Despite adamant denials of cutting prices on the PS3, Sony has come clean and officially announced the price cut along with the addition of the 80GB version for the US. The 60GB model will drop to $499 while the beefier version will cost $599 and include a copy of Motorstorm, which will become available in August. Our neighbors to the North will also be privy to the price cut with the 60GB model costing C$549. The price cut was made possible when Sony was finally able to overcome earlier production issues with the diode that’s used in the Blu-ray drive and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Nintendo has outsold their Nihon counterpart by 1.5 million units since the launch of both the Wii and PS3 last year. It also helps that the Wii is half the price of the PS3. Not to mention the year long head start that Microsoft has had to infiltrate the homes of gamers with the Xbox 360. The Wii’s wide appeal and easy to play games are a big hurdle to overcome and Microsoft’s introduction of the Xbox 360 Elite and a much better online gaming experience are huge factors that Sony must counter if they want to replicate the success of the PS2.
This is obviously a smart move for Sony with the upcoming holiday shopping season, but Microsoft is expected to make the same announcement for their highly popular Xbox 360 at E3. Whether or not this will boost sales of the PS3 is anyone’s guess, but it does give Sony a fighting chance in the console war.
Sony Cuts PlayStation 3 Price, Aims to Double Sales (Update1) [Bloomberg]