Sony cuts Playstation 3 price to $499; introduces $599 80 gigabyte bundle

[Bond]

Sony cuts Playstation 3 price to $499; introduces $599 80 gigabyte bundle



Sony will cut the price of their Playstation 3 console by $100 USD and introduce an upgraded model bundled with the off-road race Motorstorm at $599 ahead of this year's biggest gaming summit, the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

According to the Associated Press [via Gamespot], the new bundle will include an 80 gigabyte hard-drive and a copy of Motorstorm ($59.99 MSRP) priced at $599, which will be delivered to North American retailers in August.

They will also drop the price of the 60 gigabyte model to $499, as rumored in recent reports.

Previously the 80 gigabyte model was only available in South Korea.

Sony has been trailing both Nintendo and Microsoft in recent sales figures, by 4-to-1 and 2-to-1 margins respectively.

By bundling an upgraded Playstation 3 with a game, Sony has left themselves open to serious questions on whether or not the new model offers a good value for the consumer.

After a search of many retailers, canada.com found that the price difference between a 60 gigabyte and an 80 gigabyte hard-drive is only a few dollars.

Add in a $59.99 copy of Motorstorm and the new $499 Playstation3 and the price is less than the $599 bundle pack.

Irregardless, the Playstation 3 will drop to $499 beginning July 10th, and the Playstation 3 bundle will debut sometime in August.

Source: canada.com

[Angrist]

Weird how they keep selling models for a high price. I don't think it will sell that well. There's a huge difference between 20 and 60GB, not so much between 60 and 80.

[Bond]

And just to clarify, this price cut only applies to North America.

[TheGame]

Boo! the 20 gig Ps3 dissapeared completly from gamespot.com as of the announcement. :P Either way, this is a good change.

[Perfect Stu]

Not bad, I don't see how people will see $100 value in Motorstorm + 20 GB, but the $499 is a good buy.

[GameMaster]

Now I long for the $499 model!

[Seven7]

Bah... I got one when it was $649.99 Canadian and now it is $549.99 cad. Could put the savings towards a game or two though there is not really any games out now or soon that I am interested in enough. Waiting for games like MGS4 and Killzone 2, maybe Medal of Honor Airborne.

Best Buy Canada says $150 Price Drop!... yeah sure.. only because they used to over charge $50 to be $699.99

[bobcat]

Hmm I hope we get a price cut in oz......i'm hoping $200 AUS hehe