Weekly News We Care About Wrap Up – 2.2.07

Sony contemplates PS3 price cuts
A little more than a week ago, Sony’s Jack Tretton said there would not be a price cut to the PS3 any time soon.

Soon after Takao Yuhara announced, “We may look at the price as part of our strategy to expand the market when the timing is right.” Most sites are running with the idea that Sony has changed their stance on price. It doesn’t seem clear that Yuhara means Sony will change pricing any time soon, nor does he mention any specific territory.

Sony claims that they took a hit from the PS3 price reduction in Japan, so it seems counterintuitive for them to talk about more cuts. They are likely doing damage control since about every gaming website not owned by Sony has chalked up the phenomenon of PS3s sitting on shelves to its exorbitant price. This seems like the appropriate time to report that the PS3’s price was recently raised by retailers in Canada.

EA’s uncanny ability to write large checks has actually landed them some talented developers.

Electronic Arts aims to be top 3rd party publisher on DS and Wii
Sorry, Nintendo.

Sony attempt to insult their competitors (again)
Not really news since it happens so frequently, but here it is anyway. “Wii could be considered an impulse buy more than anything else,” came from Dave Karraker’s brilliant mind. The irony of this is that no one is really sure if calling something an impulse buy is actually insulting. Wouldn’t Sony prefer the PS3 to sell more because people buy it impulsively? And if anything sold at $250 or less can be considered an impulse buy, why isn’t the PSP doing better? Why do I crave White Castle yet avoid the Noid?

EGM quotes Sony’s Jack Tretton saying, “If we were a distant third in the platform race, people would have a warm spot in their hearts for the good old days of PlayStation and they’d actually root for us to get back on top.” This is partially true; Nintendo fans hope for the day the Wii is on top. But not because Nintendo is in third. The Jaguar was in third but no one wishes Atari would make a comeback (I want E.T. 2!). And if Sony died tomorrow, most people wouldn’t long for their glory days. We’d long for Square games, Konami games, and Rockstar games. Luckily, we’d still have them, they’d just be on other, cheaper, systems.

People develop affinities for games more than consoles, and developers more than publishers. Sony is a console manufacturer and publisher first, and a developer second, and evil arm of the secret Japanese Zionist movement third. Nintendo and Sega are thought of fondly by so many gamers because both gave as much, if not more, attention to designing awesome games (Sega ignored the making successful consoles part). A new system from either company means more games from that company. Nintendo being on top means more Nintendo games, and that is why so many people root for Nintendo, Mr. Tretton.

Nintendo President still modest
In order to make my bias painfully clear, here is a snippet of an interview with Satoru Iwata. Notice how he handles himself and how distinctly different he sounds from either Sony or Microsoft peons. Maybe it’s because he is the head of a company, but Bill Gates has little problem trash talking. Maybe it’s because he is Japanese, but Kutaragi is an insane purveyor of empty promises. Maybe it’s because he isn’t “winning” the console war, but MS employees were brash last generation and Sony employees continue to dismiss the DS.

Iwata attempts to pull of an xtreme press photo.

Iwata on the success of the Wii thus far: “Any system will sell well following launch but there will definitely come a time where it will stop selling.”

CNET continues to buy everything
Mark my words, one day videolamer will be bought by CNET.

Bloomberg massively misses on Sony prediction
Sony’s net income fell by 5.3%. This was reported on January 30th. Bloomberg’s polled analysts suggested an up to 50% drop off on January 29th. Now if there’s one thing I dislike more than Sony’s PR people, its financial analysts. Just think about this for a moment: These people’s predictions have real effects on the market. They have attempted to predict which console will sell the most this generation (each system has been chosen as the clear winner by at least one analyst). News sites will continue to report analysts’ predictions despite this example demonstrating that they have no idea what is going to happen one day from now.