DailyTech - Wal-Mart Canada Sale Hints at New 80GB PS3 Price

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Gadgets Wal-Mart Canada Sale Hints at New 80GB PS3 Price
Marcus Yam (Blog) - September 28, 2007 11:56 AM

42 comment(s) - last by Icelight.. on Oct 4 at 9:19 AM

Wal-Mart avertising a reduced PlayStation 3 price (Source: DailyTech)

Wal-Mart Canada is giving the 80GB PlayStation 3 a $110 price break

A further price drop of the PlayStation 3, particularly related to the 80GB model is contested by few and backed up by analyst predictions. Although Sony’s true plans for the upper range price of its PlayStation 3 won’t be revealed until at least all 60GB models are sold out from store shelves, one of North America’s retailers could be providing a hint of what’s coming.

Wal-Mart’s Anniversary Sale in Canada is pricing the 80GB PlayStation 3 at $549.83 CAD, which is the approximately same price that the 60GB model currently carries. A quick survey of Wal-Mart stores in west Canada found that most stores were sold out of the 60GB PS3 and only stocked the 80GB model.

Major retailers have been known to put products at a certain sale price depending on what its forecasts are on pending changes in MSRP. Another factor that may play into Wal-Mart’s large discount on the 80GB PS3 is the growing strength of the Canadian dollar, which recently has been hovering on par with the U.S. dollar. Nevertheless, Wal-Mart’s Canadian price for the 80GB PS3 is still below that of the $599.99 MSRP in the U.S.

Earlier this month, DailyTech reported that Sony is enlisting the help of Foxconn to manufacture low-cost PlayStation 3. Furthermore, rumors around the web figure that Sony will release another PS3 model aimed specifically at a lower price point. This supposedly low-cost PS3 is to have a 40GB hard drive, and could possibly include fewer I/O options. A recent Sony filing with the FCC has also unearthed further information on a new PS3 model.

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60GB PS3

By phattyboombatty on 9/28/2007 12:45:20 PM , Rating: 2

It seems like the 60GB PS3 is taking forever to sell out. Either there was a giant stock of 60GB PS3's or they aren't moving off of store shelves very fast.

I've gotta say that if I was planning on purchasing a PS3, I would wait until the price on the 80GB PS3 dropped (which everyone is expecting) and buy that version. That probably explains why nobody wants to get the 60GB version.

RE: 60GB PS3

By acer905 on 9/28/2007 12:57:38 PM , Rating: 3

That could be part of the reason... or people still really don't want it.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By ZimZum on 9/28/2007 1:06:38 PM , Rating: 2

It may help if there were some games worth playing. At the end of the day its about the games. And currently there aren't any on the PS3 that give me the urge to go and pick one up.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By Murst on 9/28/2007 1:31:40 PM , Rating: 4

Yeah, I'll have to agree there. The 360 just seems to have many more great games. I've been playing PS2 games on my PS3 to keep me busy, but I'm really excited about the next few months.

I got heavenly sword a couple weeks ago, even though all of the reviews weren't that great. Well... after finishing it, I honestly think that if the game was 20 hours long instead of 7 hours long, it would have gotten pretty close to 10s in all reviews instead of 7-8s. Its an extremely good game, and the length it takes to complete it killed it.

Warhawk is one of those game that are either love it or hate it. However, by itself, it will not move consoles. Unfortunately for PS3 owners, the good things about a PS3 continue to be things in the near future, and not what is out currently for the console.

R&C Future got another delay today (now its end of october). Hopefully no other games slip past the planned release date (the R&C demo was pretty neat).

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RE: 60GB PS3

By h0kiez on 10/1/2007 10:20:15 AM , Rating: 2

Reviews I read for Heavenly Sword seemed to be spot-on to me. They generally said it's "a great game that you should rent". It's a beautiful game, but 7 hours is way too little for $60.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By Samus on 9/28/2007 8:29:52 PM , Rating: 2

I'll buy a PS3 when it's 399.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By omnicronx on 9/29/2007 1:02:04 AM , Rating: 1

congrads!

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RE: 60GB PS3

By h0kiez on 10/1/2007 10:20:58 AM , Rating: 1

Well then ask mom and dad for the 40GB version or Christmas...

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RE: 60GB PS3

By h0kiez on 10/1/2007 10:21:17 AM , Rating: 2

^for...not or

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RE: 60GB PS3

By Murst on 9/28/2007 1:35:22 PM , Rating: 3

I'm not so sure about that. I think the majority of people out there are clueless about the price cut, and the people who do keep up would probably rather have the 60gb PS3. Chances are, the people who are deeply interested in the consoles will be replacing the HDD anyways, and once the HDD is removed from the equation, the 60GB version has more features.

I think the main reason why the 60GB version isn't selling is just that demand isn't that high for PS3s atm.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By kitchme on 9/28/2007 7:25:38 PM , Rating: 1

quote:
I think the main reason why the 60GB version isn't selling is just that demand isn't that high for PS3s atm

What an amazing insight. Let's go a step further and apply the same logic. The sale of a product has risen because there's greater demand for it.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By wallijonn on 9/28/2007 2:00:00 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
if I was planning on purchasing a PS3, I would wait until the price on the 80GB PS3 dropped (which everyone is expecting) and buy that version.

The 60GB version has the Emotion chip which allows PS2 games to play in hardware instead of software emulation. If one considers PS1 and PS2 games as graphic throwbacks not worth playing on a PS3 then they are likely not to care for the Emotion chip. Then it becomes a matter of price and current game library; in which case one will likely wait longer for the great games to come out before purchasing.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By killerroach on 9/28/2007 2:11:36 PM , Rating: 2

Backwards compatibility through hardware isn't necessarily superior to software. If anything, future updates to the PS3 should make playing PS2 titles in software a better experience than playing them back in hardware if for no other reason than to be able to add functionality at a later time (texture sharpening, anti-aliasing, better upscaling, whatever).

Considering where the 80GB PS3's backwards compatibility is in comparison to the 60GB one already, the software backwards compatibility is approaching parity, and will only get much better. With the 60GB, what you see is what you get.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By smitty3268 on 9/28/2007 4:54:08 PM , Rating: 2

True, although it's worth mentioning that there's nothing stopping Sony from making all models use the software emulation even if they could be using hardware. So if it does become superior, then I wouldn't be surprised to see the 60GB model updated to do that.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By shamgar03 on 9/28/2007 5:47:13 PM , Rating: 2

I disagree. First of all software will always have bugs, its just the nature of the beast. I don't really trust software emulation, compatibility can only get worse (unless, and I don't know the answer to this, there were already compatibility problems). I think if they wanted to add post-processing then they probably could have done that anyway since it is still going through the graphics card.

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RE: 60GB PS3

By Icelight on 10/4/2007 9:19:33 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
The 60GB version has the Emotion chip which allows PS2 games to play in hardware instead of software emulation.

I doubt that the majority of current or potential buyers of the PS3 even know what the emotion engine is, or the difference between software and hardware emulation.

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Simply Economics

By ChipDude on 9/28/2007 3:31:00 PM , Rating: 4

Supply vs. Demand.

Sony forgot the minor detail that people's demand for a gamebox isn't driven by Blue-Ray, isn't about complex Cell CPU hype, isn't about stunning graphics. Its about the damm game.

That in stock WII sign I saw at Bestbuy was gone by Tuesday. That stack of PS3 60GB 6 feet high was still 6 feet high on Tuesday.

Everywhere you looked you saw Halo3 this and Halo 3 that. Amazing no Halo3 games either at BestBuy, SOLD OUT.

People want great games, fun games. Maybe if Sony got some good games and fairly priced hardware things would move.

You don't see fire sale adds for Wii do ya?

RE: Simply Economics

By michal1980 on 9/28/07, Rating: 0

RE: Simply Economics

By bozilla on 9/28/07, Rating: -1

By bozilla on 9/28/2007 5:03:57 PM , Rating: -1

I like Playstation 3 fanboy responses and optimism. After a year of owning a playstation console you are listing 7 games and you are ok with that? Are you kidding me?

Warhawk - blah..not a bad game but compared to Xbox 360 games nothing special

Heavenly Sword - nice looking game, last for 6 hours and I knew the story when it was called God of War

Folklore - I mean serious wtf is that

Ratch and Clank - people who want this already have a Wii

UT3 - okay this is coming to Xbox 360 anyways (a console that is $200 cheaper then PS3 and most likely will have better graphics as with everything else)

Haze - Halo ripoff? I mean seriously, this game even though might look nice really has nothing on Halo or other titles like Call of Duty 4. What's so special about that?

Uncharted - the game simply doesn't look super hot

So you paid $600 to play what exactly this past year?

Major games (2 of them - MGS4 and Gran Tourismo 5) that might move PS3 are coming in 2008 not this year. God of War 3 is still on napkins. This lineup of PS3 exclusives is pathetic at the least. And let me give you a cruel reality, if the game is not PS3 exclusive, it will most likely find it's way into the hands of Xbox 360 owner not PS3. It won't make anyone by PS3 because of it when they can play it on much cheaper and better Xbox 360 and Live and achievements, better graphics and multiplayer.

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RE: Simply Economics

By CRimer76 on 9/28/2007 5:37:28 PM , Rating: 2

Warhawk - blah..not a bad game but compared to Xbox 360 games nothing special

Compared to what XBox360 games? Ace Combat? Blazing Angels? How many online multiplayer combat flight sims are on the 360?

Heavenly Sword - nice looking game, last for 6 hours and I knew the story when it was called God of War

Yup, the game is short. It's too short. But it is fun, and I'm not sure the story has any parallels with God of War at all.

Ratch and Clank - people who want this already have a Wii

Not even sure what you mean by this one.

UT3 - okay this is coming to Xbox 360 anyways (a console that is $200 cheaper then PS3 and most likely will have better graphics as with everything else)

Current rumor is that Epic has gotten the U3 engine running on the Ps3 better than it could on the 360, and that the PS3 version will have far more content than the 360 version.

Haze - Halo ripoff? I mean seriously, this game even though might look nice really has nothing on Halo or other titles like Call of Duty 4. What's so special about that?

Yup, they are both first person shooters, and there are guns. There may be aliens too, can't think of any more similarities than those.

You don't like the PS3 or Sony, that's cool, but don't make up dumbass excuses. The PS3 has more big holiday exclusives coming than the 360 as far as I know. It might come down to personal preference, but your BS reasons are just silly.

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RE: Simply Economics

By Bigjee on 9/28/2007 6:14:20 PM , Rating: 3

quote:
I like Playstation 3 fanboy responses and optimism. After a year of owning a playstation console you are listing 7 games and you are ok with that? Are you kidding me?

I like Xbox360 fan boy responses and optimism. And no I'm not kidding when i say that xbox360 owners should sometimes have the insight to know their consoles limitations also.

If a 360 owner can B**CH about the ps3 and all its flaws and wat not ; they should know that their console is FAR from perfect. I mean its ridiculous how supportive 360 owners are of a console that has created terms such as "the red ring of death" with blue screens and being as loud as a vacuum cleaner. Microsoft lost $1 billion when it had to increase its warranty from 1 yr. to 3yr.

Bottomline: All three consoles have limitations/flaws. There is no one "perfect" console. Competition drives companies to make a better product than the rivals. If games look good on the 360 its due to the fact that Sony was a rival and MS rose to the challenge. If Sony's build quality is pristine then its cos of the 360's presence too. Both types of console owners should appreciate the fact that competition and rivalry has resulted in a product they like.

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RE: Simply Economics

By mikeyD95125 on 9/28/2007 6:32:06 PM , Rating: 3

quote:
It won't make anyone by PS3 because of it when they can play it on much cheaper and better Xbox 360 and Live and achievements, better graphics and multiplayer.

I didn't find your post as fanboyish until this sentence. First off though, I really like the achievement system and I wish Sony would have something similar. (Do they? Don't own a PS3) But really..better graphics? Your an idiot. They are equal at least but I own a 360 and my friend owns a PS3 and on the skate demo I think the PS3 had superior textures and lighting. The details just looked a little better. And the online is free. While not having the same features as live my friend doesn't have to pay $4.16 a month.

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RE: Simply Economics

By Locutus465 on 9/30/2007 11:55:10 PM , Rating: 1

I'd be interested to see a real PS3 v. 360 comparison... Just a guess here but I figure it would be a wash in the end... Admitingly all I've seen is what I've seen the the store demos, but near as I can figure it doesn't seem as if either system has a real advantage over the other...

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RE: Simply Economics

By Locutus465 on 10/1/2007 11:48:19 AM , Rating: 2

You know what I love about the rating system? Rated down for suggesting the PS3 and X-Box might have extreamly similar graphical qualities... Didn't even try stating it as fact... I'm actually amused, I'll be more amused once this comment gets rated down to -1.

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RE: Simply Economics

By Darthefe on 9/30/2007 3:29:15 AM , Rating: 3

@Bozilla

What is this, the PS3 has better graphics, the online capabilities are larger on the PS3, since u can use the PS3 as a server and it only lacks some features, which will becoming soon enough, 30-35 games are coming out this holiday season and Haze is no way a Halo ripff, It is about a person telling a personal story about companies taking over the world and politcs have no power, Halo is some Aliens vs Human crap, The line up of exclusives are what FFXIII, Gran turismo, L.A Noire, go chek up the exclusives before u talk, and did th 360 games as good as the PS3 the first year, HELL NO, on the 360 they were crapier and worse so dont talk so much BS

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RE: Simply Economics

By ChipDude on 9/28/2007 9:57:53 PM , Rating: 2

I'm speechless!!! With that list of games PS3 is just going to leap forward with gazillion PS3s flying off the shelves from Bestbuy, Costco and gamestop.

YOu are joking right? All this means is suckers like you get to do more then play blue-ray disk on the black fancy expensive looking player.

I think its already clear that the current sales trends will reflect the relevative order of console sales for the foresable future. All the platform have a ton of games that will keep their respective faithful happy and keep the sales going. NO console has anythign coming that will change the current sales order.

PS3 is going to go down as a big loss leader for Sony. Stringer is an idiot for not fixiing it immediatly.

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RE: Simply Economics

By BansheeX on 9/28/2007 5:04:26 PM , Rating: 2

Michal is right. Plenty of games coming out before Christmas, and a rumored $399 version of the system to boot.

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It's a good time to live in Canada

By troublesome08 on 9/28/2007 12:31:09 PM , Rating: 2

With the strength of the Canadian dollar right now (or the weakness of the American Dollar), it's great to be a Canadian right now. Walmart has the 360 pro bundle with Forza 2 and something else for $349 CA which is a pretty amazing deal.

If a cheaper ps3 can hit that price point I may look into purchasing one, mainly for GT5 and MGS4, but otherwise, 360 is still my first choice

RE: It's a good time to live in Canada

By Marcus Yam on 9/28/2007 12:38:10 PM , Rating: 2

The Wal-Mart 360 pack comes with NHL 2K8 and they are the Zephyr consoles with HDMI. Decent deal.

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RE: It's a good time to live in Canada

By mmntech on 9/28/2007 1:43:16 PM , Rating: 2

The thing with this supposed price drops recently isn't that the dollar is strong. Us Canadians are finally starting to realize how much we're overpaying for products. I remember working it out a while ago and the PS3 was something like $30-$40 US more in Canada than it was in the States. Fortunately at the last price cut, we got a bigger reduction than the US did. I think it was like $100 CDN versus $50 US down south.

The PS3 is a nice console. Nicer than the 360 anyway, IMHO. Sure, it has some great games but I just can't come to terms with the hardware issues. I'm sure that's a moot point though. Anybody know if the 360 has moved to 65nm yet?

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RE: It's a good time to live in Canada

By troublesome08 on 9/28/2007 2:44:45 PM , Rating: 2

Yeah, the falcon machines are starting to reach stores now i believe, but there's no way of really knowing with cpu revision you have, i guess it would be best to wait a while so you can be sure that the older models have been sold

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RE: It's a good time to live in Canada

By Locutus465 on 9/30/2007 11:58:13 PM , Rating: 2

For what it is worth my HDMI premium console (.90) is fine... This system gets serious usage both as a media device and (obviously) for hours opon hours of Halo 3 slayer matches (and advancing the campaign in Heroic mode currently). The system has never seemed in danger of over heating.

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Why not...

By GhandiInstinct on 9/28/2007 1:40:45 PM , Rating: 5

Wait till they sell a 20GB PS3 for $350, buy it, buy a 200GB 2.5 inch 7200RPM HDD.

And be happy?

RE: Why not...

By erikejw on 9/28/2007 4:56:27 PM , Rating: 2

Do they use 2.5" drives?
Why not put in a 3.5", they are much chaeper and they would fit great in a "huge" console. They are not flat like laptops.

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RE: Why not...

By Flunk on 9/30/2007 1:49:01 AM , Rating: 2

That would make the PS3 slightly bulkier and Sony values appearance more than that.

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Uh.. it's their anniversary sale, hence the sale price

By Feneant2 on 9/28/2007 1:41:46 PM , Rating: 2

Did anyone bother looking at the rest of the flyer? They have cheap tv's , computers... the Xbox 360 is on sale at 347$ for a premium with a free bonus game, etc...

It is just a sale, nothing more.

RE: Uh.. it's their anniversary sale, hence the sale price

By imaheadcase on 9/28/2007 10:04:33 PM , Rating: 2

Correct, I work at walmart and its just a sale. US stores have similar sales this time of year to clear inventory for for Christmas items.

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By clovell on 9/28/2007 2:11:30 PM , Rating: 2

How can you slap a copyright on a scan of a Wal-Mart sales ad?

RE: Copyright?

By Marcus Yam on 9/28/2007 2:29:54 PM , Rating: 2

You might have a point. It was just a product of the automatic watermarking system in our image uploader.

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Its not because Sony wants it .............

By crystal clear on 9/29/2007 8:28:07 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
Another factor that may play into Wal-Mart’s large discount on the 80GB PS3 is the growing strength of the Canadian dollar, which recently has been hovering on par with the U.S. dollar.

The Euro + UK pound/sterling is much stronger-convert the U.S. prices (USD) for a PS3 to the Euro/pound & see the difference.

UK-pounds 293 - now compare this with their (UK)retails prices.

Still Sony charges them(E.U./UK) more !

Sony charges what they like(more) -simple !

The above argument (quote) is not valid.

quote:
Furthermore, rumors around the web figure that Sony will release another PS3 model aimed specifically at a lower price point.

Hirai Gives Keynote Speach at 2007 TGSPrint

Continuous cost reduction efforts including shrinking the chip size and reducing the number of components. Cost reduction of hardware is one of the most important challenges for our business and SCEI will further accelerate this effort.

http://www.us.playstation.com/News/PressReleases/4...

The real reason-"Wal-Mart’s Anniversary Sale in Canada" -thats all.

"come Christmas -you will hear of a price cut !"

By crystal clear on 9/29/2007 8:35:52 AM , Rating: 2

Not to be believed !
By crystal clear on 9/20/07, Rating: 0
By crystal clear on 9/20/2007 2:35:49 PM , Rating: 0

quote:
but Hirai said there would be no price drop for rest of the year.

Sony is not be trusted on this-come Christmas -you will hear of a price cut !

They have no choice but to cut their prices,because people simply dont buy & prefer to wait it out-or buy another brand(console) cheaper in price.

PS3 is not a must have item,people can live without it & are in NO BIG HURRY to buy.

Realities in the market say the above-Sony should conduct a survey by asking simple questions-

1)Would you buy a PS3 at todays prices ?

The answer would be NO.

2)Whats the deciding factor-The Price or the Technology or the Contents(games)?

The answer would be Price.

3)Why would you NOT BUY A PS3 ?

The answer would be -"becasuse of its price"

To summarize it all-

The inventories will go up & the price cut will follow.

Sony learns the hardway not the smartway.

The growing strength of the Canadian dollar

By crystal clear on 9/29/2007 10:07:20 AM , Rating: 2

There is an interesting article on this,read below-

OTTAWA, Sept. 27 — The ritual has resumed, as it always does when the Canadian dollar rises against the United States dollar. Large numbers of Canadians cross the border in search of lower prices and greater selection at American stores. But when the Canadian dollar reached parity with American currency last week, there was a new twist: online sales now let Canadians bargain-hunt in the United States without leaving home.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/business/worldbu...