Playstation 3 price cut to hit before GTA IV
By Danny Mendez
Video game industry analyst Michael Pachter believes he knows when Sony will cut the price of the Playstation 3 again, but Sony’s price cut plans may take a very ”Microsoft” form.
Taking a page out of the Microsoft playbook and according to GamesIndustry.biz, Pachter believes Sony will cut the price of the PS3 right before the release of the long awaited Playstation 3 titles Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4. In similar fashion, Microsoft has announced a price cut on its Xbox 360 taking effect tomorrow, right before the release of the new Madden Football game and Halo 3.
Unfortunately, if he’s right, that means a price cut won’t happen this year as the two blockbuster titles are headed for early ‘08. Sony may have other price cut plans in the works for this year though.
“Although we do not expect another PS3 price cut this year, we think a price cut for the PS2 is possible,” Pachter said. “Any hardware price reduction could serve as a catalyst for sales growth later in the year.”
Even though Sony’s next generation console is available, Sony won’t let up on the Playstation 2. Sony’s plan is to convert it’s industry leading PS2 user base into PS3 owners over time as PS3 price drops occur and as PS2 development slowly ceases.
Microsoft and Nintendo have taken a different approach with their latest consoles by nearly ending any development for their previous gen machines and focusing entirely on the new consoles.
Although it appears as if Sony is losing the next gen console war right now, we’ll see if the company’s long term strategy will place the Playstation 3 as the king of all consoles in due time, similar to its predecessor, or if it will suffer the fate of the Gamecube, the weakest player in the previous gen console war.
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