Jul 15 2007
60GB PLAYSTATION 3 discontinued
Sony sure knows how to keep the PLAYSTATION 3 in the news all right… After announcing the price cut for the 60GB model of PS3, it is now confirmed that the price cut is just temporary in order to get rid of the existing stock. Once the stock is depleted, PS3 will be a 80GB affair (+ Motorstorm) at $599. Basically this means the added benefit of 20GB, a game that is too short, limited and frustrating, minus complete backward compatibility are what you get for the extra $100.
Doing so, PS3 has gone through 3 SKUs, just like Microsoft’s Xbox 360. When the Xbox 360 Elite was announced, at about $150 premium over the Xbox 360 Premium, you could see why you would pay more: inclusion of HDMI output, 100GB more storage and new color clearly distinguished the 2 models. In terms of the “new and improved” PS3, all it has going for is a minor bump in storage which isn’t that significant since the harddrive is user-replaceable anyway.
In the end, PS3 remains at $599 USD, and that’s still too much. Exclusive AAA games still haven’t materialized yet (it’ll be in 2008 and beyond), standalone Blu-Ray players are now cheaper than a PS3 and Sony is shooting itself in the foot with the confusion over price cut, putting rumble back into the controller and even the wacky marketing that doesn’t make much sense. At least it doesn’t advise dudes to get their own PSPs…
