Sony confirms: 80GB PlayStation 3 and price drop for 60GB model

Also, PS3 games cost 50% more to develop than 360 games and almost 3x more than Wii games. It's game development time is also significantly longer than the other 2 consoles. So PS3 is STILL the biggest loser of this generation. Though Sony's intent was really to sell it's Blu-Ray format which WILL NEVER BE AS DOMINANT as the DVD format. The Jump in quality is honestly not that great compared to HD-DVD or a high quality upcoversion DVD player!!!

I hope Europe gets a bigger price drop, we were already paying too much as it is.

Why we PS3 fanboys and 360 fanboys unite to kill the wii?

HDFury,

Well, I bought a PS3 @ Best Buy last week knowing this was going to happen. I made sure I asked about the price match guarantee, which the clerk confirmed was 30 days should the price drop. And then today.....bam.

So I essentially get $100 back when I go back to Best Buy with my receipt tomorrow. Basically, a unit that was $599 is now $499. That's a price drop. The 20 gig unit isn't even a factor at this point.

I'll just assume you're being superficial and snarky, yes? There's no switcheroo involved if there's nothing else to switch with. The price dropped. Plain and simple.

OK, you've finally reached the tipping point and ready to take the PS3 plunge - now where should you buy it?
Who has the best deal?

I found amazon.com has PS3 for $100 off, and get SIX free Blu-ray hi-def movies and a free remote - better deals than Circuit City or Best Buy. You get Memento (a great flick) with yuur PS3 and five more Blu-rays with their standard mail-in rebate offer. Just the remote and the Memento Blu-ray are worth $50, let alone 5 more movies. SIXAXIS also on sale! Circuit has free controller - any other ideas out there?

Too bad it's not a price drop. Am I the only one who remembers the 20gb model? You know, the $500 one that no one bought so they canned it? This is NOT a price drop. It's a 60gb for the 20gb's price because they're making 80gbs now.

Ah, after reading Joystiq for a year, I am compelled to enter my first post. I did put this on the MGS forum, but now I found this is probably more applicable.

First off, I work for Gamestop. ::dodges tomatoes and sharp instruments:: I have 14 stores in the Houston Metro market. My business, which I love, is selling video games and video game systems. And yes, I happily work for a competitive group that pushes an aggressive sales culture in reservations and subscriptions. Why? Cause I love the business and the primary way to grow it more is by building a financial commitment into the products. Specialty--not big box retailers--provide an exclusive atmosphere, clientèle, and product that Best Buy, Circuit City, and Target will never match. If your family's livelihood was your business, you'd do it too. I know we're not cheap. And I know not all of our employees are great. But we do have some values, and I do have some very passionate and talented personnel.

For a child of the comic book store era of the late 80's early 90's, it is a dream business. You want to find collectible games, or go up to a store and learn about a hidden treasure? My stores are your best bet. My employees aren't perfect, but I believe in them. And yes, it is a business, and an expensive one at that, and my sincere appreciation goes out to any of you who have ever reserved a game or bought Game Informer. You make our industry stronger. I know I have set myself up for being set on fire and burned repeatedly by what I prefaced here.

Ok--that out of the way--I will answer honestly to what I can on Sony--and I will tell you, the PS3 has been an abject failure so far. It frustrates me to no end. I possess no bias. I have owned every prior console game system since the Intellivision, with the exception of the post 2600 Ataris, the 3DO (so expensive!) and the Saturn. I did buy a 360 a launch, (no RRoD yet, knock on wood) but I love my PS2 and I think that the PS2 has been the most important game system for the last 20 years. I want Sony to be competitive. It's good for the industry. It's good for the developers to have options. But even after a $100 price drop, I still have customers walking away. Laughing. I am sitting on large volumes of hardware and software. It does not help me. I want to buy one, but cannot find a compelling reason to do so. I bought a DS lite a few weeks ago so I would have something to play on airplanes or in bed with my girl--geeky, I know. I dig that little system.

I can tell you, losing MGS as a PS3 exclusive worries me greatly as a businessperson in the industry. Final Fantasy is certainly a beautiful product in it's own right, but MGS crosses some generational boundaries that FF does not. It appeals to some other customers, which diversifies interest in the core product. I left Blockbuster nearly 3 years ago. But I am still having to deal with selling a damn DVD player and DVDs. The movie industry is not enough to make the PS3 a success. There is no true core consumer dissatisfaction with DVD. Blu-Ray is not the holy grail. It is not the light-year jump that VHS was to DVD. Sony invested heavily into an industry that has been in decline for 8 years due to piracy, poor content, and the fact that interactive entertainment has become a more entertaining and compelling proposition.

Sony needs great games. Many of them. Now. They are on the verge of losing greatly and I simply don't want that. I love my 360. I love my Nintendo. I love my Sony. I am a gamer. The money they lost on price cuts could have been invested into software. Exclusivity. That's where I would put that money that they are about to bathe red in. Into CONTENT. The other side effect, is this brilliant "10 year strategy" is the very thing that is undoing them. My sales ratios on PS2 hardware and software are NOT declining significantly. The Trojan horse has turned out to be their very own product, undoing their very own product.

They need to appeal to the industry for fresh ideas. Enhance the interface and innovate options. There's reason why the most revolutionary game and resulting gamer subculture of the last 5-10 years is a simple graphic music instrument simulator. It's fun. Although I suck at it. :). The Youtube videos blow me away on this title. Katamari is another example--so simple. So much fun.

The casual gamer has changed the business. Girlfriends, wives, grandparents, and people with not as much disposable time as before. I know this community is hardcore. But we have to acknowledge that Sony's biggest gaffe has been in neglecting this customer base with a product that inherently alienates them. This is where the growth is.

My god, this is a long post. But it is my first! If anyone actually remembers me in my future posts I will be honored, even if they flame me. I like games. And I like gamers even more, cause they're like me.

My appreciation to anyone who actually just read this wall of text. I am recovering from surgery, so I guess I had some time. Feel free to ask me questions about the business from a business standpoint. I'll shoot straight.

::puts on flame retardant suit::