Sony timing its PS3 price cut to roll with Madden, homework?

Sony showed us a lot of things at this year's E3 -- some expected, some rather less-so -- but they didn't show us the primary thing shareholders and fans were hoping for: a price cut. That most expensive of gaming consoles still retains its lead in the brutal MSRP wars, but a Sterne Agee analyst indicates that Sony is just biding its time. According to the always accurate "industry sources," the PS3 will receive a $100 drop sometime in the middle of August, just in time for the launch of Madden NFL 10. That would also coincide with back to school shopping, apparently a popular time for buying consoles by parents who want to give their kids every chance in the world to fail thanks to spending too much time robbing graves in Uncharted.

[superhobo @ Jun 9th 2009 7:28AM]

Electronic engineers clearly care about the environment.

[petrosdias @ Jun 9th 2009 7:29AM]

I get most of my games/consoles just before holidays too. Like, right now. Ahem, Sony, I said, RIGHT NOW.

[Temple @ Jun 9th 2009 10:57AM]

Seriously, at this point, where we have had dozens of price-cut rumors all being false. Its better not to believe any of this.

It'll come when it'll come. Simply that.

[versionII @ Jun 9th 2009 7:38AM]

I would have thought something more on the lines of

"If you finish the school with a B average, I'll buy you a PS3 system and Madden" would work better.

Perhaps Sony hired some GM execs to make this decision????

[joeybeast @ Jun 9th 2009 9:56AM]

0% financing? or instant rebate?

[Agent .25i @ Jun 9th 2009 10:17AM]

What? Sony wants $600 in taxes from me too now?

[216 @ Jun 9th 2009 7:39AM]

ha I bought my PS3 almost a year ago, on the same day that I moved into my dorm at school. I moved all my stuff in, then went right back out and hunted down a MGS Bundle before they were gone forever


PS3's go great in dorm rooms tho

[fastm3driver @ Jun 9th 2009 10:57AM]

My friend just walked into my cube and told me his MGD PS3 just died last night. Ouch.

[fucter @ Jun 9th 2009 7:41AM]

too late imo sony. i already bought an xbox360 for the SUMMER, ya know, when I have time to play it.

[JohnH @ Jun 9th 2009 11:59AM]

Wait, I thought summer was when you did stuff outside. I'd buy a console in the fall, right before it gets rainy and cold so that I want to stay inside all day.

[Massmass @ Jun 9th 2009 4:24PM]

You ever see a white boy cook in the sun?! It aint pretty.

[Ethos @ Jun 9th 2009 7:41AM]

Well I got my first PS3 by winning it. So I guess I don't mind buying a second for my bedroom as well if the price-cuts is significant in Australia Land.

[rells009 @ Jun 9th 2009 7:44AM]

Tokyo Game Show. If they're gonna announce that it's gonna be at the Tokyo Game Show. It gives em enough time to get a price cut for the holiday season.

[Massmass @ Jun 9th 2009 4:31PM]

Spot on. I also suspect even more Wii colors at TGS to offset price cuts elsewhere.

[SABRAGE @ Jun 9th 2009 7:52AM]

How much does it cost now?

[Levi @ Jun 9th 2009 10:48AM]

A THOUSAND MILLION DOLLARS PLUS A HUNDRED EUROS and 10 yen.

[Uchiha Sasuke @ Jun 9th 2009 3:27PM]

...plus a night with levi's mom.

[skyzbig @ Jun 9th 2009 7:54AM]

Oh good, another PS3 price cut rumour.

Can never have too many of them can you...

[Smoke_me_a_Kipper @ Jun 9th 2009 7:56AM]

Based on the new PSPgo price, I'd wager that they don't drop the price on the new slim unit maby $50 max cut if any..

[Frogboy @ Jun 9th 2009 9:37AM]

Based on the PSP Go! price, they'll probabably put a bigger hard drive in it and raise the price by $80.

[Gus @ Jun 9th 2009 10:32AM]

Based on the PSP Go, they'll remove the Blu-Ray and jack the price up 50%.

[nighttime__ @ Jun 9th 2009 8:07AM]

does anyone else tune out when they hear the word "analyst" in video game/console articles?

[Mojo_Yugen @ Jun 9th 2009 11:51AM]

That has to be the easiest job. Right below TV weather man. Just pull a random rumor out of your ass every week and say it won't happen for several months. By then everyone has forgotten your prediction.

[AoMoe @ Jun 9th 2009 8:08AM]

If there is a price cut for the PS3, it will be maximum of $50. It will always be the most expensive console, unless one of the other two manufacturers release a major upgrade of their console.

[Jarhead2012 @ Jun 9th 2009 10:58PM]

You're right about it being the most expensive. The PS3 is overpowered, I really doubt that it will ever reach its full potential before the next generation of consoles. I also doubt that there are any major hardware updates coming to any of the current gen consoles, at least nothing that would change prices.

Microsoft doesn't need an update: the 360 is a solid piece of hardware, the RRoD issues are (for the most part) in the past, and their software updates have kept demands in check, and looks like Microsoft has their entry in for good in the long run. I suppose if anything, Microsoft might release an updated 360 with a built in wireless adapter, however I doubt that will happen until next gen either.

Beyond that, everyone knows the Wii is underpowered. Even Nintendo has pretty much acknowledged that the Wii is a system lacking in power, but everyone also knows that they won't release an update either. Here, the conflict is between the PS3 and the Xbox 360, the two consoles that hold the attention of the hard-core gaming market, the market that *cares* about power. The Wii frankly doesn't *need* an upgrade, because it would be released and wasted on people that, for the most part, wouldn't even notice. The Wii's target audience is an audience who isn't affected by these power issues, and look for the cheapest console.

All in all, as far as prices go, I think that things will stand the way they are: PS3 will remain the most expensive, the 360 will stay in the middle, and the Wii will stay at the lowest price point. If anything, all three systems will slowly take cuts of the next X years, but I don't think the PS3 is ever going to become cheaper than Microsoft's offering. It seems to me that Sony put out a powerhouse that, unfortunately, probably won't ever realize its full potential, but does offer something the 360 doesn't with it's HD DVD Format player in the Blue Ray drive.

I think things are right where they should be. All three companies have created excellent pieces of hardware, all of which have their strengths, and if anything drastic happens with prices/hardware, I highly doubt it will be this generation.

[ray k @ Jun 9th 2009 8:40AM]

blah blah, the wii's actually more expensive etc...

[davedrastic @ Jun 9th 2009 8:42AM]

I for one remember that the analysts, in particular Pachter, were hailing March 09 as prime price drop time. When that didn't happen, E3 (June 09) was said to be the time. Now that that hasn't happened, it's become August. Frankly the analysts have by this time lost all credibility in their knowledge of when the price drop will happen.

[joeybeast @ Jun 9th 2009 10:01AM]

You know it's more of an educated guess than knowledge.

[Xodome @ Jun 9th 2009 8:44AM]

With a multiplat game? I was expecting this price drop to come around with GT5, the highest selling PS and racing game. It could be $50 and $50 when GT5 launches.

[teej @ Jun 9th 2009 11:20AM]

GT5 still isn't out? talk about forever...

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Jun 9th 2009 2:10PM]

Seriously. They should rename it Gran Turismo 5 Forever.

I was a huge fan of the GT series and bought my original PS and the PS2 just to play those games. Switched to the 360 for this generation of consoles for Forza and haven't regretted it.. especially with these kinds of delays.

Though I will still probably end up picking up a cheap PS3 for a BluRay player one of these days.

[Xodome @ Jun 10th 2009 4:25AM]

GT5P launched with around 75 cars and 6 tracks. It's quite obvious GT5 will be A LOT bigger then any racing game in existence. They can afford to put this much development time into the game due to the fact that Sony is paying for it, GT5P sold over 3 million, and the GT series is just popular and is guaranteed sales over 2 million. I think the wait is worth it. I would buy a 360 and Forza to keep me busy until it comes out. When it drops I'm sure it'll blow everyone away. They aren't in a rush to put this game out because it's a high quality franchise. It'll be polished to death, more then Killzone 2 and MGS4.It'll be a real racing sim as well. Forza 3 looks more like a derby arcadish racing game for casuals.

[Ranger Rick @ Jun 9th 2009 8:51AM]

I want a Wii before I go back to school... Bitches love that shit.

[Amun @ Jun 9th 2009 4:45PM]

Guys like it too.

[mynk @ Jun 9th 2009 7:59PM]

bitches love my wiiwii.
and if guys like that shit, there's some serious issues bro.

[Mr. 14 @ Jun 10th 2009 12:17AM]

Yeah, buying a Wii will totally get you laid bro...

[Nomi @ Jun 9th 2009 8:51AM]

@ $299...they will own this holiday season. Couple that with a 8gb PSPgo at a lower price point.

[wajones @ Jun 9th 2009 8:57AM]

When the hell is the full Gran Turismo 5 coming out?

[Indefinite Implosion @ Jun 9th 2009 9:16AM]

22nd December, 2012

[Daza @ Jun 9th 2009 9:17AM]

The PS3 has a 10 year plan, apparently so does GT5..

[jimmyink @ Jun 9th 2009 9:25AM]

Hahaha, I got it. Also recognised the NIN setup. Nice

*I'm Australian by the way, we don't take kindly to z's around here.

[NOOOOOOO! @ Jun 9th 2009 9:29AM]

lol Indifintie Implosion.

Now I'll never be able to play it

[Indefinite Implosion @ Jun 10th 2009 9:01AM]

*high-5's jimmyink for also being Australian*
Yeah, I took that when I saw them this year at Soundwave in Syd :)

[Cedrock @ Jun 9th 2009 9:11AM]

my first semester at college was peak H2 time and I was a drone resulting in a 1.86 gpa haha. After gaming rehab (not playing halo 2) and alot of prioritizing I was able to graduate over a 3.0.

wajones I also have the same question and was disappointed to to hear anything about it

[CtrlBurn @ Jun 9th 2009 9:13AM]

Sony keeps pushing back their price cuts because the rumors about price cuts are hurting their current sales. Sony will cut the price just after everyone is convinced that the price won't drop, and they go buy a PS3 for $399.

[Jet @ Jun 9th 2009 9:23AM]

$299..$300. I paid $599 for my PS3 in 2006. Sony should do this...release a PS3 with a SMALL HDD. hell a 16 GB flash disk and bring back BC for $299. WITH a 120GB HDD $349. WITH a 500 GB HDD $399.

[m3nphls @ Jun 9th 2009 9:44AM]

They should release a PS3 with 50GB HDD, no BD Drive and only for PSN downloads instead put it a price of 199

[rickjamess04 @ Jun 9th 2009 10:06AM]

@m3nphls you are a complete ding dong if you think that Sony is going to ditch the blu-ray player. On top of that, if they were going to make a PSN only PS3, then you think that a 50gb HDD is going to be enough space???? Hell, someone is going to have to download all 50gb of MGS4 and then delete it just to play another game. Plus, I don't think most ISP's would be too happy that Sony has decided to make a network only PS3 that requires 25gb+ sized games to be downloaded at a time!

Besides, one could argue that the blu-ray drive is the primary reason Sony has been able to sell 23 million PS3s so far!

I love my PS3 to death, but let these ridiculous rumors die. Sony isn't in a position financially to cater to everyone's requests for a cheaper PS3. Its like someone saying that Honda should make a 2010 S2000 with 400hp, weigh only 2000lbs and only cost $20K. Obviously Sony has to keep costs down of the system, so they won't drop the price $100 and add back in BC. Honestly, I have a 80gb with backwards compatibility and I rarely use it. It does give me the peace of mind, but there are too many great PS3 games right now that keep me occupied.

[m3nphls @ Jun 9th 2009 10:21AM]

@rickjamess04

that's exactly what i'm saying in my comment a little bit further down. People who have their Xbox360 breaking on them and gladly go and buy a second or third one could've easily spend the money on a PS3 which is more reliable.

[rickjamess04 @ Jun 9th 2009 10:52AM]

@m3nphls Ah--thanks for the clarification. Sorry about that. Hahaha.

But a separate point I wanted to make was that August seems like a fairly reasonable time for a price drop considering that the last price drop occurred in August...