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Sony: "Being cheaper than your competitor is never a bad thing"

SCEA CEO Jack Tretton acknowledges that lowest-priced system is not always the most successful, but believes consumers will gravitate toward PlayStation 4 value proposition.

1171 Comments

SCEA CEO Jack Tretton was backstage during E3 rehearsals when he learned that the Xbox One would go on sale for $500, a full $100 below the PlayStation 4's $400 price point.

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The executive told Bloomberg in a new interview that Sony saw this pricing advantage as a "positive," though he said cheaper doesn't always mean more successful.

"I think ultimately, the gamer looks at ten-year product lifecycles; they look at the software offerings; they look at the value proposition," Tretton said. "And the lowest priced system isn't always the most successful, but being cheaper than your competition is never a bad thing."

Tretton said all the pieces are in place for the PS4 to be successful at launch this holiday, noting it all comes down to execution at this point.

"I feel like we've got the gamer on our side; I feel like we've got the development community on our side; and now we've got execute," he said.

Asked what the most important thing to "get right" with a product launch like the PS4 is, Tretton said this is communicating the value proposition of the system.

"The most important thing to get right is the consumer proposition, the value proposition," Tretton said. "That people say, 'I saw it, it looks great, I've got to have it.' And if that's the answer, then you've got a winner on your hands."

The PS4 launches on November 15 in North America, November 29 in Europe, and in 32 countries total by the end of the year.

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Avatar image for abcdefgabcdefgz
abcdefgabcdefgz

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yeah yeah just show us the games. We wont know anything until later on with when we see more of the games until then who cares what system is stronger or turns on with voices?

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Gargus

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400 bucks isn't "cheap" persay. But I think the PS4 is a better value because it isn't full of pointless things that drive the cost up more than it needs to be.

Sony seems to be trying to give gamers more value with the hardware superior ps4 for less money than the xb1, or the PS+ system where you get a 18 games right off the bat and 5 more each month with other benefits for just 50 bucks while XBLG only gives you 2 games a month for more money.

So despite being less expensive I don't think cheap because cheap to me sounds like poor quality. Ive paid 20 bucks for headphones that were cheap while 3 dollar ones I bought were great.

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Bahamut50

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@Gargus He said cheaper, not cheap. There is a small difference xD

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Bladestop

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Looks like they learned from the PS3 launch.... never again launch a system at $600 for the cheaper version.

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Zetsuie

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Edited By Zetsuie

Of course being cheaper than your competitor is NOT A BAD THING! if you can give your audience complete satisfaction and make them want your product while being less expensive than the competitor, you've won the race!!! i mean lets go back to when they wanted us to tweet whether we were for xbox one or ps4.....what else is there to say? not only is xbox one over priced....but the whole online 247 thing and you cant play old games...your not going to market a product very well like that AT ALL, hasn't worked for microsoft now and it wont work for them later on until they decide to step up their game and listen to the consumer. And before anyone says i am butthurt, i prefer xbox 360 over ps3 anyday and i would like to say the same about the xbox one over the ps4 but i cant do that right now.

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CaptWaffle

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Edited By CaptWaffle

With how awful the economy is..... that 100 bucks will make a bigger difference than it would otherwise.

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Algearond

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I like Sony much more the M$ in this regard, but I still cannot forgive them the security breaches they had a few years ago.

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Bahamut50

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@Algearond I can. People make mistakes. Instead of ignoring theirs, they gave us free games in an attempt to say "we know this can't really make up for it, but we at least want to try". Ugh, the bias.

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mtait01

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What he said is 100% true. Just look at Samsung at the moment, raking it in

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FollowY0urBliss

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Oh, this is the top story. cool.

Goodnight everyone, I'm sexy! Hah.

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lazhyz

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"I feel like we've got the gamer on our side; I feel like we've got the development community on our side; and now we've got exeggcute." Gen 1 people should appreciate that. Thumbs up if you get the reference?

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Damnation_6

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A Xbox One story not on top of the news page? What sorcery is this?

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DeViLzzz

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@Damnation_6 If I had it my way the story on MS switching marketplace to cash would be the top news story here on the site. MS just giving me another reason to spend more on Nintendo or PC. While Sony has been looking like the good guy they still are the same company that had taken out patents and whatever else on a system to block used games so they can't be trusted either. Sony is cheaper and the better choice for two next gen consoles coming out for many reasons right now but it doesn't mean I should give them money either.

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soaduk

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Am I the only one finding gamespot a really **** place to be these days? Every article is just followed by 100000 comments from butthurt sony fanboys...it's really tiresome for us real gamers. Please can you all just go and play on your vitas or something?

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Bahamut50

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Edited By Bahamut50

@soaduk Idk man, every site for gaming has butthurt ANY fanboys. Can't hate on the gamespot community when it's also any other major gaming news site.

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CaptWaffle

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@soaduk

Its both sides. Your comment doesnt really help..... its just more mindless brand loyalty.

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hellgast0

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@soaduk Most hilarious thing I read all day! Thank you :')

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minhnodda

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WOW this guy is a genius. Been cheaper is never a bad thing. No tell that too ninento. Been cheaper is good during a recession. I should have sold my pc and bought the ps4. Oh wait pc games are cheaper. humble pack, and steam summer sale. guess 30-40 dollar worth of pc game is always better than 1 50 dollar ps4/xbone game.

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DeViLzzz

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Edited By DeViLzzz

MS getting rid of MS points another reason to go to PS4 .....


and hell the console is cheaper and better hardware wise anyway

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A8ADD0N

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Edited By A8ADD0N

@DeViLzzz

Am I missing something? How was that a bad thing? MS Points is one of those things that no one ever cared for, and now that they're changing it to real currency that somehow displeases you? Ohhh, right...I almost forgot this is the internet.

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DeViLzzz

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@A8ADD0N People were able to buy MS points cheaper than from MS and do it on a very regular basis and thus you got more value for your points. Also people mentioned today that when MS put up the new cash store they raised prices on various items. Gratz MS on ****ing me and others who were smart enough to know MS points were a good thing.

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Chico_Azteca

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He looks like Juan Grabriel

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krystyla

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They should have paid to get more than 10 PS4s at gamescom. I did not bother standing in line for 4 hours just to try the controller. There were dozens of X1s everywhere albeit only with minor titles ala lococylce but that sufficed to fall in love with the controller once again

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Primeyuri

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I hope both consoles do great. That way both companies will keeo trying to do their best.

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Zetsuie

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@Primeyuri if anything they are butting heads together and microsoft is feeling the headache


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so_hai

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It can be bad to be cheaper if you are also inferior. I'm not saying that the PS4 is, but there's no absolutes like that in the free market.

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kurtven

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Wow I really love to live in Little Denmark,

The stores have alredy set the prices to 716$ for the PS4, so I'm getting mine from the UK

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mrsniper83

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I love how so many people bash the xbox but yet they won the console war over the years, have a better online community, and have you ever noticed that pro gamers are always playing on xboxs.Hearing all this fanboy crap has really put me off as a gamer, it doesn't matter what sony or Microsoft will do because you all won't be happy.

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so_hai

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@mrsniper83 They may have a better online community, but so they should. After all, they paid for it.

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puukusa

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Edited By puukusa

@mrsniper83 Xbox won console battles, but PS won the war. Also, not sure what do you mean by "community" - tools or people. It you think that people on xbox side are better then you are a tool. If it's software - I'm fine with PS stuff + PS Home is quite cool.

I'm pretty sure pro gamers don't play consoles at all.

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McGregor

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@puukusa You'd be wrong about pro gamers, they do play consoles. For example, you think all those pro-gamer halo tournaments are played on a PC? Anyway, I'm not sure who won the "war" or "battles" but I know that I don't play my PS3 as often as my 360, and I don't play either of those as often as I play games on PC. I'd like to see a "battle" or "war" where the gamers win...

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megakick

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Edited By megakick

@puukusa @McGregor Pro-gamer = gets paid to play video games.

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McGregor

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@puukusa That must be a crazy game of poker! I'd hate to come over and play for fun.

Good anology, but not quite the same thing. That's like saying "we play football in the backyard and take bets on who wins" vs "I get paid to play football".

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puukusa

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@McGregor in that case we have a "pro-gamer poker tournaments" going on at my house ;)

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McGregor

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@puukusa @McGregor I'm just waiting to see which one has the games I want, that aren't also available on PC (chances are it will be a PS4, at least at this point).

As for "pro-gamer" if they are getting paid for it, regardless of skill level, makes it professional.

Halo went down hill to the point that it's not even worth a purchase anymore, and I don't play the multiplayer because it's boring to me...I gave up on gears after the end game boss in gears 2 was so easy I didn't realized I'd beat the game until the credits rolled...

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puukusa

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@McGregor "Halo pro-gamer tournament" now that's just silly. Just because someone adds "pro-gamer" to the title of the tournament, it doesn't really make it pro-gamer.

Likewise i have both, but my dustcollector is xbox. First party games (IMO - inFamous 2, Uncharted, GoW, Heavy Rain, the last of us, let me add upcomming Beyond to the list) are better on PS than xbox.

And I don't get all the "xbox better controller" talk - it's cheap chinese crap. Buttons make cracking sound. after a year of hardcore use, battery contacts keep disconnecting during the game.

I've learned my lesson - not getting both consoles next-gen. I don't like Halo and "Army of two" is ok enough to skip Gears of War

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BravelyRanAway

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Hey Microsoft, Offer the xbox1 without the kinect and I'll buy it. As of now I've pre-ordered a PS4/bf4 bundle with hopes that their PS network is better now that it is a pay service. Sony needs to convince gamers who are jumping ship from microsoft that their online service is as solid or will be as good as xbox live has been for so many years.

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navarz

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@BravelyRanAway XboxOne is Kinect. It is one entity whether you like it or not. Are people that dense. it will never be sold separate .

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DiscGuru101

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Edited By DiscGuru101

Strong Network Security > $100 Cheaper

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Zevvion

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@DiscGuru101 THIS. FUCKING THIS.

Seriously, I have pre-ordered both and will get and enjoy both. But I think I have just decided where to play multiplatform games at least. PSN has a whole host of issues. In Xbox Live's history it has never been down for more than 24 hours and I even remember getting a month free Xbox Live when that happened.

PSN is down for maintenance all the time. It's weird as hell. Also, while we forgive and forget the PSN outage that lasted... what... months? I haven't seen anything in Sony's attitude that they now take that stuff more seriously.

In fact, I own a Vita. Stupid, I know, but I enjoy the thing. So, I turned it on to download Divekick. I needed to update my firmware to even access the store. Sure, that's fine. I get it. So I do the update that takes minutes for whatever reason, next, my Vita can't connect to WiFi. Turns out, the update causes connection issues.

Now, I am not going to sit here and say that would never ever happen to Microsoft. Granted, it hasn't happened yet so far, but I'm not ruling that out and that's not the issue. The issue is, this update happened... A MONTH AGO.

There is a thread going at support and NO ONE comes in to share any news or even acknowledge that it's a problem. If you call customer support and many have, they eventually just say: 'I don't know, it should be working, maybe check your WiFi'. While it's super obvious the update is causing the issue because everyone is having that problem and everyone only has that problem on their Vita, not any other machine, and everyone is having that problem since the update.

I admit this is my rage post for the week and I'll go back to enjoying Sony products after this thing is finally dealt with, but for now: **** you Sony. At least my faulty 360 was picked up and returned to me within a week and every step of the way I was kept up to date on what happened, it was free and most importantly: I was never questioned that the thing was malfunctioning. At least Microsoft is reliable in that regard.

And you know what? Concerning this whole next gen business? At least Microsoft is owning up to their mistakes. I don't see you owning up to your mistake that was the increased price of the PS3 for unneeded blu ray and Cell processor that made your 'superior' machine always have the crappiest version of most games.

What's that? Oh, you said it was a mistake at the end of the generation and just before you're pitching me the idea of your new machine? Very wise, but not admirable.

End of raging rant.

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-Beatz-

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Edited By -Beatz-

@Zevvion @DiscGuru101 Maybe that's because PSN has been, uhm...fuckin' free until now? They can't afford to employ as many people to keep an eye on it as MS can, 'cause they don't have millions of users paying them 50 bucks per year.

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Zevvion

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Edited By Zevvion

@-Beatz- @Zevvion @DiscGuru101 Not the issue. If they were honest, it would already be a different situation. I just absolutely can't stand denial and poor customer support.

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puukusa

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@Zevvion Bullshit! You didn't pre-order both. In fact you will never buy PS4

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puukusa

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Edited By puukusa

@Zevvion your arguments are inconsistent. What was broken in you console that Sony didn't fix? Your wifi router or whole PSN network?

You have a right to hate whatever you like, be it Sony or MS. Just like I have a right to point out that you are not neutral like you state you are and that what you say is emotional fanboism driven

p.s.: Hatred is a six letter word. not that big

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Zevvion

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@puukusa @Zevvion Hatred is abig word, but yet. And I explained in my comment why I dislike them. Whenever something malfunctioned witg Microsoft I got it fixed for free or got a new one fast. Whenever something breaks down with Sony, they deny something is wrong. That pisses me off. Coupled with the poor online functionality up to this point and my opinion is clear.

I explained this before. I'm not sure why I am not allowed to dislike Sony's attitude, but am allowed to dislike Microsoft. If you want to talk about childish behavior, that's pretry much it.

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puukusa

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@Zevvion Here's a copy of my xbox preorder confirmation I did not make http://postimg.org/image/kzpfntwsj/ :D

your comments are not about "preference for one over the other". They are about hatred for PS. Even an infant has a common sense not to touch a steam iron again once he burnt his fingers.


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Zevvion

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Edited By Zevvion

@puukusa @Zevvion Yes I did. http://postimg.org/image/6lzdnos3d/

Why is it so hard to believe someone who gets both consoles has a preference for one over the other? People do not get multiple consoles because they love the shit out of every single one of the machines. They get multiple consoles because they want to play every great game they are interested in.

I always get consoles where I want to play games http://postimg.org/image/ls5pcbior, but that doesn't mean I can't have a strong preference for one. For instance, this generation I preferred the Xbox 360. While I admit I still haven't made up my mind where to play multiplatform games, I very much lean towards Xbox One, because a strong online service is becoming more important and Sony has showed me multiple times they don't have it and aren't even interested in a reliable one.

Admittedly, my Vita being unable to have a connection for weeks is fueling my rage towards that. But at the same time, Xbox Live has always worked for me. Even on the regular Xbox it worked better than on the PS3 today. This shit happening again and them not even acknowledging it just makes it seem that they aren't a safe bet for a strong online service. Microsoft messed up once that affected me to the point where I couldn't access Xbox Live for 4 hours. I got a month free of Live for that. If you don't agree that is fine. But if you understand I had these sorts of issues with them, perhaps you can see my side of the argument as well.

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G4mBi7

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Cheaper than my PC you say. . Hmm, the selling point of the PS3 was the fact that there was no fee to play online; so how is the console cheaper than my pc when i have to keep paying to keep playing? FREE online play or GTFO.

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Bahamut50

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@G4mBi7 Uh, free games, freebies, free entries to betas, serious discounts on most sales... but yeah, it's just online play.

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