You may have already picked up on PlayStation’s announcement that the US have cut the price of the current 60gb PS3 to $499, ahead of the introduction of a new 80gb model in August (which will be bundled with MotorStorm for the original $599 price).
See link here for further info: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26497
With regards to what this means for Europe… “SCEE will be making an announcement at E3 on Thursday”.
It’s always great to see price cuts although I think the introduction of the new SKU is a blunder as it will still leave the consumer perception with the ‘PS3 is expensive’ stigma intact.
Comment by zetsurin — Jul 9, 2007 @ 9:48 am
an extra 20gig, a copy of motorstorm,and five blue ray movies for $599 - looks like a sweet deal if ya ask me, and the price drop for the original - i think sony have done a damn good thing.,The uk price is around £425 - so i’d assume we’d get £40 - £60 off that and with the new package it would still be £425 for all those extras - its a f*****g Sweet deal!, im off to get me a 2nd ps3 when it happens.
Comment by linton — Jul 9, 2007 @ 10:14 am
“SCEE will be making an announcement at E3 on Thursdayâ€.
…this annoncement will probably be the long anticipated price-cut for us europeans (and it’s about damn time).
Hopefully this european price-cut will at least follow $ony’s *policy* of 1$ = 1€ / 499$ = 499€!
Everything else would (again) be considered as “unreasonable” (or rather : another kick in the nutx…) by EU-Gamers, since we allready pay more than US and Japanese consumers and neither-the-less this price-cut, still would.
Comment by codshin — Jul 9, 2007 @ 10:17 am
hopefully we get a similar price cut here too!
Comment by .ram — Jul 9, 2007 @ 10:39 am
I’ve had more than 50 quids worth of fun on the beast since launch, and given the option of buying at launch or waiting until a price drop, I’d buy at launch again and again.
Just hope there’s a rumble announcement too, as I’m wanting a 2nd controller as soon as.
Comment by happy early adopter — Jul 9, 2007 @ 10:56 am
Nice announcement, for Americans, (I read about SCEE’s announcement) but what does SCEE have planned for content going up on Playstation Store, during E3?
I hope, very much that Home will prove to be a unifying force, and will do away with these blasted content borders. When are we going to see some examples of the sort of spaces that some of the third-party publishers have created…I imagine Sony have been busying themselves preparing the GoW one, complete with its own giant menacing Kratos statue!
Also, how does shopping work…
Can you try to get more info about the mechanics of Home please, threespeech, along with some details of the sort of people who took up Phil’s offer at the close of his GDC speech, in regard to the service. Also, how are we going to interact with publishers, using the service, if that is indeed part of its intent?
Comment by GleeDemon — Jul 9, 2007 @ 11:53 am
I can’t see it dropping in the UK to anything below £379 rrp. However, a fairer price, or a physiologically better price would be £349 for the time being. £299 is a must for the holiday season if they want to sell shit loads of them.
Comment by Mick — Jul 9, 2007 @ 11:56 am
I tells ya what, I tells ya. This really bugs me, the PS3 has only been out a few months and the early adopters are getting a raw deal for supporting the product. I really hope we get offered some kind of compensation (ala original Xbox travesty).
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great more people will get to pick one up. I just think that so close from launch it’s really unfair to drop the price.
Comment by Ben Furneaux — Jul 9, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
Great news… although Americans are pretty much in the same situation, $499 for a lower model or $599 for a higher one. Still, might make a difference I guess.
Bring on E3!
Comment by Tom Eccles — Jul 9, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
@1
It’ll only be a short term situation. They’ll drop the 60Gb in favour of the non EE+GS 80Gb - then reprice @ $499. Afterall - it’s been done before…Just don’t tell any potential buyers yet!
Comment by Mick — Jul 9, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Hopefully this european price-cut will at least follow $ony’s *policy* of 1$ = 1€ / 499$ = 499€!
Everything else would (again) be considered as “unreasonable†(or rather : another kick in the nutx…) by EU-Gamers, since we allready pay more than US and Japanese consumers and neither-the-less this price-cut, still would.
——-
Blame the HUGE tax rates in Europe.
Comment by jasp — Jul 9, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
It’s not a raw deal for early adopters at all; it comes with the territory. If you’re willing to pay the extra to have it early, then you get what you paid for. Console price reductions have been a reality for some time now.
Comment by frod — Jul 9, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
@11
If SCEE are talking about adding ‘value’ then that’s what they’ll do. We won’t see a massive reduction - we’ll get the 80Gb & MotorStorm bundle for a price that’s relatively close to where it is now. There’s no way Sonys jumping off the EU gravy train just yet….We won’t get the whole 17% reduction yet. Plain & simple.
Comment by Mick — Jul 9, 2007 @ 5:15 pm
@Sony: Bring a real price cut, not just the 80GB/Motorstorm bundle for the original price.
Comment by Andreas — Jul 9, 2007 @ 5:43 pm
Good on Sony. They have lowered production costs and are able to pass on the savings to new customers. I’ve had my PS3 since launch. I’m not bitter about having paid a premium for it. It’s been a lot of fun to be an early adopter for a change!
So 500 bucks is around 250 UK pounds. Although this doesn’t include US sales tax (less than 10% extra?), it sounds like a pretty darn good price to me! Let’s hope that sales pick up!
Comment by reakt — Jul 9, 2007 @ 9:42 pm
As a french early adopter, i think the price drop is a very good thing (more gamers=more games) BUT i hope that sony will do something for EU gamers, like a free sixasix or a couple of free blu-ray…
Comment by chrisredfield — Jul 9, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
When do we see Starcraft 2 on PS3?
Comment by sycodude — Jul 10, 2007 @ 2:12 am
@jasp: It’s not just tax. 1 Euro = 1.36233 US Dollar. Sales tax in most countries here is about 19%, in the US it’s what, 5%? So that still leaves 22% that goes straight into Sony’s pockets.
Comment by Laurens Holst — Jul 10, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
Have no fear early adopters believe me Sony will shaft europe again! with some dodgy bundle like PS3 & Motorstorm or Resistance for £399.99!!
Problem with the US price cut is that it has made news on websites such as the BBC news website and even they work out the comparisons in prices to Europe. So people more than ever are aware we are being shafted.
Unless sony at least hit £349.99 with this price-cut they can forget about it, shopto.net and other online retailers have had it selling for between £359.99 - £399 so they at least got to beat these prices.
Comment by Bigsmoke — Jul 10, 2007 @ 1:54 pm
Shafted yet again don’t forget that us early adopters are sonys biggest fans . Hopefully there will be some form of a deal , if not then we have all been cheated !
Comment by nikrad — Jul 10, 2007 @ 8:59 pm
That is great. I’m hoping they announce a £350 pricetag for the 60gb model, which seems a reasonable to get it right away.
Comment by Dew — Jul 11, 2007 @ 5:57 pm
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment