PS3 Price Drop

[MalaCloudy Black]

Courtesy of slashdot:

Gamespot is reporting that the rumoured price drop from earlier this week is a reality. Starting on July 10th, the current 60GB model will sell for $499. Coming to US shores in August is the 80GB version only available in South Korea at the moment, which will retail for $599. They're bundling that unit with Motorstorm, so it's not just another 20 gigs for $100.

This may change my tune, though isn't the 360 still cheaper? I'm basically just gonna buy a next-gen console for GTA IV and then.. after that, who knows. >_>

[stokeriño]

The BBC article says that the X-Box is still $20 cheaper, so yes. I may as well paste it in here since it's a little longer and has some handy sales figures...

Sony cuts Playstation price in US

Sony is slashing the price of its PlayStation 3 games console by 17% in the US to boost sales.

As a result of the $100 price cut the PS3 will now cost $500 (£249), $20 more than the rival Microsoft Xbox and twice as much as the Nintendo Wii.

The Xbox and Wii have been significantly outselling the Japanese firm's PS3 in the US market.

The news came as Microsoft said it would not be cutting the Japanese price of its Xbox to lift lacklustre sales.

Microsoft made the announcement a week after it said it was spending $1bn to repair problems with the Xbox 360.

Japan problems

The Xbox price tag of about 38,000 yen ($300) is "very competitive" and below that of the console's US price, Microsoft Japan's vice president said.

Xbox sales in Japan have been lagging behind those of rivals - Sony's Playstation 3 and Nintendo's Wii.

According to games magazine publisher Enterbrain, Microsoft has sold 122,565 Xbox consoles in Japan during the first six months of the year.

That compares with 1.78 million Nintendo Wii sales and 503,554 Sony PS3 sales.

However, it is a different story in the US market with Nintendo and Microsoft outselling their rival several times over

"Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum," said Sony Entertainment America chief executive Jack Tretton.

"We've gotten our production issues behind us on the PlayStation 3, reaching a position to pass on the savings to consumers, and our attitude is the sooner the better."

The move also comes just ahead of the launch of the latest version of the PS3.

The new console will boast an improved 80-gigabyte hard drive and is expected to sell for around $600.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is expected to make an announcement at the E3 event - one of the biggest conferences in the game industry calendar - about the new console on Thursday.

Hopefully a cut for Europe will also be announced, though since I'm not planning on getting one in the short term it hardly matters to me.

[CKN]

Also gamespot is reporting that the 80GB PS3 will be bundled with Motorstorm.

[Trey]

I was planning on getting a PS3 soon as I got a new job, so does anyone have any opinion on whether I should fork out the extra $100 for 20 GB more memory? Motorstorm is a non-factor as that's not the kind of game I enjoy.

[CKN]

I was planning on getting a PS3 soon as I got a new job, so does anyone have any opinion on whether I should fork out the extra $100 for 20 GB more memory? Motorstorm is a non-factor as that's not the kind of game I enjoy.

[abundant]

The 360 is $100 cheaper. The one the BBC is talking about is The Elite, which is $480, but the Elite is only worth getting if you end up downloading a lot of movies or TV shows.

There is also the fact that the 360 is getting a new processor chip soon that lowers the cost of development, which means the 360 will be getting a price cut ($50 to $100) soon.

Edited July 9, 2007 by abundant

[Kaney]

I was planning on getting a PS3 soon as I got a new job, so does anyone have any opinion on whether I should fork out the extra $100 for 20 GB more memory? Motorstorm is a non-factor as that's not the kind of game I enjoy.

Well you could but also think of it like this: You can always switch hard drives with other ones bought from stores. So essentially you could buy a 120 GB HDD from best buy (not sure but I think it has to be 2.5") and put it in your ps3.

Anyways I have a 60GB and it gets the job done fine right now. I might purchase a bigger hard drive down the road though once I get more games.

I was actually unaware you can remove the HDD in the PS3. I thought it was built in :\

[TheRyno]

I'm waiting for the $495 price drop.

[ROC]

I'll hold out for the PC version of GTAIV. >_>

[CKN]

I was planning on getting a PS3 soon as I got a new job, so does anyone have any opinion on whether I should fork out the extra $100 for 20 GB more memory? Motorstorm is a non-factor as that's not the kind of game I enjoy.

Well you could but also think of it like this: You can always switch hard drives with other ones bought from stores. So essentially you could buy a 120 GB HDD from best buy (not sure but I think it has to be 2.5") and put it in your ps3.

Anyways I have a 60GB and it gets the job done fine right now. I might purchase a bigger hard drive down the road though once I get more games.

[abundant]

SCEE president David Reeves has told GamesIndustry.biz that the 60GB PlayStation 3 will no longer be available in the US after stock sells out - which he predicts will occur by the end of the month.

Reeves was speaking at an E3 event to announce the introduction of a new PS3 bundle in Europe. When asked about possible criticisms over whether SCEE should have given consumers the option to pay a lower price, as SCEA has done, he replied, "Well, they're not really are they, because what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD 599 version with one game.

"All they're doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July."

When asked to clarify if this will mean the end of the 60GB model, Reeves answered, "In America, yes."

SCEA announced a USD 100 price cut for PlayStation 3 earlier this week. A new 80GB model will come bundled with a copy of Motorstorm and will retail for USD 599.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26704

Video confirmation by Kaz Hirai: http://atvs.vg.no/?id=10235

Edited July 13, 2007 by abundant

[Mysterio2000X]

Yeah, I just read that.

SWERVE~!

[LL!]

Ahahahaha. Sony is the greatest company ever of all time.

[Robsturgh]

Holy crap, they just want to go out of business don't they?

[stokeriño]

The whole European deal where instead of dropping the price they've said "we'll give you free games"... This would be okay-ish if every potential PS3 owner were afflicted by the dilemma of "Oh noes, there are SO MANY AWESOME GAMES, how can I POSSIBLY CHOOSE the MERE TWO OR THREE I can afford?!?".

Given their actual selection of games, however, it's just lunacy.

[ROC]

Damn, Sony really is the asshole's company. If anybody has been listening to The Sports Anomaly on the 1UP Radio Network lately, apparently, they are giving no help whatsoever to sports game developers like EA and 2K on their games and that those games are running on a mere 30 FPS. In response, Sony basically said that if they can do it, so can 2K and EA, although, it's obvious they can't and that the 360 versions of Madden, All-Pro, etc. are probably about to benefit from this the most.

[CKN]

Damn, Sony really is the asshole's company. If anybody has been listening to The Sports Anomaly on the 1UP Radio Network lately, apparently, they are giving no help whatsoever to sports game developers like EA and 2K on their games and that those games are running on a mere 30 FPS. In response, Sony basically said that if they can do it, so can 2K and EA, although, it's obvious they can't and that the 360 versions of Madden, All-Pro, etc. are probably about to benefit from this the most.

[Trey]

So there will just be the $600 version now that's 80 GB with Motorstorm? Dammit, I loved Sony for so long and with Final Fantasy and Metal Gear on the systems as well as my favorite controller, but I don't know anymore. I hated my 360, but it might be the better option.

[CKN]

So there will just be the $600 version now that's 80 GB with Motorstorm? Dammit, I loved Sony for so long and with Final Fantasy and Metal Gear on the systems as well as my favorite controller, but I don't know anymore. I hated my 360, but it might be the better option.

[abundant]

What I think will happen is that when the 60GB unit is off the shelves, they’ll drop the bundle and make the 80GB $500. Sony can’t be that stupid to once again have the PS3 at $600. They’d get slaughtered this Holiday season.

You essentially still get the price drop.

$500 60GB PS3 System

$60-70 Motorstorm (not sure how much with tax games cost in the US)

$30-40 20GB

I don't know how much 20GB would cost but it still looks like a good deal to me.

Edited July 13, 2007 by abundant