Despite expectations that Sony would lower the price of the PS3 at E3, the company announced no price drop at the big show. We asked why.
"From our perspective, this show is all about content," Sony's head of PlayStation marketing in the U.S., Peter Dille, told Kotaku in an interview yesterday. "We believe that our content story is unrivaled. It's really a relentless line-up of great exclusive games that will speak volumes to the value inherent in the PS3. Obviously people come to E3 expecting all sorts of announces. We've got a plan in place for the platform. A price drop at the show wasn't part of it."
The cheapest version of the PS3 on store shelves now is the $399.99 80GB model. The cheapest Xbox 360 is the harddrive-free $199.99 model. The Wii retails for $249.99. Sony's worldwide sales lag behind those of its cheaper competitors.
Prior to E3, spy shots of a rumored PS3 Slim made the rounds. Those images, while possibly fake, showed a box for such a unit that matched the box shown in other leaked shots for the then-unannounced PSP Go. Dille declined to comment on that PS3 Slim rumor, which some observers had tied in to the speculation that the console's price would soon drop.