“Konami has decided to delay the title’s release in order to make further improvements to the quality of the game and provide even greater enjoyment for more customers worldwide,” Konami said in a press release.

Does this suck? Yep. Big ones. But here are a few points: The season is already super-saturated with games. Chances are, Metal Gear being late means more people will actually be able to afford to buy the game and maybe, just maybe, new gamers can buy a PS3 to play it on. Another point is that Sony drops PS3 prices like Britney Spears drops babies (ohhh, burn!). So, hey, by Q2, there may actually be a cheaper PS3. I wouldn’t put it past them. Plus, Q2 is a quiet gaming month, so MGS4 dropping then will cause all sorts of insanity. Add to the fact that delays usually mean improvements and I see nothing but green fields and sunshine. What do you guys think? Is this delay good or horrible?

[via NextGen]

Jayslacks

Chufmoney

The rumor goes something like this: Ars Technica (which is actually a pretty great site that I try to read as much as I’m able) has a rumor mole of sorts that predicted both the Xbox 360 Elite and the lack of wireless in the retail box of Rock Band for the 360. Both of these proved to be true, but I would also argue that they border on the ridiculously obvious.

Microsoft was on record saying that if consumers demanded an HDMI solution for the 360 they would provide it, and seeing as how it was becoming a bullet point for the competition ad nauseum to lord over the 360, adding it was sort of a no brainer. As for the wireless issue with Rock Band, we’ve known since launch that Microsoft’s licensing agreement is incredibly strict in regards to third party controllers, especially with their proprietary wireless standard. The PS3 and Wii on the other hand use Bluetooth, which is an open standard (although that’s about the nicest thing I can say about it).

The 40 GB PS3 though is sort of out of nowhere for a few reasons. First, there are several things making the PS3 expensive, and the hard drive certainly isn’t one of them. As people who complain about the 360 hard drive state repeatedly, there’s no reason for it to cost that much going off of standard hardware margins for hard drives. Since the PS3 can use standard off the shelf hard drives, it doesn’t require the most expensive hard drives on the market.

And in case we all forgot, Sony is eating considerable losses on the PS3 already. Slimming the drive down isn’t going to shave a hundred off the cost of manufacture, and Sony can’t afford another price cut this soon (as evidenced by the reintroduction of a 600 dollar model in August). Sony has demonstrated a continued unwillingness to truly support two console SKUs, as most who tried to find a 20 GB PS3 at retail can tell you. The idea that they’ll reintroduce a cheaper, less feature rich version (even with their flagship Blu-ray title) is counter to every move Sony has made this generation, and also in direct contradiction of their current financial situation. Sony is a company in turmoil, and the heads are more interested in how the system is helping their Blu-ray installed base than how well it’s faring against the 360.

The 500 dollar 80 GB model though, I can definitely see happening. Especially when PS3 sales decrease in August amidst a 360 surge. Christmas might be pushing it, but Michael Pachter may have something when he posits that by next April we’ll see the 500 dollar PS3 again. And a 99.99 PS2 is a no brainer as well, as all of the next-gen consoles that consumers will be able to find this holiday are still too expensive for the majority of the mainstream.

While it certainly would be nice if Mr. Pachter was correct, we at ESG have some doubts. Sony may have gotten themselves a lot of good PR when they lowered the price, but we don’t put it past them to squander that with some idiotic decision. Hopefully Sony really does give the system out for 499$ due to the lack of hardware based backwards compatibility, but somehow I feel they will justify the higher price by pointing to the larger hard-drive. Or, they will continue to package the system with a bunch of items, like Motorstorm, controllers, etc., in order to justify continuing the 599$ price point.

Prove me wrong, Sony.

Chufmoney

How concerned are you about possible criticisms that you should have given European consumers what SCEA has given US consumers, i.e. the option to pay a lower price?

Well, they’re not really are they, because what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD 599 version with one game. All they’re doing is taking their stock in trade that they’ve got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July.

Could you be a little clearer Dave?

So once the 60GB is gone, that will be the end of the 60GB then?

In America, yes.

Sony just had a fantastic press conference at E3, and there’s an enormous amount of positive sentiment around the console for perhaps the first time since it released last November. This would be seriously detrimental to that, to be kind. Let’s hope Sony changes their mind. The reason the PS3 wasn’t selling wasn’t due to the perceived value of the console; it wasn’t selling because no matter how much Sony packs in, it was still basically asking 600 dollars to play video games. That amount is virtually unconscionable. Charging that much again, even for a bigger hard drive, possibly with Motorstorm, is returning to outrageous territory. These consoles aren’t iPods, and I can only wonder how long it takes for Microsoft and Sony to realize that the iterative model isn’t going to work for them.

-Aegies

P.S. Our friends at A Link to the Future called this when the price drop was originally announced.

While it is surprising that this news came prior to E3, it is certainly going to be welcomed amongst the community. The system, while certainly not cheap, will be much more competitively priced now. The only real question that remains is when will Microsoft drop the price of their system? The Elite cannot stay at the 479$ price because it will pale horribly in comparison with the PS3.

After some discussion with Arthur, I have decided what I feel the best pricing for the 360′s various SKUs would be:
-Elite 399$
-Premium 329$
-Core 249$
This pricing would allow Microsoft to compete with both the PS3 and the Wii. The Wii would face the graphical and price comparison to the 360 and Microsoft could still tout the system as the cheapest Next Gen option.

If the price drop for the 360 happens this week, expect it at the end of the Microsoft press conference, after the inevitable Halo 3 video.

Chufmoney

[via Kotaku]

In my opinion this is fantastic news. The PS3, while certainly not cheap, will seem much more competitively priced with the 360 at this price. The real question that this price drop brings up is when will Microsoft do the same thing? How much more money are they ready to lose when they are already going to take a hit with their new 3 year warranty they announced today? Did someone at Sony plan this as a tactic to pressure Microsoft when they are the most vulnerable?
Conspiracies abound!

chufmoney

[via Gamedaily]