$599 $199 U.S. Dollars.
The PlayStation 4 is expected to be announced in just four days, and that means that not only is there finally something to look forward to, but the appeal of current hardware will quickly fade. In order to combat the possible decline in demand, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told GamesIndustry International that Sony is very likely to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 during the February 20th presentation. He doesn't expect it to be a mild price cut, either. He states that it will for its first time ever hit the golden price of $199.
Sony has had a history of lowering its prices during the fall season to further increase consumer interest going into the holiday season. However, with a PlayStation 4 confidently expected to debut later this year, Sony may be looking to ride momentum for the duration of 2013. It would help tremendously in combating Nintendo's latest console which has garnered a lion's portion of the spotlight since it debuted only four months ago. For once, it will also help battle the Xbox 360's Arcade Bundle which has been Microsoft's trojan horse into the casual market for years.
The Xbox 360 and Wii found their way to the $199 price point much earlier in their lifecycle, and even then the PlayStation 3 has already managed to outsell the Xbox 360 worldwide. At $199 families who were previously not interested will have reason to consider one of the most cost-effective media solutions on the market. As we've seen in the past from hardware that has become available for under $200, the sales can shoot to record levels and at that rate secure the 10 year lifecycle that Sony has been aiming for.
