Your PS3 can do a lot of things. You know that, but does the average consumer know that? Sony Europe is displaying a new ad in retail stores in order to better illustrate the value of the PS3. They break down various components, such as the PS3's ability to play MP3s, DVDs, Blu-ray movies, and more. Interestingly, they come to the conclusion that if everything a PS3 can do was purchased separately, it would cost a whopping £614.98. When you look at the £299 price tag the PS3 currently carries, it certainly seems like a deal, doesn't it?
We think this is an effective way of representing the PS3's versatile capabilities. However, does it come off as a bit snobbish? Do you think this ad will be effective in convincing consumers to get a PS3?
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{ Dec 12th 2007 at 6:45PM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Organic_Shadow @ Dec 12th 2007 6:56PM
Convince consumers to get a PS3? Maybe.
Make a bunch of people realize it's more than a 'game box'? Definitely.
There needs to be more of this type of marketing, at least in the US and Europe, seeing as supposedly hardly anyone knows about all it's features. I dare say there should even be a 'getting started' type intro video after setting your PS3 up, but that would be as annoying as the XP 'getting started' thing that us frequent formatters on PC have to deal with.
mattclarkie @ Dec 13th 2007 6:16AM
This is what really annoys me when people say it is expensive. I bought one knowing the features, and the blu-ray player alone made it worse £400 without even being a PS3.
I paid £379 for my 360, and £349 for my PS3. I know which one was better value for money the PS3.
kingofwale @ Dec 12th 2007 7:07PM
as a PS3 owner, I have to say, "What a stupid thing to do"
Anyone who owns one knows what he/she is getting, PS3 owners are very knowledgeable, there's no need for this at all.
jp @ Dec 12th 2007 7:22PM
what makes this NOT a stupid thing is the fact that he average person doesnt know what it can do.
as far as the sony owners being smart, well in a recent poll a large portion of ps3 owners didnt know it could play blu-ray, or what blu-ray is for that matter. i'd like to think i'm a smart ps3 owner, but to say that all ps3 owners are smart is clearly off.
mike @ Dec 12th 2007 7:10PM
How exactly does a ps3 replace my £190 ipod? I cant exactly take my ps3 on the bus with me.. - £190 straight away
kentuckyfried @ Dec 12th 2007 7:16PM
615 British Pounds = 1257 USD
Trev (Completely Normal Human Defense Force) @ Dec 12th 2007 7:16PM
I like that it's a clear rundown of (almost) everything the PS3 does, but the price tags are a little hokey. They should sell it on it's merits as a fancy game console (with some very good games that aren't on PC) and a very capable media center instead of saying "look how much this would cost you separately". Features should make people accept the cost, not how much of a deal they're getting on components.
Dan @ Dec 13th 2007 6:27AM
hmm, strange that they chose not to include the price of a games console in that bought separately list.
I guess It makes sense though. Gaming is more of an easter egg than a feature on the PS3 at the moment.
Parker @ Dec 12th 2007 7:31PM
If the polls floating around are to be believed, they show that the public does not have a clue as to what the PS3 can truly do. A lot of people just think it plays games only. I think you have to spoon feed all of the information about what the PS3 does because most people simply won't bother to do the research themselves.
ClarkyCat @ Dec 12th 2007 7:47PM
It's good in that it shows off the PS3's various features, but it's too ambiguous and indeed contradictory.
One of the features is "High Definition Gaming". What percentage of the overall price does that account for?
MP3 players are portable. More often than not, nowadays, MP3 players come with in built picture and video viewing as well, and the prices for those have dropped/are dropping significantly.
What I have most issues with are the following. PSP Remote Play. Firstly, not everyone who has a PS3 has a PSP, and vice versa. Secondly, the feature itself is next to useless. Even on the lowest quality settings one has to wait an age for a simple flick through the menus if not on a local network.
Secondly, Internet Browsing. Not everyone who has a PS3 has a broadband internet connection. Sounds unbelievable but it is true. The console loses an awful lot of appeal if you take away the network features. And the fact is, if you HAVE a broadband internet connection, you're paying your ISP for it. How is that factored into the price.
Finally, the most obvious thing. You need a TV to use the damn thing! You need an expensive TV to take advantage of the features listed up there - HD, Blu Ray, Photos, Video, Internet. Say what you want but looking at most of the stuff in SD A) defeats the purpose and B) looks horrible.
So if you factor in the costs that must be undertaken to enjoy a PS3 to the full, the receipt on the right would be a lot higher than the one on the left.
£299 - PS3
£129 - PSP
£120 - Minimum price for a 1 year broadband package
£800 - Price for entry level 1080p HDTV
£1348 - Total price.
I wouldn't say outright attempted consumer deception on Sony's part, but pretty damn close.
Andy @ Dec 12th 2007 7:48PM
I put the PS3's worth around $700 Canadian. 80% of that value is for playing games. 10% for movies. 10% for free online and free wifi.
bluesky_v2.01 @ Dec 12th 2007 7:56PM
There's the real value of a blu-ray player. Not $1000 as it was in the beginning.
jacksealey @ Dec 12th 2007 8:13PM
ClarkyCat
If you're with sky, then you can get broadband for free, lowest cost and cheap for £60/$120 a year.
LaughingTarget @ Dec 12th 2007 8:17PM
Interesting. However, it doesn't do much for those who already own all that stuff. If a person was only in the market for half those features, or just doesn't care about the rest of it, it creates the illusion that they're paying twice as much as they should. True, that isn't the case, but the image still remains that you're paying too much for what you use.
Sony should focus purely on the game playing aspects as I suspect that will be the bread and butter profits on the unit and let the more informed play with the other stuff.
Richie @ Dec 12th 2007 9:11PM
it's still is a gaming console :/
joe skar @ Dec 12th 2007 9:12PM
how can you assign a dollar value to "psp connectivity"?
Brittany @ Dec 12th 2007 9:50PM
I'm thinking some people might see that and realize they really don't need all those extras because they already have most of them - dvd player, cd player, mp3 player, store and view photos & video (a computer maybe, eh?), a internet browser...
so take those out you have :
High definition gaming
Blu-ray player
Wireless motion control
Remote PSP Connectivity
And with that list I'm really not that impressed. High definition is nice for gaming - it can make a great game even better, but it can't make a lame game good.
Blu-ray player - I'm still at the point where I could care less about HD DVD vs Blu ray, my plain ol' dvds still work fine with my TV
Wireless motion control - shrug, not really a huge selling point for the PS3 I don't think...
and PSP connectivity which is cool no doubt, but useless if you don't have a PSP yourself.
So, the idea of their advertisement was good - but too much emphasis on it not being a gaming consoles - I think they would have better luck advertising to gamers with a look at our exclusives / or will be exclusives - God of War III, Little big planet, MGS 4 (that alone is why my bf is going to buy a ps3), ratchet and clank...
dynamicD @ Dec 13th 2007 10:33AM
No, people do need this kind of advertising. I had two people i know say, "Why would I buy the PS3 when the wii does the exact same thing." then, another friend of my she said after we asked where her wii was, "I brought it upstairs so I can watch DVD's on it." Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash the wii. I have one as well. My point is that the average consumer doesn't know all the specs. If the average consumer knew what the PS3 did, we'd be able to get the sales of the person who didn't know it did so much.
McMupp @ Dec 19th 2007 11:27AM
I would say that putting mp3-player in the list of features is a liiittle bit of cheating. Because it's not like im gonna bring my PS3 and a tv with an extention(spelling?)cable just to listen to mp3s...
Starfire @ Dec 13th 2007 11:06AM
The problem with this kind of effort to re-educate, is that it can't really penetrate the average perception that it is mainly a games machine and should be judged on that. True, a lot of people who want a blu-ray player have bought it for that reason, but with this not so many games.
I love the fact that it has these multi-media capabilities and it's a major reason for my purchase, but Sony need to remember to put the gaming first and to have entertaining games at that. Ultimately, this entertainment factor, spread by word of mouth is what will sell it- which is why the Wii is doing so well.
evilJaze @ Dec 13th 2007 5:52PM
Interesting though... They should have compared the value versus the 360. They could have sold the fact that the PS3 out of the box $399 version does way more than the 360 Pro $399 version.
I just bought the $399 (CAD btw) Pro holiday bundle so I could play stubborn non-ported games like Bioshock and Ass (er I mean Mass) Effect. Microsoft sucks you in with the price but you end up having to buy stuff that really should be included like the Microsoft HDMI / optical out cable (sure you can use the RGB/Optical one that comes with it and hack it so you can plug in a 3rd party HDMI cable but why is that necessary??). Also the wireless controller only comes with regular AA batteries, if you want the pack, it's an extra $30. The MS HDMI cable retails at Wal-Mart for $70. Also, the HD is far smaller than even the tiniest PS3 drive at 20GB. You have two options: 20GB or 120GB. No in-between. And don't get me started on XBOX Live at $60 per year. I could go further and say that if you want to play HD media, you have to get the HD DVD drive priced at about $130 (all prices CAD) but why the heck would you want to go with this century's version of Beta?
Don't get me wrong, the 360 is a decent console, I'm just tired of MS d*ck suckers claiming that the 360 is the better deal when clearly it is not. Ask yourselves, will the 360 be around in 2 years? What about the PS3. I'm sure most of you already know the answer.
John Dong @ Dec 14th 2007 2:18AM
ok sorry this is just really bothering the heck out of me. How so you say? Well let me begin by that if you look CLOSELY at the receipt, Sony is only calculating the price of FOUR items and they DVD player, CD player, MP3 player, and Blu-ray Player. There is NO monetary value for rest. They are merely additional perks that comes with a PS3.
ok now back to the topic,
This advertisement imo is a very good one because it shows that a PS3 combines various technology into one machine. Granted that the emphasize should be on gaming but atm, Sony's PS3 games aren't that enticing. Therefore by using this advertistment, Sony can show consumers that a PS3 is a gaming machine and so much more. Sure a computer can do most of the same stuff and music can be heard on video players, PS3 makes it just that much more easier.
Ok sorry done trolling