It seems that the backlash against the PlayStation 3’s high price is continuing to resonate across the industry, as CEO of the newly formed Tecmo Koei has joined Activision in voicing his desire for a PS3 price cut. Kenji Matsubara claims that he has constantly asked Sony to lower the system’s price, but to no avail.
“Whenever I discuss this with Sony reps I always ask them: ‘Please cut the price’, but I don’t have a clear view on Sony’s situation,” confesses the Tecmo Koei boss. “Yes, from a publisher’s point of view we would welcome a price cut for PS3, and we are waiting, definitely.
“It’s definitely a way of boosting the PS3 market, but it’s Sony’s strategy and I don’t know their cost structure. Sony introduced cutting-edge technology in the PS3, that’s why people in the industry accept that the PS3 cost is so high, but we’d welcome a price cut.”
Slowly but surely, Sony must be feeling the pressure mounting. The platform holder doesn’t seem to care what customers think, but now that publishers are starting to mutter rebellious things, it’s almost do-or-die time. There’s no question that a PS3 price drop is now an imminent necessity — but can Sony afford to cave on this issue before it’s comfortable?
