hopes of pullinga larger net profit in it's current state. It's really a roll of the dice either way.

" Patience, thats what sony needs. Patients, just wait till all the 360's get rrod."

Haha...yeah, I'm just waiting for the day when mine decides to die. Luckily, I probably don't use it as much as a lot of people because I would rather use my PS3..

it needs to market the things that arent the games since that isnt a strong point yet.

such as being able to run linux and be a pc, and being a good blu ray player

I think they need to advertise what this machine can do alot better.

Nobody I've talked to knows what its capable of. Of course alot of us don't see this point cause most of us are gamers and look up these things. But as for parents buying for their children or the average guy looking to buy a system all they see is hype, and Wii is the biggest hype at the moment (and I'm not knocking the Wii cause I own one as well and like it).

But even I didn't know everything PS3 was capable of, and I have to say I am very impressed and don't mind the extra cost now.

Home would be an extremely amazing selling point too many, plus free online, ect.

As well they need more games. How long has PS3 been out? and how many games do they have?

Developers need to start looking at rpgs on the next gen ps3 and get away from these great but short action games or fps games. The ps3 line-up is looking nothing like the ps2. PS2 was awesome because it had all the major rpg developers making games for it.

Guess i'll just wait

Ill tell you one thing sony can do to make more money. I own all 3 systems, so do alot of my friends. When a game comes out on both the ps3 and the 360. we all always end up getting the game on the 360 because its so much easyier to get in a multi player together. just hit the 360 button, see what were all playing, and send the invite. If sony could come up with a easyier way of connecting with your friends online weather its sending a voice message durring a game, to just jumping in a game together. I think it would make it a better system and make them more money down the long run. I dont think the price of the ps3 is a prob, hell i bought mine when it was 600. Sony price wise is where the 360 was when it came out, and you get a blue ray player.

all sony needs to do is get exlusive rights to more games have them have only available on the ps3 most of the games the have are also available on the xbox360 and more people have xbox so what they need to do is pretty much force people to buy the system for the games

PRICE DROP

95% of PS2 sales came at $200 & below.