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A far more enticing pack-in than last year's "Talladega Nights"  (Source: Amazon)
$399 PlayStation 3 possibly on the way with Spider-Man 3

Now with supplies of the 60GB PlayStation 3 dwindling, analysts are predicting that the 80GB PS3 will soon drop to $499 to occupy the current cost-of-entry into Sony’s newest console. Even at with the 80GB hard drive and included game MotorStorm, consumers may still feel that $499 is still too much to pay for a games console – especially when the competition is offering current machines for hundreds less.

Sony knows that this holiday season will be even more crucial than last year’s launch window, as it will be the time to convince more than just PlayStation faithful to buy into their new generation. According to an Ars Technica source, Sony will not only drop the 80GB machine down $100 to $499, but it will also introduce a new entry-level 40GB offering that will come in at another $100 less at $399 – Just $50 more than Microsoft’s 20GB Xbox 360.

Furthermore, Sony may sweeten the deal by bundling with either one or both SKUs with Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray Disc. Packaging in the super-hero blockbuster will further underscore the PlayStation 3’s duality with its high-definition movie player capabilities (not to mention the shared font style between the console and movie). Those looking to buy into Blu-ray Disc may view the Spider-Man 3 PS3 bundle as a strong value proposition. Spider-Man 3 hits home video on October 30, 2007, so don’t expect Sony to announce anything until then.

For consumers wanting to game on the cheap, Sony realizes that its PlayStation 2 is still a stunningly strong seller. For that reason, it would not be surprising if Sony dropped the price of its PS2 console to $99, as suggested by the report. With even stronger value PS3 bundles, to cheaper PS2, and newly redesigned PSP, Sony is gunning hard for a strong fall and winter.

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Wait...
By Spivonious on 9/10/2007 3:32:03 PM , Rating: 2
So having a 20GB and a 60GB is too confusing. Okay, drop the 20GB. Now we have an 80GB model, so we should drop the 60GB because two models is too confusing. I don't agree with this, but at least there's a trend. Until now. Two models is too confusing so let's introduce a 40GB model?




RE: Wait...
By gramboh on 9/10/2007 4:05:06 PM , Rating: 2
No kidding, this is pretty poor planning and will cause consumer confusion that can only hurt their sales. Not to mention the costs of retooling their assembly/production lines for another SKU (although I suspect this is minor).

I don't have much interest in the PS3 until I upgrade my TV to a 1080P set to use Blu-ray and maybe play Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo (using a 480p/1080i rear projection from 2002).

With the PS3, you can use an externally connected USB2 hard drive correct? So it could be a 3.5inch desktop drive?


RE: Wait...
By michal1980 on 9/10/2007 4:14:36 PM , Rating: 1
poor plaining maybe. But dont people want a low price?

if they are trying to hit a new price point this makes sense.

no game, smaller harddrive. the 80gb already has no ee chip in it.

the 20gb and 60gb had bigger differences, biggest wi-fi, smaller were the card reader, and trim.

So it still one line with just a different drive put in at the end. extra product costs will be minor.

and a 399 price tag will be sweet.

------

So bad planing or not, if this is true, its a GOOD sony move rather then a bad one.


RE: Wait...
By TimTheEnchanter25 on 9/10/2007 4:31:36 PM , Rating: 2
I'm pretty sure that it treats a USB hard drive like a flash drive. You can copy / play files off the extrenal drive, and back up the internal to it. But, I don't think they let you store demos, trailers, downloaded games, saved games, and game content to an external drive. But, I haven't had a reason to test it since I still have 10gb out of 60 free (and a lot of stuff that I don't need to keep).

I really don't see why Sony would drop the 60gb if they are really adding a 40gb model. A quick search at newegg lists a 40gb hard drive for $45.99, 60gb for $47.49, and 80gb for $55.99. I assume that they get much better prices than that. So, the hard drive size certainally doesn't make a $100 difference, nor is there a major savings if they switch from 60gb to 40gb.


RE: Wait...
By SirLucius on 9/10/2007 5:32:59 PM , Rating: 2
Yup, the PS3 can read/write to any FAT32 hard drive. And you can store anything you download on a PS3 on an external drive. There's even an option to download straight to the external drive/flash drive in the Playstation store.

I agree about the cost difference. While I'm all for the $399 price, it doesn't make much sense to offer a 40GB drive over a 60GB. The only thing I can think of is Sony wants to avoid an Apple situation where people buy the 60GB model only to have a cheaper model come out a few weeks later, especially with all of Sony's talk of "No more 60GB models!" I got my PS3 about a month ago and I know I'd be a little upset if they suddenly started offering the same 60GB model (minus PS2 hardware) for $100 less. Note, not extremely upset, as I plan on swapping in a bigger HD anyway, but just a little peeved.


RE: Wait...
By MonkeyPaw on 9/10/2007 5:52:18 PM , Rating: 2
I agree, and I actually came up with lower prices than yours on newegg, though I think I was looking at the old IDE models. Even so, if they save $5 per HDD and sell 200,000 40GB models, they just saved $1 million. Considering how the PS3 console is unprofitable even when priced at $599, I could see why they'd want to save money and cut corners.

However, Sony just doesn't realize how their market works. They started by building a machine that's too expensive for most people (combined with feature complexity that makes developers reluctant to jump in). To make things worse, Sony keeps thinking that they can trick the customer into buying one by shaving features along with the price. The 20GB PS3 was $100 cheaper, and nobody wanted it. The thing is, most people with $300-500 to blow on a game console probably don't mind jumping $100 for the better model. After all, the PS2 and Xbox lasted about 5 years before being replaced, so people know they're buying a long-term product these days. The problem is, there just aren't that many people willing to pay $300-600 on a luxury item!

MS took a very simple approach by making and keeping the premium model the obvious choice, and it seems to be pretty successful. It's a good think they haven't answered Sony's moves yet, or we'd be just as lost in the MS camp. Every new PS3 launch just seems to be more confusing than the last. Not only that, buyers of original models have to be wondering what's going on, too. They've watched Sony discontinue the original models already, they've seen parts removed, and they seen the price go down and back up, only to likely go down again along with a newer, even cheaper model--all in what might be less than a year! Sony isn't really developing buyer confidence right now.


RE: Wait...
By Chaser on 9/11/2007 9:32:38 AM , Rating: 2
We're talking about a console system first and foremost. I really don't think Mom and Pop, the kid in college, and most consumers are going to read all the details into it like you and other computer enthusiasts do.

Certainly the mantra on this site has been too expensive, too expensive, too expensive. And so Sony is trying to deliver. So when someone walks into Walmart and finds a gaming console with a Blue Ray movie player for $400.00 they really aren't going to walk away confused because of varying hard drive sizes. Today counts and the money they have in my pocket or checking account then that matters. Not confusion.

You credit M$ for simplicity? Lets see one Xbox has no hard drive. Great. Another had one. Then you get the HD DVD drive that only plays movies, then you get the Elite version that stil only plays movies. You call that simple?

The PS3 gets you the hard drive, the BD player, wireless, and all the main features that count regardless of the models. Only the computer type nitpickers split all the hairs. And now the entry price is going to be $400.00. Thats a good thing. And quite a deal too.


RE: Wait...
By wordsworm on 9/11/2007 5:39:59 AM , Rating: 2
I can see the logic: the low end systems are dumping a lot of old hard drives that no one is buying, and they're just sitting there. They ran out of 20GB hard drives, and are now moving the 40GB drives out. The hard drives that are still selling on the market go with the much pricier PS3. I found a HDDVD player for $199. So at $399MSRP (probably available to the savvy consumer at $350), it's pretty competitive as a high definition player, plus it supposedly comes with expensive extras. I wouldn't be surprised if they do include everything that they have with the more expensive models. Once they get their market going good, then they can stand to make a lot of cash.

Still, nirvana comes in the form of HDDVD+BlueRay in a single unit. That's the only way I can foresee either party really winning. But to do that, for either one to get that action, they have to stick to this format war until they're both ready to call a truce.


RE: Wait...
By Locutus465 on 9/10/2007 5:05:50 PM , Rating: 2
They can solve this with marketing like Microsoft has with the 3 different models of x-boxes. As far as I know most people are not confused with the differences in the world of x-box, with good marketing there's no reason why they should be in the world of PS3... This would take planning on the part of sony though, something they clearly did not do.


RE: Wait...
By timmiser on 9/10/2007 6:15:12 PM , Rating: 4
I think the difference that you fail to mention is already we have two out of production models of the PS3 and two new models of the PS3 and the PS3 is not even 1 year old yet!

The X360 is what, 2 years old and just one new model(Elite) in addition to the existing two models?


RE: Wait...
By Locutus465 on 9/10/2007 7:59:53 PM , Rating: 2
True, Sony has had more desperate taking shots in the dark kind of stuff going on than MS has... This new package + pricing plan shows this, they're desperatly trying to remake the product into something that will actually sell...

I guess what I'm just getting at is this time around, I think they have something that can sell (assuming the cheap model is not with out backwards compatibility). While they can't do anything about the discontinued models at this point, they could at least create a new marketing scheme to understand how the current products stack up to eachother.


RE: Wait...
By Keeir on 9/10/2007 11:28:26 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
The X360 is what, 2 years old and just one new model(Elite) in addition to the existing two models?


I don't think comparing the PS3 to the Xbox 360 is great. Xbox 360 several revisions already for better reason such that a "Premium" or "Pro" console will have 3 revisions within 2 years (Launch, Zephyr, Falcon?) and probably the greatest problem (having a model without a hard drive).


RE: Wait...
By blurredvision on 9/11/2007 9:02:14 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
I don't think comparing the PS3 to the Xbox 360 is great. Xbox 360 several revisions already for better reason such that a "Premium" or "Pro" console will have 3 revisions within 2 years (Launch, Zephyr, Falcon?)

Counting the internal revisions really do not count towards the discussion, because for the most part, those are invisible to the regular consumer. Only us gaming nerds on the internet even know what the word Zephyr refers to, and we make up a scarce few of total amount of consoles sold.

This is purely about what is in front of everyone's face. It is quite possible that Sony is confusing a lot of people, and it will only get worse. Will that hurt sales? Nobody knows. But would a $399 PS3 help them? I think it will help tremendously. It still has the Playstation name, and that's what people know. The biggest problem for Sony right now, IMO, is that they left the door WIDE open for Microsoft. As a Gamestop employee, our store sells many more 360 Premium systems than we do of the PS3 60GB SKU (10 to 1, easily), and the fact of the matter is, most people still do not know about the RRoD problems.


RE: Wait...
By Chaser on 9/11/2007 9:39:37 AM , Rating: 2
You're right it will. But not many will be confused. And I'm confident since you work at Gamestop you'll be able help clear up that confusion for the prospective PS3 buyer to make an informed choice :)


RE: Wait...
By therealnickdanger on 9/11/2007 1:29:05 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
...for the prospective PS3 buyer to make an informed choice

Yup: buy a 360. :P


RE: Wait...
By timmiser on 9/12/2007 1:05:12 AM , Rating: 2
It doesn't matter who you are, that was funny!!


RE: Wait...
By SaySomeThingOrDIE on 9/23/2007 3:14:56 AM , Rating: 2
The PS3 20GB and 60GB, actually have the EE chip. Which could play some PS2 games. The new upgrades 80GB and perhaps the 40GB does not include the EE chip.


If this is true...
By daftrok on 9/10/2007 3:34:05 PM , Rating: 2
Lets hope that the 40 GB model will be 100% identical to the higher end 80GB model (except for the HDD size, of course). But this move might alienate the 80 GB model. Who would pay 100 dollars more for 40 GB and Motorstorm (granted a good game, but still). I was rather looking forward to a Sony surprise, stating that the 80 GB PS3 will bundle with Motorstorm, Spiderman 3, and 5 Blu-ray Movies will not go down to $499, but instead a $399 price point. That would be some serious competition for the Elite and Premium Xbox 360 consoles, shutting the door on the overpriced PS3 for good. Then again this isn't 100% official so I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed




RE: If this is true...
By Murst on 9/10/2007 3:43:43 PM , Rating: 4
As nice as it would be to have an identical model at $400, something just doesn't feel right. I'm pretty sure they'll end up removing something, just not sure what else...

The first thing that comes to mind is support for the PS2 games (I believe there is still some hardware left in on the 80gb version, even though the EE is out). Other things that are possible is the wireless adapter.

Anyways, I hope I'm wrong :)