Japanese Newspaper: Playstation 4 Will Have a $400 Price Tag

Steven Bogos

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Jan 17, 2013
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Japanese Newspaper: Playstation 4 Will Have a $400 Price Tag



One of the country's most reputable dailies claims that Sony will confirm PS4 details on February 20.

The Asahi Shimbun is one of the largest news publications in the Japan. In the business section of its online edition, the newspaper has boldly claimed to know several key details about Sony's new console, namely that it will release in the US and Japan by the end of 2013, and it will retail for 40,000 yen ($427 USD). The report also suggests Sony is sticking with its "if it aint broke, don't fix it" stance on their controller, with the PS4 controller to be roughly the same size and shape as the current Dual Shock 3. They claim that Sony will confirm all of these details on February 20, a date previously hyped with a viral video. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121823-Sony-Teases-Possible-PlayStation-4-Announcement]

This report seems to suggest that Sony has learned from its past mistake. The Playstation 3 launched in 2006 with a price tag of $600 USD (or a staggering $1000 AUD if you happened to live in the wrong hemisphere...) which was very widely criticized, and contributed to its slow early adoption rate. [http://www.vgchartz.com/tools/hw_date.php?reg=USA&ending=Yearly] This 40,000 yen figure puts the console more in line with Nintendo's recently released Wii U, which currently retails for 31,500 yen (32 gigabyte version).

While the report claims that the console will be released in the US and Japan by 2013, it offers no word on a European release date. It also says that Sony will be utilizing some kind of touch screen technology for its new machine.

Consoles are typically sold at a loss at launch with the intention of making up for it in both software sales and the average longevity of a console generation. Sony took a big gamble with the PS3 by giving us a machine that was much more powerful than anything its competitors had to offer. Unfortunately, the unprecedented push in multi-platform games this generation meant that many triple A titles were built for the less-powerful Xbox 360, and didn't take advantage of the advanced power of the PS3.

With PCs poised to take the power and price advantage [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121826-Star-Citizen-Dev-Consoles-Will-Lose-Advantage-to-PCs] away from consoles in the next generation, and Nintendo showing that a less powerful machine can still be successful, the low price point of Sony's new console could suggest that the company will be using more modest hardware this time around.

Source: Asahi Shimbun (Japanese) [http://www.asahi.com/business/update/0207/TKY201302060568.html]

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Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Sounds about right, I guess.

Still, if they're keeping the controller the same, what's with this touch screen business? *sniff sniff* Do I smell a peripheral?
 

VanQ

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Oct 23, 2009
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I reckon the touch screen on the new controller will probably be similar to the back touch panel on the Vita. I could be wrong, there is room to stick a small LED screen on the part of the controller where the Start/Select/PS buttons are too. Hell, it might even have both.

If the price tag is only $400 and there's at least one or two games in the launch line up that interest me, I might be a day one adopter. Here's hoping Sony have learned from the past.
 
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If the hardware is more powerful than the Wii U, than I imagine Sony would be making a huge loss on each console.


They must really be relying on exclusivity for next gen to shift units...
 

Casual Shinji

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VanQQisH said:
I reckon the touch screen on the new controller will probably be similar to the back touch panel on the Vita. I could be wrong, there is room to stick a small LED screen on the part of the controller where the Start/Select/PS buttons are too. Hell, it might even have both.
Maybe they could add one of those mouse trackballs on the back for you to tickle.

Somehow I can just see that working.
 

VanQ

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Daystar Clarion said:
If the hardware is more powerful than the Wii U, than I imagine Sony would be making a huge loss one each console.


They must really be relying on exclusivity for next gen to shift units...
Sony have always sold their consoles at a loss in the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised if it was significantly more powerful than the WiiU, I think I remember reading somewhere that it was designed to be able to handle the Unreal4 engine. Can't remember where though, so take that with a grain of salt.

Casual Shinji said:
VanQQisH said:
I reckon the touch screen on the new controller will probably be similar to the back touch panel on the Vita. I could be wrong, there is room to stick a small LED screen on the part of the controller where the Start/Select/PS buttons are too. Hell, it might even have both.
Maybe they could add one of those mouse trackballs on the back for you to tickle.

Somehow I can just see that working.
Have you had a chance to try out the back touch pad on a Vita? It's much nicer and much more accurate than a mouse trackball. Think like a Wacom Tablet but designed for your fingers.
 

Sylveria

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I bought the PS3 early cause I could get a 60gig one with the reverse compatibility. I don't regret it considering my PS2 had just died and my PS1 was on the way out. It was worth the $600 + the free game I got with it and that work-horse is still running.

With that said, I can't imagine any good reasons to try and adopt the PS4 early unless it has some absolutely magnificent launch titles that will be PS4 exclusives. With every decent series that was PS exclusive before this generation now being slapped on every console, I can't see that happening. The few things that Sony can still claim to have as their own do not interest me.

Oh and then there's the elephant in the room of if they will or will not use that anti-used tech they patented. Which if they do and Xbox does, we all get to watch the entire industry collapse in on itself. Won't that be fun.
 

Hazy992

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Aug 1, 2010
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That's not bad if it's true, $400 is a lot more reasonable than '599 US dollars!' was. The fact that people are still taking the piss out of that should tell you something. If the lineup's decent I might pick one up on launch.
Daystar Clarion said:
If the hardware is more powerful than the Wii U, than I imagine Sony would be making a huge loss one each console.


They must really be relying on exclusivity for next gen to shift units...
Not necessarily. One of the main reasons the Wii U is being sold at a loss is because of the Gamepad so if Sony don't have to worry about something like that, then it's more money that can be spent on the actual hardware. I don't think Sony can even afford to sell it at a loss this time around.
 

ron1n

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No doubt will still end up selling for like $600-$800 in Australia -_-
 

Scribblesense

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Only $400 with modern-day specs suggests to me they must be skimping on something. I'd think a tiny hard drive (but upgradeable) and no backwards compatibility (it would no doubt be very expensive to emulate the PS3's fancy-schmancy architecture as it was for the PS2).

$400 really is a good price for a console, but with all the talk about a $299 Wii U being too expensive I don't see this selling well during its launch window.
 

gigastar

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Scribblesense said:
...and no backwards compatibility (it would no doubt be very expensive to emulate the PS3's fancy-schmancy architecture as it was for the PS2).
Sony already debunked that, they say theyre going to keep rereleasing games on the PSN then make sure that the PS4 can play them.
 

dragongit

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$400? I'm ok with this. Yes it's still pricey but when it comes down to it, it's still a goal that can be reasonably reached. every extra hundred dollars would make it more and more scary to buy. this time around people may not be as hesitant to buy it.

though one question pops up, however. Is 400 the maximum cost we are to expect? What if this is like the wii. You get a 60 GB version, or a 500 GB version, and the difference being upwards of another hundred dollars.
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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Not bad, and I'm totally okay with this.

Depending on when it gets released I might be an early adopter with this, and that also depends on what games they have out for it too.
 

AzrealMaximillion

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$400 seems like a good price. The PlayStation brands carries all of the exclusives, 3rd party of otherwise, that I enjoy. That and they don't region lock their console.s