Agreed. Sony still has some work to do. But I feel the same about each of the competitors this time around. Microsoft needs to get their hardware issues under control. Nintendo needs to really work on coaxing developers into actually exploring the Wii. I'm tired of Wiiplay, Jenga and other mini-games. Mario Party and Wario Ware have that covered. I want to see more developers taking the Square-Enix route. And of course Sony is in a very bad place. Hopefully that gets fixed soon.

I doubt that the Amazon bundle has that much of a sphere of influence. Sony had already been giving away five free Blu Ray movies with the PS3 in the past. It seems more likely that the price reduction is actually doing its job.

The PS3 is ranked number 1 (sales wise) at Amazon.com right now. Just thought it was worth mentioning.

"So does Microsoft and, once WiiWare is out and people need storage solutions, so does Nintendo."

That doesn't sound as a Microsoft fan...

I'm convinced a lot of "gamers" are just looking for reasons to argue as "fanboys" and nothing more. The comments were really slow here for a while (during peace, I supposed) and now it's picked up. Only a few talk about games, while it seems the masses talk about systems. I was just explaining how Ultima III & IV were some of the best games ever made to my nephews and I realized just how much I was into videogames back then compared to folks now. To have pad and paper in hand, filling out quotes, planning battle strategies, details on different regent mixtures for spells, diagrams and such... for a videogame... and there was no such thing as the internet then.

If the PS3's price drops, that's a good thing. You guys who are whining will never be satisifed. You guys who hate the PS3, will never turn around. You're mind is set up, and all you are doing is polluting the gaming scene with your B.S. attitudes. I'm going to insult the Xbox fans for a sec... In the long run, the 360 didn't do well as a leader in next gen in terms of generating the excitement that the playstation brand seems have. Heck, folks are still buying PS2's.

What a cold kick in the face to anyone who has bought a Playstation 3.

Sony, like all companies that aren't Nintendo, sells their hardware for a loss. They are merely trying to stay financially sound until they have a much more stable situation. Though I agree that Sony should take a larger hit and just drop the price to the exact same prices that Microsoft has, then follow them with every drop.

I don't understand why this has never been tried before. Going below the competition seems to indicate desperation to the consumer (and thus an ill fated position). But price matching, just shows dogged competition. Honestly I think Sony is trying to hard to sell the razor rather than remembering they can lose on the razor, in order to sell more blades.

The bottom line is that the package that was formerly $600 is now $500. It doesn't matter that Sony has always offered a $600 and a $500 model. The point is, you now pay $100 less for the PS3 that came with a 60GB hard drive. And the PS3 that you pay $600 for now, has 20 extra GB's and a free game. It was only last week that $600 only got you a 60GB drive and no game.

And for the record, the XBOX 360 has a package that is $479. So where everyone keeps getting the idea that the PS3 is $200 more, is beyond me. But it is rather convenient to abandon all of the facts. The PS3's most costly package is only $121 more expensive than the most expensive XBOX. The other funny thing, is that everybody praised the release of the Elite, which actually introduced a higher price bracket (and even the Elite doesn't include Wi-Fi) while Sony kept the same pricing strategy while providing a better value. Go figure.

@ ender13:

While it is interesting to compare the two systems side-by-side, keep in mind that many of the console owners will never use such features. Hell, I'm sure that's why Sony decided to bundle standard composite cables with the PS3, since the HDMI port will simply gather dust on most of the consoles. Then again, I can't imagine component cables costing them that much more. The "value" is only really added to the system if such features are actually going to be used.

In my specific case, I ended up purchasing the HD-DVD add-on for my 360, but have no need for the Wifi with my router being a mere few feet from my systems, and no kids or pets to trip over the cables. And to date, I have only used the PS3's Wifi for testing out the Location Free connection with the PSP, and that's it. Thankfully Netflix rents BD and HD discs, so I get plenty of use from both formats.

But just in case there was a slight hint of trolling to the post (I'm not entirely sure if there was, but it's similar to the drive-by copy & pastings that pop up here and there), why don't we just go all out if you want to go down that road?

Premium 360: $400
Two extra 20GB HDDs to equal the PS3's 60 gig: $200
HD DVD drive: $200
5 HD movies (to counter the 5 free BDs with PS3 purchase after mail-in): $150
WiFi adapter: $100
Charging cable and battery: $20
10 years of XBOX Live: $500
Cost of rebuilding your house when the 360 overheats and burns it down: $400,000

Total price: $401,570.
Total value: $0 (cuz it only haz halolol!)

Playstation 3: $500
BluRay playback: FREE!
Wifi: FREE!
Charging cable and controller battery: FREE!
Power cord (no brick LOL!): FREE!
100 years of PSN online play: FREE!
Enough space to hold approx 7,500 virtual PS2 memory cards: FREE! (A $187,500 value!!!)
Curing cancer: FREE AND PRICELESS!!!!!

ZOMG ITZ LIK THEIR GIVEING TEH PS3 AWAY @ THAT PRISE! IT"S MADENES!

*Sorry for the oozing sarcasm, it's late and I'm going through severe caffeine withdrawal* =P

Mmm, yes and no.

Indeed it would simplify the engineering, but Sony has also stated that they arn't too interested in expanding the list of, "backwards compatible," games for the European PS3.

Of course, I'll assume they'll eventually get all the major games, however, less major games will probably be ignored. For example, the original Disgaea is listed as, "highly problematic," on the BC list.

Or at least that's how I remember it being listed.

Yeah, I saw that, though that didn't scare me as much as what I heard next. I got online and looked up PS3 backwards compatibility on Wikipedia, and according to them the US PS3's have already had the emotion engine taken out.

Of course, Wikipedia isn't always right and I haven't heard that anywhere else, but that does scare me. Especially since I just ordered a PS3 this morning.

If it's true than it's bait and switch, as Sony is still advertising, *100% backwards compatibility,* for US PS3's.

Uh, those are just really bad screenshots.

"I hate to break it to you Sony, but 20gb isn't worth $50 and not everyone wants to be forced to buy Motorstorm for full retail."

I hate to break it to you proppat, but no one is forcing you to buy the Motorstorm-bundled PS3.

Gears of War - like I said, overhyped
Ghost Recon Advance War Fighter - "next-gen" exclusive, if you like shooters then it might be a good game to get (not really my favorite genre, which is why many of Xbox 360s "best" games are so no-no for me, too many shooters which even my shooter-crazy little brother agrees)
Halo 3 - not released yet
Forza Motorsport 2 - like I said, one of the only worthwile exclusives on Xbox 360
Lost Odysee - not released yet
Blue Dragon - not released yet outside Asia (& not even region-free, or at least the English version is not)
Fable 2 - not released yet
99 Nights - N3 was a crappy game, one of the worst hack 'n slashes of recent years. I was hyped because Mizuguchi was involved, but that didn't help it much
Dyansty Warriors 6 - if you include DW6 in your list, then something like Gundam Musou (which is just as "good" as DW, just with Gundams) should be counted as one of PS3's worthwile titles (I doubt many would do that)
Dead or Alive 4 - boobs-simulator :p (a good 3d fighting game but I've always preferred the rest of the big ones over DOA)

Many of the games you listed have not even been released yet. Like I said, like with Wii & PS3, even after a year the best exclusive games are still only coming to Xbox 360, Lost Odysseys etc. have yet to graze any Xbox 360 (other than in demo form).


"saying theres no variety is god damn stupid, what are you, scarecrow?"

No, I'm just not interested in the multitude of different kind of shooters available on Xbox 360 (GeoW, Call of Duties, GRAWs, Rainbow Sixes, Prey). Some of the other good games I could've just gotten on PS2 (Guitar Hero II, Tomb Raider Legends). The two genres that are best represented on Xbox 360 are sports & shooters. Just the type of games I'm LEAST interested in. I can play some of the best of them (Forza 2, Half-Life 2), but most of them just don't pick my interest (a shooter should have an interesting story for me to get interested in it, something Gears of War sorely lacks). Gears of War was short, repetitive & the multiplayer was badly done & had too little content. Good for you if that's such a great experience for you, I got bored after playing the game for a few hours.

And like I answered above to sega sage, I wasn't talking about Xbox 360's upcoming games, I was talking about the games it has now. If you enjoy all the multiplatforms like GRAWs & Call of Duties as well as some of the decently fun exclusives like Dead Rising, then that's good for you. For me they are not worth getting the console for. Games like Lost Odyssey & Trusty Bell are.

Besides, of course Xbox 360 seems to have more games coming, it's been out for a year longer so many of the big releases are finally starting to near the finish line in development. Still, if you compare Xbox 360's first year to PS3's when it comes to (exclusive) quality releases, PS3 beats it hands down (the only real block-buster title for Xbox 360 was GeoW, PS3 has many potential ones, including but not limited to Uncharted, Heavenly Sword & Lair, as well as some niche titles comparable to the great but, sadly, flopped Viva Pinata, not in genre but in how they are good games that the majority will probably leave on the stores' shelves).

Bounch, what MP screens have you been looking at?

Granted, it's not a gigantic improvement to the Wii, but MP3's screens are NOTICEABLY better than MP2's. IGN is usually the best source for screens, and just glancing at them, and comparing them side by side, MP3's textures are much cleaner, and the colors are much more lively, and even the character models look better. The differences are clear.

Either way, MP games have always been the sort that look MUCH better in motion than in stills.

Azu:

No good. I prefer my bowlers to have floating orbs for hands!

while I'm hoping the Wii will pull a DS in terms of games (Which would rule), stating "what variety?". dude, go to the store and look, and look at the upcoming games list. theres a lack of action adventure, thats all i can tell(and it's getting more soon). it has sports, shooters, rpgs (more than ps3), racers, oddballs, fighters(getting more as well), GH/RB series, getting some MMOs (already has FFXI).

saying theres no variety is god damn stupid, what are you, scarecrow? use your god damn eyes. and "over-hyped graphics tech demo called Gears of War"?

it's a shame you don't like awesome games

Gears of War
Ghost Recon Advance War Fighter
Halo 3
Forza Motorsport 2
Lost Odysee
Blue Dragon
Fable 2
99 Nights
Dyansty Warriors 6
Dead or Alive 4

Granted, the Wii is clearly aimed at a different audience. Despite the gain of third party support, it seems that other than Square Enix, most developers seem focused on delivering different content to the Wii. Which isn't bad. Just different. So I should state that I prefer the content on the XBOX 360/PS3 to the content of the Wii. But it is never too late for a paradigm shift. Gamers may very well start to lean toward the Wii model of gaming. But at the moment, the 120 million people who bought a PS2, are the same people who like games like Gears of War, Gran Turismo, Forza, Halo and God of War.

"I switched from GT to Forza it looks like even after 5 installments GT still isn't getting damage"

I'd rather have no damage model at all (but maybe a better penalty feature), if it's done as badly as it is in Forza 2. Besides, they are saying how damage model is not YET available. If the game is developed long enough & not released really early (like Spring/Summer 2008), it might get damage modelling. If it is released earlier, they say that it might be given as a downloadable patch.

"turning down the larger variety on XBOX 360"

What variety? Apart from the over-hyped graphics tech demo called Gears of War, it AT THE MOMENT has mostly next-gen multiplatforms (don't really give a f*** about Call of Duties & GRAWs) & from exclusives only Viva Pinãta, Forza 2, Lost Planet & for some Dead Rising are even worth mentioning (it'll have more by the end of this year, yeah, but so does Wii and so does PS3, Xbox 360's first year was lackluster at best). Wii has good games like Excite Truck, Mercury Meltdown Revolution, Super Paper Mario, SSX Blur & Twilight Princess. By the end of the year it'll also have Metroid Prime 3 (like you said), Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Mario Galaxy, Zack & Wiki, Disaster: Day of Crisis (?), Battalion Wars 2 and a few others. I don't get it how Xbox 360 has been lifted into this godly position when it really hasn't deserved it.

I don't doubt for a minute that people can find games they like on the Wii. I'm sure some Wii owners are grateful enough for Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles. Soul Calibur Legends at least looks sharp and interesting. Metroid Prime Corruption will be fantastic even though it is two steps backwards for the franchise. The problem with the Wii, is the volume of good games. I can't fathom somebody turning down the larger variety on XBOX 360, in favor of the solid, yet smaller library on the Wii.

sega sage; me and some friends were talking yesterday about the systems and crap, and talking about the wii, where one of my less game savvy friends said he thought the wii was the best because the game selection, and I was like :O. the 360 and even ps3 has a much greater selection of upcoming (not even just current) titles that are of A-AAA quality. I tallied my interested upcoming games Wii vs. 360 and I got 6 games for wii and 28 for 360. hmm. Exactly.

I don't know, i used to be all excited and all for the wii, but it NEEDS more games and until it gets them I will continue to just not give a s*** or touch mine. Same thing happened with me and the PSP, I was all for it, promoting it everywhere, it had great potential (like the wii), but then it just was ass. It's getting better now.. but it's a little late for me to care. maybe when it drops to 60$ It's about the games, motherf***ers! =P

Now if Sony can just have a good E3 showing and deliver on some of those games this fall/winter it should go a long way to helping them back up onto their collective feet. I still think it needs to come down even more though, but this is a very good first step. They should extend that 5 free blue-ray movie deal through the end of the year, that would help a bunch.

Anyway I think the compettion will be interesting now that MIcrosoft wont risk theyr so announced first time profits for the next 2008 year by lowering the price of theyr console.
If Microsoft lower the price of the console, I think they can say goodbye to a lot of cash, taking in account that the more consoles they sell , the more consoles they have to repair.
1 out of 3 consoles die, thats a lot of money.

Sony sould've erase that number (600) from people mind.
I think they should ask NIntendo or Microsoft what to do before doing anything that is a new Idea, cause theyr running out of smart ideas. You cannot survive alone if you are only a coppycat.

Gran Turismo 1 and 2 were great, but 3 and 4 were left wanting. Forza 2 is a damn fine game and clearly improves and what Gran Turismo post 2 failed to do. Produce a decent game, with car body damage, no freaking stupid driving test crap and multiple tweaking options for your cars. Add the superb online play and its already outdone GT, because its on sale now.

Give me another year or two and I'll pick up a PS3 when that price gets better that it is now. My 360 will do 'til then

yay! this news makes me happy, not because of sony, but because this could make Microsoft drop the price of the 360 as well!

I've been a longtime fan of sony since the ps1 came out, but in this generation microsoft gets my money. And there's also the wii, which I will get as well. But 500 or 600 dollars for a console with no games, and with developers dropping support/going multiplatform is a no-go for me. Besides, XBOX Live is unparalleled.

Now I only hope that konami releases mgs4 for the x360, I don't care if they do it a year later. I don't need no stinking final fantasies so there are no reasons for me to get a console just for one game. And with the huge list of awesome games coming to 360, there's no doubt about where to go this generation. For those to wonder why people complain about how much the ps3 sucks even when they drop the price, these are most likely their reasons as well.

xbo360 for awesome games, wii for smash brothers and fun gaming!

Why is the Wii selling better? It is $250 and comes with a game. The XBOX 360 is $400 or $479 (for the elite) and it comes with no game. The Wii is nearly 50% cheaper than the next closest SKU that the XBOX 360 offers. People want affordable gaming.

When the GC was $200 and the XBOX and PS2 were $300, there was only a $100 difference. Now systems are $150-$350 more expensive. That is part of why the Wii is selling so well. Also, I don't know what part of the world most of you live in, but you must really believe that the masses are absolutely idiotic.

People won't be confused and go "oh but the PS3 still costs $600!" People will clearly see "oh here is the $500 model that used to be $600. And then for $600 you get the new model with a larger hard drive and a free game." Believe me, it isn't rockete science. The two SKU's for the XBOX 360 didn't cause anyone any bit of confusion. Clearly people chose the $399 configuration because Microsoft dropped the Core SKU in certain regions. I mean honestly...hyperbole doesn't even begin to describe some of the comments i've seen here.

What the PS3 needs isn't games, it needs a whole new design philosophy, akin to the Wii. Why would people buy a PS3 to play upgrades of the same old games with the same old gamepad, when they can get entirely new gaming experiences on the motionsensitive Wii? If I want to play MGS, GT or GoW on a gamepad, I have a PS2 for that. Look at the Xbox 360, it has tons of games that have been rated favorably by reviewers. Why isn't it selling better? Almost 2 years on the market, and it's already on the verge of being surpassed by the Wii. Maybe all those games don't help if they don't have anything more than new graphics to show for themselves alongside old gameplay.

Forza is a nice franchise, but I don't believe the first Forza touched even close to the sales of any of the Gran Turismo games. Somebody please feel free to correct me if I am wrong on that.

Lets be real here. Sony was and still is in a lose/lose situation. They needed to lower the price to spur sales of the PS3. That said, the PS3 is still the most expensive console by significant amount($100). That is assuming that MS doesn't drop the price of the 360 at all and the chances of that occurring are highly unlikely. So the price of the PS3 is lower which from a sales standpoint has to help at least some, but the 360 is outside of mainstream pricing at $400. 360 sales have hit a ceiling for its current price point and the ceiling for a $500 dollar console is more than likely going to be even lower. The PS3 is the equivalent of $400 in Japan and it still isn't flying off the shelves.

Just wait until Metal Gear Solid 4, Heavenly Sword, Gran Turismo 5 and God of War III. MGS and Gran Turismo are proven system sellers. God of War has recently achieved such a rank itself. The PS3 is already a solid machine...it just needs the games to catch up with itself. And there have to be at least a few hundred thousand people who are waiting just for MGS4. Unless Konami bones Sony at the last possible minute by announcing it as a multiplatform timed exclusive. That would just hurt. But stanger things have happened. This is why I haven't purchased any of the new systems yet. I am waiting to see the entire situation. It is far too risky now to just buy a system at launch. Between hardware problems and wishy washy developer support, the safest buy in point is at least two years after the fact.

Honestly people will complain no matter what you do. The price of the PS3 yesterday was $599 and all you got was a 60GB HDD and the system. Now you can get that same deal for $100 less and people are still making excuses as to why that is bad. This is no better than people complaining about Microsoft extending the warranty for three years and saying "who cares...so I can send it in for three years while it keeps breaking down."

Seriously, is there ever a moment when people stop complaining? As for Microsoft countering the price drop. I find that highly unlikely. Nintendo is the only competitor that makes a profit on their hardware. Microsoft just took a $1 billion dollar hit in their Home Entertainment Division to get together their three year warranty program. If they want to maintain that profit forecast for 2008, they will not be able to drop the price on a machine that still loses them about $100 per unit.

I doubt this will make a significant impact. People who had that much money to spend on a PS3 and wait for its games to come probably already got their PS3. Since it's still the most expensive console on the market, people who were waiting for the games to come and justify such a high price probably still are, unless Ninja Gaiden Sigma was enough.

I considerd buying the $399 Xbox360, and I probably would have if I had the money and didn't want a Wii more. Chances are I'll give a $399 PS3 the same consideration, whenever that time comes.

"isnt ps3 supposed to be 'obviously superior'?"

At least Sony's PR is doing its job right.

The PS3 has the advantage in CPU power with the Cell. Things like physics engines and models, AI prorgams, and other "non-tangible" elements of games will all probbly be better (or at least have the potential to be better) on the PS3.

The Xbox 360, however, has a marginally better GPU than the PS3 (as well as some other things I'm not too familiar with, like shaders and whatnot), so most multiplatform games will look better on the 360.

Obviously when a developer focuses on a single console, they have more opportunity to get more power out of it because they can full explore the architecture (this is the reason why Gears of War is one of the best-looking 360 games to date, and why things like Uncharted, F1, and Heavenly Sword look arguably better than Gears).

I like to think of the comparison between the 360 and PS3 as the difference between the Gamecube and Xbox.

Isn't that 80GB one just a "limited edition" bundle?

what bothers me the most about this new 80 gig model is that sony had the nerve to actually say they expect MS to drop their price now.

I had hoped sony was actually learning. Now it seems they are intent on repeating their same mistake.

Logically, yes, people are going to know the difference and the value between the 60 gig and 80 gig bundle. But were talking about mass market consumers here, who are dumber than a highschool cheerleading convention in alabama. Theyre still gonna see 600 bucks and pass it off as too expensive regardless of whats in it. 499 gave Sony that perception of it actually being cheaper, and all people are going to see is 599 again in my opinion.

"The only thing that would really turn me away here is official word that it lacks the emotion engine."

Why? The Euro PS3 lacks it and after all the updates the only games from my collection that don't work at all (the last time I tried 'em a month ago or even longer ago) are Onimusha 1 (maybe 2, I don't own it so I haven't tried it on a PS3, the third one works after the most recent updates), Parappa The Rapper 2, Shadow Hearts: Covenant (though, haven't tried it after the trying it after the first update) & Drakan. Also, Ratchet & Clank 3's framerate is equivelant to a dia show (is "dia" the correct term in English?). Apart from those, there aren't really any bigger games that don't work that would be really annoying.

Jak & Daxters work, Metal Gear Solids work, Shadow of the Colossus & ICO work, Zone of the Enders series (especially the superb 2nd Runner) work, Final Fantasies work (X-2 has problems with its amazing pre-rendered cut-scenes, but otherwise it works perfectly), Kingdom Hearts series' games work, Xenosagas work (or, rather, the only Xenosaga released in Europe, Episode II, works), Suikoden V works, Castlevanias work, R-Type Final works, Sly Raccoons work, every PS1 game I've tried works. It's not like Xbox 360's backwards compatibility where not even half of the consoles good games work. I've even heard a number like 2200 of the 2400 games released in Europe (you only have something like 1500 games in the US, which I still find a bit weird seeing as it always feels you get some of the best games we'll never see) work nowadays after all the updates. You really have nothing to worry about with not having the emotion engine. So what if one or two games from your PS2 games might not work, the rest will (& come Fall, you really have no reason to touch your PS2 games for a while).

give it two days until MS drops each of their sys bundles by 100$ I can see it now. Core 199$. Pro 299$ Elite 379$. it's a thing of beauty

I'll be honest, I'm enticed. The same price as the 60GB model that I was planning on buying anyway, with more disk space, and a game I was going to get. The only thing that would really turn me away here is official word that it lacks the emotion engine.

Nah, we'll just have to get Sony to realistically set the prices of their products in an average consumer range. Their still isn't enough gamers in the world to set the price of a game console so high, and do extremely well. The gamers vote with their wallets, and while Sony has been ignoring it. Finally they've come to realize that it's unrealistic for someone to really want to spend that much money for their console.

"So does Microsoft and, once WiiWare is out and people need storage solutions, so does Nintendo."

This is only a little more than half an year though - not even Microsoft does this crap this early. I've gotten screwed on the PS2 pricing, the PSP pricing, and now this. This practice really has me wanting to stay away from their products until they're super cheap, since the way they set up their price drops seem designed to screw over people like me.

"I also believe that the 60 GB model can have the hard drive swapped out in favor of installing a larger one. In this case, that point would also be moot. While it might be a tad annoying to have to replace the hard drive if one waned a larger one, I don't see doing so to be a major problem."

Yeah, the 2.5"HDDs that all PS3s use are easily swappable. You just go buy any 2.5"HDD from any story you want (there are no official & grossly overpriced Sony PS3 2.5"HDDs you'd just HAVE to use), take the old one out & stick the new one in, format the HDD and voila, you're ready to go. So, in theory, the biggest HDD you could have is something like 250GB. Still, there are ways to even use the cheaper 3.5"HDDs, if you don't mind the HDD being outside the PS3.

"yeah I mean the thing is most people still wont realize the diff between the 2 prices and be reluctant to buy the 500$ one."

Do you really think people are that stupid? How is this different from any bundle that has ever grazed the ground of Earth? It's like getting a PS2 bundle that comes with a game & 8MB memory card vs. only a PS2, only this time the memory-card is 20GB extra space on the HDD. People aren't that dumb, most who are even remotely interested in consoles DO probably know what a HDD is & what a bigger HDD can enable and IF they even need a bigger one (if they ARE that dumb, that they don't know, then they can always ASK the employees of the store they are in). PS3 SKUs are still not the same as Xbox 360 Core vs. Premium. All SKUs have an HDD (the most fundamental difference between Core & Premium XO), it's just a matter of how much space is on that HDD. Even the dumbest person knows 60GB is more than 20GB (and 80 is more than 60), and if they felt the need (when the 20GB PS3 was still around) for all the extra space, they could choose the 600$ PS3 (and if they now want to have the extra space & Motorstorm, they can have the option of buying the more expensive package).

"I won't spend that much money unless there's a bowling game!"

Well, you're in luck:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/17/high-velocity-bowling-is-bowling-its-way-onto-ps3/

With motion-sensing controls & everything.

edges, what are you even talking about with Nintendo? They aren't going to release some magic new updated system with a hard drive. It'll just be some overpriced usb hard drive. That wouldn't be screwing early adopters, it'd be "screwing" everyone.

Huh. I thought the whole point of dropping the price was to entice new people to purchase, not to introduce a newer model at the same price as the old one, 'cept a slightly bigger HDD and included game.

Not that an extra 20 Gigs and a game aren't worth $100 mind, I just figured that they were gonna drop it to $500 and call it a day. In the end it'd made more sense too, 'cause now people can still call it "overpriced for $600" despite the additions.

i agree, even at the new price point, i still don't have any real need for a PS3 yet. Sure I'd like to play Resistance and and Lair, but honestly there still arent enough big titles on the PS3

Sony loves screwing the early adopters :( .

I have a feeling that the 80GB model won't have the emotion engine in them, and the reason Sony is selling them at $600 is probably because they can actually make money on it, which is something they need.

Obviously they plan to drop the now $499 60GB model.

How stupid can they be? Why would Motorstorm all of the sudden sell $600 consoles when it couldn't do it before? Why throw in Motorstorm at all? Why make a more expensive console, especially when it's $100 for 20GB?

Ugh. I don't know how they do things at Sony, but it surely doesn't seem to be by any pattern of reason.