Sony Computer Entertainment America on Thursday said it would slash the price of the currently available PlayStation 3 80GB by $100 and also introduce a much more affordable model with no backwards compatibility, but available at just $399.
“We’re pleased to offer the consumer a lower price point without sacrificing the core technology components that make PS3 the most advanced high-definition entertainment system available. Every PS3 comes with a Blu-ray drive, HDMI output, an integrated Wi-Fi connection, Cell Broadband Engine and a built-in hard-drive,” said Jack Tretton, president and chief executive of SCEA.
Sony PlayStation 3 40GB, which cannot play games developed for PlayStation/PlayStation 2, does not feature memory card slot and has only two USB ports, will go on sale on the 2nd of November at manufacturer suggested retail price of $399. Additionally, already now Sony offers its PlayStation 3 80GB for $499, down $100 from the previous price-point, making the top version of the worst-selling new-generation game machine available at a more affordable price-point.
Given that modern PlayStation 3 60GB (PAL) and 80GB (NTSC) do not feature build-in PlayStation 2 processors for backwards compatibility, but rely on software-based approach, it is unclear why Sony axed this feature for the latest model, if PS2 games are still supported on more expensive PS3 versions.
“The new 40GB PS3 will no longer play PlayStation 2 titles, reflecting the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3 specific titles. Consumers looking for backwards compatibility can take advantage of the limited PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility of the 80GB PS3,” Mr. Tretton said.
Sony PlayStation 3 console is based on the Cell processor developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba, the RSX graphics chip by Nvidia Corp., wireless network and Bluetooth connectivity and is equipped with Blu-ray optical disk drive. There are several versions of the consoles available around the world with 60GB or 80GB hard disk drives and variable compatibility with PlayStation 1/2 games.
Comments currently: 7
Discussion started: 10/20/07 08:49:13 PM
Latest comment: 10/23/07 05:53:58 AM
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1.
"cannot play games developed for PlayStation/PlayStation 2, does not feature memory card slot and has only two USB ports"
cut to the bone junk...
[Posted by: too much bs... | Date: 10/20/07 08:49:13 PM]
2.
Still a cheap BR player though
[Posted by: alpha0ne | Date: 10/21/07 01:26:16 AM]
+ expand thread (2 answers)
- collapse thread
great sell a game console as just a BR player, now thats getting desperate..... i bet all the standalone player companies are very happy with sony doing this to them...
[Posted by: too much bs... | Date: 10/21/07 04:58:28 PM]
Well the big selling point of the PS2 in Japan was that it was a very affordable DVD player at the time and that factor alone helped move alot of units. Doing that made developers focus more on the PS2 and make more games for the PS2. Sony was hoping for a similar situation with the PS3, but it was released at too high a price and it competes with HD-DVD. Had Sony gotten together with Toshiba to collaborate on a unified format that was more cost effective, by possibly using red lasers instead of blue for example, then not only could they have lowered the initial price of the PS3 they would also not have to compete with another high definition format. In that scenario I probably would have gotten a PS3 by now simply as a cheap high definition player that I could play games on. Of course that didn't happen, the PS3 released at too high a price partly due to licensing, even though ironically they are on the board whom they pay licensing too, and the competition from the HD-DVD format was enough to make alot of people think that they should just wait out this format war until one format or the other came down to an affordable price.
I know alot of people say the PS3 should have had better games at launch, but really the PS2 had crappy games at launch and only got better games whey they had a big enough audience for developers to care about. You can't tell me with a strait face that the PS3 had better launch titles than the Sega Dream Cast, I mean c'mon FANTAVISION??????!!!!!! No the problem is the PS3 base hasn't become big enough for alot of developers to devote their time to it, but Nintendo's has and thus even EA is devoting resources to the Wii and cutting them from the PS3. The PS3 also doesn't have the ease of development and low development costs that helped the PSX take off.
So now yes all you have is a blu-ray player and I'm sure some manufacturers of stand alone blu-ray players aren't too happy. I suppose it's great if you want Spider Man 3 on blu-ray, but I'd rather take Transformers and an HD DVD player. Still Sony needs to offer this low end PS3 to push blu-ray and it would work if they didn't have to compete against HD DVD. Then again without this low cost player then blu ray would be in trouble during the holiday season since you can now get an HD DVD player for under $300
[Posted by: Megamanx00 | Date: 10/22/07 05:03:51 PM]
3.
Even the cut down cheaper version is still way more expensive here in Australia than US.
The new version is around US$620 here - what a rip off Sony.
[Posted by: goldcoaster | Date: 10/21/07 07:40:34 PM]
4.
This is a PR stunt since the recent sale spike of Xbox 360 due to Halo 3 release got somebody in Sony's Management worried...
[Posted by: huh | Date: 10/22/07 07:20:33 AM]
5.
The new 40GB PS3 will no longer play PlayStation 2 titles, but it can play PSOne titles; the difference from the 80GB version is the lack of the EE chip from PS2, whereas the 60GB model featured both EE and GS. In the european version and the 80 GB model the backwards compatibility rely on software but still needs the cpu from ps2 to work; at the same time the sw compatibility in the older models will no longer be developed so it's better to go for the new one.
[Posted by: JaSaL | Date: 10/23/07 05:53:58 AM]
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