Sony Drops PS3 Price in Japan Only

Japanese think the PS3 is overpriced so Sony drops the price of the 20 GB model. Hey, Sony, the rest of the world thinks it is overpriced too.

The Xbox 360 has, until now, not shown itself to be much competition for the still unreleased PlayStation 3, but consider its momentum coming out of the Tokyo Game Show and the mounting excitement for the Wii there and you can see that things aren't so straightforward for Sony this time. And that's why the company has cut the price of the PlayStation 3 before it's even out - though only in Japan.

Late last week, Sony cut the price of the 20 GB model of the PlayStation 3 from ¥60,000 (£270) to ¥49,980 (£225). In contrast, the prices outside of Japan have not yet been shifted downwards - in Europe it will cost €500 (£334) and in the US it'll be $500 (£265).

But that's not all. Both models of the PlayStation 3 will now also come with an HDMI connection, meaning that the only major difference between the two models is wireless capabilities.

PlayStation boss Ken Kutaragi told Bloomberg news that both the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 were, like the PlayStation 3 is now, priced higher than the competition. But the price cut serves as tacit admission that things are very different in Japan this time.

Not everyone is excited about the price drop, either. Yoku Ihara, an analyst at Retela Crea Securities, said the move was "ridiculous", considering that the console isn't even out yet. He suggested that Sony could drop the price again if things don't go well.

Sony will have just 100,000 units of the PlayStation 3 ready for the Japanese launch in mid November, with around 400,000 for the US launch shortly afterwards. Europeans will need to sit tight, though, with the console not due here until next March at the earliest.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo