Sony to the public: ha ha!

[Umon Daisuke]

The 60GB model is being discontinued, so that's why they've reduced the price. Once it's gone, it's gone and we're back to $600 with extra 20GB and Motorstorm. Europe isn't getting a cut, but their bundle has two games instead (+ Resistance).

Stupid, stupid, stupid..

[Dot50Cal]

Such epic failure. I can see the point in getting the 60GB off shelves now that they have software BC working, but this is just retarded. At least the inclusion of the 80GB sku finally has a reason.

They better god damn well continue to support the hardware BC ps3's though with software updates. I dont want to get dicked out of some new feature.

[Borman]

I dont see why we early adopters couldnt get both. They are removing hardware, which makes it easier to disable when needed, its not like their adding hardware in addition to removing it

[Summoner]

It's a cash cow. Simple as that.

[A-J]

and from what i've heard the 80 gig version will actually be cheaper for sony to produce because of them being able to find 80 gig HDD's locally as opposed to 60 gig one's (or something weird like that, over at neogaf)

[Umon Daisuke]

I would prefer if they moved to software BC completely. That way they can actually do internal upscaling ala the 360 games. The chief firmware architect mentioned that they can do that with PS games, but doing PS2 games is a bit harder since the GS is there and they're only emulating the EE. PS games have been software emulated since the introduction of the slim PS2.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to think now after Karraker's recent "clarification:

As we announced this week, SCEA’s product offering in North America consists of a 80GB PS3 available in August and a 60GB PS3 available now for $499. We will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of consumers for the foreseeable future.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/07/13/another-e3-winding-down-plus-a-quick-clarification/

He said "foreeable" future... but he mentioned both 60 and 80GB model in that context and they sure won't be discontinuing that.

Seriously though, the European package makes sense and is of good value. The NA 80GB one is... well it sucks. 20GB does nothing when your average game has install requirements of 2.5 GB. 5GB is more common.

[Borman]

Upscaling isnt that great, its not actually being rendered at that resolution so it doesnt matter. And why they couldnt program it to use both hardware and software is beyond me.

[Dot50Cal]

Upscaling isnt that great, its not actually being rendered at that resolution so it doesnt matter. And why they couldnt program it to use both hardware and software is beyond me.

By internal upscaling he means actually changing the resolution the game runs in ala PC emulators.

Its been said that the Euro model with Software BC has new and different ways of handling BC that wouldnt allow its software updates to be compatible with the hardware BC models and make it impossible to have resolution changes in PS2 games.

[classic_leon]

I think it's an excuse of Sony. Bundling 20GB-only is not convenient for using hacked games which are downloaded. Sony has suffered PSP 1.5v BIOS for long time.

[Krispy]

Denied.

[Dot50Cal]

The roller coaster continues!

[classic_leon]

Keep hacking then. woot!

[Borman]

Dont deny it yet

Sony: Enough 60GBs for "several months" in U.S. [Update 3]
98 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Jul 13th 2007 4:15PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Business

Dave Karraker of Sony Computer Entertainment of America has contacted Joystiq to give us clarification on the story that would have made us believe Sony had truly lost its mind once and for all. The fun never ends, does it?

Karraker says the quotes from David Reeves are not accurate. He explains that if they had lowered the price in Europe, that territory would have run out of their current inventory by the end of July. He says in a statement, "As announced this week, SCEA's product offering in North America consists of a 80GB PS3 available in August at $599 and a 60GB PS3 available now for $499. We have will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of our consumers for the foreseeable future."

Update 1: There are some serious conflicting reports going on at the moment. We're working on answers while still trying to cover E3 the best we can.

Update 2: As you may have seen in this clip about 1:45 in, Kaz Hirai says "The $499 price adjustment that we did for the 60 GB version for the American market, we're no longer in production for that product. So once that product is gone from the retailers shelves, then we're back to the $599 SKU only, so it's not like we have a two price strategy here in the U.S. market, which we found early on consumers react most to just having one SKU as opposed to two." So, we're attempting to get some clarification. You'll know when we do.

Update 3: According to Karraker, "The 60GB PS3 will be available in North America for $499 until supplies of that unit are depleted. We have ample inventory to meet the immediate needs of consumers in this territory for several months to come. We won't be making any further announcements regarding our hardware offerings in the North America at this time." In our opinion, it's a touch disingenuous for Sony to just now be bringing this information to light, even though Karraker goes on to insist that this is not a bait-and-switch. If that's the truth, why make it seem like the company was returning to a two-SKU strategy when that was clearly just temporary?

[Dot50Cal]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3161297

Confirmed by SCEA, lolololololol

[Umon Daisuke]

Ample supply for months? Now that's not making much sense. Stupid stunt to get the sales going, then introduce a standalone 80GB model perhaps? I would think that a EE-less unit would cost less then one with one; extra 20GB won't cost much.

At any rate, this wreaks of stupidity without a doubt.