All rumors are true...in the gaming world
Today two big ones
have come true: Bungie is spliting off from Microsoft and Sony is
launching a 40GB PS3 in Europe for €399. The Bungie move makes them
independent but they still will have ties to Microsoft and Microsoft
owns th halo brand. So you will not see Halo for the PS3 ever but you
will see new IPs from Bungie on the Xbox 360. Microsoft still owns an
equity interest in Bungie.
Since the PS3 is tanking in Europe as well as in the US, Sony's European arm has announced a new €399 40GB PS3 will be available next week. This new unit will be a stripped down version that has no backwards compatibility at all. The new PS3 will compete against the Xbox 360 Elite in Europe and Sony hopes this will revive the brand in Europe. Ever sine the 360 price drop the PS3 has been lagging behind in sales. Europe is the largest possible market for game console manufacturers and has been traditionally loyal to Sony products.
I tend to think the Bungie move is questionable. The idea is key people might leave and by making Bungie independent this will keep those people. I tend to think that people have left before after Halo CE and Halo 2 yet they still made a great game in Halo 3. People are expendable, it's the simple truth. In the end this move only hurts Microsoft so it's a dumb move in my book.
On the PS3, I think it's a desperate move that will only tick off the casual gamer. They will run out and buy a cheap PS3 and learn they can't play any of their old games. SCEE is desperate to generate sales because the Wii is dominating the market. Unlike the US and Japan the common people in Europe are dirt poor. How are they expected to afford a console that equates to $560? The market price for Europe is more like €249 instead of €399. This puts a lot of presure on Microsoft to respond. Sony has dropped their price €200 in a matter of 10 months. If Microsoft can grin and bare it they should drop the 360 Pro to €249 and place the Elite at €349 to beat Sony in Europe.
Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/oct07/10-05BungieEvolvesPR.mspx
http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/scee-confirms-ps3-price-drop-307589.php
Since the PS3 is tanking in Europe as well as in the US, Sony's European arm has announced a new €399 40GB PS3 will be available next week. This new unit will be a stripped down version that has no backwards compatibility at all. The new PS3 will compete against the Xbox 360 Elite in Europe and Sony hopes this will revive the brand in Europe. Ever sine the 360 price drop the PS3 has been lagging behind in sales. Europe is the largest possible market for game console manufacturers and has been traditionally loyal to Sony products.
I tend to think the Bungie move is questionable. The idea is key people might leave and by making Bungie independent this will keep those people. I tend to think that people have left before after Halo CE and Halo 2 yet they still made a great game in Halo 3. People are expendable, it's the simple truth. In the end this move only hurts Microsoft so it's a dumb move in my book.
On the PS3, I think it's a desperate move that will only tick off the casual gamer. They will run out and buy a cheap PS3 and learn they can't play any of their old games. SCEE is desperate to generate sales because the Wii is dominating the market. Unlike the US and Japan the common people in Europe are dirt poor. How are they expected to afford a console that equates to $560? The market price for Europe is more like €249 instead of €399. This puts a lot of presure on Microsoft to respond. Sony has dropped their price €200 in a matter of 10 months. If Microsoft can grin and bare it they should drop the 360 Pro to €249 and place the Elite at €349 to beat Sony in Europe.
Source:
http://www.microsoft.com
http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3
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