PS3Blog’s Favorite: More Rumor Debunking
July 31st, 2007, 5 Comments1. PS3 Price Going Back To $599 Only
news.com, yahoo.com, IGN, and other news sites all “confirmed” that the PS3 will sell at $599 price after the 60GB models sell out.
Of course, Sony didn’t say this. They did say the 60GB hardware variant is being phased out and they are moving to a single SKU approach. While it’s true that the other SKU is currently announced at $599, Sony definitely didn’t confirm future price points or guarantee that there will not be any other price changes when the 60GB model is phased out. The bottom line is we don’t know what the pricing will look like after the 60GB phase out and we can only speculate.
But this sure didn’t stop sites such as IGN from running multiple week long headlines that this speculation was “CONFIRMED” as fact.
I was actually planning to stake a wager that news sites such as IGN were wrong, and the PS3 price would not revert back to $599 as they assured us was “confirmed”. However, Ozymandias, definitely stole the betting thunder by making a much more daring bet: Not only does he agree that the price won’t go back to $599, he is willing to be that the price will drop to $399. Very daring bet. And somewhat confusing given that he recently said, “You’re drinking the Sony Kool-aid if you believe a price cut occurred at E3 this year.”
(BTW, yes, I’ve read the heavily cited Kaz Hirai and Reeves quotes on this issue, but I will omit those for brevity)
2. Blu-Ray, Sony, Porn
Recently, from here:
Sony has finally cracked and allowed pornographic film makers to release their movies on Blu-ray . Sony has always been a staunch adversary to the porn industry
And here:
Sony appears to be weakening on the role of Blu-ray in the pornography industry.
The company has said that it will not allow its media to be used for pornography
This is completely, 100%, categorically untrue. I’d prefer to avoid publically discussing pornography related stories, but this is crazy. This is a completely bogus rumor that just won’t die.
There is a distantly related truth: Some specific disc manufacturers (not just Blu-Ray) won’t manufacture pornographic discs, but neither Sony or the Blu-Ray association have ever tried to completely ban pornography from the format.
Marty Gordon, Vice Chair of BDA US Promotions Committee says:
There is not a prohibition against adult content. The BDA is an open organization that welcomes the participation of all companies interested in using and supporting the format…
Also, I can go to adultdvdempire, and buy a pornographic blu-ray disc right now. Admittedly the selection is pretty lame. There are only three pornographic blu-ray titles listed (one is “coming soon”), while HD-DVD has twelve titles listed (three of which are “coming soon”).
It’s also true that this issue is of reduced relevance since pornography has shifted towards web sites and downloads and away from tapes, discs, and magazines. However, that doesn’t make this kind of widely circulated bogus rumor any less annoying.
(so no games for a while)... New glasses (330€) and a new bed... sucks^^
