Report: Euros to get 40GB PS3 by Christmas

[civil_dead]

Yahoo is reporting that an announcement is impending on a new model and pricing structure for the PS3 in Europe:

A new model, equipped with a 40 gigaoctet (sic) hard drive, will go on sale in Europe at 399 euros, 200 euros less than the current sales price of Sony's more powerful, 60-gigaoctet (sic) device, which is already in stores, according to the newspaper Les Echos.

The more powerful version will see its sales price lowered by 100 euros to 499 euros, the paper said.

The full story can be found here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071004/bs_afp/franceeuropejapanretailproductcompanysony;_ylt=Aiy vDWTswHMltlIlGPWZJwMK77EF).

This is the first I've read of something like this for Europe. I think it's a good strategy on Sony's part to make this a universal move.

[Gorvi]

There was a report somewhere of this being semi-confirmed for Italy. I'll have to try to dig that up.

EDIT: And that's here (http://www.mcvuk.com/news/28423/PS3-price-drop-at-last-in-Italy), from MCV.

EDIT 2: There also seems to be a price drop coming for the UK very soon, at least according to the UK site Pocket Lint (http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/10243/11267/sony-ps3-price-cut-official.phtml). Yeah, I've never heard of the, either.

[menage]

They should have done this a year ago. It feels more like a panic move. Still, 399 is a good price. But I won't buy one just because the price is lower. Still need a real reason to. And I still doubt that 200 Euro's is only because they butchered the hard rive. It's either a massive loss to expand users or the current one is overpriced.

Not that I understand it fully, but PS3 games can be installed on the hardrive right?
If a BR disc spans 30 - 50 gigs, won't that be a problem in the future?

[Roc Ingersol]

'more powerful', 'gigaoctet'...

man i hate journalists.

[KlausFlouride]

Is there really any reason to have a PS3 with more then a 40gb HDD if all you do is play games?

[civil_dead]

They should have done this a year ago. It feels more like a panic move. Still, 399 is a good price. But I won't buy one just because the price is lower. Still need a real reason to. And I still doubt that 200 Euro's is only because they butchered the hard rive. It's either a massive loss to expand users or the current one is overpriced.
To be fair to Sony, anything they do right now is going to be perceived as a panic move. They do need to get the PS3 in more homes, and realistically they need it to happen this holiday season.

I will give them props for also making this a straight price cut. I can't stand it when a company force bundles a game(s), drop the cost by a small amount and calls it a price cut. Let the gamers decide what they want to play and give them a lower price point instead.

[Gorvi]

Is there really any reason to have a PS3 with more then a 40gb HDD if all you do is play games?
Right now, no, but there could be in the future. It depends on how much they decide to push downloadable games. Also, MMOs take up a lot of space (the PS2 version of FFXI is 11GB on my PS3, for example), and they do have that deal with NCSoft with games coming next year. So it may be. At least you can add your own HDD though, so really, it's not that big of a deal. If you find you need bigger down the road, just get a bigger HDD.

[darkwarrior]

Is there really any reason to have a PS3 with more then a 40gb HDD if all you do is play games?

Depends since you can install games for faster loading and these can sometimes be 2 gig upwards. If you have a lot of games on the go or don't want to uninstall some then it gets worse. Of course if youi're ok with the lowered ports on the new PS3 you can just get it cheap and swap out the HDD for a bigger one.

[menage]

To be fair to Sony, anything they do right now is going to be perceived as a panic move.

True. Let's just hope the new PS3 aren't gong away after Christmas again. It's not that I don't want one eventuallty, but this year I don't see a reason to yet.

[Roc Ingersol]

Installs and massive downloadables like Warhawk make the smaller disc sizes a potential issue down the road. Trick is, you probably wouldn't have a problem for a while (let's face it, there aren't even 10 games worth owning, let alone enough to fill a 40g drive). And if you did hit the wall, you can always just buy a new 2.5" drive, bulk copy the old one and continue on your merry way. It'd probably even be cheaper to do it that way, than paying a $100 premium for +20gig today.

[Sl1pstream]

Same price as the 360 at launch. Might look into this once the games start coming.

[bapenguin]

Is there really any reason to have a PS3 with more then a 40gb HDD if all you do is play games?

Well...a lot of games require an install to the hard drive, some up to 2GB. So you'll have to actively manage that stuff more on the smaller drive.

[stevespijderman]

'more powerful', 'gigaoctet'...

man i hate journalists.

I assume this article has been translated (badly) from French. The French word for "byte" is "octet". Makes sense when you think about it, as the word actually contains the fact that there are eight bits in one...

[Roc Ingersol]

I assume this article has been translated (badly) from French.Yeah. And?
The AP should be able to do better than Frenglish.

[Mrcheesyelf]

I will give them props for also making this a straight price cut. I can't stand it when a company force bundles a game(s), drop the cost by a small amount and calls it a price cut. Let the gamers decide what they want to play and give them a lower price instead.

In the UK at least this is what sony did, bundling motorstorm, resistance and an extra pad , not a bad bundle but id rather see a pricecut, not sure about rest of europe but maybe this ,that there was never a 20GB model and ms saying europe was priority now may be why 40GB will hit Europe first?

[Opty]

octet is also an acceptable if antiquated (and generally only used when talking about networking rather than storage) way of saying byte in English. Namely it was used/coined back when some people used "byte" to refer to 7 bits so if you wanted to be sure you were talking about 8 bits you used "octet."

[menage]

Maybe the want to sweettalk Europe again before the next wave raping begins :p

Seriously, Europe has taken enough of Sony crap as it is so it's nice we're actually considered.

[Kamalot]

The 40 gig model sounds like a fine alternative, as long as it still plays PS2 and PS1 games.

[TheFlyingOrc]

There is no way this thing isn't going to be an extremely limited release.

Also, I'm really glad that Sony isn't confusing consumers with multiple SKUs.

[Siraris]

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/10243/11267/sony-ps3-price-cut-official.phtml

Here's another one for the UK.

[Roc Ingersol]

The 40 gig model sounds like a fine alternative, as long as it still plays PS2 and PS1 games.It sounds so good, I wonder how they're going to convince people that the $500/$600 version(s) make any sense at all.

I don't think fewer USB ports, no wifi and a missing card reader will even register with the average consumer.

[TheFlyingOrc]

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/10243/11267/sony-ps3-price-cut-official.phtml

Here's another one for the UK.

"To go up against the Elite". Y'know, I'm going to continue to maintain that the Elite was really a mistake on Microsoft's part. All it does is give a bullet point to their competition.

It sounds so good, I wonder how they're going to convince people that the $500/$600 version(s) make any sense at all.

I don't think fewer USB ports, no wifi and a missing card reader will even register with the average consumer. Everyone is pretty certain that the price of the 80gig is dropping to $500. However, I will maintain, until I see otherwise, that the 40gig is going to be as non-existant as the 20gig was at launch. A bullet point to get people to start searching for a PS3, and finally succumbing to the higher price model when they can't find it.

[Kamalot]

It sounds so good, I wonder how they're going to convince people that the $500/$600 version(s) make any sense at all.

I don't think fewer USB ports, no wifi and a missing card reader will even register with the average consumer.

I have the original 20 gig model without card readers and WiFi. Never have I missed those 'features'. I purchased it used form someone who was unhappy with the PS3 and who was going to spend the cast on a stack of 360 titles.

In all honestly, I don't understand why anyone would want more than the 20 gigs, since you can put your own drive in there anyway for less. USB ports? You can get a hub for $6 (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.787).

I can't believe they will be selling the 40 gig units without rumble though. They MADE the announcement that rumble is coming, but won't package them in their new SKU? I refuse to buy any 2 player games until March of 2008 when the rumble controllers are available.

[Majster Wichajster]

If they try bundling it with Ratchet and Clank, then they could make an impact during the holidays. Nothing big, but it should gets things rolling nicely.

[TheFlyingOrc]

If they try bundling it with Ratchet and Clank, then they could make an impact during the holidays. Nothing big, but it should gets things rolling nicely.

I don't think they can sell it for $400 at that price. Another $60 of loss? The reason I'm parroting "limited release" is it pretty much HAS to be to not make Sony borderline bankrupt.

[Gorvi]

I don't think they can sell it for $400 at that price. Another $60 of loss? The reason I'm parroting "limited release" is it pretty much HAS to be to not make Sony borderline bankrupt.
Not really. They just sold off some holdings in Japan worth about $3 billion. They should be ok. I'm guessing this will be a what they're really pushing this Fall to get the sales they need.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Not really. They just sold off some holdings in Japan worth about $3 billion. They should be ok. I'm guessing this will be a what they're really pushing this Fall to get the sales they need.

Well, the shareholders can't be happy.

It seems to me they have literally given up on the PS3 being profitable. If BluRay loses the long term format war, they'll have burned literally billions of dollars.

[Majster Wichajster]

Playstation Within, anyone?

[Chainblast]

Well...a lot of games require an install to the hard drive, some up to 2GB. So you'll have to actively manage that stuff more on the smaller drive.

I don't know anyone with a 60GB PS3 that has come close to hitting their space limit. I don't think a 40GB drive will be that big of an issue. Besides, it's not like you get gouged if you want to upgrade. :P

[score]

Well. This just had to happen - right after I bought my PS3...:(

[Kamalot]

Well. This just had to happen - right after I bought my PS3...:(

You can probably take it back and wait for the cheaper model. Just think about the games you'll be able to play with the savings.

[KingGorilla]

This is a pretty smart move. European gamers, consumers really, tend to be a bit more cost focussed when it comes to their Hobby. One of the major reasons Microsoft keeps the core around, is that it does so well in Europe for example.
But I wonder if Sony runs the risk of confusion, like Microsoft has, by releasing multiple SKUs.