PS2 Price Cut?

Sony has dropped plans to cut the price of the PlayStation 2 by $50 or £50 (depending on territory) across the globe at E3. The current target for the aggressive price drop is thought to be September of this year.

Previously it was whispered that Sony would grab headlines at E3 by slicing $50 off the price of the PlayStation 2 in the US, and £50 in the UK and Europe. But now, reports in this week\'s MCV suggest that the consumer electronics giant will hold off until Q3 when it will unleash a massive $100/£100 reduction across the globe.

With the Xbox and GameCube coming along full steam for Q3/Q4, an aggressive price drop would put pressure on the competition to perform. Cutting the price now would do very little for the company, but by holding off until the Xbox is in full view, the company could do some serious damage. One analyst commented that the "still-scratchy inventory situation wouldn\'t respond well to a cut now". With increased inventory and competition online for September, Sony is "better off waiting".

Sony\'s presence at E3 is more likely to focus on software than hardware. Although the near-mythical PS2 broadband plans would be a fantastic thing to show off, it\'s difficult to say whether or not Sony will chance its arm with them unless significant steps have been taken with the infrastructure in the US.

On a related note, rumours this week suggest Sony is in talks with a UK cable provider about broadband over here - roll on E3 2001.

With a strong Dreamcast software line up bound to be on display, a hefty Microsoft presence and Nintendo\'s make-or-break GameCube display to compete with, whatever Sony does will have to be eye-catching. We await with glee the results of the next few weeks.

it will be good if they lower the price, so sony can get a better foothold on the market, lets just hope they lower the price of games as well, and also make alot more game to make us happy, and pasty white this summer

oh trust me they will wait till they get near Xbox/GC release before any price drop is considered and thats because there is no competition right now so they don\'t need to drop any price to appeal to people

I\'m sure they will end up dropping the price 100 bucks at Q3.  Simply put, I\'m not sure where the Xbox price will be, but the GC will be competitive with the 300 US price tag on the PS2.  If it\'s 200 bucks though... MS and Nintendo would have a hard time matching that, and for parents buying a gift, or non-rich teens, a hundred bucks or two is a huge difference!  Smart move on Sony\'s part...

They\'re also planning to make some of the PS2 games a lot cheaper around then (ie platinum status), so that can make a difference too.  Add in the impact of releasing MGS2 and FFX around then, and you can see that Sony has a clear plan to try and compete with the new consoles.

If I was Bill Gates, I would take a 45% lost on the retail price on his system.  Bill with billions, he can take a lost and not get hurt.   He will make it all back on his games.

I think that to match 200 us MS would have to take a lot more than a 45% loss.  Since retail mark up is usually about 50-100%, he would have to sell it to the stores for 100-130 US.....  I was under the impression that the box cost close to 250 to make, then you can tack on the advertising, and such... he would have to take an enormous loss to match 200.  If he had to match prices on platinum PS2 games, he wouldn\'t have a damn chance.  MS will certainly take a loss on the box for a while, but I don\'t think he can afford to match a 100 dollar price drop.

IN OTHER NEWS:

This is my 500th post!  YAY!  As soon as soulgrind logs on next, I should get my avatar!  Woohoo!

congratulations... you have become a regular at this forum.. and a good member too
i will wait awhile to get my pic, i dont want to have my star count frozen;)
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if sony drops the price of the ps2, while showing games that the x box has trouble competing with, they will win this console war.... but im not very sure, its all about WHAT games are announced, at e3, our point of waiting....

Thanks - you get your star count frozen, but soulgrind can fix your stars when you get to 700 or 1200 (though you probably should wait till you hit 1200 to bug him ).  I figure I\'ll ask him to fix mine when I hit 1200.
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Well, just looking at what\'s already planned for the PS2 release around the box and GC release time, they\'re going to have comprable "big games".  That means Sony will have an edge, since they already sold millions of their units, and their console and games will be cheaper.  

Big Games *and I mean BIG*:  (Feel free to add to the list peep)
FFX - PS2
Halo - BOX
Red Faction - PS2
Star Wars RL - GC
Metroid 4 - GC (TBA date)
MGS2 - PS2
Malice - BOX
Legend of Zelda - GC (TBA date)
GT3 - PS2

Let me qualify what BIG means:  It means games that they will spend a lot promoting, that are "feature" games at big events (like E3), that will probably go platinum, and that have names almost any gamer will recognize.

Fatal, lets not forget about Baldur\'s Gate: Dark Alliance.  That is going to be amazing, and if they advertise it, it will sell a ton of copies.