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New Ad Boasts 160GB PS3 Price Cut

All this talk of a PS3 Slim isn't necessarily what most consumers want to hear; they want to hear about a price cut. What the machine looks like has no bearing on their wallets.

Therefore, whether the PS3 Slim is real or not, it's good to see more evidence pouring in that supports an inevitable price drop. According to a new Hastings advertisement located by Joystiq, it seems that long-awaited $100 cut for the default PS3 is just around the corner. In the ad you see here, Hastings - a Texas-based retailer with 153 stores in 21 states - is promoting the 160GB PS3 with a price tag of $399. Amazon recently dropped the price of the 160GB PS3 bundled with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune down to $450, and all of this could hint at a nationwide price cut. Hastings will begin to sell the 160GB PS3 at the new lower price on September 8, which is three weeks after Sony's press conference at GamesCom. As an update, Engadget is further reporting that European retailer Fnac has dropped the price of the PS3 by €100. So it's happening everywhere: retail information makes it appear as if a permanent cut is just around the corner.

Now, if the 160GB PS3 is $399 and it's true that Sony has stopped shipping the 80GB PS3 to retailers (the current default model), might it be safe to assume that if the PS3 Slim does exist, that will become the default machine, and it'll be priced at $299...?

8/14/2009 Ben Dutka

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Comments (44 posts)

DIsmael85
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:23:03 AM
Reply

They better bring it at that lower price, god save them if they don't, especially this holiday season.

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sticklife
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 12:39:16 PM

GT will save them even if they don't drop the price.

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Highlander
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:47:11 PM

The 160GB system for $399 is a $100 price cut, it's an existing SKU, and not a new one, and is probably going to be discontinued. The price cut is a method to clear the channel in preparation for new models, and of course a lower price structure.

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yak4life85
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:25:26 AM
Reply

Thats sounds good. Slim maybe losing a couple features with 120gb at $300 and then 160gb ps3 with all features at $400. Makes sense to drop a couple features on slim because it comes with that big of a hardrive why pay another $100 for just 40gb more? No one will buy the 160gb version, just the slim. Might i add the slim will sell like hotcakes!
Last edited by yak4life85 on 8/14/2009 11:27:19 AM

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Zemus101
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:46:38 AM

I believe you're right good sir.

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convergecrew
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 12:49:30 PM

I still think the slim will be $399, unfortunately, with the current model dropping to $299. Based on the fact that Sony priced the PSP Go at $249 despite being cheaper to manufacture supposedly.

If the slim does come in $299, it will sell like buttcakes, indeed.

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photo K
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 3:35:17 PM

last time i checked, buttcakes don't sell that well. But $299 for a PS3 is downright robbery in my opinion. The system has more features than the 360 and should not be equal in price.

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Fane1024
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 5:51:03 PM

1. Hopefully the slim won't lose any features; there aren't many left to trim that aren't vital.
2. The 160 Gb doesn't have all the features.
3. Now that Uncharted is a Greatest Hit, it makes sense to drop the price.
4. The Uncharted bundle is probably also passing into oblivion (though it might be replaced).
5. Hopefully, Sony will eliminate the high-priced SKU and just go with one PS3 at $299, making it seem like the price cut was even bigger than it actually was.

@ photo K

If Sony really is manufacturing them for c.$250 (30% of the initial cost, as reported), then it really isn't robbery. Also, the 360 will drop in price as well, so you needn't worry. And since when is a good value a bad thing?



Last edited by Fane1024 on 8/14/2009 5:59:09 PM

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ThePearlJamer
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:02:16 PM

Last time I checked, Uncharted still wasn't a Greatest Hit because if it was, I would have bought it...

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dlte
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:54:04 PM

mmmm buttcakes

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Jed
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:25:40 AM
Reply

I don't think its a good sign if they are only dropping the price on the 160gb model. That makes me think that they will do away with the 80gb, and release the slim model at $499. I really hope this is not what happens, but it painfully looks like it to me.

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vicious54
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:36:29 AM

They are dropping the price of the 160gb model because no one would buy it if it was $499 still, if the ps3 slim is $299.

That is how I see it, I think a lot of features will be removed so they can sell the slim without taking a loss.

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Kevadu
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:41:59 AM

It doesn't make any sense to sell the slim for more. I think the entire point of the redesign was to reduce manufacturing costs.

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Zemus101
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:48:48 AM

wasn't the PSP Go a similar situation? Yet look at the price on that thing

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Alienange
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 3:49:44 PM

@ Jed - If that's what it looks like to you then you've got to visit an optometrist. A slim at 499 when Sony has reduced the costs by 70%? You are way off.

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Jed
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:26:07 PM

I just think that if the slim was going to sell for $299, they would drop the price on the 80gb sku to at least $299. The fact that they are clearing out the model that cost $499 makes me think they are making room for another $499 model. Like zemus said, the psp go should cost less, but it doesn't.

I would love to see the slim start out at $299, but I don't know.

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DIsmael85
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:56:09 AM
Reply

Ok, why would they remove features from the Slim? if anything they'd just add more harddrive space to compete with 360's Elite dropping in price. The PS2 slim did not remove any features it compacted them, hell the ethernet portion was built into the little guy. I would assume they'd just have the standard 2 USB still, but they wouldn't remove anything. Doesn't make any sense.

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Hezzron
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 2:29:00 PM

You're absolutely right. Why would Sony bother removing a 50 cent USB port? It's not going to make any difference in cutting the price. If anything, the Slim will have more features, like its 160 gig HD. I fear some PS3 phat owners might be feeling a little insecure with a new improved machine coming out. They shouldn't though.....they've been gaming on a fine machine for a few years now.

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Highlander
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:56:13 PM

There are really no features to remove the basic PS3 is as cut down as it can get, 2 USB ports, wireless, HDMI and Bluetooth. Most of that's integrated on the same silicon anyway, and the USB ports are as cheap as chips. The far bigger savings come from smaller power components, smaller cooling components, smaller, cooler and cheaper Cell BE and RSX and finally the overall better integration of the motherboard.

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Robochic
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 12:00:25 PM
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the 160gig has had a price drop at our walmart for the last few months to 435 plus taxes they said they are makeing room for something but wouldn't tell me, so ya we'll see it tuesday the conference right?

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bOnEs
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 12:09:58 PM
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lol, the ad up there states, "valid 8/9/09" meaning either its a one day special, or they decided to cut the price themselves... and that date has long since passed, well before any official announcement from sony... i think it's just the retailer offering up a special deal...

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yak4life85
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 12:26:10 PM

Actually it says "valid 9/8/09" take another look buddy. Thats next month.

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bOnEs
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 12:30:28 PM

haha, lol... now i feel stupid...

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 12:48:37 PM
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When is Gamescom ? Let's just get this slim news out of the freakin bag.

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BlinkBoy
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 1:41:24 PM

Just over the weekend, it starts on monday or tuesday. At least Sony's press conference is on the tuesday 18th next week.

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BlinkBoy
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 1:45:57 PM
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Since they phasing out the 80gb, and dropping the price on the 160gb to $399 and make that their premium choice for people who would want to buy that and run the PS3 Slim @ $299 along side it.

They might just drop the price to phase out this model as well.

Like Microsoft got their Arcade and Elite models which works like that.

We will see what they show us on Tuesday.

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bOnEs
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 2:57:36 PM

if they're planning on running the PS3 slim for $100 dollars cheaper than their 160GB one, my guess is the slim will either be a 60GB or 80GB machine... i don't expect them to sell the same sized HDD with a $100 difference...

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Highlander
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:54:02 PM

That might work if the 160GB system used the same motherboard as the original launch system that came with full PS2 BC built in. Although I still believe that if Sony simply went back to this design with the 45nm Cell and RSX chips on board, it would be more than enough justification for a $100 premium on the price.

Bet they don't do that though, it makes too much sense.

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Andysw
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 2:58:52 PM
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Sony needs to sell the discontinued 80gb playstation 3s for hardware sales. If they're going to drop the price for the newer models, they could drop the price of the 80gb models even further.

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Jed
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 11:29:52 PM

That is why I am kind of skeptical that the slim will release at $299.

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bridgera
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 3:56:34 PM
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Aren't people tired of talking about the price cuts yet? Seriously, this has been going on for 4+ months.

I'm annoyed of seeing these types of articles as a reader, I have no idea how the authors of these types of articles can stand to write another "PS3 price cut" article yet again.

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www
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 4:02:14 PM
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Well this gen is interesting, so many darn SKUs.
And this isn't the end. I expect PS3&Xbox 360 250GB SKUs retailing for like $299 in the future. So in the end nobody wins, you can't say

1.'Oh i have the 80GB so its bigger than your 60GB'
2.'Oh but my 60GB has BC'
3.'Oh I gotta Slim with 120GB, beat that!'
4. 'Oh but my 80GB emits less heat'
blah blah bla bla etc etc...

So in the end, we're all gonna have different SKUs with their merits and demerits and nobody wins. Now is this cool? I for one don't know.

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yak4life85
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 6:16:39 PM

Interesting!

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ThePearlJamer
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:08:14 PM

I would totally go with 2...my original 60gb is aces in my book...

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Highlander
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:52:14 PM

Every PS3 since the removal of BC has had identical hardware with a different HDD. Since the HDD is user replaceable with a totally industry standard 2.5 inch SATA HDD you are not limited to the capacity of the drive in your system. For example, my launch model PS3 with BC has a 250GB HDD, not 60GB. Does that mean it's a new SKU?

With the removal of the BC all PS3 models have been the same. The new slim model will have a new motherboard, but will use the same 2.5-inch SATA HDDs, so other than being a new revision, there is really no difference.

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dlte
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:54:59 PM

bc is sahweet

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pyrobomber70
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 6:27:42 PM
Reply

The picture you saw back in February of the cardboard boxes were real!
PS3 160GB $399
PS3 Slim 120GB $299
PS3 80GB GOODBYE!
The question is will the PS3 Slim have B/C in it's console? Will the PS3 Slim come bundle with a game?
WHAT DATE IS THE RELEASE?!

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Highlander
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 8:49:11 PM

The PS3 slim will not have any additional hardware for PS2 BC. That would be an additional cost, and considering the hopefully lower price tag, increasing the build costs is not gonna happen. BC - if it arrives - will be software based. Either an emulator in a future firmware update or as a PSN download, and it will work on ALL PS3 models.

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convergecrew
Friday, August 14, 2009 @ 7:36:02 PM
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Sony just needs to make the right call on the pricing of the slim going into the holiday season. At the right price point it will sell like mad. I just hope they dont give it a price that will scare away consumers.

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___________
Saturday, August 15, 2009 @ 3:09:41 AM
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they wouldent add BC into the ps3 slim for 2 obvious reasons.
1 it would rise the costs, the whole point of the slim is to lower production costs not increase them.
2 they would not want to alienate current PS3 owners.
i dont know about you but i would be pretty cheesed if sony added BC to the slim model and gave the current ps3 owners the finger.
unless its a hardware thing, if they cant implement it with software thats fair enough.
but if they can they have to.
even if they sold at a small loss they should lower the price by minimum of 100 bucks, even if there making a loss that should be made up in the number of consoles purchased.
at the right price they would fly off the shelf just for U2 GOW3 and GT5.
but it has to be the right price.

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Mornelithe
Saturday, August 15, 2009 @ 3:59:14 AM

Any new BC option will most certainly be the software support that Sony patented recently. It's highly doubtful (as you say, for costs), that they'd add the emotion engine BACK in, just for BC.

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xnonsuchx
Saturday, August 15, 2009 @ 7:10:57 PM

"even if there making a loss that should be made up in the number of consoles purchased"

Lots of negative numbers add up to a positive number???

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xnonsuchx
Saturday, August 15, 2009 @ 7:08:50 PM
Reply

I wouldn't be surprised if this price reduction is just to clear inventory. If this ISN'T that and the new slim model will be 120GB (per packaging images), I don't see it being priced less than ~$350...because a $100 price difference for only 40GB extra HD space would be ridiculous.

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___________
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @ 8:31:25 AM
Reply

yea well whats going to make them more profit.
selling 5 million consoles at say 300 bucks compare to 2 million consoles at 350?
if its cheap enough the sales should come flooding in.
the functionality is there.
the reliability is there (sort of)
the games are coming.
so theres only 1 thing stopping people from buying a ps3 and thats price.
if they drop the price 100 bucks they should see consoles flying off the shelf.

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