Price Cut & New 80GB PS3 Announced by Sony

Price Cut & New 80GB PS3 Announced by Sony
Rumors of an impending PS3 price cut have been permeating the net for months. It has been predicted that the price drop would occur just before the holiday sales period this fall, but Sony has just announced that a $100 PS3 price cut will take effect as of July 9th.

The 60GB model, which debuted at $599, will now sell at an MSRP of $499. A new 80GB model will now sell at $599 and come bundled with the popular ‘MotorStorm’ game inside the box. Sony’s 20GB PS3 model, which lacked a few features included on the 60GB model, was discontinued earlier this year.

“As we move into the next phase of PS3, it’s important that we continue to evaluate our product line, offering consumers the technology and features that meet their growing needs for new forms of media and the way in which it is delivered,” said Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA. “The introduction of the 80GB PS3, the new pricing for the current 60GB model, the availability of more than 100 new software titles this fiscal year and, finally, the expansion of services for PLAYSTATION Network, will provide even more options for users and will help bring new consumers into the PS3 fold.”

While it is certainly nice to see Sony dropping the price on their 60GB PS3 model, the lowest MSRP for a PS3 is still sitting at $499, just as it was last year with the 20GB model. Nevertheless, this price cut should help to spur some additional PS3 sales and get more Blu-ray players into the homes of North American consumers. Even if someone is not looking for a gaming machine, the 60GB PS3 is now one of the most attractively priced Blu-ray players on the market.

The new 80GB PS3 comes as somewhat of a surprise, as there had been little to no rumors regarding the launch of this higher capacity model. I assume that first-time PS3 buyers will opt for the 80GB model, especially with the included MotorStorm game, which will help to justify the additional $100, along with the 20GB of extra storage.

Still, the introduction of this new 80GB PS3 might get some early PS3 adopters peeved because Sony did not offer this new higher capacity version at launch last year. But alas, all products should continue to improve and I would not be surprised if we see an even larger capacity PS3 introduced next year. Sony press release via HighDefDigest.