Sony Slashes Price of PlayStation 3

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. (More video game console stories.)