Officially, the 40GB model has been discontinued by Sony, replaced by the new 80GB Core machines. However, a leaked Blockbuster memo sent to
Kotaku shows that remaining 40GB systems will be getting a price cut this weekend. The system, which includes a Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray disc, will be available for $360 -- that's a savings of $40. (Perhaps Sony should've reconsidered the price of the system to something that doesn't evoke their primary competitor?)
Sony has been adamant about
keeping the current price of the PS3 in an attempt to recover from the costly launch of the system. However, with Microsoft's aggressive cuts working their
magic (in America and
Japan), Sony may want to reconsider their position.
[Thanks, Trevor!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Xoonaka @ Sep 26th 2008 1:10PM
If it's "discontinued", couldn't it also be speculated that Blockbuster is doing this alone, and Sony isn't the one "envoking" thoughts of the 360?
I would think once a product is discontinued, MSRP kind of goes out the window, right?
Xoonaka @ Sep 26th 2008 1:11PM
....I guess I should've looked at the image closer.... sorry....
HAAS599 @ Sep 26th 2008 1:17PM
With the lineup Sony has this holiday season, they won't have any trouble selling systems.
NipGrip @ Sep 26th 2008 1:19PM
This isn't Sony's doing, Yoon.. Check the update.
"Update: Despite what the memo said, and what was repeated to us by a handful of Blockbuster employees across the country, SCEA says that this price cut did not come from Sony but rather is something Blockbuster is doing, likely to clear stock."
So no, nothing to "reconsider" when it never was considered in the first place by Sony.
ryan @ Sep 26th 2008 1:25PM
if it's packaged with Spider-man 3, i'd feel ripped off regardless of it's price cut. it'd just feel....tainted. :/
HaloEleven @ Sep 26th 2008 1:35PM
The Xbox359.99 totally sux.
Gambit07 @ Sep 26th 2008 1:51PM
so is the 40G officially the least desired PS3?
Sinch19 @ Sep 26th 2008 1:56PM
The Walmart near my work has had the 40GB model for $349 for several weeks now. I'll see if they have more and try to get a pic(if they're not sold out).
Sinch19 @ Sep 27th 2008 2:57PM
Well, I guess they changed them back to $399.99. I should have taken the picture the first time I saw it.
adolson @ Sep 26th 2008 2:14PM
I'm wondering where Kotaku got those numbers from, since they say that the 40GB vanilla model is dropping to $359, which is listed as a "New Retail" price, and then they turn around and say that the 40GB bundle will be selling for $400, which is listed as a "New PRP" price, as opposed to the "New Retail" price of $459. So which is which?
AznCrew8317 @ Sep 26th 2008 5:13PM
PRP is a retail standard term for basically "used". So blockbuster announced the new "used" price is now $400.
You gotta work retail before you know these things though. Then you'll know a bunch of stuff like POP, POG, PPG...etc etc.
the_matrix @ Sep 27th 2008 5:42AM
Price drop for 40GB model should be globally. It is sometimes funny to see in shops that 40GB and new 80GB are for sale for the same price.
jinn35 @ Sep 27th 2008 3:52PM
when the 80gb PS3s were released, my local walmart sold the rest of it's stock at $350, best buy isn't the first to do this.
Jason @ Sep 29th 2008 1:08AM
That depends on your taste of games. For the most part the PS3 doesn't seem to have a strong line up for this Christmas season.
The only games I've seen on all the lists and Sony's official webpage are:
Valkyrie chronicles
LittleBigPLanet
Motor Storm
Socom
Playstation Home
Resistance 2
The rest of the games coming out appear to be multiplatform games which wouldn't offer a strong reason to buy a PS3 were the person to have a 360 or wii. Keep in mind I'm only trying to include exclusives for each console as these are what provide the incentive to invest in a console in the first place (assuming you've already got one; and yes I have a 360) While I have a 360 I've wanted a PS3 since launch, even standing out in line at my Walmart the day it came out and missed it by like 2 ppl in line. The only games I ever looked forward to were Heavenly Sword, Resistance, FF13, MGS4, and maybe Gran Turismo.
The 360's christmas lineup:
Left 4 Dead; no its not shipipng for PS3 anytime soon
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/896/896281p1.html (will add some proof)
Fable II
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise
Gears of War 2
Infinte Discovery
Huxley
I may be missing some games for both consoles, but you get the picture. I tried not to include games already out for both consoles due to the idea that this would be for someone who wants to weigh the cost of getting the PS3 and comparing the new titles coming out this christmas for a Christmas purchase.
At this point I'm probably still giong to get a PS3 as its cheaper for the blueray now that blueray won the format war; however DVDs are still very much cheaper and quality isn't horrible even on large screens imo. But that is up to the viewer of the movie.
The main stickers for me are Lair, MGS4, Haze, and a few other titles that are exclusives for the PS3. Exlcusives are the *main* reason people end up having to buy 2 or more consoles which is why I kept my list down to exclusives for Christmas. Exclusives more or less *force* a consumer to buy a console if they want to play the game *that* badly. And yes this is the reason that exclusive are battled over by SCEA and MS. Both companies know this. Sadly due to the cost of PS3 it has been drowning in the water. Sure they're going for the 10yr model etc, but its been almost 3yrs already depending how you count.
There a few titels for the PS3 that did come out ahead of schedule I believe the same with the 360 I left those titles out as I was trying to focus on Christmas (Nov/Dec) releases. Feel free to correct my timing/game list. I'm not trying to bash either side, but to lay out the facts and simply state it that if someone was looking to buy a Christmas console they are most likely going for a 360 as they are easy to get a hold of currently (compared to the Wii) and is cheaper as well.
Now if you wanted to compare whole game libraries there could be debate on who has better titles, imo the 360 does, but that is due to the *number* of titles I'd rather play. While the PS3 I only see a handful I'd actually buy and play. Every time I go to the store and look at the PS3 list of games I just shake my head.
The titles I'd love to own are: Lair, Haze (depending how good it actually is), MGS4, Heavenly Sword, FF13, God of War 3, Ridge Racer 7, Uncharted Drake's Fortune, and Untold Legends. And that is searching the entire PS3 library over at wiki. That basically picks out the games (with a few exceptions) that are actually available currently. The list I could come up with for the 360 would be a little larger, but again these are just what I'd prefer to play not every gamer or even the average gamer. But most of the titles I chose are the big name titles that usually get thrown around.
I write this as one who buys consoles for their games not the "fanboyism" I owned the PS1 and PS2, and Dreamcast (at launch). I never bought an xbox as I had a PS2 and didn't see the need for the xbox. While Fable 2 looks great I wasn't too thrilled with Fable and I'd rather play Halo on the PC (which I waited for). So I didn't really have a reason to buy an xbox. Perhaps my main PC gamer side balances this out in my decisions as I'd rather play all FPS on a PC with a keyboard and mouse, were I able to do this on either console I'd most certainly switch to that console in a heart beat as games programmed for consoles tend to play faster/smoother with higher level of detail than a PC that is low/med build (avg user). Were I to have a high end system I'd probably say different, but I'd also have to upgrade every so often whereas a console tends to get better with age as far as the games go.