PS3 to have same launch price as PS2?

Last week, the Mainichi Daily News quoted Sony Computer Entertainment officials as saying the PlayStation 3 would be priced at under 50,000 yen ($465.58). Now it appears that the console may be even cheaper when it goes on sale next year.

Today, Japanese Web site Impress PC Watch reported that SCE has told its business partners that the PS3 will be under 40,000 yen ($370) at launch. The news has spurred speculation that the company might launch the machine with the same price it set for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Both machines were priced at 39,800 yen ($368) when they launched in 1994 and 2000, respectively.

Sony's PS3 will be competing with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Revolution in the next-generation console wars. When it launched in Japan in 2002, Microsoft's current-generation Xbox was priced at 34,800 yen ($322). The company has been shaving down the console's cost since then, and it currently sells at 17,640 yen ($163).

Nintendo's GameCube made its debut in 2001 at 25,000 yen ($231)--the lowest launch price of the three current-generation home consoles. The GameCube continues to be the lowest priced console on the market, currently marked down to 14,000 yen ($130). Nintendo has never priced any of its past consoles higher than 25,000 yen at launch, which could well be the same case for the Revolution. During E3, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that he hopes to "keep the Revolution at a price range that anyone can reach out for, and nothing as high as 50,000 yen ($463)."