Newegg Video Game Sales

Lots of PS3, Xbox 360, as well as Nintendo games are on sale at Newegg!

[Darrius Cole]

Sony needs to give some guidance on the pricing of the PS4 and its release date, if they expect to sell any more PS3's in the meantime.

I was literally set to buy a PS3 this month. Then when the PS4 announcement happened I had to stop and wait. A PS3 normally sells for $249. Newegg has one on sale for $219. But the prevailing thought is that the PS4 will sell for $400 - $450 and will release sometime this year. I can't justify spending $250 on a PS3 in February, when the PS4 may release at $400 in September. And everyday that passes waiting for the PS4 gets smarter and smarter.

[BoNeSaW23]

@Darrius-
So you sat out on Playstations best gaming console and exclusive games this entire Gen and after 7 years your still talking yourself out of buying one?

That's sad man. I've enjoyed mine since launch and haven't regretted it for a second!

[Autodidactdystopia]

Smart should never be discouraged.

[Darrius Cole]

@BoNeSaW23

I do all my gaming on the PS3, or at least I did until someone stole mine. Now I am looking to replace it; or at least I was, until Sony announced the PS4. Now I have to decide between buying a PS3 or waiting and buying a PS4.

I was set to replace my PS3. But I'm not going to risk paying $250 ($300 if I get a bundle) on a PS3 only to have the PS4 release for $400 a few months later. I can't afford to waste money like that. Sony needs to either cut the PS3 price to about $150 so that people like me can buy one on impulse, or tell me that the PS4 is going to cost $700 so that I will know that I can't afford it and am going to skip it this year.

Right now I believe (and the conventional wisdom says) that buying a PS3 at $250 - $300 would be wasting that money, because that money will cover at least two-thirds of the cost of a PS4, the PS4 will release in about 6 months, and every Playstation to date has been backwards compatible at launch.

That is why I know this is a problem. If this announcement can make hold out on a PS3 purchase then it is going to make most people hold out. My PS3 fan card is beyond question.

I own MGS4, Valkyria Chronicles, all 3 Uncharted's, Heavy Rain, all 5 God of War's, Heavenly Sword, FFXIII & XII-2, Oblivion, Skyrim, Flower, VF5 & VF5FS, both Infamous'es, and about 20 more games that I can't think of right now, all on PS3. I have about 30-35 PS3 games and have only beaten 2 games on my 360, Bayonetta (because the PS3 version was broken), and Halo 4. And I have had a 360 for about 4 years. I can't pay MS to play online when playing online is free from Sony.

And I haven't made any mention of the movies I've bought or the apps I use. I can't pay MS to use apps that I already pay other for, when I don't have to pay Sony to use them.

If the price comparison will make me wait, then the PS3 sales have fallen of a cliff. There just hasn't been enough time for it to be reflected in the numbers yet, but it will.

[Autodidactdystopia]

dude dont tell anyone but i think its gonna launch at 550.

Im almost sure of it.

save your money get a ps4 and win or be what equates to a late adopter and get left behind 300 dollars in the hole and missing your ps4

[Phils_Libra]

I faced a similar situation with the PS2. I wanted to jump on the PlayStation bandwagon late in the PS1 lifecycle and I chose to wait for the PS2 (which was already announced as backward compatible) release as it was less than a year away. With the limited availability of the PS2 at launch it made my wait even longer and there weren't many PS2 games for it for the first year; I ended up playing more PS1 games then I did PS2 games the first year. Looking back, I wished I had just bought the PS1 when I decided I wanted to jump in and bought the PS2 later, perhaps also at a lower price.

In your dilemma, you already have lots of PS3 games I'm assuming you want to play, plus there are some new games you would buy now and soon coming to PS3 (BioShock Infinite, for example) as well. Sony didn't announce the PS4 will be backward-compatible and I highly suspect it won't as I think they would have mentioned it in the recent "meeting" event when going over the system specs. Sony took a lot of flak for removing the backward-compatibility from later versions of the PS3 and judging from what I know of how the PS4 will be very much alike a PC internally and how a PS3 is very much *unlike* a PC internally, my moneys on the PS4 won't be backward-compatible.

Perhaps wait for E3 to know for sure about the backward-compatibility on the PS4, but why are you so sure you will want a PS4 at launch too? I didn't buy my first PS3 till Fall 2008, 2 years into its lifecycle. Did you see any "must have" PS4 launch games already? If not, buy the PS3 now, enjoy your PS3 games now, and see what happens later when the PS4 launches. You could also sell your PS3 and games for some of the money to buy the PS4 too when the time feels right. You only live once, enjoy the ride!

[Darrius Cole]

My issue is not solely about backwards compatiblity but rather with the entire PS3 vs. PS4 decision. However BC does go to the issue of getting the most value for my money. So I want to spend a few paragraphs discussing it.

I ASSUME THAT COMPANIES SAY WHAT IS IN THEIR BEST INTEREST TO SAY. I do not expect them to tell the whole truth so that everyone can make an informed decision. There is a big gap between "saying something that is true" and "telling the whole truth."

Sony said that "the PS4 would not play PS3 games." That is not the same thing as not being backward compatible. That can be a software block. BC is a hardware issue and can be solved at the hardware design phase, which is where the PS4 is right now.

I can see several reasons to make a PS4 backward compatible.

1) Inertia, all PS3's have been backward compatible. And the majority of people, who don't read up on the latest gaming news expect it from Playstation.

2) It would help the developers.

A release machine will definitely have low install rate early in it's life, and it would be a great benefit for the developers to be able to easily develop games for the PS3 & PS4 at the same time. I know that if I was designing a machine I would consider that.

I am not a computer guy but I don't see the PS4 specs as being all that incapable of being made to play a PS3 game. The PS4 has 8 cores, the PS3 effectively has 7 cores. There is 1 PPE and 8 SPE's on the cell. Six SPE's are available for games, one is locked for yields, and one is locked for the OS. I believe that it is quite possible that Sony chose 8 cores specifically with the idea of backward compatibility in mind, especially since Sony so clearly designed this machine with the developer's interest in mind.

I can also see why Sony would hide the PS4's backward compatibility.

If Sony said outright, "the PS4 will be fully backward compatible" then no one will buy a PS3. They may as well take all the PS3's off of the shelves right now. At the press conference, Sony had to say that the PS4 would not be backward compatible with the PS3, because the announcement was so early. There was a similar doubt in the run-up to the PS3 release.

Sony has no doubt thought of this already; they think about it all day every day. I just think about it for a few minutes a day. My money says that once we get closer to the PS4 release date they will announce that it is BC.

[Phils_Libra]

@Darrius Cole

You have some valid points, however your reason to make the PS4 backward compatible because all PS3's have been backward compatible is not correct. The BC feature was discontinued only a few years into the PS3’s lifecycle with newer models to reduce prices in competing with Microsoft & Nintendo.

My first PS3 had BC (the last model released that had BC, in fact), which got the YLOD in 2011, so I bought a slim model which I still have today that does not have BC. You cannot buy a brand new PS3 with BC anymore. I also have a PSP and was disappointed I cannot play my UMD disc PSP games on a Vita, which I still haven’t bought.

The fact that Sony removed BC with the PS3 and offered no BC option for PSP disc games tells me they cannot be trusted in delivering BC for future systems, so I am very apprehensive in assuming the PS4 will have BC. And I would hate to hear you waited for the PS4 launch with your collection of PS3 games all for nothing.

In your situation, I’d still buy a PS3 now versus waiting because I’m not sold on buying a PS4 yet. The launch line up & first year of games could leave a lot to be desired, much like it was for the PS3 and PS2, despite they both grew incredible game libraries.

Right now, it seems to me you only want a PS4 for the BC, which is kind of how I felt about the PS2 per my previous comments, and looking back, I thought it was a mistake to buy a new system at launch primarily because of the BC.

[BoNeSaW23]

From your comment I was under the impression you were one of those people that had been waiting and waiting for that killer sale or the magic $199 price tag before getting one. That sucks yours got stolen!

If you have huge backlog of games that will carry you for 1-4 years (like I do) then I would grab you another PS3 to play until the PS4 builds a healthy library. Hell there are ALOT of killer games that only cost $20!

I'll be grabbing a PS4 on launch for the exclusives but will be doing most of my third-party gaming on PS3, as long as it's supported.

[Darrius Cole]

I meant backwards compatible "at launch". I said that in post #3 but, I made a typo in post 3.2.1 and left those two words out. I apologize for the mistake. For now and in the future whenever I refer to backwards compatibility remember that I mean earlier in the console life cycle, such as at launch and in the first 2 years of the life cycle.

I don't want a PS4 solely for backwards compatibility. I want a PS4 because I want a PS4. I wanted a PS3 at launch but I wasn't able to get one until a year later. I had a PS2 at the time, and I remember wanting a PS3 the entire year between launch and the time I actually got one (Nov. 2007). Now it's different. I have $300 ready to spend now. The question is "what will I spend it on?"

Most of the games I listed I have already beaten, except for Skyim (does anyone ever finish all the quests in the Elder Scrolls?) and Ghost of Sparta. So, If I buy a PS3 then, in at most, 2 years from now I will be moving on to the PS4. If I have a better year financially than last year, then I will be moving on to PS4 this year.

I brought up BC because 1) I want the most for my money, and I will have wasted money if I buy a PS3 at $250 and the PS4 is BC at launch. 2) I still think there is a good chance that Sony will make the PS4 BC at launch and see reasons for it.

- The developers, (already mentioned)
- The fans expectations (already mentioned)
- Install base size (already mentioned)
- Not competing against themselves - If the PS4 is not BC at launch the consumer will have to decide which system they want to buy (like I am doing right now) based on a factor other than price. Moreover the people who pay the most money, won't be able to play the best games. For instance, when the Last of Us releases this November all the people who bought more expensive PS4 won't be able to play it.
- The effect of competition. - What if MS announced that the Next Xbox is BC with 360? Does Sony still make the PS4 non-BC? WILL SONY REALLY ALLOW THE NEXT XBOX TO PLAY THE NEW COD AND NOT MAKE THE PS4 ABLE TO PLAY IT?

Then only way I see the PS4 not being BC is if it just plain costs too much. It would have to add $50 - $100 to the cost. Even then I would have to hear that from someone who doesn't have incentive to lie about it.

[Phils_Libra]

Fair enough. I didn't know you had beaten virtually all of the 30-35 PS3 games you mentioned, so perhaps that changes things a little. I have about the same amount of PS3 games, but I've probably only beaten about half of them, so it would be more painful for me to wait for the PS4 launch, however, I built a new PC gaming rig last year which is probably more powerful than a PS4 already, so I'd survive. Hehe. You mentioned you have a 360 too, so you still can play some new games till the PS4 launch. Your situation just reminded me of when I bought the PS2 back in the day. I think the first year I only bought 4 PS2 games on it and played mostly PS1 games. I pretty much bought the PS2 for BC at the time and thought perhaps you were doing the same. What PS4 games are you excited about? I’ll probably buy a PS4 regardless of BC because I like many of their exclusives titles, but maybe not at launch unless there is some "must have" games for me. With the PS3, I waited till about 2 years after launch before buying when the games I REALLY wanted were out or near out, and saved money doing so with getting a DS3 controller and game (MGS4) bundled in. I hope the PS4 is BC, but I ain't holding my breathe on that.