SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- Sony has cut the price of the PlayStation 3 by $100, or 17 percent, in the United States, a move that should boost the video game console's lackluster sales.


Starting Monday, the current PS3 60 gigabyte model will cost $499 -- a $100 price drop.

The PlayStation 3, which includes a 60-gigabyte hard drive and a Blu-ray high-definition DVD player, will now cost $500, or $20 more than the most expensive version of Microsoft's Xbox 360.

The PS3 still costs twice that of Nintendo's Wii console, whose $250 price and motion-sensing controller have made it a best-seller despite its lack of cutting-edge graphics and hard disk.

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

"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 price drop Monday was widely anticipated by industry analysts despite Sony President Ryoji Chubachi telling Reuters last week that the company had no immediate plans for one.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said Sony's price reduction would not double sales but may boost them by 50 percent to about 120,000 units a month.

"The greater significance is that Sony is signaling to the market that we're coming down the cost curve pretty fast in making this thing. It's a pretty consumer-friendly move," Pachter said.

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Sony's move comes two days before the start of the video game industry's annual E3 trade show in Santa Monica, California, where some expect Microsoft to respond with its first price cuts on the Xbox 360.

Nintendo, whose Wii is selling so well that it is still hard to find in stores eight months after its launch, is not expected to budge on pricing.

The Xbox 360 and Wii have outsold the PS3 by several times in the crucial U.S. market, leaving Sony, whose PlayStation 2 dominated the last console generation, in the unfamiliar position of playing catch up.

Sony is counting on the price cut to help it significantly grow sales of the PS3 ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season that accounts for most of the annual sales of highly profitable gaming software.

Sony is also introducing a new version of the PS3 featuring an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a copy of "Motorstorm," an off-road racing game that has already sold a million copies.

The new model will sell for $600 and is aimed at gamers who expect to download a lot of games and other content from Sony's burgeoning online network.

Sony also hopes the PS3 will win some converts following Microsoft's admission last week that the failure rate of its Xbox 360 console had been unacceptably high, forcing it to book $1 billion in repair costs.

"We're especially proud of the fact that the PlayStation 3 has the lowest failure rate of any PlayStation product. It's absolutely the gold standard," Tretton said.

"The quality of the product and long-term viability is what ultimately wins."
-cnn

Technology prices are going down. Just like in the past we all had CD-RW drives. Now we all have DVD-RW drives. At the rate of technology, come another few years we will all be sporting blueray drives. SONY will be forced to drop the prices to match matket prices, even if it means a loss from their initial production price.

PeAcE.

i know i still aint buying a PS3. only game i see on it i wud well wanna play is Ninja Gaiden Sigma...lol

only temporarily till the 60GB version goes out of stock

yeh.. It'll almost be as if there was no pricecut what so-ever. sony's marketers are top quality swindlers

i would be some idiot to go buy a PS3 when i can get the 360 Elite for less, which is exactly what i did :D :uhu: :uhu:

the elite isn't out yet though is it. I listened to he keynote speeches for xbox at E3 its gonna be avail soon but If memory serves me correct it hasn't bee released. nor has the halo edition (spartan green xbox) spaaartaaaa :D

dude i think i just told you i have a Elite:confused: :lam: :chair :chair :baka :baka

hmm here evidence( Xbox elite (http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=B020073A)) ...wait do you have a elite to yourself or is it like your brothers or bf's or something because if not you must be a real geek...which is pretty cool...it hurts when you swear what your saying is true DK i been there once...lol

dude its mine and i also have a 64 and PS2 and had a DSlite too but ma ex took it back after we broke up, it was suppose to be ma b-day gift but he was a pussy so he took it back after we broke up

dude its mine and i also have a 64 and PS2 and had a DSlite too but ma ex took it back after we broke up, it was suppose to be ma b-day gift but he was a pussy so he took it back after we broke up

LMAO :huhlaugh: :rofl

funny he thinks i'm lying

well...anyway ps3 definitely better than xbox360...i can remember xbox going through this same problem with ps3 when it came out the only reason people are like omg xbox 360 is better is because it came out first..sony has been in the gaming business for a while now and know what there doing...eventually there will be games for the ps3 i mean xbox had a full year release before ps3 just like how ps2 had all that time for there release and all the developers jumped on there bandwagon so they can make money...its just the same thing thats happening now but reversed...all MS did was throw out a poor made system that has like 100% failure rate just so they could come out one year sooner to get a lead in a market that is being dominated by WII

did I say nething about u lying, the whole situation is funny, man tek back bday gift :rofl

i am yet to fiqure out what makes the PS3 so good cause i used to work at GAMESTOP until i came back to Jamaica which was just about a month ago and trust me seh it wasn't selling period even when the Elites came out AFTER the PS3 it was still selling tons more. do you guys want to know whats wrong with that PS3? would you like me to state the obvious?

here read this before i state the obivious

Where did sony go wrong

http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/27/magazines/business2/sony_playstation.biz2/index.htm?postversion=2007050417

i have no idea why they sell more...because eventually thats going to change...once good games start coming out...there are currently absolutely no good games for ps3 so how can it sell...in 08 this will change...and of course the price tag needs some more love...but unfortunate nintedo has one this generation hands down with the handheld and and console market...$250 for motion sensor and zelda....pfft thats too easy...nintedo just gets it...they cant keep wiis on the shelf i heard

here read this before i state the obivious

Where did sony go wrong

http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/27/magazines/business2/sony_playstation.biz2/index.htm?postversion=2007050417


who the hell are they...so called market "experts"



as i said nintedo of course won...but ps3 is still better than xbox360 this is sony were talking about here they will fix this and take second spot back next year...xbox 360 failure ratio can not be denied...right now xbox 360 came out first thats the only reason why people buy it over ps3.xbox 360 has all the developers what do you expect people to buy...is wii better than ps3 and xbox 360? NO!!..and wii is number one because they just getwhat people want its as simple as that...i really wished they had made wii hd at least though then i would have gotten one and declared it the ultimate system but they are faggots when it comes to catching up with times so forget them

ok dude erm have you ever played the 360 versus the PS3? yeah i doubt it. well just so you knw the PS3 OVERHEATS because it contains TOO MUCH!!!! secoundly it barely has any games and what kind a **** in todays worlds going to make one system then make another that cant play the older games? you just lost more than half your costumers, i think the consumers that bought the systems and sold them back for like tripled the prices benefited 10x more than sony (thats funny)

as for MS they didnt have half the faults sony doesn and guess what you can play aleast some of the xbox games on the 360 :D

um chick.... you can doubt it all you want but i have (i worked at circuit city) ...2 you just repeated what i said 3 times already that it doesn't have games i know that... i said that.... and they will fix it next year...3 never heard of it overheating or of any noticeable failure rate...they are backwards compatible....lol just has backwards compatible as that glitched ass xbox 360(translation not that much lol) you guys love so much(i rmember that thing scratching my new brand discs...and i couldnt play oblivion for more than 2hrs)...Im happy you support your bandwagon so much...

Not that I know that much about consoles... at least the nitty gritty... but damn.. you two kinda getting heated in this battle.

Just make sure unnu keep it at the PG13 lvls. :p
And 1080... no matter how mad she makes you... dont ban her please.

And Blade.. I hope you messed up the DSlite before your ex took it away so he couldnt play it.

ok i am pissed because i just typed like a whole paragraph and when submitted it i was bootted for w/e reason so i'm pretty much done with this disscussion

Not that I know that much about consoles... at least the nitty gritty... but damn.. you two kinda getting heated in this battle.

Just make sure unnu keep it at the PG13 lvls. :p
And 1080... no matter how mad she makes you... dont ban her please.

And Blade.. I hope you messed up the DSlite before your ex took it away so he couldnt play it.

Im not getting mad...this is a nice debate here...eventually all my opposition will be enlightened...

i know i still aint buying a PS3. only game i see on it i wud well wanna play is Ninja Gaiden Sigma...lol

lameo

Im not getting mad...this is a nice debate here...eventually all my opposition will be enlightened...

I concur I didn't know about the 2hr thing. thats what like the first 360 though? no updates at all cause i know poeple that play oblivion for ages.

Also to point out 360 still sporting the red ring of death. so thats a big negative for them.. However i still prefer the xbox over the ps3.... quite odd for me to be on the microsoft wagon because i'm so anti microsoft (LINUX) but w/e i got hooked from the xbox 1. maybe i should go try a wii.

I still dont understand what sony thinking by making a 80 gig version of a console that has little demand in the first place. Its like cooking bigger plates of food and putting em on the restaurant tables and nobody comes to buy em.. s

The price cut is temporary, only until the current versions of the PS3 sell off. when the new updated 80gb model drops the price will return to normal

Call me out-of-it but I don't see the point of the new consoles, except for playing Halo 3. There's still plenty of unplayed content on the XBox/PS2.

The PS3 is still too expensive for my tastes. Curse Konami! I hope they make MGS4 cross platform, since that's what everyone else seems to be doing.

Maybe I'll get one now =O

Yeah, me too, lol.

Alright i didnt read everything cause im lazy... But here is my two cents

If you buy a 360 ur just a idoit lol (just playin :D)... Its going to cost you more out of the store... Lets see you buy a 360 for 350 (pro) or 450 (elite) after which your going to have to buy rechargeable battery for what 10 bucks a pop then after which you need to buy the cable to actually charge it for 20 bucks... Then if you want to go online (which is the only point of a 360... halo 3 online) your going to need the wifi adapter for 100 bucks... Or u can run a cable all the way xbox which is a hastle and going cost u money to get a long ass cable too... But everywhere i go its str8 wifi no one uses lan cables anymore, when people have dem long as cables runnin through there house its like seeing rotary phone (They still make you!!!!!! LMAO) Plus lets not forget a extra 50 dollars online per person!!!! So if you and ur sibling both want to play online your both going to need seperate accounts to get online and play ranked games... While on ps3 i can be playin warhawk online and 3 people can jump in the game @ anytime for the cost of FREE!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow 50 bucks more get u alot these days LOL

Or you can buy a ps3 for 50 bucks more... 400 (40 gig with wifi no ps2) or 500 (80 gig with wifi & ps2 plus motorstorm)... All the controls have the battery built in plus next year we gettin back rumble!!!!! Plus the only reason 360 sell so much is because its a dissposeable system ur suppose to keep sending back ur 360 until the warrany done then you just buy a next one... Nobody even knows what color a ps3 lights turn when it stops work because dem bitches dont break!!!! LMAO

And i cant think of one game besides halo 3 i would ever want to play... Right now im playin drake uncharted on ps3... Its just too sick!!!! 360 literally couldnt pull of the physics, the makers where sayin dem cant wait to make the next Jak on it... While Bungie left microsoft and went independent so dem can make games for everyone else...

The bottom line is ps3 is just all round better well built system and entertainment center (btw DIVX is coming to ps3 too) with better games... Plus lets not forget psp connectivity... I can leave my ps3 in amierica fly down to jamiaca and turn it on from Jamaica & access all my videos and music and then turn it back off... Plus with divx i dont have to convert my couple hundred animes to watch it, i just plug in my external Hardrive and im set!!!!!

Xbox 360 is just a halo 3 adapter for a TV which breaks down and breaks its games with its own lazer... Its entertainment system is based on windows media center... ENOUGH SED!!!!!! Plus I aint go lie im clumsy i cant take the risk and invest in a 360 LMAO

:PWNED:

Hmmm that sounds intresting...Thesixth I didnt hear you that well with all the noise out here ...could you follow me into this dark sound insulated room so i can hear more clearly...no dont worry about the gun in my hand I always have it like this...its safe

*Bang* ...*bang* ...*bang*
*closes door*

Anyone else have anymore intresting things to say about Xbox 360?

LOL ooohhh so I take it u own a halo 3 adapter then... The truth hurts doesnt it lol You cant say i didnt state alot of FACTS

Alright let me try defend 360 so it dont look so bad... Besides halo 3 the games i like for 360 are maybe gears of war (would have to give it a 5th chance... never liked it when i played it so far), DOA4 which for some reason no one owns... I loved DOA 3 its actually my fav 3d fightin game (without weapons... soul calibur pwns).. That game almost has the market to itself cause tekken & virtual fighter u have to be a hardcore fan to actually play it... And besides me and my pplz no one else is a KOF 06 Fan

And thats about it... Oh wait Shenmue 3!!!!!! but it hasnt been announced yet... i never got part 2 on xbox one i just got the euro version for Dreamcast

I mean besides that there is nothing to look forward to but halo 4 lol Its like all the games ppl a hype up on 360 are ps3 games that have dicieded to go both ways... So its like dem just a beg from sonys collection LOL We really and truly dont want any of ur games... Well ill reserve that remark for Killzone but Resistance is super nice too keep ur eyes out for part 2