Mostly Confirmed: Sony producing new PS3 Slim.
Mostly Confirmed: Microsoft pee’s pants a little, and responds by making the Xbox 360 Elite a little bit smaller a whole butt-load cheaper.
Anyways, some of you might remember the rumors of a PS3 Slim floating around our dear interwebs around the end of May, via an Arstechnica Mole. Then again in early July with Sony reportedly signing manufacturing agreements with both Foxconn and Pegatron. There is no mention of a price change there, so…whatevs. It’s a smaller PS3.
So, the Xbox 360 Elite will replace the Pro at the end of August, with a price drop to $299. This is pretty much a brilliant move by Microsoft, since the biggest shopping season of the year is LITERALLY knocking on our door. Just think, Black Friday is only 101 days away.
I personally don’t see how Sony can’t put in a price drop though. When Christmas rolls around, do you think Mom and Pops are going to spring for $299 top of the line Xbox Elite, or spend $469.99 for a PS3? HECK, for only $30 more, they could buy an Xbox Elite and an Xbox Arcade model. That’s 2 consoles for the price of one folks. Now, for extra credit, try to convince me how that’s not going to affect Sony’s Fall/Winter Sales Data.
Yeah, yeah, I know, Sony has the Blu-Ray. Sure, you don’t have to pay for every goll-danged extra thing like you do with the Xbox (wireless connectivity, online play), and the PS3′s DLC tends to be a lot cheaper too. but I really don’t think this outweighs the fact that the Xbox is now almost HALF the cost of a PS3.
These developments will definitely make the never ending debate of “PS3 vs. Xbox 360/Hardware vs. Value” more interesting.
Regardless of if you have to spring for extra peripherals for the 360 to receive some of the built-in functionality of the PS3, all parents are going to see is that initial price tag. If Sony’s system is STILL almost $200 more than the 360 come Thanksgiving, I will personally go to SECA HQ and punch someone in the face. >(-.-)>
Dang, slim PS3 AND rumored backwards compatibility? I’m moving back to center on the 360 vs. PS3 for Joey meter. At this rate I’ll NEVER own a next-gen console.
You are nowhere NEAR center on this debate. Having a PS3 will effectively render you the laughingstock of your 30 friends with 360′s.
You will be lonely….so lonely.
The PS3 is going to be $300.00 to you retard and just from that, the PS3 looks like it’s a better deal now.
If you’re going to call someone a retard, I would suggest that you consider showing at least SOME mastery of the English language in the same post.
GRAMMAR PWN.
Lol you can be the special one!
But in my situation 6 of my friends have the 360 and XBL and 7 of my friends have a PS3 and PSN
So if I was the laughing stock of my friends that I can say at least i’m the Special one. I think though that the seventh game generation is coming to the end of it’s peak. Hence the rush for the new consoles + Price increases
Sometimes its not all about playing with your friends though? If I just had my 360 I would miss out on such great games like Uncharted, Killzone 2, Fat Princess, Flower, etc.
Just get both so you have the best of both worlds!
I did predict backwards-compatibility and a price drop/Slim PS3 about a month back before the Christmas rush, but its always nice to see the big two next-gen consoles battling it out. It’s fun!
469 for a PS3? When was this article written, 2007? The PS3 is going to be 299 within a week. At Christmas giving the choice people are going to opt for a PS3. Microsoft’s reign of BS is done. Remember, it’s not just Bluray for movies. Bluray is also used by Sony for gaming as well. That means there are games for the PS3 that you just can’t do on XBOX. GAME OVER FOR MICROSOFT Kiddos’.
@ Bryan & “360 Owner”
Hmm…..All the Wal-Marts here in my area still have the PS3 listed as $469.99. Where are you getting this “PS3 will be $300″ info? Naturally, the full-size PS3 will drop in price when the PS3 Slim is announced, but a $169.99 price drop? I just don’t see that happening. I’m not saying it’s not true, I just haven’t seen it.
All that being said, if Sony does do this, it would be the smartest thing they’ve done in a long time.
That’s because the PS3″slim” dosen’t realease until September the 1st, so the prices at “Wal-Mart” are not going to reflect that price until that time.
GameStop:
New 80GB PS3 @ $399.99
New 160GB PS3 @ $499.99
If there is a price drop, I see it only being at most $100, which will definitely drop the cheapest PS3 down to current 360 Pro price. But, if MS goes through with the boxing of the Pro model and drops the Elite (160GB) model down to $299.99, that’ll shoot any price drop Sony throws our way in the foot (although, yes, it still would be the long-awaited PS3 price drop, for sure).
Wal-Mart.com and BestBuy.com have the same prices listed as above, so I’m going to take that as meaning that’s the typical price for the two current PS3 SKUs.
I just saw a rumor that FYE already have display logos for the new PS3 price point at $299.99 for the 80GB PS3 and the 160 Uncharted bundle for $399.99. That’s gonna be hard to beat and I’m sure A LOT of people will be picking up a PS3 instead this holiday season.
Yeah, the people that already have Xbox 360′s.
@ chad, the elite model has a 120 GB hdd, the same size as the eported hdd size from the leaked ps3 slim pictures, so hdd size ins’t an issue, so now it comes down to the hardware it self. every gamer knows the ps3 is superior in that aspect, you then have parents finding out yopu need this live thing, to play online, which costs $96,$80, or $50 a year, but this ps3 lets u do it for free when they ask a store associate. so a $300 price tag on each with a monthly fee on the 360 but not the ps3.
the price hunting parents wil choose a ps3 for that.
Trust me, I agree that the PS3 is a superior piece of hardware, and the built-in functionality for wireless connectivity and BluRay can’t be ignored. I suppose, neither can the fact that Xbox Live costs $50/year. Does that make it a better system overall – taking the games into consideration? No, in my opinion. But, that’s just an opinion and everyone has a different one.
I love both systems for different reasons, I’m pretty console neutral. It’ll just be interesting to see how this all plays out in the next few days.
this diagram settles all the arguments because it is 100% on point.
http://img.moonbuggy.org/what-video-game-system-should-i-own/
i have a PC for gaming and a ps3 for blu ray because i know console gaming is lol.
” Yeah, yeah, I know, Sony has the Blu-Ray. Sure, you don’t have to pay for every goll-danged extra thing like you do with the Xbox (wireless connectivity, online play), and the PS3’s DLC tends to be a lot cheaper too. but I really don’t think this outweighs the fact that the Xbox is now almost HALF the cost of a PS3. ”
You are a idiot…. of course it does. If you had to buy the wirless dongle for the xbox and a blu ray player and add in the cost of xbox live ???
oh and ps im not a PS3 fanboy I have a arcade…
I generally am a big fan of Loot Ninja and read it on a regular basis. But I was very disappointed with this entry, the bias contained in it, and the follow-up comments posted by the same author. I’m hoping that this won’t be a trend moving forward. I think discussion can occur on the topic while remaining even-handed in the analysis.
I disagree completely about there being a bias in the entry. He is talking about how things stand now and how/if Sony will respond. Please don’t forget that we here are gamers. A huge, huge chunk of the market are people that play video games, NOT gamers. Yes, there is a difference. “Xbox”, not “Playstation” is becoming the proprietary eponym (i.e. Kleenex, Band-aid for those still living in mom’s basement) in the video game world. I think the Blu-Ray player is probably the only thing that has kept the PS3 even close. We look at hardware, live content, etc. when determining value but normal folks don’t have the time or desire to do so.
IMHO, at all that jazz, by the way.
*and
The internets are stealing my grammers.
@ Ryan Sullivan
Well, it’s August 19th and all the Walmarts, Best buys, and major retail stores in my area have the PS3 listed as $299.99. Which means you were wrong… anyways why would I even want an Xbox 360 Elite when all of my friends have PS3s, the PS3 has blue-ray, it’s $100 cheaper (Currently), and it never got red rings!!! I’ve gone through 5 Xbox 360s (1 Arcade, 2 Pros, and 2 Elites)…. all of them got fucking red rings!!!
I will say that your personal situation with having friends that all have PS3′s is probably not the norm. It is definitely not even close to the norm where I live but I may be the exception and you the rule, so who knows.
Power Food & Ryan Sullivan,
You guys are jokes. The PS3 selling for $100 cheaper is going to be a major thwart to Microsoft. The numbers are out and the facts are the Xbox 360 has a failure rate of 54.2%. The only reason Xbox 360 has remained ahead of Sony has been the general problems with ports, and the price. It’s not that PS3 can’t handle Xbox 360 lvl games (as PS3 is hardware superior) but the fact that it is a completely different beast that needs to be programmed for differently. Power Food & Ryan Sullivan you guys are HUGELY biased. Anyway, the numbers don’t lie. In polls 68% of gamers want the PS3 Slim. Argue with that. For once, it would appear things are looking up. Xbox 360 is where it is simply because it was there. End of topic.
I’m biased, lol? I don’t have a 360 and have always been a HUGE PS fanboy. Polls? Which polls? What was the sample size? Location? Were they people who already had the 360? Link? I never said that the 360 had it’s market share because it was superior. The reasons why it does are irrelevant at this stage in the game and the failure rate of the 360 is lost on the regular, non-gaming (as a subculture) public. The difficulties of programing for the PS3 hardware versus the 360 has been discussed ad nauseam (including the article on here about Valve not developing for the PS3) and aren’t going anywhere. The price drop for the 360 is immanent anyway.
Sony has only themselves to blame for their current market position. Things are only looking up for people like us who love the PlayStation and it’s exclusives because it’s now that much more accessible. It’s way too late in the life cycle of this generation of consoles for Sony to make any real noise. John Q. Public made their decision a long time ago. Hopefully Sony will learn from what M$ did right.
ALL Ps3s sre now listed has $300 and the ps3 slim was annouced yesterday with a 120gb hard drive(250gb rumored) . My conclusion is that SONY will have a HUGE lead in Japan, definetely take over Europe again (and the UK) and gain a lot of ground in NA. The slim will attract a lot of gamers and has A. Reader said 68% of people said they would buy the slim. It seems now that in the next 2 years (espeacially next year with the exclusive titles) SONY WILL take over in sales snd beat the 360. After all with a 54.2% failure rate not many people looking to buy a gaming console will buy the 360. Ps3 and Wii will dominate the holiday season.
I will try to be as non biased as possible. I have always had playstations whether it be 1 or 2, but then i got a 360, only because they’re cheaper
Sony made a HUGE mistake not making a price drop earlier and that’s why they’re behind in sales so much. PS3 has amazing exclusives like Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, MLB 09 The Show and so on. Xbox 360 only has Gears and Halo. Xbox 360 has much better online. PSN is just basic online play. I think I might be going out getting me a PS3 because of the price drop and the exclusives, but you will never find me on PSN. thnx for reading…..
ok well this article is pretty much complete b/s i already bought my ps3 slim for $299 wtf are they talkin about $469.99?? anyways i have both xbox and ps3 so the hole ps3 vs xbox i can care less about but ya it was smart of sony not reasleasing there price right away now elite(120gb) and ps3 slim (120gb) are the same price microsoft better come out with a solution or there screwed
my xbox got the E74 im through with xbox ps3 online will get better when it does i will not need an xbox
Why don’t you look at the date of the article and the date of the price drop? My goodness, sometimes I wish the internet had some sort of mandatory I.Q. testing.
price drop: check
blu ray: check
better games: check
FREE ONLINE: check
etc. ps3 FTW
not to mention im writing this on my ps3. its just a better console
Greenberg said the price drop is a direct result of lowered production costs.
http://www.greatecs.com
This is way better than the other ps3′s. It is a lot cheaper. It has a better hard drive and it looks a lot nicer. It is smaller and lighter. It also kept all the other features of the ps3 except for the on and eject buttons which doesn’t affect anything. The controllers are still great(dual-shock 3′s). It has great games and it processes games quicker. This is the system you want it is fast, reliable, and looks good. Buy it and you won’t be dissapointed.
PS3 Slim Xbox 360 Elite
Price $299 $299
Color Black Black
Hard Disk Size 120GB 120GB
USB Ports 2 3
WiFi Built-In $99 Add On
Disc Drive Blu-ray/DVD/CD DVD/CD
HDMI Yes, Yes
Bluetooth Yes No
Controllers Included One One
Online Play Free $50 a year
Weight 3.2 kg 3.5 kg
THESE ARE TRUE FACTS. IF YOU WANT AN XBOX THAT MATCHES A PS3
YOU WILL NEED MORE THAN JUST 299.
SIMPLE MATH (299+99(WIFI)+50(ONLINE-PLAY)+BLUTOOTH
+ BLU-RAY–> PRICELESS
IF YOU ARE STUPID YOULL PROBABLY DONT NOTICE THAT BUYING AN XBOX WILL MAKE YOU WASTE ALLOT MORE MONEY. PS3 IS SO BETTER THAN XBOX 360!!!!
ANOTHER FACT XBOX 360 RATES 54% VS 9% UNITS DEFECTIVE….. GOOD LUCK XBOX FANS
GRAMMMR AN SPLING AD PUNTCICATION LIK PERIDS N COMAS R YUR FRIENDS AND NOT BIG LETTRS LIKE THIS ONES.
The hardcore guys got their systems Xbox or PS3 this is about expanding their bases that comes down to price and quality. Parents like my self look at software prices. That is the discount rack, and can I use the thing too. Since blu-rays are cheap on the rack now like $10 and I got Army of two for $12 on discount and with money tight people research the products first. If you knew nothing about either system and ran across the red ring problem and the pay to play online issue just those 2 things would sell me on PS3. Not to mention if you have ps2 games in your liibrary.
Unfortunately, no backwards compatibility or I may very well have bought one the day they hit. The real argument (it has obviously been lost on the fan-boys) is NOT which console is superior but whether any difference can be made this late in the life cycle of these consoles. The hardcore gamer and the discerning customer aren’t the majority. Even at the reduced cost (including extras), purchasing a PS3 instead of the 360 is a difficult choice simply because of how superior Live is versus PSN. Also, M$ has done a far better job than I would have imagined possible in the battle of exclusives and game selection. Like I said before, I was always an unabashed PS fan but the handful of games that are exclusive to the PS3 (that matter) aren’t enough to convince me to buy a system that almost none of my friends have and that I can’t even play my PS2 games on.
Also, most people are not interested in replacing their entire DVD collection with Blu-Ray. Just because the PS3 gives you more for your money doesn’t mean it gives regular people what they WANT for their money.
Yeah, I agree with this wholeheartedly. I only have 3 firends with a PS3, and I have over 30 friends with Xbox360′s. That made the decision for me, right there.
I never really saw the Blu-Ray player as a deciding factor on the PS3 either. I have a Blu-Ray drive in my laptop, and still don’t own any Blu-Ray movies, and I probably never will. It’s just NOT that important to most people. Besides, the world is going the way of digital media anyways, and I already stream Netflix in HD anyways on my XBOX, so it’s a moot point IMHO.
dude….
you commented on like every post that liked ps3
you have way too much time on your hands
Backwards compatibility is in regard to the model you have bought the 20gb on release put a 250gb in it and thats all I needed play’s all my games the 50 psx the 35 ps2 the 18 PS3 games all my dvds up converted and blu-rays. And for google n stuff quick. I was about to get a 360 elite but 5 of my friends who have them are switching to PS3 they got sick of the thing Red ringing an runing their disks and some E error the games seem not to be so exclusive lately either un less you talk directly for M$ or $ony. I mean Fallout 3 dlc was not really suppose to come to PS3 but now it coming at the end of september. . Would be nice if the just made all games for both systems hell even a collector disk of Mario bro. 1 2 3 mabie zelda from nintendo would sell great . The would make a killing just selling the old games for the new machines.
Well, here is the big thing, there is a way to make a 360 play fake games, yet the Ps3 cannot be modded. if you are planning to buy more than 5-6 games you will save ALOT of money:
360 elite = 299
Wifi = 100
10 games (fake) = 2-3 dollars a game
300+100+30= 430+
Ps3 slim = 300
games = 30 each (minimum)
300+300= 600+
Although it is illegal, the answer is obvious.