Sony Drops PS3 Price, Adds Video Downloads
July 16, 2008 | by Nick Mokey
In an attempt to catch the Xbox 360 in sales, Sony will carve $100 off its top PS3 model and begin offering Xbox-Live-style video downloads and rentals.
Sony may have given up on catching the Nintendo Wii (an “expensive niche device,” as Sony CEO Howard Stringer knows it,) but the company hasn’t lost hope of catching up with Microsoft’s Xbox 360. At its E3 press conference, Sony revealed two major strategies for nabbing the big green X: another price drop, and online video downloads. The price drop will apply only to the current top-of-the-line 80GB PS3, which will fall from $499 to $399. The 40GB model, which currently sells for that price, will disappear completely, leaving just one system in the line-up. The video delivery service, which seems to be aimed squarely at Microsoft’s Xbox Live, will allow Internet-connected PS3s to download movies and TV shows to rent or own. The initial library of over 300 movies and 1,200 TV shows will come from studios including Paramount, Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Sony Pictures. Some content will even be available in high definition. Movie prices will range from $2.99 to $5.99 for rentals and $9.99 to $14.99 for purchased titles. Sony will change up its PS3 price structure in September, while the video delivery service for existing PS3 owners began operating Tuesday night.
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Tony on Jul 16th, 2008 at 12:46 PM:
There is no price drop on the current 80GB. They are using the same 40GB basic and limited core but with a 80GB hard disk. You won't be able to play PS1/PS2 games as before and will only have the 2 USB ports.
Kevin on Jul 18th, 2008 at 8:58 AM:
It's so ridiculous how much they charge for hds in these systems... when you can buy 500gigs for sub $100 now days and we're seeing 1-2tb drives become the norm. Utterly absurd that an 80gig drive would cost $100 more than a 40gig (and then they're going to play a game and drop the price by $100 for the 80gig... do they really think the consumers are that stupid?
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Larry on Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:52 AM:
Will it still use software emulation or be backwards compatible with the PS2's games? That is important to me.
Also, any clue as to whether the heat issues will be fixed?