Sony, Drop the Price, Man

As a disclaimer, the PS3 is my console of preference.

For, a large, multinational corporation, Sony seems a little too concerned about its own image. There's no need to save face. Yes, the Playstation 3 is a great value at its current price, when you consider its tech and just that. However, prices are relevant to the market. They always have been and always will. Don't stick to your guns if it means going against gamers hoping to become PS3 owners.

I myself am hoping to purchase a PS3 this year, if there's a price drop. That's right, I don't own it, yet I consider myself a PS3 owner already. I react to their decisions as if I had a stake in it because I will, soon enough. Even at 400 dollars, it's just too expensive for me and I'm sure there's many others like me.

Yes, I know PSN's free, there's no need to buy a charger for the controller, it plays blu-ray, and it has all my favorite franchises. I've done the math and seen that's a great deal. That's why I want it, but I also want Sony to remain competitive and I want the install base to grow to the point that companies like Activision will no longer be able to use as a scapegoat for their poor sales -- EA's not complaining. I don't want Sony to take Nintendo's role for the last two generations Nintendo was more of a niche company than a mainstream platform.

Looking at Microsoft's and Nintendo's price points, Sony's console is just too expensive. Release another SKU with a smaller hard drive and a cheaper paint job if you have to.

No, I don't think it would be eating your own words if you dropped the price. I don't think anybody, who matters, would call it a bad move or a blow to Sony's image as a respectable company, or whatever.

I understand Sony would also like to begin profiting from their hardware sales. I think they need to reassess what the best route for making money will be for Sony. Licensing fees have traditionally been the way to profit for console manufacturers. On the other hand, Nintendo's third-party support isn't that great and companies have been complaining that only first-party games sell on the Wii. Maybe Sony is trying to profit from hardware sales and first-party games like Nintendo. The only difference is 150 dollars between consoles and 10 between each new release. Now, they've decreased the price of their SDK to help make PS3 development more accessible, but they've missed the high development costs and small(er) install base. Development costs are not going to get any lower.

So drop the price, Sony, please.