Both scenarios are possible. Having only one SKU without the drive included and giving the option to add one or having two SKUs still, just now the DE will have the option to add a drive later. I don't know that retailers will be interested in stocking an addon drive, I like the option, but it seems like Sony could be creating a hassle for everyone including themselves.
I could see Sony initially only selling it through their online store and then "select partners". There is the potential benefit to the retailer in selling the addon to get potential sales on physical games later, but I still think it's a tough sell to stock it with no guarantee on adoption.
How many should a store stock? 1 for every system they stock? What if Sony has a system that includes the drive still, then it's just an addon for the drive less systems they sell? Buyers going for the drive less system over the drive system certainly won't be buying the addon then, maybe later but when and where? If it's just a SKU with no drive then I could see a lot of buyers opting to get the addon later to lower their cost of entry, then the store is sitting on a bunch of addons wait for buyers that may never come back. I like the option because I like physical media but I see Sony selling the drive on their store online at least initially.
f someone buys the New PS5 by mistake and finds out it doesn't come with a disc drive. They can simply go back to the store and buy the disc drive. like wtf? Doesn't what you are saying go both ways? Furthermore, lets say they even make the mistake of buying the PS5 that boldly says disc drive needed to play discs on the box, then go on to buy a few games. I am sure the store people will inform them they need to get a disc drive for it too.
Now you are just reaching.
At this point, you are just arguing for the sake of arguing...
I’m not worried, just looking at potential scenarios. As you say though, we will find out their plans soon enough.
Person buys the new PS5. Wants a drive and didn't realize it was missing. Goes back to the shop and pays 99$ for the drive, and now has a Drive enabled PS5. No need for returns.
Possibly - though I hypothesized they could just skip official bundling and let shops bundle it for a reduced MSRP.
But you can't replace it with generic anything. Or to put it another way - you buy official drive for the same reason you buy/bought official XBox Series storage accessory, official 360 HDD accessory, official 360 HDVD drive accessory, official PSVita memory card, official PSP Memory Stick Pro, official PS2 HDD+Network Adapter box...
I don't really know what questions are confusing here? Buying the console vs not buying the console? Is that new?
Of course it would... and what I find shocking is that its a common sense issue.And he had the sense to point out that `you can easily go to store to swap consoles and pay the difference` but somehow didn't think that if you are willing to do all that, then you would be better off just going to pickup a disc drive ad on instead.
Without any context, sure it should be something cheap like $50, but look at it from Sony's perspective. Sony (like the other platform holders) don't really want us to have access to physical media.
I understand your points and I'm not want to attack your opinion/scenarios; that is not where I would put the attention with my previous comment. My point is that you are still justify to be robbed from Sony (or any other company) for whatever reason with your assumptions.
That is exactly what I'm talking about; Sony/a company does the premise and almost everyone is following (justify) it without any dubt on what is happening. You are justify a price 100 bucks for a disk reader.
Indeed. It's why they created the Series S - they saw no benefit in waiting for process shrinks to create revised hardware given that the cost per transistor was likely to remain flat or even go up in future revisions. Whether or not the Series S itself was a good decision is debatable, but their rationale seems to have proven out. This gives us some insight into what to expect moving forward. If Sony is trying to price drop the PS5, it could be why we're seeing a hardware revision where the drive is optional - it's the only way to offset the price drop because digital only consoles provide bigger margins. If all that true, the "Pro" console would likely be priced much higher than the base PS5 - with no mid-gen process shrink price improvement, if the Pro has beefier specs, it's simply going to cost that much more. Perhaps this is why Microsoft doesn't seem to have a Pro console in the works - they know the price of the hardware would be too much for them to offset in their current market position.
There is no reason why they wouldn't sell it. It's likely to be sold at a profit with a retailer margin, along with the potential for physical sales.
I understand what you're saying. My counter argument is that it actually makes MORE sense to look at things in terms of what Sony is likely to actually do rather than "the customer perspective".
I think it could depend on how Sony can market it. Their trend lately is starting with their online store. Still have to wait and see what the actual SKU/s will be.
To each their own, but I’ve noticed used physical prices going WAY down, and not just the clutter, the pain in the ass of having to get up and switch discs to verify sone physical dem.
It goes beyond that… it is far less of a proof that the S was a great idea than you think (it is not), it goes beyond that.
It honestly feels like Xbox answer to mid gen refresh this time is "buy a PC"
