Amnestic said:
*quote butchershop*
While Sony may have made questionable decisions in the past, you can't deny that they've got good business sense. The PS2 is generally heralded as the dominating console for that generation and it's clear that they've got a fair degree of knowledge knocking about between them. Was it a sinister plot, devised simply to milk the consumer's teets for that last, glistening bead of milky money? I doubt it. Did they know ahead of time? I think so. You disagree with me and I doubt either of us will ever find out which of us is right so we'll have to settle on disagreeing on this matter, I think.
Actually, my assessment of their business sense is based on the decisions they've made relatively recently. The ps2 enjoyed as much success as it did for a few reasons. First, it was the first console of that generation, so it had the headstart advantage. It was also alot easier to develop for so it had the backing of many small developers creating a huge library for it. Third, it rode the coattails of its predecessor using the popularity of the Ps1 to its advantage where as microsoft was still very new to the console game (being that the xbox was their first console). Nintendo was a good deal late to the game with the gamecube, and made the silly decision to go with mini-discs. Regardless, its not hard to see why the Ps2 was the clear winner of last generation.
As for recently, sony made some awful decisions with the PS3. I like sony as a whole and being that I own their console I don't want to beat them into the ground, but I'll say the ones you already know, being that they overpriced their console for target consumer because they wanted it to champion their new bluray disc format and they used a processor which wasn't necessarily designed to be used as a gaming platform. While both decisions might pay off in the long run, it's kind of shot their image in the public eye. As for whether or not they knew they were releasing the 250gig when they released the slim, I'm not sure. To me it seems like a late design decision they made for 2 reasons. 1 because they couldn't be outdone by the xbox when they claim their machine is technologically superior, and 2 because its an easy way to increase their profit margin since obviously a 250g hard drive is not worth 50$ more than a 120g.
tldr;
I'm not trying to say their incompetent, but simply saying that the 250g strikes me as an afterthought meant to compete with the new elite. Did they know they were going to be releasing them when they released the 120? Yeah probably, but I'm going to guess at that time the 250s weren't quite off the production line yet so they kept it under wraps to keep sales strong on the 120s (or rather they didn't want people holding out for the 250s to take a chunk out of their 120 sales).
Did people who ordered the 120 get shorted? No. Why? Because for 50$ they can just buy a 500g hard drive and stick it in their ps3. It doesn't take alot of computer know how to do, and then they actually come out on top.
Amnestic said:
Black cats. They match the gold better. I told you. It's all about colour coordination.
What can I say? I'm a traditionalist.
Amnestic said:
Eh, I have a little bit of difficulty agreeing with your assessment for the 360. I know I'm starting to sound like a fanboy here (and I hate that, I do) but the time difference between the 120gig being released and the 250 being announced is far larger than the Slim's case. The original Elite (which has 120 gigs) was released in late August 2007 for Europe. It wasn't until over two years later (September 15th, 2009) that they announced the 250 gig version which is bundled with MW2 and is - to the best of my knowledge anyway - a single promotional item for the game. I'm not sure if the 250gig will get a further, separate release later down the line (and if it isn't announced pre-MW2 release, I'll be decrying them for duplicity as well
) but as far as I know the Elite 250 is only a special promotional item thus far.
If anyone knows otherwise, feel free to correct me, but I've checked Wikipedia and it seems to be leaning in that direction.
Well there's a number of reasons for the time difference. One, the price of hard drives have dropped drastically since 2007, making the 250 gig a much more viable option. Also, at the time there was no 250g product to compete with, so releasing a 250g model would have been silly and wouldn't have sold well. 2 years later, people have started filling up their hard drives with xbl arcade games, save games, music, and whatnot; so the demand for a larger hard drive is there, also the 250 directly competes with the 120gig of the slim. So for those reasons, xbox had more time to introduce a 250g. (And yes while it is available as a promotional, I'd be surprsied if it doesn't replace their 120g elite.) The ps3 on the other hand is directly competing with the 250g. Sony is trying to corner the market right now so they really need to keep up with the Joneses, ie they can't be one upped by microsoft, especially when their tune from the beginning has been "our system is technologically superior."
