Retail

Report: Next-gen PlayStation to cost £300

Report: Next-gen PlayStation to cost £300

Mon 18 Feb 2013 4:45pm GMT / 11:45am EST / 8:45am PST
Retail

Leaked documents and industry sources suggest lower launch price for new Sony machine

Sony

Sony Computer Entertainment

Sony Computer Entertainment is a Japanese videogame company specialising in a variety of areas in the...

playstation.com

Latest reports suggest that Sony could be planning a retail price of around £300 for its next generation console, making it markedly cheaper than the PlayStation 3 was on launch.

A Times report cited industry sources and "leaked internal documents" and priced the new machine, expected to be revealed on Wednesday, at £300. When the PlayStation 3 first launched in the UK the machine cost £425, so the figure represents a significant saving for the early adopter this time around.

Of course with the big reveal just days away the air is thick with speculation. According to the latest whispers, the new machine will use Gaikai technology for backwards compatibility, will have a touchpad equipped controller and a dual camera set up.

Meanwhile back on PlayStation 3, analyst Michael Pachter told GamesIndustry International he was expecting to see the price of the console drop to just $199 the day after the next generation console is announced.

14 Comments

Adam Campbell
QA Analyst

openbet

Well, that would be right on the maximum price I said I was prepared to pay. I'm not expecting the console to be as much as the ridiculous launch of the PS3.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Adam Campbell on 18th February 2013 7:41pm

Posted:3 months ago

#1

Jamie Read
3D Artist

I'm gonna guess nearer to £400.

Posted:3 months ago

#2

Dan Howdle
Editor - X360 Magazine

Imagine Publishing

Top Comment And I'm with Jamie.

£300 for the 'basic model' – assuming there is such a thing – and £350-£370 for the one everyone actually wants.

Posted:3 months ago

#3

Paul Jace
Merchandiser

Top Comment I agree with Dan. Ever since Microsoft started the two sku console launch back in 2005 both Sony and now Nintendo(this gen) have followed. Theres no way Sony would release one console sku for that price.

Posted:3 months ago

#4

Johnny Hsu
Employee

EA

Top Comment Didn't we learn a lesson about reporting "leaked" internal documents as news?

Posted:3 months ago

#5

Nicholas Pantazis
Senior Editor

VGChartz Ltd

Agreed with both Dan and Paul. It's like saying the Wii U is $300. No it's not. The Wii U is $350. No one really wants the $300 Wii U.

The PS4 will be $400... but it'll really be $450/$500 for the version people actually want to buy.

Posted:3 months ago

#6

Peter Dwyer
Games Designer/Developer

Given the tech inside the new PS4. I would guess at a 350 to 400 for the basic model and 400+ for the "Can play an actual downloaded game" version. So while the PS4 may beat the new XBox out of the gate. I'm thinking the new XBox may actually end up with the better pricing largely due to every unit having the hard drive and 8gb memory. Basically it's going to be a one sku deal as opposed to what is now looking like several sku's from Sony's camp.

Posted:3 months ago

#7

Fazi Zsolt
Game Designer

Revo Solutions

Like £300 is going to be cheap. And I will believe it when I see it.

Posted:3 months ago

#8

David Radd
Senior Editor

IndustryGamers

I'd be surprised if both the next PlayStation and Xbox don't have some sort of online contract that brings down the base price for players to pay for PS Plus/Xbox Live for a few years.

Posted:3 months ago

#9

Craig Page
Programmer

Google says £300 = $465.63 USD, and that's outrageous considering how much Sony is going to cheap out on the hardware. Unless the rumors were totally wrong...

Posted:3 months ago

#10

Carl Crawford
Studying Bachelor of Information Technology

Otago Polytehnic

Andrew, the PS2 did not LAUNCH with the phat PS2 and the slim PS2, the slim came later. Microsoft LAUNCHED with a harddrive less model and one that had a harddrive.

Posted:3 months ago

#11

Andy Samson
QA Supervisor

Digital Media Exchange

@ Andrew
"Incorrect. It was Sony that started the 2 model sku back in 2004. The original Ps2 and the Ps2 Slim, they were on the market at the same time. I can't remember if they had the same price or different price, but eventually the original Ps2 was phrase out."

I think Paul was referring to the initial launch of the console. When the Original PS2 launched there was no PS2 slim yet.

Posted:3 months ago

#12

Dave Herod
Senior Programmer

Codemasters

So what happen if someone stop the monthly payment and still have 6 more months to go?
Same as what happens if you cancel your phone/broadband/sky tv/anything subscription I imagine, you probably get hit with an early cancellation charge.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Dave Herod on 20th February 2013 9:18am

Posted:3 months ago

#13

Dave Herod
Senior Programmer

Codemasters

Unfortunately, a console isn't a phone/broadband/sky tv/anything subscription, it's a console. So even if they canceled your subscription the console is still playable.
What difference does that make? If you buy the console under a contract, you're legally responsible for upholding your side of it. If you don't they'll fine you to get their money back, end of story. If it's a contract they'd have all your details.

Posted:3 months ago

#14

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