PS2 price cut drives sales in Japan

TOKYO--Masatsuka Saeki, Sony Computer Entertainment vice president, revealed that the PS2’s price cut in Japan has resulted in strong sales over the last two weeks. Sony slashed the PS2 from 25,000 yen ($229) to 19,800 yen ($181) on November 13. According to Saeki, “in the last two weeks, we’ve sold 130,000 units. That’s a 193 percent increase over the same period last year.”

Saeki said that the price cuts would help more consumers enjoy the software titles scheduled for year-end release, and suggested that the strong console sales over the last two weeks showed that the game industry is not as depressed as many commentators believed.