Sony to cut Japanese PS3 prices
Unveils 40GB model there too
Sony has followed its announcement of a European 40GB PlayStation 3 by saying it will cut the prices of its 20GB and 60GB PS3s in Japan, a move that will pave the way for the introduction of the 40GB model there.
The price cuts will take place on 17 October, Sony said, and see the 20GB PS3 fall from ¥49,980 to ¥44,980 ($426/£209/€303 to $384/£188/€273), while the price of the 60GB console will come down from around ¥60,000 to ¥54,980 ($512/£251/€364 to $469/£230/€334).
The 40GB PS3 will arrive in Japan on 11 November, priced at ¥39,980 ($341/£167/€243). That's less than the price of the 20GB model, but Sony said that's not a problem because the lower-capacity console offers backwards compatibility with old PS2 and PSone games, which the 40GB PS3 does not.
Sony will be particularly keen to see if the 40GB PS3's price point can address the big imbalance between Japanese demand for its console and rival Nintendo's hugely popular Wii.
COMMENTS
@ Anonymous Coward
Can confirm that replacing the HD does not invalidate your warranty, unless you change the speed of the drive.
AFAIK, if you replace your 40/60gb 5400 drive with a 100Gb 5400 drive, you are fine.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/11/ps3-manual-details-hdd-battery-replacement/
There is some debate amongst Sony employees as to whether the introduction of a 7200 speed drive will do any long term damage to the PS3. But to be honest, the test results I've seen are negligable just for the extra cost of the 7200 speed drives (see above link for more comments on the 5400-7200 debate).
personally, I've downloaded all of the available demos and vids I can from the PSUK site and still have plenty of space to spare. Although if I was to use it as a media centre, or using the soon-to-be-available PVR, i would no doubt look at upgrading.. But the HDs are cheap enough these days:
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Products.ASP?CatID=16&FilterCategories=429&Thumbnails=yes
Hope this helps.
As for backwards compat., well to be honest, I adore my PS2 so much it's still out. Especially when it's all nicely on the net so I can decimate on Killzone (unless someone can point me to a tech document that allows me online using a PS3 with PS2Killzone).
All good in the hood, and remember the prices in Japan do not have sales tax, re-translation of manuals, shipping, yarda yarda yarda..
For the UK, the prices are becoming more affordable (just like the Xbox, PS2, Saturn, Dreamcast, Megadrive... etc were when they first came out!)
..enough now, fingers are tired. Oh and I lilke the photo of Paris :o) (for those "There is no Hilton Link!")
HDD Upgrade
Can anyone confirm if replacing the HDD on either 40/60gb will invalidate the warranty?
pricey waters?
looks like they're testing the price waters if you ask me. they want to see if they should continue to develop backwards-compatibility or if they should go ahead and concentrate that team on something else (more new features in firmware is always nice!) and i know this seems obvious but i've not seen anyone mention it so far. actually, i wonder if these people would be allocated to something like Home (behind in development) or a new project entirely that they're looking to create. or maybe they're just trying to cut costs and firing the backwards-compatibility team is the easiest... idk. what do you guys think?
So the 40GB version is the future globally
Now we're getting there.
If the 40GB version becomes the standard then Sony can concentrate on making it more cost effective to manufacture and so reduce the price.
I hope they stick to the single 40GB model and let people who want more storage to upgrade themselves. There are any number of walkthroughs out there to guide you through the upgrade.
Looks to me like prices are set for Christmas, so maybe expect a further drop in March when the slow down starts and Sony’s Financial Year ends. There is also the possibility for some real must have games to be out for March.
I think I’ll wait until then.
