Sony Sends Cheap PS3 Out to Die - Again

Act fast if you want to get one on the cheap.

What started out looking like a drop in the price for the PlayStation 3 in the US is instead now seems more like an elaborate switcheroo.

On Monday Sony announced that it was lowering the price of the 60 GB model of the PS3 in the US from $599 (around £300) to $499 and at the same time it introduced an 80 GB model that will be the new high-end system costing $599.

So far so good. But it seems that Sony is going to do what it did previously, when it dropped the cheaper 20 GB model in favour of the 60 GB model, and quickly get rid of the cheaper model.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at the E3 Media & Business Summit this week, Sony's European boss, David Reeves, said that there would be no new stock of the 60 GB model and that Sony was expecting current supplies to run dry quickly at the lower price.

"All they [Sony Computer Entertainment America] are doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60 GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July."

The reasoning behind such a decision is quite simple. The 80 GB model of the PS3 is, except for the hard drive size, essentially the same as the 60 GB European model in that, according to reports, it lacks the Emotion Engine and other PlayStation 2 hardware.

Initially Sony relied on this included PS2 hardware for backwards compatibility with PS2 games in the 20 GB and 60 GB US models, but when the PS3 arrived in Europe, the company decided to cut costs by opting for software emulation instead.

Dropping the 60 GB model allows Sony to get rid of the version of its hardware that costs them the most to make, an essential move considering that the company is still making a loss on the system.

The move jibes with Sony's plans in Europe. Here the company is not planning a price drop on the 60 GB model and it's not going to bring the newer model here yet either.

Rather, Sony has revealed that it's planning to release a new bundle that includes the console, two controllers and both of Sony's top PS3 games, MotorStorm and Resistance: Fall of Man.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo