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Gadgets Sony Offers PS2 for $99
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - March 31, 2009 11:55 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 61 comment(s) - last by graynote.. on Apr 2 at 5:28 PM
MSRP for Sony PS2 drops to under $100 for first time

The video game industry is turning in some impressive profits and continuing to operate with little impact caused by the poor global economy. The next generation consoles like the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 grab most of the headlines, but the older Sony PS2 is still doing well in the marketplace.

Sony announced today that the PS2 would see a price reduction bringing the MSRP to $99. This is the first time that the PS2 has been offered for under $100. In January, Sony announced that the PS2 had sold more than 50 million units in North America.

Sony's director of hardware marketing John Koller wrote on the PlayStation blog:

Why is this so significant? Well most importantly, this new price means that more people than ever will be able to join in on the fun that so many of you PlayStation 2 owners have been enjoying for years, which means new families will become part of the platform’s record-breaking install base. With this new price, we intend to introduce a new generation of consumers – some of whom weren’t even alive when the system was first introduced in 2000 – to the immense entertainment value offered by PlayStation 2.

Koller goes on to say that the reason the PS2 has sold so well and has such a massive user base is that Sony put great technology and features into the console from the beginning. Sony says that the game library for the PS2 will reach close to 1,900 titles including the first-party studio games and publishing partner titles this year.

The focus for new titles for the console will be on sports and social games according to Sony, which are the most popular genres with the emerging family demographic. Since the launch of the PS2 2, 50 titles have achieved "Greatest Hits" status and that number will continue to grow.

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Only took nearly 8 farking years
By Freezetronius on 3/31/2009 12:16:02 PM , Rating: 5
Now I can buy one to play my older PSone games with texture filtering and relive the good old days of when Sony was actually worth its salt and not sucking its own cock.




RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By peritusONE on 3/31/2009 12:28:28 PM , Rating: 5
Sorry to hear that $30 was breaking the bank for you.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By The0ne on 3/31/09, Rating: 0
RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By quiksilvr on 3/31/09, Rating: -1
By psychobriggsy on 3/31/2009 1:38:33 PM , Rating: 3
Oooh, instant mod down for the comment even slightly in favour of the PS3 ... it's still true, never mind the expensive accessories for the other console including essential functionality such as wireless (in 2009!). The PS3 is good value overall, but that doesn't mean the 360 isn't also excellent (at breaking ;-) , but seriously it's still a great bit of hardware).


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By shaw on 3/31/2009 1:45:39 PM , Rating: 5
Difference being that $50/year is Xbox Live arcade which is tons better then the free Playstation store.

Also unlike Sony, Microsoft does not foot the bandwidth bill back to the publisher. 16 cents per gigabyte of free and paid content downloaded via the PlayStation Network?

You can't get quality for free.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By quiksilvr on 3/31/2009 1:52:08 PM , Rating: 2
If this was two years ago, I'd agree with you. Why? Because the Playstation Store was horrible to use. It was clunky and had no content. But now:

http://differenceinopinion.com/wp-content/themes/m...

Its incredible. There is a lot more content than ever, and the number of online games are plentiful.

If the 360 had NO advertisements and cost $50 a year, I would understand completely. But WAIT. There are a F*CKLOAD of advertisements. That doesn't make any sense. Either make it free WITH advertisements or give us the option to pay to get rid of them. Paying to play online is bullsh|t. I bought the console. I'm already paying for monthly access to the web. That should be enough.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By StevoLincolnite on 3/31/2009 3:24:41 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
If the 360 had NO advertisements and cost $50 a year, I would understand completely. But WAIT. There are a F*CKLOAD of advertisements. That doesn't make any sense.


The only Advertisements are about Games that are being released, and new DLC, so you are AWARE that the latest and greatest DLC content has been added to your favorite game.

It's not like you see "Coca Cola" or "Mc Donalds" Advertising through all of Xbox Live! It's "Advertising" that is used in a correct manner which advertises games, and game related stuff like DLC, Maps, Trailers, Demo's on a GAMES machine (See the similarities?)

If you hate that "kind" of advertising, then so be it, but it was incredibly useful when I discovered some of Arcade games being old classics because of the "Advertising" or when the Fable 2: Knothole Island mini-expansion was released, or the 360-Exclusive GTA IV DLC, I wouldn't have known about them otherwise if it wasn't for the "Advertising" ~ Which is un-obtrusive by the way, heck I hardly notice it most of the time.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By MrSmurf on 3/31/09, Rating: -1
By StevoLincolnite on 4/1/2009 12:16:15 AM , Rating: 2
Have you even used Xbox Live? There has NEVER EVER been any advertising of that nature on Xbox Live... period.
Coca Cola and Toyota Ads? Please.

Microsoft would make more money on Xbox Live! Via promoting it's games and DLC and getting extra sales that way, not with Coca Cola and Toyota Advertising.

This is the only kind of Advertising you will see on Xbox-Live: http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/AusGamer3...
I look at it everyday, hence I know.

Xbox Live is "more" than just a "Match-making service" - It's a place to download Xbox 1 games, Arcade Games (Bejeweled, Uno etc'), Exclusive DLC like: GTA IV: The Lost and Damned, Fable 2: Knothole Island, Halo 3 map packs etc.

Plus Microsoft has a set of guidelines for game developers to meet regarding the gamer points scheme, and that every game must be Xbox Live! aware and provide at least 1 piece of DLC be it a Trailer, Demo, Maps.

Plus the Voice Chat is implemented nicely, MSN is integrated into the system as well.

Plus about Microsoft hosting games... 1st party games from the Microsoft Games Studio are hosted on Microsoft's servers, that's a given.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By Netscorer on 3/31/2009 4:36:27 PM , Rating: 1
Yep, I'm with you brother. I have paid for my TV and I pay my monthly electrical bills on time every time but now they are asking me to pay for the cable programming? WTF?!?!


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By quiksilvr on 3/31/2009 4:43:33 PM , Rating: 3
That analogy makes no sense and you damn well know that. You're just arguing for the sake of arguing.

It's like buying a telephone that is cheaper, but this phone charges you extra ON TOP of your monthly phone fees to call certain numbers in the same country (charging extra and its not even long distance).

Now here is another phone, it costs a bit extra, but doesn't add charges to your monthly phone fees.


By darkblueslider on 4/1/2009 8:43:42 AM , Rating: 2
owned by sarcasm. brilliant.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By orgy08 on 3/31/2009 4:47:39 PM , Rating: 2
No one pays $50 for one year xbox live. You can easily find 12 months plus 1 month for $38.99, also major retailers have had recent specials where you can get it for $29.99


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By quiksilvr on 3/31/2009 7:35:34 PM , Rating: 2
Fine Mr. Nitpick. So instead of two years until the price difference is irrelevant its three! Happy now?


By BansheeX on 4/1/2009 1:16:42 PM , Rating: 2
Shhhh, he only plans to own it for two. It will melt with an E74 error after that.


By Guspaz on 4/1/2009 10:13:03 PM , Rating: 2
Which would be nice if PSN looked like that for me. We've got a PS3 at our local university club, hooked up to the net. First observation, it's almost unusable on a 22" CRT (480i) television; the text is illegible. It's an annoying grid of small square icons, one icon per item.

Now that we've got it plugged into a nice HDTV (a Sony Bravia no less), we can read the text, but there just isn't any content there. Sure, there's lots of DLC, but there are very few appealing arcade-style games to purchase.

Our club has both a 360 and a PS3; we've purchased far more games on the 360's XBLA than we have on the PS3's PSN just because the 360 has several TIMES more content to purchase.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By BansheeX on 3/31/2009 2:53:39 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Difference being that $50/year is Xbox Live arcade which is tons better then the free Playstation store.


Eh, it's a storefront, not brain surgery. I'd rather have $50 extra a year for ACTUAL GAMES. Also, when I'm paying for netplay, I feel wasteful during busy periods when I don't have time to use it. No pressure to get my money's worth with PSN, no fees.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By StevoLincolnite on 3/31/2009 3:27:52 PM , Rating: 2
Not all games require you to have a gold subscription to play online, Massive Multiplayer games you don't need a subscription for, Plus all downloads like Demo's/Trailers/Map Packs/Themes/Gamerpics/Addons can be downloaded with a free silver account.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By Gul Westfale on 3/31/2009 7:59:13 PM , Rating: 3
yes, and with my PC i laugh at people who pay to be allowed to download anything.


By StevoLincolnite on 4/1/2009 12:18:35 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
yes, and with my PC i laugh at people who pay to be allowed to download anything.


But you don't have to pay to download anything on Playstation Home nor Xbox Live! ~ Xbox Live requires you to pay to play some games in online multi-player.


By BansheeX on 4/1/2009 1:39:16 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Not all games require you to have a gold subscription to play online

What the hell difference does it make? As long you had ONE, you'd have to pay the fee.


By Hiawa23 on 4/1/2009 11:31:39 AM , Rating: 2
Difference being that $50/year is Xbox Live arcade which is tons better then the free Playstation store.

I agree 100%. I own both the 360 & PS3 & I can't stand to play any of my PS3 games online. The mic quality is terrible, & the functionality is nowhere near to me as good as Live, so I gladly pay my $4.16/month for LIVE. On top of that, Home is also terrible, as I really did not want a social network, & I had hoped it would be integrated into actual PS3 gaming like LIVE, so I quickly deleted that garbage off my HDD. Hopefully Sony can get their act together, but if not, the PS3 will continue only playing it's exclusives & all every other games I will continue getting on the 360.


By Guspaz on 4/1/2009 10:09:22 PM , Rating: 2
XBLA is free; having a Gold subscription only gets you some demos faster, it doesn't prevent you from buying any content.


By graynote on 4/2/2009 5:28:15 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Also unlike Sony, Microsoft does not foot the bandwidth bill back to the publisher


No, you're right, they don't - they send the bill dircetly to you.

If that is better is a matter of opinion.

Personally it seems fair to me, the consumer who just bought a $50 game, that the publisher takes a couples of cents out of said $50 to promote (i.e. make me buy) their next game rather than make me pay for it the 360 way.

Same goes for DLC - for my fifty bucks they ought to pay for the bandwith.

You migt be right in that the Xbox Live Arcade is better than the Playstation Network (I really don't know), but that is really not important in this matter. You may think that Microsoft does not charge for bandwith, but belive me, they do - it's called "Membership"


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By The0ne on 3/31/2009 3:00:45 PM , Rating: 1
Something being expensive is subjective. You think it's not expensive but others, many others, disagree with you. Enough said on that. And spending $399 up front is vastly different than paying $50 over a period of a year. Most people can afford to pay a few bucks over a year but most don't have that much saved to spend in one whole get go. Kinda like these rich kids not understanding why anyone don't just pay off their brand new vehicles right off the bat.

My comparison was to make a point. Any savings, not matter how small is a SAVING. It doesn't matter if it's a penny or a dollar. Giving other members a hard time because they either choose not to buy a item of $399 or cannot afford it at the time being is ludicrous at the very least. It's like someone coming up to you and laughing at you because your hairstyle sucks in their opinion.

So if you like specifics for the example, then here it goes. If you don't mind paying $130 vs $99, then I can buy one at $99 and sell it to you for $130 with no problems. Let me know when you're ready, I'm set to make $30 :)


By BansheeX on 4/1/2009 1:23:25 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Enough said on that. And spending $399 up front is vastly different than paying $50 over a period of a year.


If you finance the PS3 in chunk payments with a credit card, the interest cost will be less than paying for Live!, so your point is moot. In five years with an arcade model, you'll have reached a $450 cost with NO WIRELESS, NO BLU-RAY, and NO HARD DRIVE to show for it. Yeah man, what a bargain. Did you also buy a $25 printer to save money only to find that ink cartridges are $50 a pop?


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By Tsuwamono on 3/31/2009 4:34:34 PM , Rating: 3
I never paid when i owned a 360. And i played online all the time. I don't know where you are getting this from. I now own a PS3 simply because the 360 Sucks ballz for media uses where as the PS3 completely rocks for my Media uses. 320 GB Hard drive, all my movies and music on my PS3 and those that couldnt fit in(about half) i stream from my PC with ease. Trying to do that with my 360 made me want to become a mormon.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By Bender 123 on 3/31/2009 7:29:35 PM , Rating: 2
Pick up a cheap old P4 system and deck it out with massive HD space, install some media software (Media Center or Mythbuntu, Just plain old Windows with Zune software) set to share media and enjoy the cheapest set top box money can buy. I have three 360's and only play games on one. You can find recertified models for $140 and stream everything to any TV in the house, throw a tuner in your closet NAS box and you have a DVR that serves your whole house. Total cost on my set up $500 for 3 360's (two recerts and a new arcade w/$20 HD) and about $300 for NAS/media server (off the trash pile at the old workplace during an upgrade cycle, plus two 1.5 TB drives.

I did all that for the same as two low end PS3s.

Not that I am knocking the PS3, but damn, those prices are reasonable, for what you get, but the 360 is just "more" reasonable.


By StevoLincolnite on 4/1/2009 12:21:07 AM , Rating: 2
Plus you can watch Blue-ray through the Xbox as well via Windows Media Extender (And maybe some plugins) if the PC has a Blue-ray reader. (Which are getting cheaper as the months go by).


By mondo1234 on 3/31/2009 8:05:14 PM , Rating: 2
Or maybe Sony should hire this redheaded actress named Lauren (who by the way doesn't know we work for Sony) and they could say "We will give you $100 dollars to find a gaming console, and when she picks the PS2, it will be so freakin incredible on what a good deal it is. It will be like..wow, we didn't know those numbers meant anything...<sarcasm>


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By inperfectdarkness on 3/31/2009 1:02:21 PM , Rating: 2
amazing how people bitch about the Wii being "old tech"--and here the ps2 is buzzing along putting out better numbers than the ps3 (in many cases).

it's honestly too bad sony & microsoft don't merge console gaming arms. between the ps3 (reliability) and xbox360 (price) they could probably have 1 decent console between themselves.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By The0ne on 3/31/2009 1:16:25 PM , Rating: 2
It's good to have competition though :) otherwise ps3 might be higher and still be higher :D


By Gul Westfale on 3/31/2009 1:15:53 PM , Rating: 5
oh god... a sony xbox...

a great looking, futuristic design married to components that would break down every 6 weeks or so, priced at $600 or so to cover the increased costs because of development delays that MS is famous for, with support for only sony/MS-approved media (memory stick, wmv), the buggiest firmware in recorded history, and 400 halo spinoffs because neither company has had an original idea since the first bush was in office. GREAT! where do i sign up?


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By austinag on 3/31/2009 12:44:39 PM , Rating: 3
I had no idea Sony was so flexible. They must do yoga.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By AMcA on 3/31/2009 12:52:59 PM , Rating: 5
ALL I GOTTA DO IS TAKE UP YOGA?

I'm so there . . . .


By MagnumMan on 3/31/2009 2:49:14 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, they do it on Wii Fit...


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By theflux on 3/31/2009 12:45:39 PM , Rating: 2
I can't believe your comment has been rated up to four. I figured the readers of DailyTech were older and educated.


By Bender 123 on 3/31/2009 1:16:53 PM , Rating: 2
We are very mature here...and only a mature person could say this:

You mama so fat, that when she hauls ass, she needs to make two trips.

iPhone fart app R0x!


By Reclaimer77 on 3/31/2009 1:17:00 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I figured the readers of DailyTech were older and educated.


huh, you figured wrong.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By meepstone on 3/31/2009 2:06:48 PM , Rating: 2
ya.. because the ps2 has never been worth the money it cost... i think the numbers show how great it is. now that the ps3 is out, you get a hidef game console, free online play, and a blu ray player for $400 bucks and it doesnt red ring of death. if you honestly are whining about the prices they offer then you need a reality check.

a blu ray player costs what? $200 bucks roughly? so $200 bucks added on for the game console is such a rip off right.

you hate sony for some reason and find dumb excuses to try to bash.


By Reclaimer77 on 3/31/2009 2:41:39 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
you hate sony for some reason and find dumb excuses to try to bash.


To be fair, you don't have to look very hard. Sony does a good job of providing us plenty of ammunition on their own.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By inighthawki on 3/31/2009 2:08:43 PM , Rating: 2
It's also amazing that sony is still relying on ps2's for a chunk of their income. If the PS3 was as "superior" as they say, then everyone would be buying that instead. Not to mention they are the only one of the three that still sells a previous gen console, money problems? hehe


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By BansheeX on 3/31/2009 3:00:43 PM , Rating: 2
There is no other competitor in that price point, the PS2 killed them all off. It would be crazy to stop selling it, do you have any idea how many families don't have HDTVs or wouldn't go beyond $100? Quite a few I imagine.


By inighthawki on 3/31/2009 3:20:59 PM , Rating: 2
For the most part, i dont think the PS@ "killed them off", so much as MS and nintendo have very decent, backwards compatible offers at a very comparable rate to previous gen consoles. It seems to me that the PS3 has been "unsuccessful" enough to keep the PS2 in business, but im sure that what you said holds true in many places as well.


RE: Only took nearly 8 farking years
By Hiawa23 on 4/1/2009 11:19:15 AM , Rating: 2
The PS2 should have been $99 years ago. What Sony needs to do is reduce the PS3, this is what many gamers, Devs, publishers want, as some have hinted at throwing their support to the Wii if Sony doesn't do something. The PS3 is it's future not the PS2.


By BansheeX on 4/1/2009 1:34:32 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Devs, publishers want, as some have hinted at throwing their support to the Wii if Sony doesn't do something. The PS3 is it's future not the PS2.

Dude, the Wii has nothing to do with the PS3. If there's a place PS3 devs will go, it's the 360. The PS3 and 360 are vying for the same audience. Most of the owners of that system are people who wouldn't be caught dead playing anything more complex than Wii Sports: moms, dads, old people, girlfriends, non-gamers who bought the wii as a fitness device. It has the most assemblyware of any system, there is no chance in heck that a Naughty Dog or iD will suddenly jump ship into that market. They cannot market their games to that audience, they wouldn't enjoy developing for the weak hardware, it's impossible.


PS3
By chmilz on 3/31/2009 2:18:56 PM , Rating: 5
Sony Sales and Marketing meeting discussion:

Exec #1: I think we've exhausted the customer base for a $399 PS3. What's our next step?

Exec #2: Uh, well, we could drop the price of the PS3 like the customers and resellers have been demanding. That would also bring us in line with the competition.

#1: Hmmm... interesting idea. Oh wait! Remember that system, uh, the PS2? How about we drop the price of that instead?

#2: And totally ignore our customer base? Holy hot-sauce Batman, I think you're on to something!

<high fives all around>

Janitor: I LOVE LAMP!




RE: PS3
By joeindian1551 on 3/31/2009 2:55:26 PM , Rating: 4
That isn't the Janitor, that's the CEO!


RE: PS3
By The0ne on 3/31/2009 3:18:30 PM , Rating: 2
nod nod


RE: PS3
By akugami on 3/31/2009 3:53:44 PM , Rating: 2
Awesome Anchorman reference.


RE: PS3
By rburnham on 4/1/2009 11:35:35 AM , Rating: 1
In other words, file this news in the "Who Gives a Shit" folder.


RE: PS3
By Hiawa23 on 4/1/2009 11:37:42 AM , Rating: 2
Sony Sales and Marketing meeting discussion:

Exec #1: I think we've exhausted the customer base for a $399 PS3. What's our next step?

Exec #2: Uh, well, we could drop the price of the PS3 like the customers and resellers have been demanding. That would also bring us in line with the competition.

#1: Hmmm... interesting idea. Oh wait! Remember that system, uh, the PS2? How about we drop the price of that instead?

#2: And totally ignore our customer base? Holy hot-sauce Batman, I think you're on to something!

<high fives all around>

Janitor: I LOVE LAMP!

LOl, talk about funny....


X-mas anyone?
By Mitch101 on 3/31/2009 1:40:39 PM , Rating: 2
A lot of places had PS2's for $99.00 around X-mas. I bought one and it came with singstar and 2 microphones. I find it poor that Sony is busy promoting its past generation game console more than its current one although I assume the PS2 is probably making a profit while the PS3 still loses money for Sony so promoting the PS2 is not necessarily a bad thing for Sony's bottom line.




RE: X-mas anyone?
By Belard on 3/31/2009 8:46:17 PM , Rating: 2
If you think about it...

The SONY PS2 can (and does to some degree) compete with the Wii. ITs $100+ cheaper than a Wii, it has better graphics and processing power. It doesn't have the wii-remotes of course.

I think Sony should sell more white ones thou, perhaps some people may get the two consoles confused. ;)

SONY isn't doing bad with the PS3, unlike MS - they don't have a 33% failure rate.


wow..just wow..
By louisciper on 4/1/2009 1:29:16 AM , Rating: 2
Good lawd..everytime I see a console article, I know fanboys/girls would be trying to bash each other. I think everyone needs to just put on their force-feedback shorts on, insert a game of Super Punch-out and hopefully your opponent is a midget. Chill out folks.




RE: wow..just wow..
By cunning plan on 4/1/2009 4:25:53 AM , Rating: 2
No you shut up..


By sweetsauce on 3/31/2009 12:01:54 PM , Rating: 2
Now I can afford to put a 4th ps2 in my Hummer.




Definitely sold well
By tedrodai on 3/31/2009 12:16:05 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Koller goes on to say that the reason the PS2 has sold so well and has such a massive user base is that Sony put great technology and features into the console from the beginning.


True dat. However, niether was it cost prohibitive from the beginning. I might go buy one of these so I can play my old NCAA Football games again. I don't forsee EA releasing a %#@&*@* decent Wii version anytime soon, nor do I see an upcomming PS3 price drop. Disclaimer: this isn't a PS3 price rant, but I do try to budget my gaming expenses.




PSX FTW
By thomp237 on 4/1/2009 1:20:56 AM , Rating: 2
YES!!! Finally can get back to playing Final Fantasy Tactics




"If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it." -- SCEA President Jack Tretton











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