Northern Star Online: Playstation 3 price lowered to gain consumer appeal

Sony recently lowered the price of the PlayStation 3 console from $599 to $499, reportedly to better compete against Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii.

The price cut came just in time for holiday shopping, as consumers can now purchase the original 80G console for $100 less than the original price, or buy the new lower-end 40G model for $399.

Brandon Daniels, sophomore communications major, said the new price makes him more likely to purchase the system, even though he said the game selection is better for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

“PlayStation 3 has Blu-ray disc, which is going to take over the industry,” Daniels said.

Josh Street, freshman accountancy major, agrees that the PlayStation 3’s Blu-ray player is one of the benefits to purchasing the more expensive PlayStation 3, stating that the original $599 asking price was fair because the system doubled as an $800-$1000 Blu-ray player.

Reporters for CNN.com said the price drop was implemented to better compete against other systems like the Xbox 360 and Wii. According to the reports, the price drop is working as planned, as Sony representatives have seen more than double the amount of PlayStation 3 sales after the price cut.

Another alleged concern of the price drop was the availability of PlayStation 3.

CNN.com reported that because the previous asking price slowed sales, game manufacturers became less likely to publish software for the system.