Publishers to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 console

[Chief]

This could be good news for gamers looking to pick up a slightly less expensive toy!

Sony is under pressure from video-game publishers to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 console or risk seeing more development funds shift to Nintendo Co.’s Wii.

Sony, which has resisted calls for lower prices, is likely to shave $50 to $100 off the PS3 this month or next, said Mike Hickey, an analyst with Janco Partners Inc. in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Starting at $399.99, the PS3 is $200 more than the lowest-priced Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. and $150 more than the market-leading Wii.

Three years into the latest generation of game consoles, Sony is stuck in third place, data from the manufacturers show.

The Tokyo-based company, once the dominant player, has half the worldwide users of Wii, even though the PS3 has earned praise for its processing power, graphics and Blu-ray movie player. U.S. sales of the PS3 have declined for three straight months.

“If they can’t meaningfully increase their install base, then you will likely see a capital reallocation,” Hickey said.

Kinda makes me glad I held off ... Perhaps if I wait a little longer they'll be giving these away in boxes of cornflakes!

Source : Sony Faces Heat From Game Publishers to Cut PS3 Price (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

[The_Disturbed_One]

Indeed. I'm still not getting one though. The price of the PS3 may drop a bit, but I still haven't seen any games that make me want to fly out and get one. I'll stick it out with the 360 for now.

[hippie pieces]

How could Sony not realize how big of an issue price point was. They would still be #1 today if they released a system for around $300. Instead they released a BlueRay player with a video game system attached.

I don't think Sony will drop the price at this point. Third parties have been pushing them to lower the price since it launched.

[computer2slow]

If they bring back backwards compatibility and a price drop would help sales I think. And not the ripoff of re buying games again like the Wii. A system should do both be able to play your old games and be able to downloads you never bought.

[WhiteCrowUK]

About time. The system has been around for 2 years now, and hasn't seen any kind of price drop at all in the UK.

Meanwhile the Xbox2 is down to about £100 over here, compared to £300 for the PS3

[fadeout001]

My ps3 was a Christmas gift and I got a few piloting games with it. I hardly ever play it and have never invested money in it and will probably not until God of War 3 and Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out. I would rather buy things on the 360 anyway because it has a larger online community and you don't have to download the entire stinking game to the console. Sony took Microsoft's idea but took it to far with to little memory space. I can fit more on my 360 hardrive without having to delete games so the few games that I would ever want that are ps3 exclusive are far and in between.

[childeroland]

Why doesn't Sony support backward compatibility for the PS2 and to take advantage of the latter's library?

[fadeout001]

Why doesn't Sony support backward compatibility for the PS2 and to take advantage of the latter's library?

Because it cost money to make a consle BC. They took it out in attempts to cut the prices because the feel a blu ray player has more value in a game console instead of a BC mod chip that allows people to play games on the game console