60GB PS3 Price Cut Not Just a 'Fire Sale'

Heffenfeffer writes "Those excited about the $100 price cut that the 60 GB PS3 recently received should act quickly — according to an interview from SCEE president David Reeves: '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 if the 60GB PS3 would be no more after the fire sale, he confirmed, 'In America, yes ... what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD $599 version with one game.'" Meanwhile, the EU won't be getting the 80GB system at all. Instead, they'll be getting a new starter pack bundle pack with two games and an extra controller for the same cost as the current system on its own (£425, or $862). Update: 07/13 17:17 GMT by Z : Okay ... it's really challenging to understand what's going on when Sony as an entity is saying two different things. Despite the above coming from a Sony executive, it looks like this is completely untrue. Says a Sony of America spokesperson: "SCEA has reacted with puzzlement to the European perspective, suggesting that there may have been an incorrect interpretation. The spokesperson said, 'Those quotes from David Reeves are not accurate.'"

I just dont get it

[pl1ght]

OK, i am usually one of the first ones to defend sony, and how much i love my PS3(which i do). But this is just too much. How can sony honestly be that stupid. Unless we are missing something and they are going to drop the 80gb model down to 499 after the 60gb is phased out this makes no sense at all. Why announce this after you have an amazing showing at E3 and then screw it all up with bad PR like this. Really ridiculous.

Re:

[RamblinLonghorn]

Agreed. The 100$ price cut just becomes a publicity stunt aimed at hyping the press in advance of E3. Combined with Microsoft's admission of the defects in the 360, the PS3 price cut had many people thinking that momentum had shifted. Now I personally see Sony as desperate. Even stranger is that the European market was told they would not get a 100$ price cut, but that they would get an announced bundle of a 60gb system, 2 controllers and 2 games for the standard same price. This seems like the way the

Re:

[Applekid]

Pricewise, the EU market's been getting the shaft anyway. So I'm pleased for those across the pond can get a better deal.

The thing is that there have been some loud voices from Konami and Capcom that say even a $100 cut is too little. Now there really it looks like it's still $600. Hasn't Hideo been kicking around the idea of going multiplatform on MGS4 if the price wasn't dropped?

Re:

[Cerberus911]

That bundle is probably a way for SONY to get rid of all their rumble-less controllers before they announce their new vibrating ones.

Re:I just dont get it

[_xeno_]

Even better is the admission that they're phasing out the PS3 model with "100% backwards compatibility" to replace it with one with "88%" compatibility. (I'm not sure what that 88% figure means, but it's what the guy said in the interview. Percent of games that work? Percent of PS2 emulated? He didn't say.)

Then there's this quote:

[GamesIndustry.biz:] But you're still asking people to commit GBP 425 to a games console. Isn't there a problem with the perception that that's an awful lot of money to shell out?

It is, but surprisingly, people are paying that amount of money for it.

It's like he's just begging for people to hate Sony. I don't get it.

Re:I just dont get it

[Opportunist]

The 88% is probably the average amount of a game you play through before it freezes for good and toasts your safegames in the process.

Re:

[tkrotchko]

This move was predictable. The U.S. and Japanese consoles came out first with full PS/2 compatibility, the EU version had the software emulator. Since a reason to drop the PS/2 chips was to save cost, it was inevitable a new rev in the U.S. would not have the PS/2 hardware chips.

The PS3's made now are more desirable if you care about backwards compatibility.

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

I know you're excited that the PS3 has been topping Amazon.com's bestselling list for video games. It is something to be happy about, but think about the context.

1. At #4 is the Wii, which as of this comment Amazon doesn't have stocked save for random people selling their own.
2. This is one online store amoung many others physical and virtual. Individual store sales vary, even on a day to day basis within the same store.

Like I said, it's a milestone, but it isn't as damning for Sony's competitors as an NPD

Re:

[Fred Ferrigno]

1. At #4 is the Wii, which as of this comment Amazon doesn't have stocked save for random people selling their own.

Amazon is still selling Wiis directly. (It's how I got mine.) They only get a few in every once in a while, just like every other retailer. Usually it only takes a few minutes before they sell out. They're selling absolutely all the stock they get. The only reason the Wii isn't any higher on the list is because they can't get enough to meet demand.

Re:

[Kazzahdrane]

You're a moron. His comment wasn't fanboy-fueled, he was observing that the Sony guy's reply expressed surprise that customers in the EU would pay such a price. Makes him seem a little....evil. (Note: I'm not a fanboy, I was pretty heavily anti-Sony until this week when I think they had the best E3 keynote and showed a few games that I really want to play and are only available on PS3)

Re:

[Darundal]

No, "spinning" words, in this case, would be taking a comment out of context by ignoring some other part of the statement that wholly changes the meaning. In this case, there isn't anything that would change what that would mean in what they have said, and looking at a literal interpretation of the words meaning, which is what you are doing, is spinning it. Now, whether everyone out there is correct, or you are, as to what was meant by the statement doesn't change the fact that your statement, at this point

Special Edition

[WiseWeasel]

I'm still holding out for the OMG PONIES!!! edition 360/GTA4 bundle...

Foiled again?

[Applekid]

I wonder if their plan included possibly forcing Microsoft to cut the price on the 360 (and announce that at e3) and rubbing salt in that wound since Microsoft's game division lost money and with that $1 billion warranty extention deal.

Didn't go that way, obviously, so, maybe my imagination for dark smoke filled conference rooms at Sony is running wild again.

Re:

[Amouth]

the sad part is MS has done two warranty extentions.. while yes the 360 seems to fail alot and MS is going to lose alot of money.. i can say one thing.. they are saving face and are doing a good job.. if i was going to get a consol it would be either A: a 360 or B: a Wii (if they add dvd playback and i could find one) - but i refuse to let my self own a consol cause it would be a very bad thing for me

Re:

[Macthorpe]

The turnaround for console replacement is less than a month. They say two weeks maximum to receive and two weeks maximum to return it.

So even if it did fail (the new consoles already have the issue fixed, so less likely now), your assertion that you'll wait 'months' for a replacement is false.

Re:

[cbreaker]

No, it's only been that some of the new refurb units have been outfitted with better cooling parts. There's been no indication of NEW units having the "fix." Eventually, they will do this on newly manufactured units, and eventually this will trickle down the retail market.. maybe by 2008.

It's still a month to get it replaced. And it sucks, because there's no guarantee your data will be saved, and the 360 provides no way to back up all your data.

Re:

[blighter]

Actually, when you ship in a broken box to be fixed you ship only the actual box, you remove the hard-drive and any peripherals you might have like a memory card. So you're data should be fine on the hard-drive or your memory card.

If it locked up in the middle of your game session you'll probably lose that session's worth of data but, really, that's kind of unavoidable.

Re:

[blighter]

It was much faster than that when mine failed.

I was afraid that it would be a month or more, as you've stated, that it would mean weeks worth of waiting on shipping and fixing and god-only knows what. I mean, it was a free fix and you get what you pay for, right?

But the guy on the phone swore that they use 2-day (I think it was) shipping and that the turn-around time in the shop was less than 5 days. And he was right. I got the box a couple of days after my convo with him and shipped it out on a Fri

Re:

[DrXym]

Nah, I think Sony are genuinely going to stick with the $499 price point. It's just they're not going to piss on sales of the 60Gb console by announcing what will replace it. Doing an "Osborne" on themselves wouldn't be too smart. I expect once the 60Gb consoles are gone you'll see an unbundled console on sale. They may sweeten the bundled version by including a rumble controller, or HDMI or some other trinkets to encourage people to pay more but I think it's fairly likely that $499 is here to stay.

Re:

[Mondoz]

"Doing an "Osborne" on themselves wouldn't be too smart."

Their recent PR history suggests that 'do the smart thing' isn't exactly their current mission statement.

I'd really like a PS3, but just when I think about actually getting one, they do something like this that really turns me off.

Re:

[LWATCDR]

Some how I don't think Sony is really worrying about Microsoft unless they fear that they might eventually start making headway in the Japanese market. And I really don't think that Microsoft is too worried about a PS3 price cut since they are out selling the PS3 in every market but Japan.
They are both chasing Nintendo at this point.

Sony and to some extent Microsoft's problems are actually the same problem. They planned for to use this generation of Game consoles as trojan horse. They both planned on making

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

We already know that there have been dramatic cost cuts in BluRay drive components - the diodes being the major savings having come down from some 100 dollars to around 10 as of a few months ago.

I'd like to read more about this, can you fire a few links my way? I'm looking forward to blue laser pointers that don't cost an arm and a leg.

Seems likley to stick...

[SuperKendall]

I imagine when they clear out 60GB consoles, the free game (Motorstorm) will be dropped from the 80GB model and that price will be reduced. That actually seems like a pretty good path because you wouldn't be too upset if you had bought the 60GB model and the 80GB model was the same price a few weeks later, without the free game you passed on...

Re:

[Aladrin]

Yeah, that's why the European PS3's are going down in price... Oh wait, they aren't.

As noted in the 'article', this is just a tactic to clear the old PS3's off the shelf while a new model of the same price is brought out. It would be extremely embarrassing to have 60gb PS3's on the shelf next year, with the better 80gb one selling like crazy. They want them gone.

So why the same price? Because they cost Sony the same price (or less). They dropped the PS2 hardware from inside and added a few GB HD space

Re:

[PrescriptionWarning]

the big question is.. why all the fuss over a piddly 20GB upgrade??? The only thing that would make sense is if its cheaper for them to put the 80GB versions together since 60 GB drives are not as mass produced.

Either way, they're selling the unit at a couple hundred bucks too much.

If I were MS

[svendsen]

I would cut the xbox 360 (all versions) by $50 and say this is a permanent move. Would put sony on the defensive.

Re:

[the computer guy nex]

Why? 3 major releases coming in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year.

1)Madden. Non exclusive, but will move a few more customers to the "next-gen".
2)GTA4. Microsoft has exclusive content, and they will make sure customers know it prior to release. It will sell many 360s.
3)Halo3. Probably the most popular next-gen exclusive behind Twilight Princess. This will move a ton of xboxs.

The extended warranty is an investment (IMO) to pull in people moving to next-gen this Christmas who may be on the fenc

Re:

[LWATCDR]

Isn't Madden on the Wii supposed to one of the games that make good use of the Wii controller?
If that is true then I wouldn't be surprised to see Madden move more people to the Wii.

It didn't matter in your case

[paladinwannabe2]

You already had all 3 games systems. Would having Link available cause you to purchase a GameCube with Soul Caliber 2 instead of purchasing Soul Caliber 2 for XBox?

Re:

[Belgand]

Frankly the exclusive content that wins out for me is the ability to use a mouse and keyboard. I've played all of the GTA3 games on the PC and I have some trouble imaging how I could possibly control it properly with a gamepad (huh... they have lock-on? Those poor bastards....) well... sometimes some of the fine motor control (e.g. flying in San Andreas) would be nice, but better aiming and movement generally make up for it. Along with consistently better graphics.

They may not have announced it yet, but the

Re:If I were MS

[*weasel]

I don't even think Microsoft has to worry about Sony at this point. Sony's too busy shooting themselves in the foot over and over.
Apparently, the only reason their E3 announcements went over faily well, was because they'd paused to reload.

Microsoft would be better suited pricing the 360 core to compete with the Wii and reinvigorate sales in the premium.
(sales numbers have been falling off; they're pretty close to the limit on people willing to spend $400 for a console).

Re:

[Fozzyuw]

Apparently, the only reason their E3 announcements went over faily well, was because they'd paused to reload.

If only I had mod points left! That was funny.

Damn

[Alzheimers]

...and they were this close to winning me over with games like EchoChrome and LittleBigPlanet. Guess now I'll have more time (and Money) for Bioshock, Super Mario Galaxy, Assassin's Creed, Fallout 3, Metroid Prime 3, Mass Effect, Rock Band, Halo3, Hellgate, Starcraft II, Gears of War...

(get the point here, sony?)

Re:

[Alzheimers]

The point I was *trying* to make was that there are plenty of options coming down the pipe for the rest of this year. While the price cut alone might not have influenced me into buying an PS3, their library is getting interesting enough that it might have pushed me (and many other consumers) over the edge.

Gamers have a lot to be happy about this year -- an over-abundance of choice is not a bad problem to have. It's really only bad for Sony, trying to woo gamers who have already invested in a console or tw

Hear that?

[BlueParrot]

That is the sound of another champagne bottle being opened over at Nintendo ...

Seriously. It starts looking as if Sony WANTS to lose Europe.

Re:

[Tol Dantom]

Yeah, it really seems like they're locked in a box with no windows over at Sony HQ. It took a $100 price cut to start to turn the overwhelmingly negative vocal consumer response, now people are ready to buy if only there were some games, but before they can get things going they announce that they're going to ruin it ahead of time. What is wrong with these people? Deny good things vehemently but rushing to tell the bad news must be some new form of corporate Tourettes syndrome.

Re:Hear that?

[Opportunist]

I'm from Europe. Who or what is Sony?

Re:

[eison]

Lose Europe? I thought this was their scheme to lose *everywhere*.
How can I make an informed buying decision if they seem intent on lying to me constantly? The price is dropping. No it isn't. Yes it is. Not! Never. No way. Maybe. Not at all, definitely not. Hey, it just dropped. Except it is only existing stock. No it isn't...

Price cut?

[MeanderingMind]

In effect, the bar of entry is now $100 more than it was before the "price cut".

Sony is making the same mistake they made when the PS3 first launched, they're trying to cram too much into the system. Your average customer is not someone who wants $600 package deals, however value-worthy they are. They had the opportunity to have a system, the 20gb version, as low as $400. Maybe its "gimp", but that would certainly give the Sony crowd something to fire back about system costs.

The PS3 seems destined to remain

Re: The PS3 could be $300... Here's how....

[trdrstv]

Sony is making the same mistake they made when the PS3 first launched, they're trying to cram too much into the system. Your average customer is not someone who wants $600 package deals, however value-worthy they are. They had the opportunity to have a system, the 20gb version, as low as $400. Maybe its "gimp", but that would certainly give the Sony crowd something to fire back about system costs.

If Sony says that the difference between the 60 gig and 20 gig version was $100 then in your example the 20

Re:

[Aladrin]

How do you figure that? The 20gb model hasn't existed almost since launch. The 'bar of entry' has been $600 for months. It'll be $600 again in August, once the 60gb models sell out. (Assuming Sony can actually sell them.)

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

If you have an official announcement from Sony stating the 80gb PS3 will drop to $499 once the 60gb is gone, please share it. As it stands, the summary states that once the 60gb PS3 is gone (purportedly by August 1st) there will only be the $600 80gb model. That's what I'm going by until Sony announces something else.

Looks pretty obvious to me

[dilvish_the_damned]

They have to wait a bit before anouncing the price drop of the 80GB player or it would just piss you off that you just spent the same money for the 60GB model. If you want a 60GB model, buy it, if you don't, dont. If you really want an 80GB model, and that extra $100 pisses you off that much, then wait for November.
Myself I will be going down the Compucenter and upgrading my 60GB model to the 160GB model for $80 (its the little panel on the side that says "HDD").

Avoiding cannibalism/Future strategy

[vigmeister]

I think sony figured (as we did) that nobody would buy the 80GB version if they got a 60 gig version for a 100 dollars lesser. My feeling is that they'll keep trying to sell it at $600 with a game (worth - according to Sony - $60) and then come Christmas, move down to $500 and maybe release a higher capacity version (250 gig anyone?) for $600. Of course, it is also possible that the price structure will change to a $400/$500 business model around Xmas if PS3 doesn't become the shit then owing to their games

Oh well

[Orion_]

So, given that they've crippled the backward compatibility on the 80GB model, that I'm not ready to drop $500 on a system that doesn't (yet) have any games I want to play, that I still want to play my PS/PS2 games, and that I already have too many consoles littering the space around my TV, I guess I'm just never going to be getting one.

Oh well, just means more money to blow on Wii/360 games...

Re:

[typobox43]

Even in the linked article, the Sony exec admits that the software BC only supports about 88% of games compared to 100% for the hardware version. So, if you own one of those 12%, it most certainly does not work "just fine".

Re:

[Alzheimers]

88% right now, soon to be 100%.

You should ask X-Box/360 owners about hopes like that.

Re:

[Orion_]

Okay, I admit it. I'm pissed off at Sony, and perhaps I used some harsh language. I'm mad because they have just announced that they will no longer make a product that I was considering buying someday, and that they are replacing it with a model that, at the same price, removes a feature that I considered very important. And this makes me a "FanBoy" and, worse, a "dick". Yeah, real nice. Who's the fanboy here?

One look at Sony's own compatibility list [playstation.com] puts the lie to "90% compatible". A lot of games work wel

good grief charlie brown...

[tomstdenis]

$600 for a video game console is still too much. Newsflash Sony, you suck. ... still waiting to get a Wii ...

Tom

Re:

[brkello]

Ironic that Slashdotters can blast the price of a PS3...a machine with a cell processor and the ability to play BR...yet have no problem paying the same price for a cell phone that doesn't even have the ability to text message or very good call performance.

It isn't hard to get a Wii now if you really want one...stop trolling.

Re:

[tomstdenis]

Actually if you checked my posting history I also blasted the iphone too.

So STFU. I'm all for toys, but people need perspective. "ooh a cell processor" so what. The wii with it's "lame" graphics still manages to entertain crowds at parties. And frankly more of my friends are into the Wii for it's approachability then they are into the xbox or playstation.

Sure shiny graphics are nice and all, but if the games don't entertain my friends what's the point? When I'm alone I can play games? woopy

Tom

Re:

[Winckle]

Hey, not all slashdotters are one huge hivemind, the kind of person who thinks the PS3 is overpriced robably thinks that the iPhone is overpriced as well. I know I have both of those opinions.

Re:

[British]

It is funny. It is as if Sony REALLY wants to always have a console at $599. They'll find some way or another to add stuff to it(game, controllers, HD space), but bottom-line have $599 as that magic price point. Here comse the bundles!

Do they have some surplus of $599 stickers they really want to use up? Is there some superstition that the number 599 is lucky that I don't know about?

Re:

[tomstdenis]

Well it has several improvements you can't get in a game cube. therefore it's not a gamecube. It has more memory, a faster cpu/gpu, bluetooth, SD slot, and can use Motes. None of which the GC can.

And you don't think the Wii price will go down? I recall the GC being $300 when it was new. I believe Nintendo is trying to "make a profit" [good ol' econ 101] while demand is high.

Demand is low[er] for the PS3 so you'd think they'd adjust the price accordingly. Would you rather loose $100 to a sale made or $

Re:

[tomstdenis]

The Wii is sold at a profit. And it's not just an overclocked [hint: they're stable] GC. It also has the motes, SD slot, bluetooth, etc... and it's GC compatible.

The Wii is sold at a profit AND is cheaper than the PS3 AND is a better party console.

CONSOLE WARS!

Besides the PS3 is just an overclocked PS2.

A stupid non-story

[DrXym]

Do people SERIOUSLY think Sony is going to hike the price up by $100 again? Of course they're not. They'll clear the 60Gb models out and then probably produce an unbundled version of the 80Gb model at the same price in time for Christmas.

This story is simply someone spreading shit.

Re:

[samkass]

Agreed! Sony obviously did the right move with the $100 price cut-- The PS3 has led the Amazon "videogames" best-sellers list (with the Blu-Ray remote #2 and extra controller #3) ever since the announcement. They're not going to undo that.

On Amazon, the PS3 has been outselling the Wii since the price cut, and the XBox 360 is all the way down at #20. (Even the PS2 is outselling the XBox 360 on Amazon.)

Before people go nuts about never buying anything PS3/Sony/blah blah blah again, why don't you wait to se

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

Before people go nuts about never buying anything PS3/Sony/blah blah blah again, why don't you wait to see what ACTUALLY happens?

Probably the most sound idea I've read thus far.

This also goes for prognosticating further price drops. It would be really nice, but without an official announcement we just don't know.

Re:

[uerunner]

You shouldn't be comparing the PS3 and Wii sales on Amazon. You can buy a PS3 for regular price (now $499), but all the Wiis available on Amazon are people reselling them with the current minimum cost after shipping of over $400. It's ridiculous to try to compare those two things in order to make a point.

This is not meant to be some fanboy comment looking to push the Wii, but just a math nerd pointing out the flaws in your logic.

Re:

[samkass]

How else do you recommend one buy a Wii? If you eliminate the resales, I doubt the Wii would even be on the top-seller's list.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Before people go nuts about never buying anything PS3/Sony/blah blah blah again, why don't you wait to see what ACTUALLY happens?

Uh, I didn't pledge never to buy Sony because the PS3 was expensive.

I made the decision because of their anti-freedom, closed mentality, their frequent attempts to create proprietary formats and leverage them to exert an undue level of control over the market and the general chilling effect that has on openness in general, and the results of their arrogance upon customer service

Time for a Management change at Sony....

[trdrstv]

Seriously. I was encouraged when crazy Ken got the You can do no further harm "promotion", then later the boot but GODDAMN. Do the current Sony execs own a bunch of Nintendo stock?

A $499 version can be purchased at Gamespot for $399 with a trade in of a PS2. This makes it the same price as 360 PRO AND it has the PS2 slimline chip built in. If you owned a PS2 you probably had a few games for it. This was a VALUE ADDED proposition for the PS3.

Then they had the get 5 BluRay disks promotion, which is another VALUE ADD tactic.

Now they are going to stick with the $599 price, drop the 'cheaper alternative' again and pull out the PS2 chip?

Somebody else needs to take the reigns or Sony will remain a distant 3rd this gen.

Re:

[BacOs]

$499 is about $20 more than I paid for my Xbox 360 Elite (120GB hard drive, HDMI). I was surprised how much the PS2 was being pushed at the store where I bought my Xbox. They had numerous PS3s available and only a few Xbox 360s and Wiis. Sony's definitely lost the gaming crown. If they want a chance of regaining it, they need to drop the prices even more.

Re:

[trdrstv]

$499 is about $20 more than I paid for my Xbox 360 Elite (120GB hard drive, HDMI). I was surprised how much the PS2 was being pushed at the store where I bought my Xbox. They had numerous PS3s available and only a few Xbox 360s and Wiis. Sony's definitely lost the gaming crown. If they want a chance of regaining it, they need to drop the prices even more.

True, however MS has the luxury of offering a $299 and a $399 SKU as an option. If you want to play any 360 game the point of Entry is $299 + the game.

Emotionless PS3

[Deathlizard]

And apparently, the 80GB PS3 removes the Emotion Engine (PS2) hardware and replaces it with software emulation. So not only are they not dropping the price, their making it less backwards compatible as well but hey, here's an extra 20GB and the only game worth playing on the PS3 to make up for it...

It wasn't even a price cut to begin with. at most, it was a SKU shift. it would be the same thing if MS ditched the core system, dropped the premium to core prices, and priced the Elite and the original's premium price.

I'm so glad I bought a Wii. No Backwards compatibility problems, no Blinking Red Rings of Death, and more Ben Franklins in my wallet.

Re:

[Deathlizard]

and no good graphics

Yeah. because Great Graphics == Great game. I better Toss Twilight Princess out the window and go play Spiderman 3 on the PS3/360 then.

no good games since launch

There are some great games for the Wii. Just not a ton of them. and there is still the Gamecube lineup and virtual console to fall back on. The 360 never had great backward compatibility to begin with, but at least the 360 library is rather strong to fall back on. The PS3 hasn't had a breakout game yet and they had the PS1/PS2 to

Re:

[plague3106]

The graphics are good, good games are out / are coming (zelda, re4, re:uc, etc). I'm finding RE4 to be plenty fun as a single player game, and honestly I like the controls a lot more than the typical console controllers.

Re:

[CastrTroy]

While the Wii doesn't have hi-res graphics, it still has "good graphics". Check out Twilight Princess. That game has awesome graphics, with lots of detail and great scenery. There are tons of good games for the Wii, maybe not something that fits your style, but there are lots of games that people are buying in droves. As for "alone" games, there's twilight princess, super monkey ball, super swing golf, the entire virtual console, paper mario, and a bunch of other games. And just because Wii sports is f

Re:

[JebusIsLord]

Twilight princess is fucking incredible (and I can't put it down), but it's pretty ugly in my opinion. Background: I've had a 360 on my 1080p 42" Sharp since before Christmas, and only a few weeks ago managed to find a Wii (hooked up correctly, in 480p and whatnot). RE4 looks better than Twilight princess, and its a 2 year old GC game. Yes, I know Twilight started development as a GC game, but i'm still disappointed that it looks so bland, ESPECIALLY after the (IMO) beautiful Wind Waker.

Re:

[Aladrin]

Do we -know- C is a reason? I would think it's backwards, actually. Here's my reasoning:

Emotion hardware is only 'on' when using PS2 games, and the PS3 hardware is fairly idle at that point.
Emulating another hardware take more CPU than the original hardware needed, and thus produces more heat.

So at best, it's the same heat while playing PS3 games, and more when playing PS2.

In the end, I don't think the extra backwards-compatibility will matter. I think the number right now is 90% for the emulation, and t

Seriously Sony...

[Geek_3.3]

Why is it that every time you almost convince me to buy a PS3 do you have to do something like this? Well, I suppose thanks are in order, since even a $500 upfront cost is still kinda steep and I didn't quite have the disposable income to blow on that just yet.

All that said, I *will* likely buy a PS3... but not a nanosecond before there is a compelling game for it that will not be out for the Xbox 360. ( Yes, I'm looking at you, Square-Enix.) Hopefully, by then, the freakin thing will be at the $399 price point that I wanted in the first place.

So, let me get this straight....

[nweaver]

Sony is phasing out the 100% backwards compatible model, replacing it with a model which STILL costs way too much at the original price, only gains a "who cares" game and 20 GB of hard drives space...

While at the same time, replaces the quality backwards compatibility with a incomplete software layer...

Now tell me why I shouldn't just get an XBox instead. The hardware may be unreliable, but Microsoft will at least fix it when it breaks.

Re:

[caffeinatedOnline]

I think a better question is how much is Sony paying you for your service?

Re:

[nweaver]

I don't care for racing games: Motostorm is "Ohh, pretty, Ohh Shiney", but I wouldn't play more than an hour of it.

So yeah, its a "who cares" game and a feature reduction (because if the software compatibility was so superior, why aren't they running it on the 1.0 hardware when appropriate?).

Bad headline

[DoofusOfDeath]

It's only a fire sale when Sony is selling laptop batteries.

Insanity

[Jaaay]

Both Sony and MS seem to be whatever they can to destroy their positions, only Nintendo seems to understand it's better to have one standardized system at a standard price than several models at several prices with different functionalities and compatabilities. This is a bit like how Sega self-destructed with the 32X/MEGACD. You ruin the whole advantage of having a console instead of a gaming pc once you start getting a choice of consoles with different abilities and different available upgrades.

*yawn*

[WhiteWolf666]

Have any of you ever tried to buy a car at a dealer?

"This is a *special* price! It'll go up next week!"

Yeah. Right. I'll believe it when I see it; Sony won't shoot itself in the foot like that. This is just a marketing ploy to drive sales just a little bit more.

Dont Panic

[grapeape]

3.6 Million PS3's have been sold so far and 5.5 Million have shipped so there are just a little less than 2 million out there of the old kind not to mention the ones that are sitting in warehouses waiting to ship. Its not like they are going to run out soon. This is the video game equivalent of the car salesman on tv telling you that everything is marked down and must go but hurry before their all gone. Just a feeble attempt at moving inventory, nothing more.

Lol at the update

[shoptroll]

"Okay ... it's really challenging to understand what's going on when Sony as an entity is saying two different things."

You'd think by now we'd just stop listening to Sony. This whole price drop has been a massive case of corporate communication gone awry. Then again, this is pretty much par for the course with Sony right?

Re:

[_xeno_]

BRB, Ordering some Sony fire.

Ordering a spare laptop battery? (It had to be said.)

Re:

[vigmeister]

Although guilty of using all these terms interchangeably in my own posts, the difference between gB, GB, gb and Gb are significant only when there is a 'ps' following the acronym. In other lay contexts, it's fairly unambiguous.

Cheers!

Re:

[mikkelm]

Not really. Storage, for example, is usually measured in powers of ten, while filesystems work in powers of two. It's rarely completely unambiguous without detailed knowledge of what the units are being applied to. Of course, if people would just use Kibi, Mebi, Gibi, etc. for powers of two, things would be a lot easier.

Re:

[vigmeister]

True that... I also love the sound of 'gibibytes'. Regardless, that's why is said 'in lay contexts'. It really doesn't make a difference to your avg joe except those who go "OMG! I paid for 40 gigs and I only got 34.6gigs" without realizing that a good bit of that difference is due to a factory partition.

Cheers!

Re:

[mikkelm]

Downloading files and buying computers is something that laymen do, so it is most certainly does fall within that category.

Re:

[DrXym]

what a great way to destroy all the good will they created by the price cut! But then again they say it's better to have loved and lost... or something like that.

Think about if for a second. Sony have a new 80Gb model and they have remaining stock of the 60Gb. Of course they're going to shift the 60Gb models first. That does not mean that when they've done with those consoles that the price goes straight back up. Instead an unbundled 80Gb console will step in at the same price to replace it. This should b

Re:Wrong

[MeanderingMind]

The current 60 gig PS3 is now out of production and is now $499 as anyone can see

Right, but that's not the issue.

There will be a 80 gig model that is introduced next month that will have partial software emulation - right now European PS3s with EE emulation are at ~90 percent PS2 compatibility. As the remaining stock of 60 gigs get sold the 80 gig will come down to the same price as the current 60 gig model.

This is. Sony has not said, by any stretch of the imagination, that they intend on lowering the price of the 80gb model. They may do so, but we have no guarantee.

As most people know, harddrives don't really drop in price they just get larger capacity for the same price and eventually the low end drives start to become more expensive. That is happening with the 60 gig laptop drives and Sony is moving on to the cheaper in bulk 80 gig drives. So costs will be about the same for the larger harddrive. The removal of the EE hardware and the usual manufacturing cost cutting, including 65nm later this year, will mean the 80 gig PS3 model will be actually cheaper to manufacture than the current 60 gig models.

So by the time you can't get a 60 gig anymore 80 gigs will have moved down in price to $499.

Let us assume for the moment that you're right, 60gb laptop drives are increasing in price to the point where soon they will be more expensive than 80gb laptop drives. Here's a look at current prices.

Via Newegg:
Western Digital - 60g [newegg.com]: $47.99
Western Digital - 80g [newegg.com]: $59.99
Hitachi - 60g [newegg.com]: $49.99
Hitachi - 80g [newegg.com]: $54.99
Seagate - 60g [newegg.com]: $49.99
Seagate - 80g [newegg.com]: $59.99

So, the prices are somewhat close, ranging from $5-$15 difference with the 80gb drives consistantly more expensive. This gives some credence to the theory that soon the 60gb drives will be more expensive as they cease to be manufactured.

However, the following was in the article summary:

In America, yes ... what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD $599 version with one game.

There are a whopping 18 days left before the 1st of August. I find it hard to believe by any stretch of the imagination that in so short a time...
A) The price difference between 60gb and 80gb drives will be significantly in favor of the latter.
B) The 65nm proccesses coming "later this year" will arrive and have an effect.
C) Sony will actually think to pass the benefits onto the gamer rather than themselves.

If the price of the 80gb model drops, it's more likely because they'll unbundle the game. Sony could pleasently surprise us, but I'm not counting on it.

Re:

[DrXym]

This is. Sony has not said, by any stretch of the imagination, that they intend on lowering the price of the 80gb model. They may do so, but we have no guarantee.

No, they haven't said it and it's easy to see why. If Sony came out and said an 80Gb unbundled modelwas appearing in a few weeks, would you go out and buy the 60Gb one on sale? No of course not.

I think it's fairly likely that once 60Gb goes that 80Gb will step right in to replace it. Maybe not the very day the 60Gb disappears from the shelves b

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

I'm willing to go with a $499 80gb model at Christmas. I'm mostly reacting against people who claim that very shortly after the 60gb model is sold out the 80gb model will drop in price. I don't see it as a good PR move, and I'm willing to give Sony enough credit that they wouldn't do something that would easily tick off everyone who had just run out and bought 60gb models.

Sure, Sony might just be sealing their lips until it won't hurt the firesale on 60gb models, but until it actually happens I think we sho

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

My mistake, here are SATA prices.

Hitachi - 60gb [newegg.com]: $73.99
Hitachi - 80gb [newegg.com]: $79.99
Fujitsu - 60gb [newegg.com]: $49.99
Fujitsu - 80gb [newegg.com]: $58.99

The point remains, there's still a significant price difference between analogous drives favoring the 60gb as cheaper, one that isn't likely to completely reverse in 18 days.

Re:

[MeanderingMind]

I'm not sure of a better way to engender the ill-will of gamers than to announce a price drop in this fashion. If they wait until the holiday season, it wouldn't be so bad. But for them to charge $600 for less than a month and then, when August 1st hits, drop it $100 after convincing people to buy the 60gb version at that price... that would easily tick off a lot of people.

I understand that if Sony plans on acting in either fashion, it doesn't make sense for them to say so. However, I don't believe that we

Meanwhile international prices dont move

[cheekyboy]

I bet the aussie price will be $987 for a long time, they might delay the price cut till dec, and even then probably only
by $100 au, which would be more like 85usd. Even now it has a 40%+ 'markup' here.

Re:

[Chris Burke]

As the remaining stock of 60 gigs get sold the 80 gig will come down to the same price as the current 60 gig model.

What makes you think that?

As you note, the price of the 60 gig drives hasn't gone down, so that isn't why the price dropped. The price of the 60 GB model dropped because they want to clear out the inventory to make room for the 80 GB model. The 80 GB drives will cost the same as current 60 GB drives. So Sony doesn't get to make cheaper PS3s, the only reason the 60 GB model was discounted is

Re:

[GrayCalx]

Good thing every gamer buys every console and video game from Amazon so that we can use it as a accurate view of the industry.

Re:

[GrayCalx]

Spin some more, paid Microsoft shill.

Boy do I wish. You're the one taking sides not me, I wish Sony and MS all the luck in the world. I own my console already, what do I care about price drops? I'm not buying another one.

But if you're interested go review Circuit City's sales records for the previous month where the 360 outsold the PS3. Using your logic Microsoft is doing better than Sony. Obviously any rational human would realize thats but a sliver of the over-all picture. You'd think even a d

Re:Stop with the "Software Emulation" FUD

[Anonymous Coward]

Incorrect.

The North Americian Playstation 3 (which contains the Emotion Engine) does support 1080p output. [playstation.com]

Re:

[cmdrpaddy]

The North Americian Playstation 3 (which contains the Emotion Engine) does support 1080p output.

And not only that the North American PS3 supports more games. The software emulation in European PS3s has a large list of games that have "Should play on PLAYSTATION®3 with noticeable issues".

Re:Only Zonk

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"would post a $100 price drop and turn it into an his usual anti-sony campaign."

Ha! If you think Zonk's behind Sony's bad PR, you've gotta lotta back reading to do, my friend.

Re:

[DeeDob]

Sony "The price cut is going to end when the stock runs out!"

Customers "OMG LETS BUY THEM QUICK!"

Later...

Sony "The stock has been all sold. We are now dropping the price of the 80Gb model."

I'll just say that you ASSUME there will be a price cut on the 80Gb model when the 60 are gone. People can expect it, but Sony has done little to make them trustworthy of anything. A week ago, people rejoice about a general price cut. Now people are not even sure the price cut will last. Should we really have trusted them

Re:

[nickyj]

Let's fix that:

Later...

Sony: "The 60GB stock has been all sold. Maybe now we can turn a profit on these suckers with another upgrade."

Re:This is a Fire sale...

[trdrstv]

As referenced by the updated article, this claim by the SCE Europe president has been refuted by the SCE America PR. Sony announced this as a 'price cut', not a 'clearance'. It would be an obviously stupid move of them to force the consumer back up to the $599 price, it will not happen.

Did you miss this part?

Nevertheless, Kaz Hirai himself says the one SKU strategy is the plan. He told Scandinavian website VGTV, "[We do not] have a 2 SKU strategy in the US, we learned very quickly customers respond b