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Sony Slashes Price of PlayStation 3

Floundering console still costs twice as much as a Wii

By Sam Gale Rosen, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 9, 2007 8:29 AM CDT

(Newser) – Sony is easing up on the retail price of its struggling PlayStation 3 by $100. The console will now cost $500—$20 more than the Xbox 360 and twice as much as the bestselling Nintendo Wii. Sony's CEO had promised to hold the price, but poor receipts appeared to necessitate a reboot. "Our initial expectation is that sales should double at a minimum," one exec says.

The Playstation has lagged behind Microsoft and Nintendo in this round of the console wars, leading analysts to expect the cut for months. Add to that Redmond's recent admission of the Xbox's high failure rate, which will cost the company over a billion dollars in repairs, and, Reuters reports, the Wii is looking more and more like a winner.

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

The PlayStation 3 video game console from Sony is shown in this Feb. 22, 2007 file photo, in New York. Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console will come with a beefed up 80-gigabyte hard-desk drive... (Associated Press)

Sony Corp.'s Corporate Executive Officer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda, left, contemplates as he answers questions during the announcement of the firm's consolidated... (Associated Press)

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Sony Slashes Price of PlayStation 3