Maguire: New PS3 all part of the master plan

by Chris Powell { Oct 13th 2007 at 11:00PM }

With the European 40GB PlayStation 3 finally out in the open, Sony execs just can't stop talking about it. According to Ray Maguire, SCE UK managing director, Sony's newest console is part of "a very carefully thought-out plan."

While acknowledging that other factors like decreasing production costs, industry pressure and a need to increase its install base contributed, Maguire said Sony has been considering this model since the PlayStation 3 launched.

Of course, the main complaint against the PlayStation 3 has always been its price, but Maguire thinks the lower-priced 40GB model will appease the haters. "If the product was too expensive, of course they're going to feel 'anti,' but now I imagine there will be some changing of attitudes," he told MCV. It's true, the 40GB model's price is much closer to the Xbox 360's, only with a lot more features. However, only time will tell if the move will help Sony recapture the lead in the console wars.

Tags: 40gb, ray-maguire

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

xion @ Oct 13th 2007 11:29PM

"the 40GB model's price is much closer to the Xbox 360's, only with a lot more features"

You mean Blu-Ray...and..wi-fi...not to be a troll. but "alot" is a big word.

Don @ Oct 13th 2007 11:39PM

xion, with just those two features that you mentioned, that is alot, but it's more than those two features that you mentioned.

Justin @ Oct 13th 2007 11:41PM

@1 for the price you pay for wi-fi for the 360 and an hd dvd add-on...he's still right

ruibing @ Oct 13th 2007 11:46PM

@1

Those two feature's equivalent on the 360 costs a lot more. The wifi would cost $95 and hd-dvd add-on $180. So take the cheapest 360 with hard drive, which is the 20GB version with HDMI, and add $275 to it and you get a cost that is pretty much the old, full PS3 price.

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Wireless-Network-Adapter/dp/B000B6MLV4/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_i/105-2786826-1866003
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-HD-DVD-Player/dp/B000JHO4L0/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-2786826-1866003?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1192333462&sr=1-1

Edge @ Oct 13th 2007 11:47PM

@3. STILL not a valid argument. Never has been. I use wired for my 360 and I don't give a flying flip about HD disks. I would rather my console manufacturers pour more money into making a compelling GAME system.

Maybe if Sony did that, they would have more compelling games for us non-sony apostles.

BUT a lower priced PS3 is exactly what Sony needs... to get more suckers to drive up their install rate and justify developing games for Sony's Amazing Trademark Machine.

Don @ Oct 13th 2007 11:55PM

Justin, he's also forgeting that you get 20GB more HDD space, an HDMI slot, and free online gaming. Plus, the PS3 uses blue tooth (we're already starting to see the advantages of that with the wireless peripherals that come with Rock Band and blue tooth headsets), it has a web browser, you can upgrade your HDD with a non-proprietary HDD, and you don't have to deal with a 30+% failure rate that the 360 has.

Broken Haiku @ Oct 14th 2007 12:01AM

#1 and #2. You know, a lot is two words, so it's not a big word at all :).

Plaguespitter12 @ Oct 14th 2007 12:12AM

It also has bluetooth, motion-sensing, support up to 7 controllers, and a non faulty disc tray like the xbox 360.

Don @ Oct 14th 2007 12:11AM

Edge, who cares that you don't care for HD discs or that you don't mind playing with wired controllers. The point is that Sony's 40GB model is comparable in price to MicroSoft's 20GB model and you get all these extras included. By the way, Sony is pouring money into making compelling games and have quite a few great exclusives out and more to come in the near future.

Broken Haiku, forgive my spelling. I've always been a horrible speller and I'm constantly getting corrected by my wife and friends, lol. I could have swore that "alot" was a legitimate word but thanks for letting me know otherwise.

Frank @ Oct 14th 2007 12:13AM

There's a much better quote of this on Kotaku:

"We've been considering this since launch - this is all part of a very carefully thought-out plan."

I don't believe a word of it though.

Random1448 @ Oct 14th 2007 12:17AM

How about blu-ray, wifi, linux, bluetooth, Upgradeable 2.5" HDD, Free online service, Playstation Home, Folding @ Home, and probably a couple of other little things I'm forgetting.

Ruben @ Oct 14th 2007 12:21AM

Wow, a post, I forgot you guys still did these. But with the argument these are the things the PS3 has that the X don't:
Bluray
Wi-Fi
Wireless controller for cheapest edition
Free Online
Connection to some sort of portable gaming device
Upcoming home
The cell processor
An eye ball, I mean the Playstation Eye
And some features it does not have that the X does is
Flawless internet connection
Fee for online
The red rings of death
A really annoying disk spinning sound
And of course Halo 3

But seriously about the prices
Lets do it this way

X360 elite(The greatest 360 available on the market)
Console: $449.99
(For those who say they want they're console simple)
( Includes HDMI, 1 month of online, last gen BW compatibility, a headset and 120GB of storage.)

PS3 40GB (The cheapest PS3 on the market)
Console: $400.00
(Includes Bluray, Wifi, free online foreva, 40GB of upgradeable storage, PS1 compatibility and Spiderman 3 blu-ray movie)

So more bang for your buck.

The Elite still needs A $180 HD DVD player and a wifi add on to almost reach all of the features the PS3 has... for now.

Dahk @ Oct 14th 2007 12:27AM

You're list of what the PS3 doesn't have and what the 360 has, is actually longer than that =).

fly @ Oct 14th 2007 12:28AM

playstation beats 360 in every way possible. now it is even cheaper if you add up all the extras you have to pay for with the 360.

only thing that 360 has is halo great game but not that great as i beat the second to last difficulty level at my neighbors house(very short game), i'd rather play GT5 and you cant play that on the 360 and will take a lot longer to finish. the only other games i would like to play on 360 i can use my bomb ass computer to play, and eventually (2-3 years) i will be able to play halo 3 on that as well. by that time playstation will have flexed it's muscle with a plethora of great games, and xbots will still be waiting for the next halo game.

Ruben @ Oct 14th 2007 12:28AM

Oh did I forget to mention that 360 released on November 22, 2005 and Halo doesn't stack up in graphics to PS3 exclusive Haze, considering the year advantage 360 has had to develop its graphics. PS3-November 11, 2006.
Check this out:

Halo http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/734/734817/img_4911271.html

Haze
http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/784/784480/img_4842162.html

secret @ Oct 14th 2007 1:04AM

This has nothing to do with the article, but can someone explain to me what is a game engine?

Justin @ Oct 14th 2007 1:14AM

@ edge...just because YOU don't use those features, doesn't make them any less valuable.

secret @ Oct 14th 2007 1:15AM

What movies are available on HD-DVD? And I thought EGM said thta the xbox360 HD-DVD add-on has a picture quality problem. CNET kind of reinforced that claim, too.

So why would they buy an add-on for the xbox360 if it doesn't have any movies and has picture quality problems?

Because most of the good movies are on bluray, most likely, the xbox360 owners will have to shop for a standalone bluray player. And if they did their research right, they'll find that the PS3 is probably the best valued standalone bluray player for them, especially if they like gaming too. Right back to where they should've started.

But then if they get the PS3 as a standalone bluray player, they'll find out eventually that their xbox360 will become an unecessary purchase because most games worth having on the xbox360 will be ported to the PS3 (unfortunately to the maximum potential of the xbox360) or that they're already or will be available on the PC computer, which everyone probably has by now. But the PS3 doesn't charge them to play online on these mutliports.

secret @ Oct 14th 2007 1:18AM

Can someone explain to me what is a game engine and what that's all about?

Thanks.

Don @ Oct 14th 2007 1:34AM

How's it going Secret? I'm not the most technically savvy person, but I would assume that it's all the components inside that make the console run and give it power. Depending on what makes up the console's "game engine" determines how the console runs, how powerful it is, and it what kind of games it has the potential to play. Like I said, I can't say for certain, but this is my most educated guess.

Don @ Oct 14th 2007 1:40AM

Actually Secret, I'm wrong, I thought you were referring to something inside a console. After reading your comment again, I believe you're talking about something that developers use to create games, and I have no idea what a game engine is in those terms. Sorry about that.

plyx @ Oct 14th 2007 1:53AM

After owning the 360 since launch and playing every "amazing" game on it, I can safely say that my experience with the Ratchet & Clank FTOD demo alerted me to the fact that the 360 could never handle that game. I'm sure that in the next few months it will be common knowledge that the xbox 360 has quite inferior hardware.

Matt @ Oct 14th 2007 2:01AM

Sony fanboys can talk all you want about the features that obviously haven't made a difference in your meager monthly unit sales. Ironically, it's all those "extras" that made the PS3 overpriced. The 360 is all about quality games and it's delivered. I'm still waiting for that blockbuster title on PS3. Lair, Folklore, Heavenly Sword, what a joke. You fanboys better hope that PS3 starts moving units and more importantly software. Developers and publishers are taking notice and that's how MS will continue to nab quality exclusives.

Frank @ Oct 14th 2007 2:04AM

The game engine is what the creators used to make the game run. It includes the physics, models, reflections, lighting, shadows etc. Some companies make their own engines, others specialize in (Epic). Epic made a very expensive, yet incredibly good engine, which they now sell to other companies. Gears of war used the unreal engine, rainbow 6 vegas, bioshock for are examples.

Here's wikipedia's official answer

"The core functionality typically provided by a game engine includes a rendering engine (“renderer”) for 2D or 3D graphics, a physics engine or collision detection (and collision response), sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, and a scene graph. The process of game development is frequently economized by in large part reusing the same game engine to create multiple different games."

The Unreal Engine is probably the most popular one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_engine

If you scroll down there's a complete list of every iteration of the engine's use.

ruibing @ Oct 14th 2007 2:18AM

@23

I don't get what's so bad about Folklore and Heavenly Sword; you really shouldn't group them with Lair.

I don't see an endless list of hot titles for the 360 either. I think the highlights are just Halo 3, GoW, PGR4, and Mass Effect (I think it should be good, since EA hasn't touched it yet).

Meanwhile, Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank, and Haze (I think it would be a good twist to the old red vs blue fps except now they actually have completely different gameplay mechanics now) should be good. And for those who can't wait for GT 5, there's even the slightly expensive GT 5 Prologue for photo-realistic graphics.

This is going to be a good holiday, I can't wait.

Jeff @ Oct 14th 2007 2:43AM

@23

It's obvious from your comments you have previously post on this site that while you might not be a fanboy, you at least lean towards Microsoft's side. Heavenly Sword might not be a Halo, but it's still a good game and you shouldn't group it with Lair. I haven't played Folklore yet so I'll have to pass on judegement for now. And developers will take notice because they are being paid by Microsoft. At least none of the third party exclusives on the PS3 and Wii were purchased; compared to most of Microsoft's third party exclusvies being purchased by them (Ace Combat 6, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Enternal Sonanta, Beautiful Katamari, the list goes on and on.)

EfrenPacquiao @ Oct 14th 2007 2:59AM

I totally agree that the cheap PS3 has many features that the Xbox360 needs added on. Also, I don't believe that this master plan was in the works since day one, better late than never.

OrganicShadow @ Oct 14th 2007 3:06AM

As far as not caring about HD discs- Assassins Creed not fitting on DVD9. That's all the info I need right there. Sorry but I can't be joggin, flippin' discs while I drink mah sip.

Sony. Announce 40gb for the US. Now. No, really.

Anthony Pittarelli @ Oct 14th 2007 4:23AM

the 360 will be obsolete in a year, ask the maker of assasins credd

secret @ Oct 14th 2007 4:54AM

Thanks, Don, Frank...

busboy33 @ Oct 14th 2007 7:29PM

@Secret:
Easiest way to think of a "game engine" is as a pre-made game, without any actual game elements. It's a software system that is designed to work with all of its components: a graphics program, a physics program, etc. Developers can always make their own game from scratch, but that takes time and money. By licensing a pre-made engine (as the other posters have noted, Unreal Engine 3 is the biggest name for this right now), a developer can just apply their art, story, etc. and have a game made quicker and cheaper than building from scratch. Also, like a car engine, a developer can change or modify parts of it, and there are usually fewer problems getting everything to run together.

eddyk @ Oct 14th 2007 6:20AM

Some people should be aware that wireless internet connection is very far from being the most reliable connection available for gaming purpose.
Wired connection is just a 100% reliable whereas wireless is subject ton jaming from microwave ovens and neigbours using the same wifi channel and others type of perturbation.
So PLEASE : Stop putting forward the advantage of the built in wireless for PS3, because when the install base of the PS3 will be greater, it's quite sure that we'll start hearing complaint about network lag, slow time responses, slow pings and other network issues.
The Xbox Live has been able to handle millions simultaneous connections thanks to wired ethernet and gigabit ethernet connections, and Microsoft said in an early interview that I can find that Wireless was not built for reliability purposes.

For those not familiar with this, check wikipedia about wireless lan :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_LAN#Disadvantages

~G~ @ Oct 14th 2007 7:56AM

I'd say this new PS3 is closer to the 360... BUT Sony really are taking the piss here.

Sure the price is down - but he system costs about the same as what you would pay to ship a US system - but the US systems have all the goo stuff still in them.

Sony are totally screwing EU gamers. At least MS and Nintendo have kept the systems the same everywhere.

~G~ @ Oct 14th 2007 8:08AM

"the 360 will be obsolete in a year, ask the maker of assasins credd"

You mean the same guys who were making Assassins Creed exclusively for the PS3 - then decided to make it for the 360 - and have only used 360 screens and vids to help promote it?
Yeah they hate the 360.....

JaseH @ Oct 15th 2007 12:02PM

@33 ~G~

"You mean the same guys who were making Assassins Creed exclusively for the PS3 - then decided to make it for the 360 - and have only used 360 screens and vids to help promote it?
Yeah they hate the 360...."

This was a fair while ago. Wya before the makers of the game encountered these problems with the DVD9.

Not to mention, showing screens & Demo's by one platform proves nothing. The game doesnt need to be top notch, finished or even 50% completed to create a Demo or a bunch of character models.

There's a difference. Educate yourself about it first.

__________________________________________________
JaseH.

Starfire @ Oct 14th 2007 9:28AM

Well, the PS3 has always been good value considering it's capabilities, but only now has it got a price in most people's 'comfort zone', which means it can steam ahead. The 360 has next-gen graphics, but with PS3 you get blu-ray, a changeable hdd, bluetooth, wireless- all part of a great experience. PS3 needs to catch up with 'triple-A' games, but it already has a lot of quietly great ones. Personally, I'm looking forward most to GT5- even Concept is fantastic and truly 'next-gen' in it's realism. I hope more such amazing things materialise.

SKI @ Oct 14th 2007 10:19AM

"Maguire said Sony has been considering this model since the PlayStation 3 launched."

Then why were they spewing that BS about how BC is not gimped on the PS3 like that "other system?"

Ruben @ Oct 14th 2007 11:17AM

If you want exclusives look:
X360:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Xbox_360-only_games

PS3:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:PlayStation_3-only_games

PS3 has 68 exclusives
And Xbox 360 has 66, and if you want to break the "untitled Halo project" into a trilogy, that makes 68 still doesn't surpass the PS3's one year run. Considering all of the exclusives PS3 has lost.

And the assassins creed problem is that it doesn't fit on dvd.
"right now we have a big challenge on the 360 to make it fit on a DVD, to put five languages, to put all the data on eight gigs. On the Blu-ray side we're really good." Yeah... blu-ray is useless.

Justin @ Oct 14th 2007 11:48AM

@ eddyk, you're acting as though Sony has removed the ethernet connection from the back of the PS3...

I don't get your point.

and @ matt...is calling people 'fanboys' even clever anymore? is it still considered 'funny' or 'witty' or whatever the initial purpose of the word was meant to be? Maybe I'm behind the times.

Pete @ Oct 14th 2007 11:52AM

"What movies are available on HD-DVD?"

Transformers. :)

Incidentally, all models of the 360 will have HDMI and wireless controllers once the Arcade model replaces the Core model in a couple weeks. The current Premium console already has HDMI.

To address another point, Rock Band's PS3 peripherals are either wired or use dongles. They don't use Bluetooth.

"And the assassins creed problem is that it doesn't fit on dvd.
"right now we have a big challenge on the 360 to make it fit on a DVD, to put five languages, to put all the data on eight gigs. On the Blu-ray side we're really good." Yeah... blu-ray is useless."

It seems like there is a pretty easy solution to that problem, isn't there? Just put one language on each version of the disc. I could care less about the Spanish or French audio on some of my DVDs. Leave it off.

Pete @ Oct 14th 2007 12:05PM

"X360:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Xbox_360-only_games

PS3:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:PlayStation_3-only_games

PS3 has 68 exclusives
And Xbox 360 has 66, and if you want to break the "untitled Halo project" into a trilogy, that makes 68 still doesn't surpass the PS3's one year run. Considering all of the exclusives PS3 has lost."

That PS3 list includes downloadable games. The 360 has over 80 downloadable games in the arcade, and quite a few of them are exclusive. Only a couple of the exclusive arcade games are listed on Wikipedia, for some reason.

Back on topic. When the 40GB or whatever model of the PS3 reaches $200, I'll buy one. That was my trigger point for the 360, and I managed to get a premium 360 last year for $200 at Microcenter.

Seminole @ Oct 14th 2007 1:28PM

@eddyk

Although wireless may not be the most reliable, a lot of people still want it. I only have 1 Ethernet jack in my apartment, next to my desk in my bedroom. I love the fact I can still connect to the internet without having to detract from my apartment's appearance by running a wire across my whole apartment just to get online. When I go home over breaks, I can hook the PS3 up to the HD TV in my family room and connect to my house's wireless network. There are huge advantages to wireless, and many consumer WANT wireless.

As far as PS3 vs. Xbox, I looked at both when I purchased the PS3. I had enough money to get the 60GB when it first came out, and I like all the features I was getting for the money, because like people have pointed out before, to get a comparable Xbox, you would have been in the $700 range when I bought my PS3.

Another side note is that I have a friend who just got a PS3 because his Xbox RROD'd on him. His exact words: "I'm willing to give up playing Halo 3, to have a system that won't break. There might not be as many games out right now, but I'm willing to wait, because when they do come out at least I'll have a working system to play them on."

MightyFlea @ Oct 14th 2007 1:32PM

@secret

A game engine is the technology behind the game.

For instance, the UNREAL ENGINE. This is the game engine behind GEARS OF WAR, it is also the engine behind UNREAL TOURNAMENT. It is the building blocks of the gameworld. It allows developers of games to spend more of thier time on the textures, models, gameplay, level design, and extra bits they want to bolt on to the game engine, etc. Some design houses use thier own game engines, where some other licence a game engine off other developers. Expect to see afew games based on the UNREAL3 ENGINE, though all the games will look and play differently.

Hope that made sense...

ruibing @ Oct 14th 2007 1:35PM

@39

A price of $200 is way too ridiculous.

You do realize that the new 360 Arcade replacing Core with a price of $279-299 has no HDD (and not sure about HDMI though I assume its included) and instead just has a 256MB memory card, wireless controller and composite cable. And instead you get some (I think five) free XBLA games. So basically you won't be able to play a lot of the next gen games without buying add-ons. And since the 360 uses proprietary HDD add-ons, its going to cost you about $90 (the cheapest one being the 20GB add-on) to put a hard drive in. And still you can't watch HD-DVD, so add $180 on top of that. The total comes out to $550 (without wireless even) for something resembling the 40GB PS3 offering of $400.

If the PS3 needs to be $200 for you to buy it, the 360 cheapest SKU needs to be almost for me to buy it since I'm going to need to add about $270 worth of add-ons in order to get a hard drive and ability to watch HD-DVD. Of course an elite/premium SKU might have some of those included (though not the HD-DVD addon), those needs to drop to $200 for me to get them, and they are currently at $449.

ruibing @ Oct 14th 2007 1:36PM

almost free*

Ruben @ Oct 14th 2007 2:23PM

Wait you actually have to buy those cellphone games?!

Pete @ Oct 14th 2007 2:33PM

"A price of $200 is way too ridiculous. "

I bought my 360 for $200 when Micro Center had two $100 rebates on the Premium console. One of them was a credit card promotion. The other was a $100 rebate on the premium console. There were TONS of gift card and rebate promotions for the 360 last holiday season. I'm certain that the promotions will continue this holiday. And I'm also certain that the rebates were sponsored by Microsoft.

Sony needs promotions like this to compete during the holidays.

ZombieOrgasm @ Oct 14th 2007 2:43PM

I'm still waiting for some games to play on my PS3.

Doesn't matter how many features the system has, in the end it's all about THE GAMES.

Easo @ Oct 14th 2007 3:01PM

I just want to point out that the xbox 360 pro comes bundled with Forza 2 and Marval Ultimate Alliance, HD compatible cables, a wireless controller, headset and mic, And a free arcade game for $350. Thats a pretty good value if you ask me.
But what do i know, im just an xbot.

Kspraydad @ Oct 14th 2007 3:13PM

It is part of a plan. As soon as all hardware dependant PS3s are sold (and there is a high demand for them now that people think they are 'disappearing') they will announce software BC.

Software BC was the ORIGINAL intent of SONY but due to pressure from X and W they had to get their product out last year and use hardware to do the BC. It really HAS been part of their plan all along to do the BC with software and I believe they are now close to announcing such.

From a Joystiq article in 2006:

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/05/ps3s-rumored-backcompat-solution-a-ps2-inside/

Quote:

It will increase the price of each unit; as the software solution approaches 100% compatibility, they will have the option of removing the hardware to cut costs.

This is EXACTLY what is happening right now. They can't announce the lower priced version is getting BC because it would kill the sales of the higher cost 60/80GB models.