Many are expecting Sony to unveil the PlayStation 4 this coming Wednesday, February 20. And according to the often quoted financial analyst who has a strong interest in video games, the next day, February 21, is when we should all expect a price cut for the PlayStation 3.
Game Industry theorized that the word of the price cut would come at the big PS4 unveil in New York City, or perhaps shortly thereafter. Though when asking Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter what he thought, his answer was a short and sweet:
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"February 21st."
It was also reported that, in a second email, that the new price point would be $199, presumably for the baseline system. At the moment, the cheapest model going is a $269 model that includes a 250GB hard drive and Uncharted 3.
Furthermore, the price cut will force Microsoft to respond by lowering the price of their Xbox 360 by E3 later this summer. Just in time for them to unveil the Xbox 720.
Such a move is a given by many, mostly due it being standard practice: when new hardware comes out, older hardware goes cheap. But Sony works in mysterious ways.
Given that the PS3 debut at $500 for the 20GB model and $600 for the 60GB, it's easy to believe that the PS4 might be ushered in at a similarly premium price point. In that case, what's the point of powering the price of the PS3? Having it cost too little would actually do harm for the PS4.
One definite possibility is that the PS3's price will be lowered, but the capacity of the hard drive would be lowered as well.
Also, consider the Vita; it's been over a year and there is still no price cut in sight, despite the fact that it desperately needs one. Though, one can only hope that, if a PS3 price cut is indeed unveiled at the event, one for the Vita would also be announced alongside as well.
