PS3 is 'too cheap', says Ken
Kutaragi's off again.
SCEI president Ken Kutaragi has defended the PlayStation 3's high price tag once again, declaring that not only will consumers be prepared to pay the cost but that the console is "probably too cheap."
In an interview with Japanese website IT Media, partially translated by IGN, Kutaragi said: "This is the PS3 price. Expensive, cheap - we don't want you to think of it in terms of game machines."
"For instance," Kutaragi continued, "Is it not nonsense to compare the charge for dinner at the company cafeteria with dinner at a fine restaurant? It's a question of what you can do with that game machine. If you can have an amazing experience, we believe price is not a problem."
Kutaragi reiterated comments he made earlier regarding the original PlayStation, which he says was also considered too expensive at launch.
"Same for the PlayStation 2," Kutaragi said.
"However, when released, both had sales that were unthinkable for previous game machines. This is because both offered experiences that could not be had on previous machines."
Like its predecessors, PS3 will also offer brand new experiences, he continued: "Things like next-generation graphics and various services via the network. And, as with the PS and PS2, we believe people who like games will, without question, purchase it."
The PS3 is set for a global launch this November, priced at USD 499 / EURO 499 for the 20GB version and USD 599 / EURO 599 for the 60GB model. Kutaragi dismissed suggestions from the likes of Microsoft's Peter Moore that Sony will be unable to meet its shipment targets in time - the company has said that it plans to deliver 2 million PS3 units by the end of the year, with a further 2 million arriving by April.
"Of course, this is a number that we announced having made sure we can definitely prepare it," Kutaragi said.
"There is the possibility of unexpected problems like earthquake or theft, so I won't say it's absolute. But if this type of trouble does not occur, there's no problem with this number."
Rumours that the PlayStation 4 will be made of pure light, feature a unique "time machine" function and cost eight hundred million pounds are completely made up.