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Sony Sets PlayStation 3 Price

Tue May 09, 2006 at 03:13 AM ET
Tags: High-Def Gaming, PlayStation 3, Sony (all tags) After months of speculation over the expected cost of the Blu-Ray-driven PlayStation 3, Sony has at last revealed its pricing plans for the highly-anticipated next-gen game console, CNN reported late yesterday.

The company unveiled a two-tier pricing strategy for the PS3 with an announcement at yesterday's E3 expo, which kicked off the four-day videogame convention in Los Angeles. Sony said it will offer two packages when the system goes on sale this November worldwide -- a PS3 with a 20 GB hard drive will cost consumers $499, while a larger 60 GB hard drive will retail for $599.

That puts the PS3 at $100 higher than the current price for Microsoft's popular Xbox 360, and $200 to $300 higher than the launch price for the PlayStation 2 six years ago.

Both versions will include Blu-Ray high-definition drives, and be able to play Blu-Ray movie discs in addition to videogames.

Sony says it plans to ship 2 million units worldwide at launch, with an additional 2 million by Dec. 31. This could lead to shortages at retail, however, mirroring the inventory problems that plagued the arrival of the Xbox 360 last November.

Both the 20 GB and 60 GB consoles will launch simultaneously in North America and Europe on November 17, while Japan will get the players almost a week earlier on November 11.Sony's announcement also comes a day after Microsoft unveiled its first HD-DVD add-on drive for the Xbox 360, which is due to coincide with the arrival of the PS3 this fall.

Related links:
PlayStation 3 Prices: $499 and $599 [CNN]
Earlier on High-Def Digest:
Microsoft Unveils New Details on Xbox 360 HD-DVD Add-On (May 08, 2006)


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