So... how much *does* it cost to make a PS3?

[JKTrix]

I made a thread similar to this some months ago.
http://forums.eyesonff.com/general-gaming-discussion/98671-so-how-much-does-cost-make-wii.html

This time, the website is in English, and instead of comparing the PS3 to the Wii, it compares it to the 360. Below is an image of the meat of the thing, click the pic to go to the article.

-Edit: Image says 'Elite', but it's not the Elite. It's the 20GB 360
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/JKTrix/COSTS3.jpg (http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20070507PD200.html)

This is the diagram from the old thread.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/JKTrix/wiivsps3.jpg

In the old/Japanese one, the PS3 prices are to the right (duh! Just incase the moonspeak confused you). I tried to translate what each category was as best as I could in the original thread. Pretty interesting to see how they compare, though since the English version lumps the CPU, GPU and some other stuff together we can't really tell what got more expensive or what got cheaper. The point of the article is that production cost (not retail price) for the PS3 is likely to drop pretty soon due to some advancements in the BluRay parts production.

Currently, the BluRay (optical) drive is $125, which is consistant with my old post. That article speculates that it could drop as much as $100 off of that cost. With the impending removal of the "EE+GS" chips from the PS3, the cost will go down even more. This puts Sony in a better position to actually make price drops, though the cost of the production will still be quite a bit more than what they're retailing for.

[Captain Maxx Power]

Blu-Ray was perhaps the worst decision by Sony in regards to the PS3. Unproven technology competing directly against an arguably superior format (in the form of HD-DVD) was and is madness. If they hadn't gone with the Blu-Ray drive they wouldn't be having half the problems they're currently experiencing.

[Old Manus]

Unproven technology competing directly against an arguably superior format (in the form of HD-DVD) was and is madness.Madness? THIS IS BLU-RAYYYY

[Bunny]

/slowclap

Good show, old boy. Good show indeed!

[Slothy]

Blu-Ray was perhaps the worst decision by Sony in regards to the PS3. Unproven technology competing directly against an arguably superior format (in the form of HD-DVD) was and is madness. If they hadn't gone with the Blu-Ray drive they wouldn't be having half the problems they're currently experiencing.

Blu-ray is the superior technology, and when it comes to the PS3, isn't competing with HD-DVD at all as a game format (360 uses DVD's remember). Also, since some developers have already mentioned wanting/needing the extra storage capacity (Kojima has said he wants Sony to put out the 50GB discs for MGS4, and Rockstar has been reported as saying the lack of storage space is proving to be quite a pain with the 360 version of GTA4), I think they made the right choice in using it in the long run.

Besides, if you look at the cost breakdown there, even including a regular DVD drive would mean they'd still be making a loss on each console. And taking a loss on a console early on isn't uncommon.

If anything, I'd be more than a little curious to see what this other components category includes. I find it hard to believe a PS3 has $150 in costs tied up in parts that aren't even major enough to name seperately, while the 360 has none. Seems a little wierd to me.

[Dreddz]

Isnt Blu-Ray outselling HD-DVD 2-1. Come a few years it will benefit the PS3.

[escobert]

Isnt Blu-Ray outselling HD-DVD 2-1. Come a few years it will benefit the PS3.
as far as I know, no it's not and it isn't doing well. I may be wrong but that's just what I've heard.

[Dreddz]

3:1 (http://ps3.qj.net/Blu-ray-outsells-HD-DVD-by-3-1/pg/49/aid/81597) actually.

While both formats arent exactly doing fantastic, come a few years when it'll be cheaper and more popular, its safe to say Blu-Ray will come out victor. Thus helping Sony's PS3 which is the cheapest Blu-Ray player.

[escobert]

that site must be nonsense since it sent me half way around the world after 5 seconds of viewing.

[Captain Maxx Power]

My statistics can only be proven through sources that are probably similar to Bert's. Then again, Sony is currently less popular than Hitler, so any and everything they do/create/market will constantly be accussed of failing/being inferior/killing orphans.

[NeoCracker]

My statistics can only be proven through sources that are probably similar to Bert's. Then again, Sony is currently less popular than Hitler, so any and everything they do/create/market will constantly be accussed of failing/being inferior/killing orphans.

In Sonys defense, Hitler was pretty damn popular back in the day.

[Discord]

Well, Sony has stuck quite a bit of cash into Blueray before the PS3 era. It's their baby, so to speak. The chances of them running the PS3 on HD-DVDs are about as high of Microsoft implementing MacOS into the 360.

Generally speaking, and I know this from my dad who's worked with Bluerays and HD-DVDs for "quite some time" now, Blueray is superior by quite a few factors.

Primarily, it's simply larger. While a one layer HD-DVD is capable of storing 15GB, Blueray goes all the way up to 25GB. With a larger number of layers, the size increases proportionally. There are also other issues, most of which end up with SONY having the better PR.

Now to relate this directly to the console, Blueray gives the PS3 one of the major advantages over the 360. While the CPUs and so forth have their pros and contras, Sony will be able to fit in much more content than Microsoft, which will in return make the games for the PS3 more exclusive that those of the 360 (obviously importing from a 9GB disc into a 25GB one is easier then the other way around). That is, unless the future 360 games will force you to buy an external HD-DVD/Blueray drive, which would be quite a strike in the back for the community.

EDIT: A pretty good specs table can be found on Wikipedia too:
Blu-ray Disc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueray#Blu-ray_Disc_.2F_HD_DVD_comparison)

[JKTrix]

I do believe that BluRay Disc's current 'success' is due in large part to the PS3. Heck, I myself have bought 3 BluRay movies just because I saw them (Casino Royale, House of Flying Daggers, The Queen). The PS3 is definitely a huge factor in Sony's strategy to 'win' the HD format war.

While I don't agree with Sony forcing it down us gamers' throats right now, I do see the benefits with the storage space and whatnot.

[Slothy]

3:1 (http://ps3.qj.net/Blu-ray-outsells-HD-DVD-by-3-1/pg/49/aid/81597) actually.

While both formats arent exactly doing fantastic, come a few years when it'll be cheaper and more popular, its safe to say Blu-Ray will come out victor. Thus helping Sony's PS3 which is the cheapest Blu-Ray player.

Not quite 3:1, but I thought I'd offer up a more recent article with the results of this year: IGN: Blu-ray Sales Break One Million Mark (http://gear.ign.com/articles/783/783113p1.html)

It may be early, but 70% of the market is still pretty significant. Especially since HD-DVD players are still quite expensive as far as I know.

[Discord]

I do believe that BluRay Disc's current 'success' is due in large part to the PS3. Heck, I myself have bought 3 BluRay movies just because I saw them (Casino Royale, House of Flying Daggers, The Queen).[...]

I don't have that problem. On my TV it doesn't really matter if you've got the video recorded on a Blueray Disc, a DVD or a CD with DivX encoding. It all looks the same.:p