Rumor : New family priced PS3 without Blu Ray??

Gadgetnutz.com reports: "Sony is rumored to be making drastic changes to recapture the market before losing even more of it's command share to the likes of Nintendo (the success story of the holiday season) or the XBox 360 (still suffering in the land of the rising sun, but gaining momentum everywhere else). In a move that is "aimed at family pricing," Sony is rumored to be working on a Playstation 3 that does not include the Blu Ray drive. Whether this will result in the current low-end model having a change, or a newer "entry level" Playstation 3, remains to be seen. However, this is in stark contrast to their previous, egocentric, statements regarding "what kind of consumer"* will be looking at the Playstation 3."

[Gears]

No one wants a PS3, Playstation is old, it is time for a change and it is the 360 and the Wii dominating this round. Blu-Ray will fail, everyone knows this! Sony has screwed themselves and I don't ever see them coming back from this unless microsoft buys them.

Furthermore, if you want to see a $200 HD-DVD player, you need only look at the 360's $200 add-on, which sold an incredibly impressive 42K in NA in December. Quite an impressive feat, i'm sure that Sony is in for some hurt. Oh, well-I guess mass support from nearly ever movie studio and electronics company, and Sony owning half of the entire movie library cant help Blu-Ray now. Shame. Sony anre LOSERS. Microsoft knows how to run a successful business, Sony you need to take notes. You are slowly being eatin alive by Microsoft, serves you right. LOL

[Syko]

An Entry level PS3 scares me more than what they currently have, If Sony puts out a Machine for less than a premium 360 MS is screwed cause like I said before they have brand recognition, And for people like me that bought two PS2's it was hard to make the switch to the Original Xbox. Simply due to the fact that I had 20+ games and a ton of accesories, It was cheaper to buy another PS2. But now im glad I did cause it made it easy to "Jump In" (Minus the 16 Hour wait to get it) =P However I don't see this happening cause it would finally prove that Blu-Ray is not needed for games and Sony defiently can't send that message to the industry

[Juevani]

''Gears'' yeah thats why it couldnt sell more than 10 mill. in awhole year alone and more, get outta here with that bs, if u want to change then change who cares, 1 customer aint sh1t..

I don't think Sony will do it, its just another rumor.. Sony made this move for a reason I doubt that they made a mistake (just people wanna see them makin a mistake thats why the media is all up on Sony) we all will see Sony on top again no doubt..

[Gears]

Without a blu-ray player, it simply isn't possible for them to do this. Think about it they would have to release two versions of the game dvd and blu-ray. It would cost more money to do that, they can't release a model without blu-ray. What a stupid rumor!

[Legionaire2005]

The Blue Ray is the reason why the PS3 is 200 times expensive. I think Sony made a big mistake adding Blue Ray to the PS3, because it's causing lackluster sales for Sony. Will it be a problem for Game developers if Sony made a PS3 without a Blue Ray? Some developers had already said that they love the extra space. I say there is a 50% percent chance that Sony could ditch the Blue Ray on the PS3.

[GAMER_4_Life]

who said that 360 couldnt do 10 mill??
hmmmm.maybe u are an analyzer??
ur console is out there in every f*** store and websites and no one is buying,how about that??U should really analyze ur company first befor u move on to the succes(XBOX 360)

[Brandon]

this is obvius a fake, it's like old nintendo 64 models with cdrom, you have to sell the same game on two different format and gamers can buy just one type of game(in this case with ps3 you can read also normal dvd)

[Karibu]

Dropping Blu Ray doesn't make any sense.

[Monchichi025]

Sony cannot make this Blu-Ray less PS3 simply because their games run off Blu-Ray disks. They dug there own grave now they must lie in it. To say they would have two different formats is impossible because no developer would ever go along with this as the money involved would be enormous!!!! And imagine the confusion with the customers!! You think they have a PR nightmare now?!?! Imagine if this was to happen!!

[darx]

WOW, if this is true. Talking about ripping off the consumer who did not care about the BR but were forced to have it included and paid a full $600+. Sheeesh!

[tk]

This is so obviously BS. There is absolutely no way this will ever happen.

"GadgetNutz's storybreaking reporter, The Bandito, has uncovered a developing story concerning Sony via his network of industry insiders."

His network of industry "insiders" is feeding him BS. The viral marketers and "reporters" come up with the most weird BS. What next? A PS3 with a HD-DVD drive? Or wait, why not a PS3 that only plays PS1 and PSP titles running on cartridges.

Or better - a PS3 that can only read CD-ROM.

Oh the absolute panic that must be setting in trying to create bad news for the PS3.

Get over it. The BluRay titles started outselling the HD-DVD titles in December. The war is over. BluRay is winning. HD-DVD is dead in the water.

[Marty8370]

Blu-ray is standard for both games and movies on PS3.

[malachi23]

Sony it's plain and simple, YOU SCREWED UP WITH THE PS3! haha!

[Gears]

from the beginning and still is TK. You moron.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

But a HORRIBLE move for Blu-ray. This would for the most part kill off Blu-ray I think. Because suddenly they would no longer "require" devs to use blu-ray discs for games as the developer really wouldn't be able to use blu-ray anyore given the fact that the lesser unit is without a blu-ray player and most likely would be their top-selling unit.

It also would tell the industry/world that Sony really is not behind Blu-ray as strongly as they were. Investors would freak out over this. You think Sony took a hit in their stock before?

From a overall business plan sense its a bad move. Sony needs to ride the course a bit more. To abandon the format so early in the launch really will kill it...and they will end up eating a sh*t load of money from R&D that they will never recoup.

From a Playstation brand it would save the console for sure. I could totally see Sony dominate sales moving forward with this move as I am sure they would bring the cost down considerably. But it also would give the 360 a leg up in one area that up until now the 360 couldn't stand toe to toe with the PS3 on and that is disc space.

[CompGeek]

And how do you play the games without blu ray? Sony has gone way past desperate if this is true, waaaaay past.

[calderra]

This system would be incapable of playing current PS3 games.

Yeah, this is really true.

There are really moronic stories on this site today.

[power of Green]

I agree, people were looking for any excuse to move on; when it comes to Sony. Nintendo had to reinvent itself in a huge way to stay alive people dont feel that PlayStation has done the same; it's a new era and rehashed games on "blu-ray" discs and HDMI no one care's about Sony was to focused on hardware when all people care about was games.

[power of Green]

Dev's will have to put games on two diferent disc, i know, yah right!.

[mellowspaz]

I doubt this is going to happen, but I think this would be a good idea. Game compatibility issues, and having 3 PS3 systems at different prices might be too much. I would definitely consider purchasing one in the future if it was 399 or lower. I don't want lame-ray in it.

[Boink]

2 reasons, and both big blows to sony's ego

1. they would be admitting that you don't need that much space for next gen games, therefore making MS right.

2. The industry reaction would be that sony has lost confidence in it's own product, pretty much guaranteeing that blu ray fails, and then making the system with blu-ray completely useless.

[MicroGamer]

They will have to release their games in two formats and it will be harder for them to justify including extra content on the Blu Ray versions if most PS3 owners will have a non Blu Ray version. Most likely if Sony releases a DVD version of PS3, devs will release all their games on DVD and abandon Blu Ray.

[Raist]

Yeah and the main reason is : all games so far have been released on BRD.

I can't believe people actually believe stupid rumors like this one lol.

[power of Green]

What ever you have believed in; in the past has taken one of your bubbles, you have no idea what Sony will do to save it's gaming market, PS3's are laying around in droves a cheaper PS3's will appeal to all the poorer folks that made them the leader in the first place.

[FFVIIFan]

Games are formatted on Blu Ray discs. So people would be screwed if they bought any of the launch games. They have to be played in a Blu Ray player. It's been a rough start, and it isn't near over, but Blu Ray has a good chance. Putting aside the movie aspect, Blu Rays hold more data than DVDs or HD-DVDs so developers will find the exta room a welcome, and give developers more room to make longer, bigger, and hopefully better games. I mean with both systems charging 60 for a game I'd hope that they would start giving more hours of play.

[power of Green]

Agreed! although it would have allowed PS3 directlly compete with the 360, all that Blu-ray space DVD9 talk is a bunch of BS.

[Karibu]

they approved this as news. This is ridiculous even for a rumor. This site is turning to sh!te pretty good.

BTW, I heard X360 makes your testicles explode.
Put that up as well...

[Shadow Flare]

The xbox 360 running so hot it can fry eggs made the news on this site aswell lol. Although that was a pretty good article

This IS ridiculous though, ps3 games use bluray discs. No bluray drive = no ps3 games. There's no point. This is almost as ridiculous as microsoft saying the 360 is a next-gen console. J/K

[Raist]

Yeah and i don't even know why i got one bubble taken away. But whatever.

Back on topic, all those "PS3's do not sell" stuff is pretty funny. Last time i checked the PS3 got its best sells in Japan. What do some photos in shops prove ? I could take photos of shelves full of 360's. What does that mean ? it doesn't sell ? Shelves have just been replenished ?

Anyways, this rumor is a complete nonsense. Do you really think that they would be desperate enough to strip the BR off, preventing people to play the games ? C'mon. Except those "omg look PS3 on shelves" stuff, reports say that PS3's sell well, so huh why would they be desperate ?

[Syko]

Thats untrue mine didn't blow up. But the left one did rupture, Extremley painful but not near the pain of a company passing off a movie player as a game system and ruining everything they had going for them with their big ego. How many systems did Nintendo have before they got a big ego too?? Oh yeah 2. Good thing according to you guys this is only Xbox 1.5

[zonetrooper5]

Wait until the next generation, that is when i think that the PS4 or the Xbox 720 will need the HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I think that DVD's will do fine for the next 5 to 7 years.

[Syko]

I don't know why Sony was so eager to get penetration in to the Hi-Def market, when the market is still in its infancy. A 500$ Blu-ray player is cool but dont gamble with the greatness of the Playstation (Minus that damn cheap PS2 DVD drive) brand it just wasn't needed yet period. especially when you know MS was "Gearn' up for War against you". Bunch of retards over at Sony I swear.

If they thought it was gonna be a repeat of the DVD drive in the PS2 they were kidding themselves at the time the PS2 dropped DVD was brand new and still expensive, But even a monkey could look at the difference between VHS and DVD and say oh my god it looks so clear. I've noticed this isn't the case with Hi-Def some older people (The not so Tech Savvy) can't even tell the difference or dont care bout hi def because in their opinon my TV is "Good Enough" on top of that they don't understand the technology, So why would they buy it for 600 when the 360 is 400 for their kids?

[MikeMichaels]

....credible site.

*rolls eyes*

[DJ]

Because Sony is going to put out a PS3 system that doesn't play the system's games...right.

[tk]

No wait... they are going to release it with a CR-ROM only drive. 10 CD's for a R:FOM2.

If people take these kind f rumors seriously - then they can post as news that some scientist "proved" that the moon is made of cheese. Only Xbots and "analysts" take this seriously. It fits with their mentality. Hey - maybe they will cut out PS1 and PS2 compatibility too as well - and now - come to think of it, maybe the networking as well. Hell - while we are at it, maybe they will just ship the Cell and RSX and ask you to buy a PC case and market it as a DIY kit.

Maybe the "insider" was from Redmond - form an obscure little company called MS...

[MissAubrey]

who can believe this?

[Texas GMR]

Sony does look to be hurting due to the addition of the Blu-ray. XBOX and PC developers have shown it's not needed to make a great game. It will cost them millions to make that switch, but it will bring their system down to around $300 (everyone can afford)with a profit. Due to brand loyalty they will eventually make up the lost money by selling close to a 100 million consoles instead of tens of millions. I know they are a proud company and usually don't admit mistakes. If they were to do it, the time is now. They haven't even sold 1 million consoles yet and the attachment rate is a little over one a console. They could exchange the ones bought for new ones (with credit), put in another drive and sell those as refurbished. Wouldn't be a bad buy for $250 or so(for the refurbished). I'd buy it them. No Sony fan would give a crap in 2 years when the mess blew over and they kept all their exclusives instead of giving them to MS. People have a good way of forgetting the past. It sounds like total BS and it's probably a rumor, but I bet they have thought about it even if they don't due it. Just a thought.

[MicroGamer]

Is that it costs Sony $840 to make a PS3. If replacing the Blu Ray with a DVD player only knocks $200 off of that, then it is still costing them $640 to make it. It will be a little less for the 20gb model, but not much. So even if they did make the switch, they would still be losing money.

[FeralPhoenix]

yeah Sony has made some bad decisions but anyone who believes this is truly smoking some HEAVY stuff and have lossed the few brain cells they started with. I mean seriously this would be suicide....not even a quick clean suicide, no this would be a very messy, slow and painful death.

[kornbeaner]

a launch system. I could care less about the the Blu-ray player, but Blu-ray is also the way it plays games. so it wouldn't be any cheaper for them to do this. they would still need to put in blu-ray functionaility in someway. IF they want they should just lower the price on both Systems by 100. and make it a 400 and 500 dollars and take a bigger hit. Get the installed base and make your money off the games. If any of the Sony higher ups read this. Sell the 20 gig for 400 the 60 gig for 500 take a bigger hit in your profit and you'll start selling more consoles based soley on the name on the box. Next thing you know you'll probley start getting more exclusives because your able to sell more systems. But either way i got mine so do want you want.

[DJ]

They seem to be phasing out the 20GB models. The $500 versions not only have less revenue return, they're nowhere near as popular as the $600 versions.

[Texas GMR]

kornbeaner, your right, just taking a bigger hit on the systems would be a better move. Then you would get the base to keep your exclusives. I'm not the biggest Sony fan in the world, but I want to see all the consoles succeed for the sake of all gamers. Maybe someday we'll have a unified online between the Playstation and XBOX. Then the people in this forum could back up the talk with a little "game on" on whichever game and system they choose.

[kornbeaner]

Phasing out the 20 GB model futher alienates whatever consumer base a cheaper model would bring in. When most consumers (non-tech savy folks) compare the systems, the first thing they'll notice is 360 20 gig is $400 and the 20 gig PS3 is $500. No common consumer cares about Blu-ray, so it doesn't justify the extra $100. Dropping the price by $100 and soon is the only way Sony will catch up. Cause then a 20 gig 360 and Ps3 are the same price but the sony name carries more weight on a console then MS. So the average consumer is more likely to spend $400 on a PS3 then a 360. Then for an Extra $100 you get Wi-fi, a bigger HDD and Flash card funtionality. Sony should realize that Taking a bigger hit on the console is will worth it. Ms just started making a profit on thier machine, so this forces Ms to either drop the price of the 360 or try to compete with Sony heads up, and Ms knows they can't beat sony heads up.

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

That would ruin their vision of having more things happen at once in a game...and region-free play. You need the extra space for that stuff.

Gears...dude...why were you complaining about sony not giving us a choice when every 360 owner WANTS the hd-dvd add-on??? They didn't just put blu-ray in there for the movies...it's a whole new way to game. As for the 360...they spiced up the graphics. Were there ANY other changes from the original xbox to the 360? Cuz i have yet to find ONE!!!

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

They'll probably use the 20 gig version they have...but take out HDMI. That's all i can think of...

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

Why is Metroid the only game i WANT to play on the wii? I see what they tried to do...but it's really not as good as people think it is. If MS is so innovative, why did they just slap a different processor in an xbox and call it next gen???

The PS2 won because it had the BEST games...and it USED the DVD format to maximize the gaming experience.

The PS3 will prevail or die by blu-ray. If they use it to its full potential...the PS3 will have the come-back win of the century. If we see another Killzone mistake...sony could take a blow to the nuts.

Honestly though...Killzone 2 will blow Halo3 out of the water. I'm not saying that because i'm a fanboy...i'm saying it because i KNOW what it looks like.

If I could show you guys, I would...it's why EYE believe in the PS3. Some of us get more information than others. (G.A.P.)

[Raist]

The BRD costs them "only" 125$ actually so that wouldn't make a huge difference

http://www.younewb.com/yn/w...

[tk]

Wii is innovative because people want it. There is not a particular game that I want on it, except maybe the sports titles.

What I am looking forward to is The Getaway on the PS3, Ratchet & Clank for the kids, GT5, MGS and most probably the Singstar series. OH, Warhawk, Lair and Motorstorm. But the Wii I will most probably be forced into by the kids. They will see it, they will like it, and the graphics is not going to bother them.

BluRay movies for me, but the kids will most probably not notice that much of a difference between DVD and BR at the moment.

Basically I want the PS3 for some of the technology - like running Linux on it... and some of the favorite games, and of course BR. The kids - they will be more impressed by the Wiimote than the BR or graphics. And since the PS2 games was good enough, the Wii should look better - the Wii is hands down more powerful than any of the previous gen platforms, so it sits in between - enough to see that it is a step up - and with the controller - it is a system seller. The Nintendo guys analyzed the market better than most techies do - because we see only specs, power, oh yeahh give me more power... and actually I forgot that the kids don't really give a damn about the accurate physics and high res textures and 512 channel of pure unadulterated sound with 120fps of 1080p smooth graphics. They just don't care. They want the Wiimote and shake it and laugh. And the graphics is good enough to facilitate it, and the sound also. Yep... the Wii is innovative - enough of an upgrade to do new things, low cost to make me squirm at the thought at how to explain to the kids why I would afford the PS3 and not the Wii. Yeah.. these Ninty guys was clever. Really clever this time. I can see the Wii winning this round up to the middle easily. Eventually the PS3 with eyetoy will cause it to not have a right to existence, but by then, Ninty will have made oodles of money while the rest still try to break even. Oh yeah - as an investor Ninty will be a great buy for the next three years. Myself - I am all for the PS3, biased and fan, but I have to admit, can't see myself not getting a Wii.

[Odiah]

Yup it's true. On psp that is ashahagsgahaghhahahaha

[xfrgtr]

that's impossible because games are using bluray format,this article has been made by a 360 fanboy.

[SlaughterMeister]

need blu-ray for ps3 games

der

[TheMART]

THere is no need for BR for games.

Resistance could have been put on a DL-DVD if they programmed and compressed right.

I bet 99% of all PS3 games could fit on a DL-DVD for sure.

Furthermore, what if that few % didn't fit on one DL-DVD? They cut put them on two without any problems.

Pro's: A system that can compete in price with the PS3, the choice for a BR or HD-DVD add-on or neither of both and download/stream HD-Content like the XBL movie service, no non-standard next gen DVD drive included that could be non supported in the future

Con's: might have a few games on DL-DVD

I don't see why they couldn't do it. They could even bring a new version of Resistance on two DL-DVD or program/compress it right the 2nd time around

[HaKeRsCanRotINHEL]

buy a 360, problem solved!

[nice_cuppa]

if sony took out blu-ray they would only need to release dvd versions of existing games and release all new games on dvd.#
surely blu-ray drive in ps3's now can read dvd roms..... right.
so it wouldnt be as big a deal as you fan boys think.,, it would mean sony was full of sh1t though with regards the bs they fed you about needing blu-ray for games . xbox360 dvd no good... ect.

[nice_cuppa]

its clear over the last year the fan boys never remember the bs sony puts out such as release dates, power, performance, exclusives, availability, rumble not working with motion tech........ there is more as im sure people could point out but my point is made.

well what ever system you get have fun gaming.#
i am.

[MicroGamer]

So you are most likely right in saying that if Sony were to release a PS3 with DVD drive, the game makers would immediately move to DVD. The discs and the licensing fees make it cheaper to release content on DVD now that it has been out for a while. The version with the DVD drive in it would end up being the mass market version with the highest distribution, so that would be the one that gets the most support. Blu Ray game releases would become rare, because their sales would be limited by the smaller number of Blu Ray equipped machines. There is probably only ever going to be a handful of games for the PS3 that use more space than DVD-9 can hold, anyway. Do you think that Ridge Racer 7 takes up more space on a Blu Ray disc than Ridge Racer 6 does on a DVD?? It's the same game. How about all the EA games that are out for PS3 that are also out on 360?? The games are identical. They could easily fit on a DVD. Does COD3 take up more space on PS3 than it does on 360?? Of course not. If Gears of War fits on one DVD, I am sure RFOM can, too. All this talk about PS3 games not being possible on DVD is a load of crap. Most of the space on Blu Ray PS3 games discs is wasted. There isn't a single one that you can point to and say, it can't be done on a DVD, and even if a game comes along that can't be done on one DVD, it can be done on 2. Wake up fanboys. Sony has been brainwashing you into thinking that you can't have a PS3 without a Blu Ray drive, when clearly you can.

[FFVIIFan]

Space isn't an issue right now, but giving developers more space to cram code will hopefully encourage them to make bigger, longer, and better games. That is the appeal of Blu Ray over DVD. It hasn't been done yet, but I'm sure companies will take advantage of the space, like Final Fantasy for example.