PS3 price 'getting more competitive' in March?

  • By TomM_GScom, GameSpot
  • Posted Nov 24, 2008 4:48 pm PT

Source: UK gaming site D+Pad. What we heard: As it currently stands, Sony's PlayStation 3 is available in a $499 160GB and $399 80GB setup, each of which packs the functionality of the now-discontinued 40GB package. How or why the console has arrived at these configurations is a matter best...

Source: UK gaming site D+Pad.

What we heard: As it currently stands, Sony's PlayStation 3 is available in a $499 160GB and $399 80GB setup, each of which packs the functionality of the now-discontinued 40GB package. How or why the console has arrived at these configurations is a matter best left to an accomplished novelist. The important point to note is that, to date, Sony has only officially enacted one price cut for its flagship console, which came in August 2007.

In 2008, despite offering gamers more bang for their buck with the introduction of the aforementioned SKUs, Sony has held to its two-tiered pricing scheme. And going by Sony CEO Howard Stringer's words from August 2008, gamers can expect those fees to continue through the rest of this year.

Into the new year, however, PS3 pricing may be in for a change. Over the weekend, UK-based gaming site D+Pad reported on a number of Sony-related items allegedly leaked by an attendee of the publisher's Staff Annual Briefing in London. The conference covered a number of topics that gaming enthusiasts would fall over themselves to know, including a paraphrased quote from Sony Europe president David Reeves that the PS3 "will be getting more competitive in price from March 2009 onwards."

D+Pad's source also apparently confirmed that Media Molecule's Little Big Planet is indeed being prepped for the PSP, as is Evolution's MotorStorm. Sony's summit also contained gameplay footage of the much-anticipated God of War III ("it looked so good our source wasn't clear whether it was CGI or not!"), as well as for a sequel to Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune ("Looks the same as Uncharted 1, no bad thing").

The official story: Sony had not returned requests or comment as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: Looking not bogus. A strong resurgence in the first part of 2008 notwithstanding, Sony is quickly giving up gains made over archrival Microsoft in the wake of the 360's price cut in September. Last month alone, the Xbox 360 outsold Sony's PS3, 371,000 units to 190,000.

Even more, the electronics giant, more so than pretty much anyone, is feeling the stiff global market conditions, making it all the more important to get as many consoles in gamers hands as possible. Obviously, a price cut is coming sometime, and it looks like the PS3's day will be sooner rather than later.

392 Comments

  • ishan9

    Posted Jan 28, 2009 6:48 pm PT

    this must be for real.they really have to drop the PS3s price at 299$.then only can they compare with the xbox 360 and wii.if it really comes down to 299$.i will get it.cause look at its exclusives.one thing i am getting the ps3 is for god of war 3.

  • zacattack214

    Posted Jan 24, 2009 6:52 pm PT

    Well I for one would welcome this price drop. I would definaltey buy a PS3 at $299--that's what I paid for my 360 and I would rather have a PS3 anyway (because of the exclusives, not because I'm some obsessed fanboy).

  • BatmanTheBold

    Posted Jan 10, 2009 10:59 am PT

    they also maybe need to ohh I dont know BRING BACK THE CHROME!!!!if they want to go higher the xbox 360 or wii

  • superjon6

    Posted Dec 27, 2008 9:01 pm PT

    To make the console more competitive with the Wii and 360 they would have to cut the price of the console down to $299 for the 80 GB and $399 for the 160 GB, and they would need to include games and an HDMI cable in the package just like the 360 Elite, it also wouldn't hurt to make it compatible with PS2 games, and have 4 USB ports

  • puma-1208

    Posted Dec 27, 2008 6:07 pm PT

    You would think that they would cut the ps 2's price as well. It should hit the magic number of $99.99.

  • jollyroger123

    Posted Dec 22, 2008 10:05 pm PT

    there gonna have a tough time lowering prices on that console they already lose a bunch of money because the CPU cost bunches to make....

  • puma-1208

    Posted Dec 19, 2008 6:48 pm PT

    Any realistic price predictions? I'm thinking $50. This way they can say their console is cheaper than the top 360. Does anyone recall what the price cut was on on 360? Man it seems like they have been at the current prices forever and that was in September.

  • osxgp

    Posted Dec 18, 2008 11:38 pm PT

    I'm tired of the multiple SKUs that Microsoft and Sony have. It is making it too confusing for consumers. The option to choose what will work best for you is nice, but this is a console; not a computer.

  • burnteyeball

    Posted Dec 18, 2008 9:37 pm PT

    Allright! I can finally buy one with the 200 dollars I've been savin... wait, there still how much?

  • puma-1208

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 8:06 am PT

    So should I wait for this or get a 360? The old man said one or the other. I pretty much play sports games with an occasional add in game. I do like the idea of a blu ray player in my room.

  • Ginsy26

    Posted Dec 14, 2008 2:46 am PT

    this better b done soon, i am a pc gamer and i want a ps3 but the prices are ridiculous. i live in england and its around £300. i want to get a ps3 for killzone 2, metal gear solid 4 and uncharted 2, but its too much. sony needs to lower prices. there are hundreds more like me who want a console but know that its too pricey

  • daveg1

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 12:41 pm PT

    its about time this came,sony have been priceing themselves out of the race for too long now,if the drop is worth it i might consider getting another one ive got a gameing rig so idont need a 360.

  • jmartin1016

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 10:45 am PT

    I don't have enough time to play all the games I want to. I'm only half way through GTA4. I've only play Gears2 for about 20 hours, and Soul Calibur 4 for 10 hours. Getting Fallout 3 for christmas, and Resident Evil 5 in march. With all of the downloadable content coming I'm set for most of 2009. Don't get me wrong PS3 has some great things going for it. I want to play MGS4 with a passion, but I'm gonna wait till the price is in the $250 area. I think PS3 is a better purchase than a Wii by far, but my gaming needs are being fulfilled by M$.

  • MOAN_Z0NE

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 10:15 am PT

    When the thing drops below $250 I'll buy one for the BluRay player.

    /Just not enough PS3 only games to make it worth investing that much.

  • division_9

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 6:31 am PT

    hey guys ive got great theory!!!!11. they'll make PS3's price more compettetive by buyin out DVD and forcing Microsoft to pay 100$ more for each DVD drive so the cheapest 360 will be 299$!!!. Thats right Sony go grab Microsoft by the balls!!!!11.

  • deltron3131

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 2:56 am PT

    still annoyed that they have a 160 gig for what i paid for my 80 gig metal gear package ohh well i wouldve never gotten metal gear 4 on my own and it turns out its an amazing game haha dont have an x box but i guess trying to out compete my friends on ps3 trophies is keeping me busy enough i like that i dont have to pay to play online nor use the online services even tho it cost more out right the x box price would catch up with the online cost

  • shani_boy101

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 12:17 am PT

    @joevit
    Where the f do you buy your consoles??? i have a PS1 slim, PS2 fat and mid-high range PC and they all still work fine. My lil sis has got a DS and the touch screen is very sensitive around the edges, but that my sis

  • shani_boy101

    Posted Dec 8, 2008 12:12 am PT

    I'm happy with a price cut cos i'm planning to get my PS3 in April. Hope Australian pricing follows suit (They overprice stuff SOOOO much here. an iPhone 16GB costs $899!!!!!).

    And a word to Naughty Dog: Where is Jak and Daxter guys??? you seriously must have learnt your lesson by now in NOT giving up your awesome franchises. I CAN'T STAND the Crash Bandicoot games out there now and i don't know what i'll do if vivendi or sierra gets a hold of Jak and Daxter.

    BRING BACK JAK!!!!

  • dcmdream

    Posted Dec 7, 2008 7:56 pm PT

    I hope Sony does drop the system down to $299 and while their at it , please drop the PS2 down to at least $99 so people that have older PS2's that died can purchase another one along side their PS3 purchase because Sony completely took out the BC.

    Wait a sec, I'm still gonna spend $399 after the price drop......oh well, life goes on.

  • thanom9

    Posted Dec 7, 2008 5:32 pm PT

    ps3 should go on a $100 for one month so it can sell more units so people can buy more of its games, than it can hang on to its exclusives.

  • Unholy_Terror

    Posted Dec 7, 2008 10:08 am PT

    I ps3 gets significantly cheaper because I love my 360, but I was a Playstation player for about 10 years of my life (psx and ps2) and I really want to play God of War 3 and MGS4 which are both series I played a lot and Killzone 2 looks pretty amazing and Resistance looked kind of cool

  • aaronobst

    Posted Dec 7, 2008 3:18 am PT

    thats excluding the ones FifaWorldcup03 said of course

  • aaronobst

    Posted Dec 7, 2008 3:17 am PT

    @ Princess_Rectum

    I actually can name PLENTY few good exclusives currently out now; Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Ratchet and Clank TOD, Ratchet and Clank QFB, Motorstorm 1 & 2, Folklore, Valkyria Chronicles, GT5, SOCOM: Confrontation

    As for the stellar looking ones on the horizon: HOME, God Of War III, Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, INfamous, White Knight Chronicles, Heavy Rain, The Agency, Wipeout HD.... the list actually is rather large when you look into it do don't give me that "PS3 has no games " rubbish

  • planetkyle

    Posted Dec 6, 2008 10:08 pm PT

    Now that blu rays are hitting the $120 to $150 range, the PS3 suddenly looks even more expensive. I almost ran out of patience and bought a blu ray instead. If PS3 could hit $249, they could recoup their falling console sales. But Microsoft will kill it in sales for the holiday season.

  • Princess_Rectum

    Posted Dec 6, 2008 2:35 pm PT

    "Name good exclusives for the 360. Gears of War, Halo....oh ok. PS3 has Metal Gear, Killzone, Resistance, Little Big Planet, Uncharted and the list goes on."

    Actually no that's about it xD and Killzone has always been awful. I still lol when I think back to the days of kids calling it "The Halo Killer" but it turned out to be a turd.

  • FifaWorldcup03

    Posted Dec 6, 2008 1:05 pm PT

    @george999819

    A lousy line up of games? Are you kidding me? Name good exclusives for the 360. Gears of War, Halo....oh ok. PS3 has Metal Gear, Killzone, Resistance, Little Big Planet, Uncharted and the list goes on. And do you have reasons to back up the poor online? I have both systems and you know what they both do for me, I get to play online. The thing is, I don't have to pay for it on the PS3. Then you say 60% buy the system to play games while the other 40 dont?? Thats ridiculus. Get your facts right before you post absurd coments. The fact of the matter is, 360 fanboys are mad at Sony's success and their range of good exclusives. Don't get me wrong, I love Gears and Halo, but when it comes down to it, I find myself on my PS3 more.

    So advice for you is to stop thinking inside your 360 fanboy box, and look at the real picture. PS3 has far more capabilites than the 360, better exclusives, and it is more reliable. You want to know why MGS4 was a PS3 exclusive?? Because the 360 couldn't handle it. It wouldn't even beable to run. It would not only have to be dumbed down to allow the system to run it, but it would also have to be on 5-6 discs! So stop making up your random numbers and percents, and research it before you have something to say. Fanboys....gah.

  • joevit

    Posted Dec 6, 2008 12:00 pm PT

    @Brennan_ I had my PS3 go down 3 times. the disk drive... My 360 had the RROD. My PS1 died a few times. My PS2 had to go back a time or 2. Thats the way it is. Hell I had to send back My nvidia card 5 times becouse it got to hot and I dont over clock. Crap happens. To give MS some love, they did stand by and fix the 360. The 360 is very powerful. It's also about time the tag gos down on the PS3. I just found a Blu-Ray player for $99 bucks. Next year you can pick up a Blu-Ray player for $50-$99 bucks.

  • Wellk

    Posted Dec 6, 2008 11:21 am PT

    i hope the price drops in march. i'm expecting to get some serious coin for my birthday in march next year

  • Jtweedd

    Posted Dec 6, 2008 4:46 am PT

    george999819- heh depends on what model ps3. the 20 gig had the higest failure rate of any system ever released. in addition, i am sure you owned a ps2 and ps1, so buying systems with high failure rates isn't a new thing to you.
    plus the whole its a blu ray player thing is irrelevant. at this point, you can buy a blu ray player for $150 or less. so you can buy whatever system you like, get the blu ray player and still have some left over to buy a game.

  • george999819 posted Dec 5, 2008 11:45 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    george999819

    Posted Dec 5, 2008 11:45 pm PT (hide)

    _Brennan_: "Why do people even complain about the PS3 costing more than the 360? The 360 breaks, the PS3 doesn't. Basically, you get what you pay for. >_>"

    Both consoles break, the 360 just breaks more often. But soon the RROD will be a non-issue as the failure rate is now under 6%. But you definitely don't get what you pay for with the PS3, as compared to the 360. You get a lousy lineup of games while the 360 has a stellar lineup of critically acclaimed games. You get a poor online service when compared to Xbox LIVE (what do you expect from something free, though). You get the inferior version of almost every multiplatform game released. Fallout 3 is a good example of this, since you have a FO3 avatar. The PS3 version has gotten lower review scores for its performance issues. Also, you miss out on exclusive content on big games; Fallout 3 content, GTA: The Lost and Damned, and GTA IV Episodic Content Pack #2.

    The PS3 is definitely not worth its price as a game system. It may be worth its price as a Blu Ray player though. When you compare the PS3's good hardware sales to its poor software sales, you can see that a lot of people buying the PS3 aren't buying the console for its games (where are they?). This is also why every game's online community is way, way, way, way more active on Xbox LIVE. 100% of people buy the 360 to play games, probably only about 60% of people buy the PS3 to play games. Why do you think the PS3 is seeing all its big exclusives turn into multiplatform games (GTA IV, FFXIII, Tekken 6, and soon-to-be MGS4)? Because there isn't enough money to be made sticking exclusively with the PS3 and developers see multiplatform games sell 3 to 4 times better on the 360. Just look at the sales for each console's big games. Gears of War 2 outsold Resistance by a ratio of nearly 8:1 in its first week. Even more pathetic, in just 2 weeks, Gears of War 2 already sold 2/3 as many copies as MGS4 did in 5 months! How depressing for the PS3.

    Well, look at it this way. You can take your time to enjoy the PS3, because it's looking pretty certain that there's never going to be a PS4.

  • yman173

    Posted Dec 5, 2008 10:42 pm PT

    Ive waited for the 360 to get to $299 before diving-in. Looks like 2009 will be the year I dive into a PS3. Its about damn time!

  • jk212

    Posted Dec 5, 2008 9:13 pm PT

    this is great, more people buying ps3, more money software developers make, more and even better games for ps3, can i get a woot?

  • _Brennan_

    Posted Dec 5, 2008 2:20 pm PT

    Why do people even complain about the PS3 costing more than the 360?

    The 360 breaks, the PS3 doesn't.

    Basically, you get what you pay for. >_>

  • osxgp

    Posted Dec 3, 2008 10:56 pm PT

    Price cuts are nice for us consumers. I just get a headache thinking about all the different console variations between Sony and Microsoft. Six for Sony (20G, 40G, 60G, two different 80G, and now a 160G) and 5 for Microsoft (the Core, Arcade, Premium, Pro, and the Elite). That is 11 different configurations. 11!!!!

  • Steel_Rain777

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 6:22 pm PT

    Maverick_76:

    I think that's be fair, seeing as how the 60gb 360 is now $299. It would definitely give those who were interested in the PS3 before more incentive to buy it.

    LOL its the opposite for me, now that 360 is 60gb and at $299, I've been wanting to buy it, for its exclusives...I'll see in 09

  • jimbo-89

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 4:49 pm PT

    Got a 360 and have been considering a ps3 but i was determined that no matter how much i wanted ps3 (which isn't a great deal anyway) that i would not pay what sony are asking for at the moment so a price cut is a good thing.

  • DaleMurph

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 3:19 pm PT

    To me, it doesn't matter how low the PS3 gets in price or how big the hard drive gets.
    It's ALL about FULL backwards compatibilty.

  • ShadowedSight

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 12:44 pm PT

    Good thing my birthday is in march!

  • delbonifro

    Posted Dec 1, 2008 5:37 am PT

    Ive been waiting for a price drop. Im really glad 2 years ago i got a 360 but ive been waitig also for 2 years for the ps3 to drop. I love ps2 and lets face it ps2 was a hell of alot better then xbox. But know xbox has a community and awsome games and i can truelly say since im a cheap ass if they drop it down to about 250 or somewhere in that area ill go out and buy it. Other then that the only way im buying it is if someone gives it to me.

  • thee_Decider

    Posted Nov 30, 2008 6:16 pm PT

    I have definitely been waiting for a price cut or redesign. Maybe if they came out with that white model I'd buy it even without a redesign.

  • maverick_76

    Posted Nov 29, 2008 4:40 pm PT

    I'm guessing a $50 price cut and possibly a third SKU, maybe a 200GB model, allowing the 80GB model to drop maybe to $299.

  • nappan

    Posted Nov 28, 2008 12:36 pm PT

    Good, this is how competition in the market should work.

  • necronaux

    Posted Nov 28, 2008 10:44 am PT

    And, they don't intend to do it 'til after christmas? This could definetly hurt their holiday sales. If you're going PS3 (over wii or xbox), waiting 3 months could save you a wad of cash. (Unlessof course, they only drop prices a small amount.)

  • malaga01 posted Nov 28, 2008 12:22 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    malaga01

    Posted Nov 28, 2008 12:22 am PT (hide)

    even if they were the same price i would only play bluray on it and play games on 360 because the controller the lighting and the games are better.

  • L33T_TI200P3I2

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 10:29 pm PT

    If they lower the price they will definatly sell more than the Xbox

  • Incubus420

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 2:26 pm PT

    They should just Drop it 100 bones. They still have some solid Triple A titles coming out and they shouldn't move too fast, and not see the bulk of their efforts go to waste.

  • Death_Masta187 posted Nov 27, 2008 1:53 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Death_Masta187

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 1:53 pm PT (hide)

    maybe if the ps3 was $150 and still had hardware ps2 emulation and more then 1 decent exclusive (MGS4) then I might think about it.. but it would take an act of god to make all of that come together.... but for now ill stick with my $299 360 and my $30 up convert dvd player...

  • Strigidae

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 2:36 am PT

    Now they're finally smelling the coffee.

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 2:24 am PT

    "Last month alone, the Xbox 360 outsold Sony's PS3, 371,000 units to 190,000. " -PS3 $279 for the win.

  • thug9cole

    Posted Nov 27, 2008 1:39 am PT

    tawagivercetti were only jealous until you have to ship off your console

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!