Sony cuts PS3 price by $100

Reduction has been widely anticipated by industry watchers, despite Sony's president specifically denying a potential price cut last week.

The story "Sony cuts PS3 price by $100" published July 9, 2007 at 4:49 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from Reuters expires after 30 days.

[maverick_nick]

It's not selling because...

Price is certainly a factor that's keeping the sales of the PS3 down, but it's not the only factor. The main reason is their lack of content and it will take a long time for them to reach the level of xbox 360.

Even thought the 360 has had it's share of problems, it's got an amazing and still growing catalog of games, plus there are all of those exclusives that make it hard to walk away from.

I also think that Sony's PS3 was doomed from the start, because it's designed to have a lifespan double that of the 360. That means that by the time the PS3 achieves a respectable number of games, Microsoft will be getting ready to launch their next console. I don't have to tell you what consumers will be doing then.

[spm82]

Price is now less of a factor

Sony is on basically the same pace as MS was with "quality content" after the 360 was released, and they have already announced that there will be 380 titles available worldwide by the end of March '08. Even if they don't reach that number, sheer luck would dictate that 25 of those games will be on par with the offerings for the X360 after a year and a half.

Your argument for the lifespan makes absolutely no sense either. Because they plan for the system to have a longer lifespan, it's going to take them longer to release content that's on par with the current competition? Hardly. Even when MS does release the Xbox 3 in 2009 for $500+, the PS3 will play the same tune that the PS2 is playing now, which is allowing a huge, high quality game library to continually sell lower-cost, "last-gen" systems. Microsoft would have an even clearer advantage over Sony had they not flushed all support for the Xbox down the toilet the day the 360 was launched.

[GreyClaw]

Good Point, but

...I don't believe the PS3 is doomed at all. Sony, I think has taken a wise gamble future-prepping their product. In three years time, everyone still won't have HD screens and I doubt that there will be any major changes in the graphics or sound technologies that would make people look at the PS3 or 360 as being obsolete.
Content is king and Sony has learned from experience that you get more amazing product (FF8, MGS3, God of War...) when the companies have the time to fully master the equipment and test it's limits. What's the point of developing a (potentially) awesome game like Mass Effect if by the time you ship it and start planning the next project or a sequel, you have to split teams so that they can start on a brand new dev-kit for a new system, when they haven't even fully explored the capabilities and nuances of the tools they currently have.

Have they made some blunders? Yes. I don?t see adding BluRay (knowing that games are rapidly approaching 13-20GB in size) or outputting HDMI (when that?s where we all are headed) were bad moves.

I also wonder if the total development cost of the 360 and whatever is to follow it won?t be more than the cost to dev the PS3. I think that it will be easier and cheaper for Sony to incrementally change and/or upgrade the PS3 hardware, than it will be for Microsoft to design, build and market Xbox 3. Plus will have the time to research what is coming down the pipe to be able to meet if not exceed Xbox 4

[zgreenwell]

PS3 in 10 years

If the PS3 really lives out the lifespan Sony Suggest it will then when the xbox 360 is going out people will be switching to the ps3. I don't know what is coming in ten years but the ps3 does seem more future ready then the xbox360.

Also if they continue to improve the ps3, like they are with the new 80gb model, then its probable that the system will continue to be competitive for a long time. As far as backwards compatibility goes, Sony has already proven themselves in that. The problem is making games that the original systems can play but might take advantage of the newest hardware. If they can pull off the system life they are projecting then the ps3 will go down as one of the greatest consoles of all time.

The hardest thing about sony's game-plan is they're in it for the long haul and that is making their system seem unappealing right now. Hopefully they do manage to keep things going with the ps3 but it looks like an uphill battle currently, even with this latest price cut.

[GreyClaw]

Just a little furher...

...then I will consider it because when I am ready I can pour the $100+ savings into a 160GB or bigger HD. Might get an X360 one day (have to get my Forza fix eventually) but I have many more fav PS games that I look for to playing when I trade up.

Plus I still don't have the eye-bleeding HDTV yet..

[chassoto--2008]

No thanks!

I just picked up Wii on the 5th. PS3 ain't got nuthin' I need!

[-fjtorres-]

It's the games!

The price cut helps but Sony has paid too much attention to non-gaming crap, Linux, curing cancer, competing with Second Life, Blu-ray, and not enough to games.
They must really think the thing is a computer instead of a console because they are certainly treating it as such.
Memo to Sony: its not *that* good a computer. As a console it ain't bad, just useless...
It needs games that match the quality of the 360 and it needs a further price cut, cause at $500 its stil $100-200 more expensive than the comparably-powered 360.
Any kind of price premium isn't justified when most games that run 60fps on 360 can barely hit 30fps on PS3.
Repeat after me, Sony: Games, games, games...

[ColdMast]

Agree

they should of timed the price drop with the release of a AAA title, not many people preemptively buy a console to play a game that isn't out yet, proof is in the pudding.

And people will pay anything for entertainment.

Hardware has to do more than just sit there and look cool it has to be fun.

GAMES, GAMES, GAMES!!!

I love shooting zombies in Widescreen on the Wii.

[Teddy72]

Still too pricey

Even with this price cut, I'm still not buying yet. I have a PS2 and have been holding out for a price cut but this is just not enough. Some of my friends, former PS2 owners, have switched to XBox. I may do the same. But they say the XBox games are great. Sony is being so stupid. No one wants to pay this much for a videogame console. They're just video games, an entertaining but not a critical appliance for people. Sony is going to lose out big if thye keep up this arrogant pricepoint. They have to drop to 300.

[jaspal.m]

They are killing themself!!!

And they doesnt have any another way...coz...every console they sell they are lossing atleast around $200 - $300 and now another $100.....
Thats why the number of games are increasing ...coz its only from there they would be earning......but sooner there would be more disc games then consoles....less users...more games....

[oxtail01]

Do the math - doesn't compute

Stop pulling the numbers out of your a..hole and think about it. If Sony is losing $300 per unit (which by the way is 50% of the sales price)they would have lost $300 million on sales of million units. In order to recoup this loss per unit, they would need to sell 10 games at a profit of $30 each. Now, you tell me if this makes any sense or not. Unlike you, I'm sure Sony knows math.

[ColdMast]

Do you work for M$?

you sound like a fanboy, but you don't own, what's the deal?

[ArbitraryThinker]

Nice ethics Sony

Wow an outright and firm denial of the price cut less that a week prior. It is still listed only 3 articles down from this article.
http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6195127.html
We all expect a little ambiguity from a corporation prior to a price action, however this was an outright lie. Very bad form Sony.

[Teddy72]

Not ethical

I agree 100%. Why is it ok for Sony to lie one day then change it the next. They always do this with new systems. Everyone knows that the price is going to go lower and lower and they're just bilking early buyers. I'm tired of this stuff, think I'm gonna get the 360. This whole pricing scheme is a bunch of baloney. They're cheats.

[bobby_brady]

Sony CEO is a liar.

But Sony will do anything to try and sell you their overpriced game machine that nobody wants.

[oxtail01]

Millions have bitten

I wouldn't call over million people "nobody". I'm sure in that bunch, there were people who thought it was a smart buy.

[shailendraps]

Not that Bad!!!

IMHO - If you consider PS3 as a computer ONLY (its got one of the fastest multi-core 4 GHz processor available - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4242447.stm - plus 60GB storage plus wifi); it would be a deal for $500 'coz many people would consider an actual computer with 3.2 GHz dual-core + 60GB + wifi a deal for $500.

If you consider it as a Blue Ray Disc player ONLY; its a deal for $500 'coz presently you CAN NOT find a blue ray disc player in the market for under $600 (and it will not have any hard disc or wifi or gaming capability)

So PS3 for $500 is not that bad after all.

Now I know - that none of the super computer stuff is worthwhile to anybody unless we can actually figure out a way to use it. And as Sony has been saying since the launch of PS3 - the game developers across the globe are trying to learn the new processor and take advantage of its mighty capabilities. It will take time - maybe 3 more months - maybe 1 more year - but it will happen! And once that happens, it will be the best gaming comsole when compared with the present 360 or wii.

I agree that both 360 and wii are very good gaming consoles - and the reason they are adored more than PS3 is that they both have been utilized 100% - this also means that they do not have any potential left to offer anything better than what they are offering now. PS3 on the other hand has just begun its journey.

So if you want to buy that is future-proof and will only get better with time - PS3 is for you. Or if you want to save a $100 now only to buy a newer version of your console next year - be my guest.

[techned]

Should have kept the 20Gb model around

Sony should have kept the 20gb system around.

It didn't have the bells and whistles of wi-fi and multi media ports but it was the basic system and you could upgrade the hard drive, without any problems.

If they kept it around then its price would have been $100 and be within the price range of any gamer interested in the PS3.

I knew the price cut was coming but I waited for it to affect the 20gb PS3 because I'm not interested in downloading movies or music and if I pay for episodic content then it should be always ready for me to download after I purchase it (similar to how the Wii VC games are done).

Wi-fi is not much of a big deal to me, since I prefer to have a hardwire connect then the slowere wi-fi connection.

Sony should have let the supply of 20Gb systems run out, instead of removing them from the stock of every retailer - I would have considered buying one before X-mas.

[Teddy72]

I agree

I agree 100% with this comment. Sony is overplaying their hand, isolating their previously loyal gamer customers, and they will get burned.

[t8]

I think it is a good deal

But it is still too expensive in the country I live in.

[ding2112]

Not for the game

Still too pricey? Maybe so but people should think that what they are buying is not a gaming console per se. It is a two-in-one product.
First and foremost, it is a blu-ray machine masquerading as a gaming console. This explains why it is pricey compared to other game consoles.
Sony did this as part of their strategy to put blu-ray in a more advantageous position than hd-dvd in the format war. They think that people buying a PS3 for their games would boost the chances of blu ray in the market and people who want to see a blu ray movie might as well buy a PS3 to play games too.
In short, they are trying to hit two birds with one stone. Therefore the price slash in the market is to position the PS3 as a blu ray machine of choice and not merely to compete with Xbox or Wii since they don't have the games to show of.
If PS3 is simply a gaming machine, then Sony should have been bothered by the early release of Xbox 360. The early bird catches the worm. But this wasn't the case because Sony has to ensure that PS3 should be perfect if it wants to win in the format since they have an ax to grind in the betamax years. A crap machine would ruin their chances of surviving the format war.
The market share in the dvd movie is much bigger than in the video game industry wherein the CEO of Electronic Arts said is boring. People watch movies but not all people play games, hence, the former's market is bigger than the latter.
Sony is thinking years ahead when it comes to product positioning and they trained their sight in the dvd movie market where the real money is.
Let's take it, Sony is not really for the game but for the money.
Pricey? Limited game titles? Don't think of buying PS3 only as a gaming console or it will ruin your heart.

[Teddy72]

I don't agree

Look I could care less if my video game console plays DVDs. That is just a bonus. I'm irritated that Sony would force me to make that decision by overleveraging a DVD player in the PS3. I would rather have an awesome looking game than an awesome looking movie. I already have great movies experience w/out BluRay. And DVD players are dirt cheap. It can only get so much better. Please Sony don't waste our time and money trying to sell us this joke of a strategy.

[the liquid man]

Still pricey - 360 pricecut incoming as well

$100 off still is too much for your average gamer. The 80GB model + game is still $600.

We should hear the announcement of the Xbox 360 pricecuts today. Add to that the 3 year warranty. It's win win with the 360.

[spm82]

The warranty ...

The warranty was only put in place to handle the widespread and repeated hardware failures the 360 is experiencing, and it's a terrible form of denial to think otherwise.

As for the Xbox 360 price cut, I'm not saying it's not going to happen. However, Microsoft JUST released the 360 Elite in April. I have a hard time seeing them significantly dropping the price of the Elite that soon, which would mean a large retail price margin between the 20GB 360 and the Elite.

[428cobrajet]

Still pricey?

That's all fine and dandy, but with a breakdown rate of the Xbox 360 still astronomically high, this will boost sales of the PS3.
My opinion, you could give the latest xbox away, and I still would not care for one.
At least the PS3 doubles as a Blu-ray disc player, at about $300 less than a stand-alone unit.

[K.P.C.]

Ha ha ha . . .

. . . The 3 year $1,000,000,000+ warranty was only added because
the machines DIE! The "Red Donut of Death". System Failure!

And, at the same time, xbox doesn't play HD movies - you have to
buy a seperate HDDVD player to connect the xbox to do that - and
when you do that the price is the same as the PS3.

Win win? You're in MS Fantasy World Mr. liquid

[samwise_gamgees]

what about the emotion engine being removed?

I probably will never get a PS3 mainly because sony has decided to remove the emotion engine out of the PS3 and replace it with an emulator -- in my opinion emulators SUCK -- i want the games to look the same and play the same,NOT look simular and play close to the original...
Look at the game "super mario all stars" the games all looked simular but did not play the same,they felt OFF and the controls were not as responsive.
So i guess my time with sony will end with the PS2 as i will not buy a console NOW that has LESS in it now especially when it was a major component like the emotion engine.
Thanks sony for the price drop but no thanks to the true cost of that price drop.
Count me out.

[Maccess]

Egads! More losses.

Quick, some stockholder stop them. They're about to add $100 to the losses they already suffer with each PS3 sold. And for what? To beat a contender that had the good sense to use cheaper parts to create a fun to play box that everyone wants.

Wiiiiiiii!

[Julian carter-2185284682826768]

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[kingpits4life]

This price cut is nice but sony should not have lied to customers by saying they were discontinuing the 80 gig. I hunted for weeks to find one before they were supposedly going to be obsolete. I think they should step up like apple did and at least offer Gift Certificates or something. I heard about the new bundle only days after my store return date was up. Not months, or weeks, DAYS!!! WHERES THE FAIRNESS IN THAT!!!!! FEEL LIKE I SHOULD HAVE WENT WITH MICROSOFT.


Write the CEO of Sony to tell him, as customers WE are NOT SATISFIED!!!

[e-mail]