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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.'"
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.
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.
More Twoson than Cupertino
I would cut the xbox 360 (all versions) by $50 and say this is a permanent move. Would put sony on the defensive.
...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?)
That is the sound of another champagne bottle being opened over at Nintendo ...
Seriously. It starts looking as if Sony WANTS to lose Europe.
Ordering a spare laptop battery? (It had to be said.)
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
This story is simply someone spreading shit.
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.
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.
In Soviet Russia, Trojan exploits YOU!
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.
Right, but that's not the issue.
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.
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: $47.99
Western Digital - 80g: $59.99
Hitachi - 60g: $49.99
Hitachi - 80g: $54.99
Seagate - 60g: $49.99
Seagate - 80g: $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:
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.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
It's only a fire sale when Sony is selling laptop batteries.
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.
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.
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.
WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
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 to clear inventory, so on what basis do you think the 80GB drive is going to drop to $499 in the near future?
The enemies of Democracy are
Incorrect.
The North Americian Playstation 3 (which contains the Emotion Engine) does support 1080p output.
"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.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
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."
Causing Chaos Everywhere,
Nik J.
The strange world of a loner, in a populous city, drowning in society
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 better to having one SKU than two. We dropped the price on the 60GB model, as you know that model is no longer in production, once it's no longer on store shelves it will just be the $600 SKU."