PS3- Not So Pricy?

Lauren DiTullio ‘09

As almost everybody knows by now, Sony’s Playstation 3 is scheduled to hit markets on November 17. Its introductory price is $600, which many people find to be way too much to pay for a videogame console, no matter how high-tech it is. However, Sony is now making efforts to assure their costumers that, despite the high price of the system, other aspects of their product are affordable.

Online gaming these days is somewhat expensive. Xbox Live users pay an annual fee of $50 to connect and play online games, and the legendarily addictive online game World of Warcraft costs about $15 a month to play. According to ABC News, Sony has announced that part of the benefit of their new system would be the capability to play online games for free. The game itself would still need to be purchased, but there would be no extra fee for connection or subscription.

While many say that nobody, even die-hard Sony loyalists, will be willing to pay $600 for the system, Sony argues that because the console serves many purposes, it is worth paying for. The PS3, in addition to enabling users to play games involving the most cutting-edge technology, will also be able to play high-definition video, and connect to the internet, enabling users to browse the web and access downloads. They can download both upgrades and programs for their PS3, and other unrelated things, such as music and videos.

In essence, Sony is arguing that the PS3 encompasses so many different technological aspects that it serves as an entire entertainment system all by itself, and is therefore worth the money buyers would be spending on it. It also saves people the trouble of buying all of the separate devices to do each thing that the Playstation 3 does. The free online gameplay is an added bonus to all of the other extra features of the Playstation 3.

While none of these features actually make the price of the PS3 any less, they do make it easier to see why Sony is charging so much money. They are likely to face a problem with their less technologically inclined users, however. Many gamers only use their system for gaming, and much of the features of the PS3 would be either useless to them or unable to be understood by them. In addition, most people already own other appliances matching the various functions of the Playstation 3, and unless they all sell their computers and DVD players, the Playstation 3 is not an especially practical investment.

Only time will tell whether the release of Sony’s new system will be successful, but one thing is for sure. Despite all of the controversy over the high price, the system is still very highly anticipated by videogame fans. If nothing else, Sony is earning ample publicity for themselves and their future products.