Sony thinks Valve’s Steam Machines will be a legitimate threat… eventually

By the time E3 2014 rolled around earlier this month, the original $499 price point for the Xbox One was already ancient history. Still, sitting down with Sony Head of Worldwide Studios America Scott Rohde at the show, I couldn’t help asking how he felt when he first heard that the PlayStation 4 was going to launch $100 cheaper than its nearest competition. “I’m not gonna lie. I remember exactly where I was,” Rohde told Ars. “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.” The process to get to that moment started way back in 2008, when Sony started work on the PS4 hardware design with a $399 price point firmly in its sights, Rohde said, echoing similar sentiments from Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida. The focus on the lower price point was the result of hard-earned lessons from the previous hardware generation, he said.