Trying to add fresh life to the now-crawling adoption of its aging gaming console, Sony has announced its plans to reduce the recommended price of the PlayStation 3 by roughly $50 and equivalent amounts, across the world.
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The news comes in the wake of a series of disruptions and security breaches of the Sony PlayStation Network, events that the company evidently believes would have scared off potential new customers.Sony recently also introduced freebies for PSN subscribers, after it brought the service back online.
Sony has quoted new MSRPs for Japan, Europe, and the U.S., seen in the below table. It looks like this time however, Europe has not received the sharp end of the conversion stick as is usual – with a €50 drop probably sufficient to make European customers stand up and take notice.
New prices will be effective immediately in the Europe and the U.S. Japan prices, which got a ¥5000 cut, are effective from Thursday. Not surprisingly, reduced prices will roll out more gradually across the world.
|
Model
|
320GB
|
160GB
|
|
Europe
|
€299
|
€249
|
|
Japan
|
¥29,980
|
¥24,980
|
|
U.S.
|
$299
|
$249
|
In the meanwhile, Sony also announced that it would be launching a low-cost version of the PlayStation Portable, the PSP E-1000. While for now no release dates have been made available, Sony has declared the PSP E-1000 will be launched first in Europe, priced at €99.99 (or roughly, Rs. 6,500).
The PSP E-1000 will use the regular PSP’s UMD, with a sliding slot on the back. It will also come in a matte-finish, unlike the original PSP. The primary difference between the two, and possibly the biggest reason for the price difference, is its lack of Wi-Fi connectivity. Sony has not let on if it intends to bring this low-cost version to other territories – but we are confident India has a high chance of being one of the PSP E-1000 destinations.
