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Sony execs danced a jig when MS unveiled the Xbox One price

One of Sony’s executives told Ars Technica in a recent interview that Sony was ‘dancing in the aisles and high-fiving’ when Microsoft announced the Xbox One/Kinect bundle at $499 at E3 last year.

Scott Rohde, head of Sony’s worldwide studios told Ars’s Kyle Orland that before the announcement, they weren’t exactly sure what to expect from Microsoft but they had a sneaking suspicion that the Xbox One would come in at around $500. Since they had been actively targeting the $399 price point since the PlayStation 4’s inception way back in 2008, Microsoft’s $499 announcement was like mana from heaven.

“I’m not gonna lie. I remember exactly where I was,” Rohde said. “We were in press conference rehearsals last year. We had a feeling they were going to come in at $499, but we weren’t sure. So yeah, we were dancing in the aisles and high-fiving. It was great. Anyone that came in on an interview, it didn’t matter what the question was, I could always just answer it with $399. It was the answer to every question.”

Rohde said Sony had learned its lesson from the PlayStation 3, and the way in which the company “completely misjudged how much the market could bear” when it came to price. The 20GB PS3 went for $499 and the 60GB model commanded a rather large $599 when the console launched back in 2006, something that contributed to the delay of its widespread adoption; thus, Sony was ready with a more affordable console come E3 2013.

Sony’s plan appears to be working. It continues to out-sell the Xbox One in the USA, plus it’s also winning in most other regions where both are available.

Rohde also commented on Valve’s delayed Steam Machine concept – pre-built PCs that run Valve’s SteamOS game-centric operating system – saying that he doesn’t consider it a threat to the console business as so much about it is unknown at this point.

For more insight into Sony’s take on the console situation, check out the full interview here.

[Source – Ars Technica, Image – us.playstation.com]

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