News coming out of Microsoft as of late has proven that the 360 Pro SKU will be discontinued and the Elite will be taking over the Pro price of $299. This was a tragic move by Microsoft as the Arcade should be the one to bite the dust and then have the Pro drop to $299 considering most people who have the Arcade suffer from buyers remorse.
Never mind all that, the key note here is the effective date of this transition being August 30th which happens to be one day before Sony’s rumored Slim release date. Microsoft is notorious for doing what they can to beat Sony to the punch and this looks like yet, another effort – even if it is only one day.
September 1st is the rumored date of the new PS3 Slim which I haven’t shut up about since E3 and neither has the gaming press, but there’s even more proof of the new Slim SKU than meets the eye. Retail locations such as Best Buy have the proof already set up in their systems as the 160GB model’s expiration date is December 1st 2013, while the 80GB model apparently expires September 27th 2009.
Retail stores around the US have also had PS3′s in short supply which is only throwing gasoline onto the rumors, now we have a due date for the 80GB model to expire? Say it ain’t so! The PS3 Slim along with a much needed price drop is the key to Sony’s success this holiday season which can allow their popular games to actually sport the “system seller” reputation.
Honestly, what game is going to sell a system at a $399 price point or higher? Even this late in the game, the cheapest PS3 being $299 is probably good enough to have a game like Uncharted 2 sell systems with the “strong lineup of 2010″ coming around the corner – or is it too good to be true, yet again?
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The Don has spokeneth, it's a celebration bitches! 
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What game is gonna sell a system at $399? Well Uncharted made me buy my PS3 and this was back in November 2007 when there was mediocre games and poorly done multiplatforms.
My guess is any game can sell the system at this point in time at that price point.
Yeah, I bought my PS3 for MGS4 at 400bucks.
But I think at this point anyone that was going to fork out that kinda money for one game would have already done so.
We’ll see…
Thanks for the feedback Nate…
The thing about that is, I bought my PS3 back in early ’07 because of the gaming lineup and Uncharted being unveiled was one of them, but I wasn’t buying it for that game alone…
at this point, the people that want a PS3 and don’t have one are waiting for the right price…or still need to see THAT game that bowls them over (as if inFAMOUS, MGS4 and Uncharted aren’t good enough)…
but at a $299 price point, that’s at the beginning of the comfort zone where someone can see Uncharted 2 or God of War III and say “how much is a PS3?”……”$299 still!?….ahh fuck it, I gotta get it”….
$399 is still too pricey to buy just one game for the average gamer…or even semi-hardcore gamer….because I also left out the fact that I was a Blu-ray fanatic from day one and that was another big reason why I scooped up a PS3 so early..
Gaming Vice is taking over N4G with this article. lol
Nice work Don.
all due respect to uncharted 2 its going to be a incredible game.
but if anything is going to sell ps3s its GT5 and GOW3, both those games are mascots for sony, their sonys halo and mario.
but the ps3 needs a price drop its 200 bucks more than a 360 PRO here.
thats allot, the ps3 is better BUT not 200 bucks better.
they should drop the price to 600 instead of the current 700
I don’t believe Microsoft is tipping their hand [because of Sony] but I do believe they’re planning for the future. I would expect they’ll be a bundle this holiday and a Project Natal Bundle next year. It really doesn’t make a lot of sense to have 3 different configurations, as 2 are more than sufficent. But I do agree, the Arcade should at least include a hard drive.
As far as pricing, Sony needs to lower the cost to drive sales. Nintendo hasn’t priced reduced yet, and still doesn’t need to reduce the price, but will eventually some day. Could be as early at late this year or next year. And I suspect Microsoft can do another round of price reductions based on any move by Sony or Nintendo. It’d be in their best interest to wait and see what Sony does first.
Any price reduction on the PS3 will surely drive sales. But I think the PS3 will end up always being the most expensive of the major 3 consoles.