Survey: PS3 Pricing Concerns Japanese Developers

Major consumer website IGN has reported that, according to survey results contained within the latest issue of Japanese magazine Ge-Maga, Japanese developers have certain misgivings concerning Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 platform. While the report noted that the survey was anonymous, both regarding the names and number of developers who participated, the results showed that an overwhelming 90.29 percent of those participants felt that PlayStation 3 is priced too high. Only 9.71 percent of those developers surveyed noted that the console was appropriately priced. The report noted one developer's response in particular, who said, "It's more expensive than my rent." The survey also found that 56.31 percent of developers feel that Sony has made a mistake in offering two separate PlayStation 3 hardware SKUs, while just 39.32 indicated that they feel that Sony's choice was correct. "There are fears that confusion will develop amongst users and retailers," commented a developer regarding the multiple SKUs. In addition, the report noted that 55.82 percent of Japanese developers surveyed indicated that they feel the PlayStation 3 will not sell with the currently announced software lineup, compared to the 39.32 percent that disagree and feel that that it will sell just fine. The survey also found that some Japanese developers feel that Sony will have trouble meeting its previously announced sales goal for the PlayStation 3 of 6,000,000 units sold by March 2007. While 35.43 percent of those asked indicated that they believe Sony will reach this milestone, 62.13 percent believe that the company will fall short, with price, again, indicated as a factor in this outlook. Finally, and perhaps least surprising, was information from the survey that indicated that just 3.39 percent of those surveyed were in any way relieved by Sony's announcements at E3 in May, while 32.52 percent came away from the show “ less confident in the platform.” The report noted that 48.54 percent were not wavered from their convictions prior to E3 by what Sony had to say.