All PS3 Models Receive $50 Price Cut
by Andrew Cunningham on August 16, 2011 3:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Gaming
- Sony
- PlayStation
Sony's PS3 console is getting a price cut: in the US, the 160 GB model will now cost $249 instead of $299 and the 320GB model will now cost $299 instead of $349. The cut is also coming to other territories, with both the 160GB and 320GB models getting cut to 249/349 Euros and 24,980/29,980 yen.
This price drop puts some price pressure Sony's competitors, especially on the 4GB and 250GB Xbox 360s that Microsoft sells for $199 and $299 (at $149 with a pack-in copy of Mario Kart Wii, the Wii has less to worry about in this respect). It also comes on the heels of Nintendo's recent $80 price cut for its 3DS, meant to spur sluggish sales ahead of the busy fall and winter seasons.
The American and European price cuts are effective today, while the Japanese price cut takes effect on August 18.
Source: Kotaku
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
16 Comments
View All Comments
Vinny DePaul - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
Sony needs a 200 dollars PS3 to compete with Xbox. Graphics are similar on both.Andrew.a.cunningham - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
The problem with the $200 360 is that it's got very little internal storage - not everyone needs a huge hard drive and the 360's ability to use USB drives for storage helps mitigate this, but it's still a pretty big caveat compared to the 160GB PS3.Taft12 - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
I'm going to reveal some of my ignorance as a non-enthusiast X360 owner, but doesn't the ability to hook up to your Windows PC and stream files negate some of the need for storage on your console? I have an older 20GB HDD 360 and it's never gotten more than 75% full (mostly due to downloaded demos I never play).Admittedly I'm a casual user, but to casual users $200 vs $300 for the PS3 is an awfully big jump.
raulr - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
$200 X360 is only 4GB. Enough for game saves, but not for demos or saving game disc to hard drive for speeding up load times. Next model up X360 is $300.Sony is now coming in at $250 with 160GB drive. So it's $200 vx $250 or $250 vs. $300, rather than $200 vs $300. And PS3 has DLNA so it can stream movies and music from PC as well.
B3an - Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - link
Even though i dont really use my PS3 much, and prefer the 360 as it does just about everything better, i have to admit the PS3 is now a better deal for most people as it also comes with Blu-Ray as well as the extra storage space, all for just $50 more.Wolfpup - Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - link
It's got nothing to do with that. You need the drive to install games, both for better performance, and to make the noise level acceptable.The cheaper model Xbox has always been there to make it look like the system is $100 less than it is, not as a legitimate choice. That was true in 2005, and is even more true today.
gevorg - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
Sony is trying to heal the wounds from Anonymous.RussianSensation - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
Microsoft's $100 price difference for a hard drive space difference is a laughable rip-off in the face of consumers. You can get plenty of 2TB SATA drives on the desktop for $70-80 (and often even less than that with rebates). Even 2.5 inch form factor 1TB USB 3.0 external drives cost $90 "only":http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Laptop 750gb hard drives are $70. And here we are in 2011 with Microsoft charging $100 for 250GB (!!). They'd be FAR better off shipping an 80GB SSD in the Xbox360 vs. some slow overpriced 250GB mechanical drive.
But besides, looking at the overall picture, it's insane that PS3 still costs $249-299:
1) The graphics are completely outdated by now
2) Both 360/PS3 are near the end of their lives. Prices for them should be $99-149 by now.
3) It's shocking to think that in 5+ years, price of consoles has only fallen in half since launch prices, while at the same time GPU speed increased 10-fold (and is about to increase another 50-75% with 28nm offerings).
I am still just stunned that people continue to buy these consoles for $300 and then pay $50-60 for games that can't even output 30 fps at true 1080P. Do console gamers really have such low standards that they are willing to drop so much $ on hardware from 2006?
frozentundra123456 - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - link
I agree that 100.00 extra for a hard drive is ridiculous on the xbox, and that both consoles have not gone down as much in price as they should have.I do disagree with you somewhat on being stunned that people will play on consoles. First, they are still quite a bit cheaper than a gaming PC, and many console gamers play on a 720p TV. There is also the social experience of online gaming with friends and the ability to play together on the same machine without having a gaming PC and a copy of the game for each player. Sadly, there are really very few PC exclusive big name games for the PC. And dont forget that you can rent games for the consoles, and usually finish them with in the rental period, as far as single player goes.
And again unfortunately, there are a good number of console exclusive franchises that you cannot play on a PC at all.
Personally, I only game on the PC because that is what I started gaming on, and it is better for RTS and RPG games, which are my favorite. However, I do think a console is a reasonable alternative for gaming.
ET - Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - link
If a company will ever come to me asking for tips on how to lose tons of money quickly I'll be sure to refer it to you.