Sony hacks $50 USD off the PlayStation 3

by Steven Mostyn - Aug 17 2011, 09:20

Following on from Nintendo’s recent round of sweeping hardware price cuts, fellow videogame heavyweight Sony Computer Entertainment has announced a bold price drop for its home-based PlayStation 3 console.

Revealed during this week’s Gamescom trade show in Cologne, Germany, the 160GB and 320GB versions of the PlayStation 3 are now to be sold at respective prices of $250 USD and $300 USD, which amounts to a drop of $50 USD on each variant.

“The new price will make the PS3 more accessible than ever before,” enthused Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, via an official blog post.

The price tweak isn’t limited to the United States and will see the PlayStation 3 sold across Europe for €249 Euros, in the UK for 199 GBP and in Japan for 24,980 Yen.

When the original PlayStation 3 launched during the tail end of 2006, the basic 20GB model cost $500 USD, while the slightly more spacious 60GB version was tethered to a retail tag of $600 USD.

Sony also used its Gamescom platform to announce a new €99 Euro price point for its original PlayStation Portable console.

On August 12, Nintendo unveiled a spate of multi-region price reductions for the 3DS in a move to increase the groundbreaking console’s consumer appeal. It also conceded that the 3DS had struggled at launch due to a lack of software strength. 

The Nintendo 3DS cost $350 USD when it launched in March of this year. After failing to tempt the masses, that initial price has since plunged to just $170 USD.

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