The new $249 PS3 price point is something that has been planned for over a year now, says Sony. So why now? SCEA's director of hardware marketing, John Koller, says1 that it was to take advantage of Sony's holiday releases (ahem, Uncharted 3) so that they could lure "Xbox 360 and Wii owners to come over".
Koller added:
There's a significant number of Xbox 360 and Wii owners who would like that second console and want to have the opportunity to play these exclusive games and content experiences, and this new price point allows them to do that.
Koller also says that the PlayStation 3 is still profitable at the new price.
Sony will also be pushing their exclusive games as part of new bundles. Like this inFamous 2 320GB PS3 Bundle for $2992, which includes a 320GB PS3, a copy of inFamous 2, and a one-month subscription to PlayStation Plus.
This new price point is expected to increase PS3 sales up to 30%, says industry analyst, Michael Pachter3. He also says that if this price begins to eat into Xbox 360's momentum, Microsoft is likely to follow suit.
