Microsoft makes bet: Sony will unveil $399 PS3 this year

by Andrew Yoon { Jul 25th 2007 at 11:30AM }

It wasn't too long ago when a Microsoft executive was trash-talking Sony. Nay, going so far as to make a bet against their rival gaming manufacturer. Case in point: J. Allard made predicted that Sony's PSP would downright flop. He was wrong, and to honor a bet with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, he donned dreads and updated his Microsoft company profile page, admitting "N'Gai had it right," and that the PSP was not a failure.

Looks like Microsoft is up to the same antics again. This time, Xbox director of technical strategy and attack blogger Andre "Ozymandias" Vrignaud, is the one to take a bet with N'Gai. He states that "My prediction is that you're going to see the creation of a new, low-end SKU this holiday. It'll likely remove integrated WiFi, memory card reader, and most controversially, all backward compatibility. (Remember, there's still some back-compat hardware in even the new "software only" back compat SKUs; removing the remaining CPU is a significant cost savings.) You'll see a new WiFi dongle made available. And finally, this low-end SKU will likely come with a smaller 40 GB hard drive. The low-end price will be set at $399, with the higher-end 80 GB SKU dropping to $499."

An interesting concept, to say the least. Ozymandias expects it to arrive by Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year in the US. N'Gai accepted Microsoft's bet ... only this time, the loser will have to buy a steak dinner instead of alter their hair styles (which will simply not be as fun to write about).

[Thanks, Copa!]

Tags: $399, 40gb, andrevrignaud, bet, blackfriday, microsoft, n'gaicroal, ozymandias

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

SoftTankDefender @ Jul 25th 2007 11:36AM

they would not be able to call it a playstation if they remove all compatibility .. all he is trying to do is reflame a false negative buzz online regarding a ps3 with no BC which surfaced several weeks ago.

Yaster @ Jul 25th 2007 11:39AM

They'll be shooting themselves in the foot if Sony ends up cutting the price to something less than $399 as a result of this

Andy @ Jul 25th 2007 11:45AM

Microsoft should worry about its own predictions

-We will release a new console in 2 years so we get ahead of Sony and Nintendo

-We will fix the cooling problem before we release any more games

-We will demand $60 a year for Xbox Live so we can bribe companies to make games for us and only us.

-We will sell only 1 million consoles now until Q1 2008. While Nintendo and Sony will sell 6 million and 8 million respectively.

-Halo 3 will sell over 5 million based on its brand strength.

-We will start producing games for our new console in 2008.

I know I console war is inevitable. Might as well get some good entertainment out of it.

OrganicShadow @ Jul 25th 2007 11:46AM

Buy a steak dinner? That's it?

Sony: "Oh, shucks, you got me. Guess I have to eat a nice steak dinner tonight. Wow am I embarrassed. I really got egg on my face right now eating this delicious, expensive, juicy cut of beef cooked medium-rare lain upon irish haystack and topped with herbs and butter. I won't be making THAT mistake again..."

Peter J @ Jul 25th 2007 11:48AM

Oh man.. Peter Moore isnt even officially gone yet, and their PR dept. is starting to go haywire.. lol

Andy @ Jul 25th 2007 11:52AM

Doesn't Peter Moore make movies?

I have a prediction... this post will get over 40 comments once the Xbox 360 fanpeople find it.

brettjr @ Jul 25th 2007 11:58AM

Okay this one doesn't make sense to me at all. First Microsoft prediction is based off of a lot of decent information so it's not really a prediction and second why is this bad? Why is Microsoft saying that they are going to do that in a negative way.

We know the 60gb is going away and the 80gb is the new high quality model aimed at defeating xbox. Now a new 400 dollar one would be ideal for getting casual gamers and taking money away from the wii.

Now some people are freaking omgz new ps1 and 2 compatible wah wah wah. Okay, I'll be the first to admit it and come out of denial THE PS1 AND 2 GAMES LOOK LIKE SH*T ONE THE PS3. Even the new upscaling and smoothing sucks. It irritated me so much I stopped playing it on it. With so many ps2 consoles being moved why should they keep it?

Justin @ Jul 25th 2007 11:58AM

lol good prediction andy.

Justin @ Jul 25th 2007 11:58AM

lets bet a steak dinner on it.

Jeremy @ Jul 25th 2007 11:59AM

There has already been speculation about the 40gb/$400 sku here. I think it will happen, although I doubt it will have all the feature reductions mentioned here.

upz @ Jul 25th 2007 12:01PM

Sounds like pretty sound logic to me. Sony is crazy, not stupid. They've seen what the high price of entry does to them, and they've shown that they're willing to re-evaluate their original business decisions. We've had people on this very blog predicting a future low-end SKU even before the price drop. Now just because Microsoft says it will happen and N'Gai says it won't, we're going to re-place our own bets? This is one hell of an ugly console war...

brettjr @ Jul 25th 2007 12:26PM

lol you're on Justin.

Oh btw about the picture...I have a new PS3 wallpaper lol

Harold @ Jul 25th 2007 12:34PM

Now we know who Game Informer's anonymous tipster is:

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=18990

WTangoFoxtrot @ Jul 25th 2007 12:35PM

dont give a shit about backwards compatibility but if sony went ahead and did this sign me up on the PS3 bandwagon ! would give many the ultimate gaming experience, being able to afford both a 360 and a PS3 !!

WTangoFoxtrot @ Jul 25th 2007 12:36PM

sign me up if that happens. a PS3 would be awsome beside my 360......PS360 FTW!!

shase @ Jul 25th 2007 12:39PM

Can Harrison or Tretton make some bet with NGai as well? Here are some topics:

1. 360 will still have failure rate of 50% by 2008
2. Service will be extend for 4 whole years
3. X360 Super elite will finally come out with WIFI and for 600$.

shase @ Jul 25th 2007 12:40PM

rfom @ Jul 25th 2007 12:41PM

How can you remove "all" backward compatibility? At the most you can cut out the PS2 chip, but even then you have software emulation based BC for well over 50% of titles, which would be available for all units. Or is this just another way to divert attention from what the 360 delivers on this front?

Andir3.0 @ Jul 25th 2007 12:42PM

It's not going to happen. It would cost Sony more to make the new SKU alongside the existing than it would to reduce the cost of the existing SKU. Besides, the 360 core is selling like crap. People don't want the low end version of the system.

totencough @ Jul 25th 2007 12:51PM

How dare he take the name of Adrien Veidt in vein!

http://www.crankleft.com/2007/07/watchmen-ozymandias-has-been-cast.html

finalfan @ Jul 25th 2007 1:00PM

For backward compatibility, They simply can't remove that because the emotion engine is already out of the new 80gb sku. The 80gb sku and the supposed 40gb will have an emulator in it and this doesnt cost anything. Stop saying shit at SONY, M$. You're just beign pretentious.

Justin @ Jul 25th 2007 1:17PM

lol, sorry brettjr...i wasn't betting you. i agree w/ you. but i had a messed up post.

brettjr @ Jul 25th 2007 1:29PM

I disagree Andir3.0, first off the 60gb is no more and never will be. Second if sony dropped all those features and sold it for only 400 they would be making (or should I say losing less) per console then selling the 60gb at $500. So the bottom line would be more profitable.

DON'T AND PLEASE DON'T! Compare Sony mistakes to xbox360s, the core didn't have any fucking harddrive space!!! Who the hell would want that??? You would have to be brain dead, where as a 40gb is twice the size of the xbox360 pro harddrive space for the same price.

Come on think people.

Galley @ Jul 25th 2007 1:36PM

The 20GB "tard" version failed in the marketplace because nobody wanted it, despite its lower price. Who wants a console that require a bunch of dongles hanging off of it, where in the long run it ends up costing the same, if not more than the more expensive and more capable model?

thebigfatj @ Jul 25th 2007 1:35PM

" -Halo 3 will sell over 5 million based on its brand strength."

Despite Microsoft's ineptitude when it comes to all things business that they don't have a monopoly on, and despite their executives complete disconnection with reality that tends to permeate throughout their company, this statement is true. Halo 3 will easily sell 5 million based on its brand strength.

Interestingly, Sony said that about the PS3. "The first five million will buy it, whatever it is, whether or not it has any games."

They were wrong. Sony will be lucky to hit 5 million sold by November.

ShadowHawk01 @ Jul 25th 2007 2:11PM

Who really cares about this bet anyway. Everyone already knows that Sony has plans for this holiday as far as Hardware is concerned. Several reporters (In fact I think even ps3fanboy) have asked both Reeves and Hirai about this holiday. The answer has always been the same, "We have plans in the works that we can discuss at this time."

Ozymandias is making a guess at what those plans may be. This is no different than other articles I read where people speculate that the 80gig version will take on the $499 price tag.

oh and btw... please get your facts straight. J Allard never stated the PSP would flop. He simply stated it would not sell 10 million units in the same time that the PS2 sold 10 million units. Here is the source from N'Gai if you want to know:

http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=327322

Personally... I don't think we will see a PS3 dip below $499 until stand alone players have come down in price. Why would Sony want to risk hurting other manufactures who support Blu-ray hardware including themselves.

Pajama Party! @ Jul 25th 2007 2:37PM

"The 20GB "tard" version failed in the marketplace because nobody wanted it, despite its lower price."

Because $500 for gimped hardware is still too much. Had the 20GB model cost only $300, it probably would've done much better. I'd go so far as to say it had nothing to do with the features (or lack there of) and everything to do with the price - at the end of the day a 20GB model would still have Blu-ray and a hard drive which are going to be the key features most would look for anyhow.

Makiyura @ Jul 25th 2007 2:49PM

If sony ever took out B/C entirely, then lots of potential PS3 owners( myself included) arent going to be happy, i like the lower price point but to sacrifice the games, on the console, that made Sony rich in the first place is stupid

Michael K. @ Jul 25th 2007 3:21PM

you dont need fake dreads to make anyone from microsoft look stupid

ADR @ Jul 25th 2007 4:23PM

I would think this would be a good bet for anyone at Sony to take. Why would a $399 PS3 be a bad thing?

I would say a $399 PS3 for the holiday would do more damage to Microsoft. I would be betting that a $399 PS3 wouldn't come out.

For $399 Sony could keep Wi-Fi but remove the card readers. Add a 40gb HD and be done with it. BC will be able to be completely done through software.

The PS3 has to hit $399 at some point anyway. A $399 PS3 still beats the pants off of a $349 XBOX 360 if they drop the price $50 like it is rumored.

Halo will sell 5 million copies but it won't bring them 5 million new consoles sold. Unless of course that 5 million Xbots need to replace their 360 so they can play Halo. Maybe it wasn't so smart for Micosoft to extend that warranty so soon.

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Jul 25th 2007 4:25PM

The article is wrong when it says the current units still have a CPU (EE) remaining for backcompat. The current units still have the GPU (GS) remaining for backcompat.

I don't see Sony removing all back compat this year. Honestly, I think it makes a ton of sense to do so (drop the price $100 and tell people to buy a $99 PS2 Slim if they want the compat), but I don't think Sony will do it.

If they go $399 this year (and they might), I think it'll be with the card reader (at least Memory Stick and SD) and GSC (graphics synthesizer).

P @ Jul 25th 2007 6:29PM

I dont see why a slightly inferior version would be released, thats effectively exactly the same as a model they've removed from the marketplace only a couple of months ago.

What was the point? Pull all 20gb models, drop the 60gb price, put a new 80gb model onto the market and then a 40gb version.
The features suggested would be removed would cost Sony no more than about $2-3 per unit its not like removing the BluRay for DVD which removes a $20 component with a $2 one.
Obviously add about 400% markup from 'cost' to RRP onto those and its noticable, but it surely isnt going to be cost effective.

A 40gb unit would be stupid, even more so if the 60gb version is staying put, they dont need 3 variations on the shelves to confuse people.

Consolcwby @ Jul 25th 2007 7:47PM

=o

Maybe MS should be concentrating on FIXING that 360 problem instead of acting like children... but then, they're fans would probably hate them for being the adults they are not. Like how fast they turned on Peter Moore...
poor peter. }=D

never$$hort @ Jul 25th 2007 9:11PM

Blah, blah, blah... Tell me something I didn't already know...

qwerty @ Jul 25th 2007 10:23PM

Don't you guys see what Microsoft is trying to do?

They're making rumors to stall the PS3's growth rate. Microsoft is now realizing that Sony is back in business, and a big threat to their market. They want to make the consumers believe that a cheaper model will come out sometime during the holidays, and if it works, the current PS3 sales would drop to a low. Dirty tactics I'd say.

Highlader @ Jul 25th 2007 10:32PM

brettjr (#8)

"Okay, I'll be the first to admit it and come out of denial THE PS1 AND 2 GAMES LOOK LIKE SH*T ONE THE PS3. Even the new upscaling and smoothing sucks. It irritated me so much I stopped playing it on it."

Excuse me? I have a 720 40-inch screen with my PS1 and PS2 games running very nicely looking far better than the do on my original model PS2 that is happily hooked up via component video to an upscaler. The PS3 upscaling and smoothing does a very, very good job. I can only conclude from the comment you made that you are an idiot, or are trying to stir up trouble.

As for the removal of the BC in PS3. That will not happen. I don't even have to think twice, it's one of the cornerstones of the thing. The removal of the GS chip in the PS3 is not a "significant cost saving" as Mr MS puts it, not when compared to the cost reduction from a die shrink to 65nm, or the drop in cost of the BD player, or the cost savings to be made in volume manufacture. On the flip side the removal of the GS chip would cause a firestorm of negative vibe at a time when Sony is carefully building some positive. Now, if only we could ask that nice Mr Reeves in Europe to kindly spend some more time with his family so we can keep him away from the press, things would be great.

Mak @ Jul 26th 2007 3:53PM

Here is how it works.

Microsoft is desperate to stall the PS3's recent surge in sales. By suggesting that a $399 PS3 is in the works before Xmas, they are hoping buyers will wait.

It's standard Microsoft FUD tactics, create confusion in the PS3 marketplace. The more people discuss this nonsense, the more damage it does..

Paranoia @ Jul 27th 2007 8:21PM

I agree with the lower PRICED SDK prediction, but all that stuff about them removing wi-fi and the card reader and then selling a perifrial that'll give the console that ability back....reminds me of something MS would do.

$100 360 wi-fi dongle anyone?