How much do Sony lose on each console they sell? Are they still making a loss on each one? If so another $100 is gonna burn them bad...

The price drop is terrible news for Nintendo. Why? Because now if MS drop the 360 price to compete, the Wii suddenly doesn't look as cheap and with the lack of games the console has, it's won't look as desirable either.

People are compulsive buyers, they hear "$100 dollars off", they will buy. True Story!

I agree with the guy. A $100 is a great step in the right direction as the system has only been out for 8 months, but it is going to take at least another $100 to make me even consider a purchase. With the 360/Wii lineup, I'm thinking $349.99 may be my magic # as I truely have no interest in the PS3. Which surprises myself actually.

$500 may still be expensive for a games console, but $100 can make a difference.

Concentrate on getting some new games out Nintendo. My Wii is already collecting dust.

@Morpork: Agreed. If this was 360 dropping $100, Nintendo would be shitting a brick. Bye-bye profitable console, hello subsidized console.

I love the smell of capitalism in the morning.

He should be more concerned about releasing some good games on the Wii rather than competitor's price cut. Sold my Wii once novelty wore off.

I am curious, has anyone upgraded the HDD on thier PS3. if it is not too complicated I would want to know why anyone wouldn't just buy the 60Gb and buy a 160GB HDD for it for $100.

I have not gotten a PS3 yet so am I just being ignorant or what?

@EnigmaNemesis: Agreed.
People are just like that these days. They'd rather spend 500 dollars on something thats on sale than 400 dollars on something that has been that price. Capitalism. Ha

Nintendo needs to shut up and look out. I've been nothing but dissapointed with the Wii and its upcoming game lineup. Really all the goodness is on the 360 and PS3 so far and really don't see how the Wii will keep up its momentum when the PS3 and 360's prices come closer within range of the affordable Wii.

Nintendo are becoming more arrogant as the days pass.

A price war brings the 360 in striking distance of the Wii. The proposition of a casual gamer picking up a "hardcore" machine sold on the prospect of downloadable videos, media center functionality and fun colorful viva piniata has got to scare the content barren wii.

And I believe it was noted that the cost of blu ray diodes has dropped almost $100 and the removal of the emotion engine shaves another $30 off the price. Hard drives continuously drop in price, and ram is at a record low, although the ps3 only has 512meg. I wouldnt be suprised if sony is loosing the same or less money AFTER the price drop on the $499 version, and even less loss on the $599 edition.

@Morpork: You might think that but the prices are still far enough from the Wii that customers don't consider them to be the same level of afforability. By the time the other two are at the level of the Wii price wise we will be far out of the mini "drought" we are currently in.

As a side note the "lack of games" on the Wii honestly doesn't matter for Wii sales. The Wii has Wii sports and Zelda which is enough to get most people started on the system. (and a lot of other games worth playing and Super Paper Mario which is worth owning) When new owners pick up a Wii they haven't experienced these games yet so the whole library is new to them.

Quiet down there Nintendo, we don't need you returning to arrogance mode anytime soon *looking at you specifically Reggie*. You have a good product, prove to us that it isn't just a mini-game factory and can put out real power house games.

They didn't exactly drop the price they changed the sku's around. The $499 20GB ps3 was dropped from the lineup and replaced with the 60GB for $499. The 60GB $599 was replaced by 80GB version at $599. So the entry ps3 is still $499 and the premium is $599. Microsoft tomorrow will counter with an actual price drop on all 360 models between $50 and a hundred bucks.

The ps3 premium $599 to $599
The ps3 entry $499 to $499

The xbox 360 Elite $480 to $399
The xbox 360 Premium $399 to $299
The xbox 360 core $299 to $199

Bloomberg: Sony Cuts PlayStation 3 Price, Aims to Double Sales:

>>Microsoft is struggling to lift Xbox sales amid an ``unacceptable'' number of repairs made under warranty, the company said on July 6. Glitches in the Xbox 360 console will cost as much as $1.15 billion to fix, Microsoft said.<<

>>Clearing up the trouble made PlayStation 3 profitable several months ago, giving the company room to cut prices, analyst Doherty said. Microsoft still loses money on each Xbox 360 it sells, he said.<<
[www.bloomberg.com]

@Maleficence:
Nintendo will be the new Sony. Or the old Nintendo. You really can't balme them for the sucess of the DS and Wii, even with the lack of games.

@The_Man: I really don't see Microsoft announcing a price cut on the 360 tomorrow. Maybe soon but not tomorrow.

@CrazzyMan:
How is the 360 still losing $$$? There are a whole buch of parts comparisons on the web that show the 360 is making over a 100 dollars a pop on each console.

@SirGecko: If 360 matched the Sony price drop, the neutered 360 would cost $50 LESS than the Wii. Even if we know it's a bad deal, most don't.

I think you are right about the lack of Wii games not hurting new purchases. If they were losing money on the console, they might have been boned. The only games I own for mine are Zelda and Wii Play, and Wii Play was just because of the remote. I bet the software attach rate for the Wii is awful, especially when you subtract 1 for Wii Sports being a pack in.

At least all signs point to much stronger 3rd party support than the GC days.

what if... auntie M drops to 250$?

what will you say then?

@EnigmaNemesis: You say True Story way too much...

True Story!

@nikolajz1: Parts comparisons like those are pure speculation. They really don't know how much its costing to make those parts, and you also have to factor in other things such as packaging, the controllers, cables, and shipping of the units as well.

@Import98: if you have no interest, no price will be right for you.

@SirGecko: yeah, those'll last and bring big attach rates.

@The_Man: right, so they dropped the price.

of course competition's not happy about a price-cut, why would they be? but yeah, they really need to focus on games at this point.

Ha. And people call Sony arrogant...What a prick.

It's really not much more expensive to get a Core now than a Wii - the reason the 360 isn't selling as well as the Wii isn't just price.

The problem is, MS is selling the 360 as the ultimate hardcore machine, which is great for that audience. Nintendo's never made pretensions about that idea, much to the chagrin of numerous Microsoft and Sony fanbots.

It'll take a reimagining of what the 360 and PS3 are to start competing with the Wii directly. Much as the DS doesn't have to worry about the PSP's movements in the market, the Wii isn't directly concerned with what the other two competitors are doing, because it's expanding into markets they won't touch for years - and will touch based solely on price, rather than any inherent appeal in the systems themselves.

@conzer16: They lose 240 bucks per console with the $600 price tag.

@Kyle81: AND this warranty thing.

@nikolajz1: And have you noticed how Sony has become more humble the past weeks and been listening to their consumers (upscale, rumble, price cut...)? I love competition. Go Microsoft! Go Ninty! Keep'em on their toes so we (PS3 owners) can have what we want!

@Morpork:

You clearly have no idea why the Wii sells. Here's a hint; it's simple really. A lot of people buying Wii's are never going to buy a PS3 or 360, at any price. They were chased from the gaming market by the high cost and/or the complexity of the controls.

So basically Nintendo is right, a price cut (though by adding the 80GB modle it is really more of a lateral move) doesn't make a difference.

Whoa, WHOA. Testy testicles. SOMEONE's getting defensive. You know a company has made a good decision when their opponents badmouth them, unprovoked.

The Wii is still going strong in my house. It is the 360 that's collecting dust. And I may discard the 360 altogether once Nights comes out -- if not sooner.

So wait im confused, IS THE PS3 PRICE CUT GOOD OR BAD!?

first people keep saying "price cut, price cut, price cut, price cut" then when the price cut is here, "Why are you cutting the price? why are you cuttin the price? why!?"

Why is the world like this?

*heavy sigh*

Wait, I thought George Harrison quit Nintendo due to the whole moving thing?

Since when does Harrison have access to Sony financial news? Does he have a little robotic fly on the wall in the meeting room or something? Unless he's a double secret employee of Sony this is a bonehead statement on his part. Just doing damage control despite there being nothing to control.

@nikolajz1: "How is the 360 still losing $$$? There are a whole buch of parts comparisons on the web that show the 360 is making over a 100 dollars a pop on each console."

Those prices are a guestimation, an extrapolation of price points for components without any real knowledge of deals struck, and quantity discounts and long term contract commitments. They arent the real numbers from sony or microsoft.

Its unlikely MS is making $100 per console, and even less likely once you factor in repair costs associated with 1/3rd of your consoles breaking, and getting free shipping back and forth, and replacements.

It is even less likely sony is making ANYTHING on the Ps3, they are buying their way into the next gen dvd market, and thats all that matters to them. Why do you think toshiba is subsidizing $200+ on their HDDVD players? Sony wont let ps3 fail, it has too many things riding on it.

My Wii is collecting dust, but that was because I was saving up for Super Mario Strkers Charged.

This is from a guy who quit Nintendo because he didn't want to move ... Hmm...

@hegemonyhog: " the Wii isn't directly concerned with what the other two competitors are doing, because it's expanding into markets they won't touch for years. "

One word: PS2.

@EmeraldDragon: "You clearly have no idea why the Wii sells. Here's a hint; it's simple really. A lot of people buying Wii's are never going to buy a PS3 or 360, at any price."

Fine.
And the over 120 million people who bought the PS2 for games like GTA, DMC etc will never buy the Wii, no matter how cheap it is.
Meanwhile, just a price cut of $100 alone has sent PS3 sales soaring past the Wii on Amazon, even with the PS3 still costing twice as much as te Wii.
Not a good sign for the Wii.

@slomo788:
Yup, competition breeds innovation. I hope all 3 console makers have a 1/3 share in 3 years because that means next gen we will see very innovative and cheap consoles. Sony learned a lesson this gen, that no matter how sucessful you have been in the past you always have to listen to the consumer. Consumers are driven by deals aka the Wii bundled with Wii Sports. Sony has a long way to go to catch up but they slowly are losing that cockiness they had before which is the first step to the Ps3 being sucessful. Again, even though I dont have a 360 I want the PS3 to do good so I get to play awesome games this gen and next gen.

the $100 price drop will not entice new purchasers, it's till a freaking $500+ GAME console. that's how people see it, they don't see having the ability to play HD movies as a plus to justify the price, people buy game consoles with the intention to play games, not movies. and as soon as sony realizes this the better.

i don't understand sony's ideas of selling their blu-ray dvd players for a higher price than the ps3. sure the movies will look better than on the ps3, but what about in the future when the players are $200? sony can't use the blu-ray player as a feature on the ps3 cause the standard players will be cheaper.

sony is in a lose - lose battle trying to sell blu-ray players and the ps3 to the same market.

hopefully some will understand what i am trying to say :)

It seems that the Xbox Fanboy Talking Point is "There is no price drop, they just upgraded what you get for your money" while the Sony Fanboy Talking Point is "Xbox RRODs all the time". They share the Talking Point of "My Wii is collecting dust" There hasn't been much Wii news recently, so I'm not sure what the current Nintendo Fanboy Talking Points are. Anybody wanna chime in?

Seriously, I've read those exact points about 10 times in various articles today. Start thinking for yourselves for a change.

What price cut? Sony merely re-introduced a PS3 at $499, which they previously but discontinued after a few months.

Why not bring back the 20GB PS3, but for $399?

@Hand_O_Death: it's so easy to upgrade a PS3 it's stupid. What I want to know can a usb HDD be read from the USB panels on the front of the 20 GB PS3? I tried a USB adpator with a 2GB SD card and it worked without a hitch. The PS3 recognized it as a USB storage device and I backed up all of my gave saves, no sweat. I want to buy a 500GB HDD that's at staples for $150 but I want to make sure the PS3 can read the HDD if I put it in an external caddy. Anyone know if this is doable or no?

@kneehighspy: Sony is selling their Blu ray players to people who pay around 3 grands for their home entertainment set. Sony is selling their PS3s to people who want to play next gen games, even on SDTVs, hoping that it will get them into the HD market (and to people who are already there too of course). Do you see the difference? Players are for those who are already there and don't complain about the prices and beg for price cuts. PS3s are for the others (like me even though I bought mine since December). Also, I don't know where you got the idea that BD will look better on standard BD players than on the PS3 (links?). And when those players will be cheaper, I assume the PS3 will be "cheap" too but the BD drive is not the only new technology that the PS3 has. There's Cell, Sixaxis, the Linux compatibility, the free online, etc.

@Striderhayasa: Good to know, thanks. And you bring up another good point. If that works, it will even be easier, but possibly slower if your talking about DLing an HD movie or something.

@Starcade: Woah - Good point. And with a magic *click* he reminds us all about January... and here I can't believe its still the same year.

@Belain: "Those prices are a guestimation, an extrapolation of price points for components without any real knowledge of deals struck"

Those prices come from iSupply, and they are as good as you can get, certainly much better from your plucked from thin air declaration that Microsoft loses money on 360 hardware sales.
Getting an estimate of total component costs by taking apart a 360 or PS3, by an outfit like iSuppli is not that hard. They have stellar reputation in that businesss.
You don't.

"Its unlikely MS is making $100 per console, and even less likely once you "

According to iSuppli, Microsoft was already making a gross $75.70 on each 360 premium sold, and that was back in November. Given the constant falls in component prices, the markup has probably gone up in the 8 months since that report.

[arstechnica.com]

And all that is even before Falcon, the 65 nm chips, which will further cut chip costs by up to 40%.

@conzer16:

i read a while back that the 60gig PS3 costs 830$ USD, so they lose 230$ each one sold, so now they guna eat 330$USD with each on, PLUS whatever their cost is for MotoStorm.

at its current price, the 360 is set to be profitable in 2008, but they shud cut it as rummored (by 50 - 100$). they can afford another year to keep Sony even further down, c'mon M$.

@baberg:

When I read the news I considered it to be a price cut of 100 dollars. What I bought in November for 599 I could now buy for 499. But after reading Ozymandias's point of view, I've got to agree with him. There was a 499 price point before, and there remains a 499 price point. So the hardware changed a bit, the price point remains the same.

I'm wondering when they'll cut down to a 399 price point, but I fully expect MS to lower their prices tuesday night.

@Starcade: If BMW sells you a 5 series BMW, for the same price as a 3 series BMW, is that a price cut or not?

@ George Harrison

News flash! Nintendo needs to go back to the SNES days.

@Starcade: What? The price is one hundred dollars cheaper. How is that not a price drop.

That's like saying the price of the 360 went up $80 with the Elite.

@Morpork:

By the time Wii dosn't look cheap theres gonna be a TON of AAA titles. All the big Nintendo guns will be out, metroid,smash,mario. As well as a bunch of big third party games. Third parties are all flocking now to wii games. By this time next year it will be ps3 with no games to mention.

@Neon: Lol I think you need some sleep man. I've yet to see a Wii third party that outshines the PS3's line up. By this time next year everyone will be talking about (hopefully) GT5, MGS4, Killzone and LittleBigPlanet. Just to mention those.

@Belain: I think what people forget most is that Sony is a titan of a hardware company. They manufacture their own designed products. Microsoft do not; they do their designs and get someone to manufacture them - hence, extra costs.

This is also w