PS3 to ship with no hard drive?

[Casper]

Looks that way:

It’s probably a little early to be freaking out over what might and might not be bundled with a game console that won’t be launched for another year or so, but Sony Computer Entertainment chief technology officer Masayuki Chatani indicated in a recent interview with a Japanese magazine that Sony may be leaning away from bundling a hard drive attachment with the PlayStation 3 and instead might sell them separately so that users could buy a larger (or smaller) drive if they wanted to. Not including a hard drive would certainly help keep the MSRP down, but it also might frustrate gamers who feel like they’re getting nickel and dimed with all the extra stuff they have to buy.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000333045371/

So again, no real broadband support and no hard drive...but yet, it's going to be around $450 (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/24/news_6126410.html) - what is the major selling point for this system? Best graphics? So fucking what. This could be huge in the console wars, especially with the early jump the 360 is getting.

[BREVITY]

360 might not be getting that early of a jump.

[MidniteArrow]

One thing to consider is removing the hard drive would almost certainly lower the MSRP of the unit below the previously announced $460 ish price. This is probably a marketing attempt to get the MSRP near the $300 MSRP of the 360. I honestly think pluggable modules are good for the consumer - no need paying for something you're not going to use. Of course - that's with the assumption that the MSRP of the main unit reflects the missing hardware you've got to buy to get the thing to work.

And Brevity - if you've got some new info on release dates, please post it. ;)

[sam]

they will probably release one as a seperate pack.. for about the same amount of money as the console itsself. i think they are just looking for ways to milk money from the consumer

[MidniteArrow]

they will probably release one as a seperate pack.. for about the same amount of money as the console itsself. i think they are just looking for ways to milk money from the consumer

Possibly, but seems like this is actually a measure that could be intended to help the consumer and actually reduce costs.

[Cryogenic Pyro]

they will probably release one as a seperate pack.. for about the same amount of money as the console itsself. i think they are just looking for ways to milk money from the consumer
I doubt that they are doing this to milk money from the consumer, but it's not like it hasn't happened before; ie the Xbox DVD Remote.

[Variation]

And they will learn how periphrial addons don't sell nearly as much.

[MidniteArrow]

I wouldn't really call this approach peripheral add-on. It's like network connectivity. These boxes must have connectivity to function. One approach is to integrate a wired LAN (10/100/1000) and a wireless LAN (a/b/g). But this basically means that every customer has to buy every product, even though they're likely only using 1 of them. If all I've got in my house is a 10 MB wired LAN, it makes more sense for me to get a console configured JUST for a wired 10 MB connection. Another customer might want a 1000 MB wired lan, and yet another want wireless G. If there are different price points, customers needing less functionality can get the features they want for cheaper than if everything is integrated into every console. At least there's the potential there, depending on the costs of integrating everything vs. the cost of a pluggable system of various components.

[LynxFX]

Did I miss something, is MS including a harddrive now in every X2?

[Variation]

I wouldn't really call this approach peripheral add-on. It's like network connectivity.

If it's extra, it's an add-on, regardless if you "NEED" it to funtion or not, ala mem cards for PS2.

[vman]

Well, this is what the 360 is doing. no big whoop. what would be surprising is if PS3 sells at or near the price of 299. but that has yet to be seen.

[MidniteArrow]

If it's extra, it's an add-on, regardless if you "NEED" it to funtion or not, ala mem cards for PS2.

My point was to disagree with youre "won't sell very much" comment. Using the memory card example, find me a GameCube player that doesn't have a memory card.

[Casper]

Did I miss something, is MS including a harddrive now in every X2?
Check out the 360's FAQ from Xbox.com

Detachable and upgradeable 20GB hard drive

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox360/factsheet.htm

[fiXXXer]

Thing is, Sony could release a console made out of popsicle sticks with a Playstation emblem on it, and it would be huge, especially with the Asian Market.

Hands down, the 360 seems to be the more versatile of the two.

[Variation]

My point was to disagree with youre "won't sell very much" comment. Using the memory card example, find me a GameCube player that doesn't have a memory card.
No I understand, it was mearly an expample. A memory card is a neccessity, a harddrive is not (unless they plan to use it as the mem card)

[MidniteArrow]

Ok, I didn't realize you were seeing the hard drive as unneeded. I'm coming from the point of view that it is necessary. You've got to store the game data somewhere. Either memory cards or a hard drive.

[charlie hustle]

with online play a hd is necessary. downloadable contents, patches, and online accounts. Well, maybe this, LIVE needs a hd, to save the online account on. PS3 porlly wont need it. They dont have a plan to make an online community, so no need for a hd.

[MidniteArrow]

You will still have the need to SAVE YOUR GAMES. This means some type of memory. Either built in or removable. If there is no built in memory, then the removable "optional" memory is not optional at all.

[GandhiArnold]

so if the ps3 might not ship with a hard drive, and in the pictures of ps3 controllers and systems i've seen i can't see a mem card slot, then might they just be doing that to make people have to buy a hard drive? do they have a slot for mem cards or are they going with other options?

[Variation]

with online play a hd is necessary. downloadable contents, patches, and online accounts. Well, maybe this, LIVE needs a hd, to save the online account on. PS3 porlly wont need it. They dont have a plan to make an online community, so no need for a hd.

Not true. PS2 didn't require the HD other than 1 game. Even an MMO was done with weekly patches on the memory card and didn't use the HD.

[MrAustin]

so if the ps3 might not ship with a hard drive, and in the pictures of ps3 controllers and systems i've seen i can't see a mem card slot, then might they just be doing that to make people have to buy a hard drive? do they have a slot for mem cards or are they going with other options?Perhaps they are going with 64MB flash memory like the Revolution. Also, since it's a Sony product, and it is going to interact with the PSP, if it doesn't have a Memory Stick Pro / Duo slot, then that's retarted.

[magnus mjolnir]

with online play a hd is necessary. downloadable contents, patches, and online accounts. Well, maybe this, LIVE needs a hd, to save the online account on. PS3 porlly wont need it. They dont have a plan to make an online community, so no need for a hd.


Is the name of there online service, so I think they better intergrate the harddrive into all the network play. They are not shipping the console with the harddrive, but it is going to have a built in wireless and wired interface so that it is online out the box. It is 360 that is going to have a add on for the wireless adaptor. The playstationworld is going to be a marketplace, video chat, and multiplayer and will be always connected, so this is there "xbox live".

[MidniteArrow]

As I've stated before - ADD ONS ARE A GOOD IDEA FOR US, THE CONSUMERS. Why do you think an add-on wireless in any way suggests a lack of network connectivity? Wireless connectivity is likely only going to be used by a small percentage of the consumers. What about the millions of people that don't even have broadband and won't be hooking up to the online market? Should they be paying for the wireless, because that's what they're doing if you integrate wireless into the base unit.

[MrAustin]

As I've stated before - ADD ONS ARE A GOOD IDEA FOR US, THE CONSUMERS. Why do you think an add-on wireless in any way suggests a lack of network connectivity? Wireless connectivity is likely only going to be used by a small percentage of the consumers. What about the millions of people that don't even have broadband and won't be hooking up to the online market? Should they be paying for the wireless, because that's what they're doing if you integrate wireless into the base unit.I could care less if wireless is integrated out of the box or not. What will piss me off is if MS decides that only the new wireless adapter is compatible. I have wireless, and I spent $99 to get my Xbox that way, and I'm not going to be a happy camper if I have to shell out another $99 again.

[MidniteArrow]

Nor should you be. But how do you hook that up to the current Xbox? I'm assuming it's via the network port, so that should be 100% compatible with the 360.