Reuters wrote: Sony Corp will launch a slimmer, cheaper version of its PlayStation 3 game console next month, hoping to jumpstart sales and win back market share from rivals Microsoft and Nintendo.
Starting in September, the latest, less bulky version of the PS3 will be rolled out at $299 in the United States, 299 euros ($422.7) in Europe and 29,980 yen ($315.6) in Japan, the company said on Tuesday.
That represents a major price cut from the existing PS3 models, which runs between $399 to $499 and have proven less popular than Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.
"The main thing is that there is a significant price cut," said Ed Barton, analyst at Screen Digest. "We have argued since the beginning that there must be a substantial cut and this is a positive development."
Sony's new PS3 comes with a 120 gigabyte hard disk, but consumes 34 percent less power than the original model and is 32 percent smaller, Sony Computer Entertainment Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai said at the Gamescom video game trade show in Cologne, Germany.
"In 2004, as you may recall, we launched a slim version of PlayStation 2, a defining moment for that console, helping us to really expand the user base of PlayStation 2 further," Hirai said. "Today is that day for PlayStation 3."
The price cut comes after weeks of pressure from gaming industry leaders like Robert Kotick, the CEO of publisher Activision Blizzard Inc, who say lower console prices would spark the slumping sector.
Jesse Divnich, an analyst with Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, said he expects PS3 sales to increase a minimum of 20 percent in September.
He expects Microsoft to cut the price on its higher-end model to $299 from $399. He said Nintendo's Wii, whose sales have been declining rapidly, is in need of either a price cut or a hardware or software bundle.
"The Xbox 360 does have stronger momentum right now than the PS3, so it's going to take at least two months before I consider these systems to be at an equal level because it just takes some time for consumers to react to things like price cuts," he said.
Indeed, price cuts are not unusual for video game console makers. Microsoft's sales got a boost last September after the company cut prices on some of its Xbox 360 consoles by about $50. The Xbox 360 now sells in three models ranging from $200 and $400.
"A smaller console size does not necessarily mean more value for consumers. Starting at $199, Xbox 360 offers the best gaming and entertainment experience at the most consumer-friendly price on the market," Microsoft said in an emailed statement when asked about a comment on Sony's move and about a potential price cut for the Xbox 360.
Nintendo did not immediately have any comment about Sony's announcement.
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 19 Aug 2009, 07:28
by WiK1d
Not bad, now I too can maybe own a PS3
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 19 Aug 2009, 07:34
by doo_much
If only they'd bring down the price of games as well.
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 19 Aug 2009, 08:21
by rustypup
i'm sure i read something recently about one or more of the dev studios threatening to scrub PS3 development if sony didn't reduce the cost of the unit...
[edit]
the original article is a mist of missing bits, but this would have been the gist of it - activision waggling the stick at sony...
[/edit]
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 19 Aug 2009, 08:58
by DarkStar
Image pulled from Wikipedia.
At least seems a hell of a lot smaller than the original PS3.
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 19 Aug 2009, 09:05
by Rayne
I like it. Determining factor of course our SA price.
And yeah Activision threatened a boycot, and then went and upped their own retail to ridiculous heights less than a month later. They can fold tomorrow, nobody cares.
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 19 Aug 2009, 09:14
by SykomantiS
$299 and 299€? What gives? Guess I won't be buying one here in Belgium.
Drakonis wrote:Someone had to beat me to it... I'll lock, redirect the news to the original thread.
Sorry man!
Good news is so scarce these days I couldn't stop myself!
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 19 Aug 2009, 10:05
by doo_much
Sony has apparently removed the "Install Other OS feature" from the slim version and there's no support for PS2 games.
Which some of the older PS3's apparently had?
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 19 Aug 2009, 11:17
by StarBound
PS2 game compatibility has been gone since nearly forever. US had hardware and EU had software emulation on the 60gb versions. After that it was dropped. There was a rumour a month or 2 back that they are adding it again in the near future. True or false we will have to wait and see. However if its gonna be a Duke forever rumour then we might as well drop hope now.
Well there was 2 Sega CDs. the first had the MD stack on it. The 2nd was for MD2 and was to the side.
Seeing that mega drive makes me want to time travel back and grab one so I can play sonic 3 & knuckles like it should be played. No HD, No surround sound. Just a crappy low def tv with pewpew sound and signal loss
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 20 Aug 2009, 20:02
by DeathStrike
Ashley_Pops wrote:I should have waited
HAHAHA... didn't i tell you? sowi bro. i just had to.
StarBound wrote:
Well there was 2 Sega CDs. the first had the MD stack on it. The 2nd was for MD2 and was to the side.
Seeing that mega drive makes me want to time travel back and grab one so I can play sonic 3 & knuckles like it should be played. No HD, No surround sound. Just a crappy low def tv with pewpew sound and signal loss
Haha, that's desperate man!
I owned the MD2 and it took up so much damn space! In fact, I played Sylpheed on it 2 years ago which impressed me with the awesome graphics when compared to many 3DO titles (which I owned as well). But, I still blame SEGA's demise on all these add-ons (MegaCD/32X, etc.) The Mega Drive should never have been tampered with.
For those that missed on Sylpheed:
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 24 Aug 2009, 23:27
by ZeroS
I've read elsewhere that the local pricing on the slim will be around R3800.
Re: Sony rolling out new, cheaper PlayStation 3
Posted: 27 Aug 2009, 00:33
by StarBound
Sega was always the underdog to Nintendo. The SNES was far superior to the MD but we never really had nintendo outlets. Only chinese ripoffs and pirated software. I remember going to London and thinking I would get a Sega Saturn. Then for some reason I picked up a playstation and never looked back. A few months later the saturn was dead in the water. Everything the saturn did the psx did better. The dreamcast was too little too late and the ps2 release a year and a half later with better tech sealed the deal.
Funny when I hear Sega I dont think Sonic 3 & Knuckles... I think OMGWTF How the hell did they screw up Sonic so badly!
Anyone know where the best place to buy a PS3 is?
Going to order one with the November pay check so that I've got something to do during December.
Is Kalahari.net my best bet?
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