It is coming. Stay tuned to E3.

That should, for about a week at least, stop the "when will the PS2 go down in price?" threads.

Uhm...I may be new to this forum but this is the first that I have heard that at E3 the price is supposed to be announced to go down. The rumor for a price drop has been floating around since 6 months after PS2 launched and I seriously doubt that it's going to drop anytime soon...if it does it probably won't be more then $25 because production cost is still so high. This is Gamer signing off.

... I guess I'm just making this up if you haven't heard about it.

PS2 price drop to be announced at E3.

Ah well I've been wrong before seeing as it looks like that news is pretty much hot off the presses. But like I said it probably won't be that big of a price drop

Since Sony is pretty much just printing their own money these days, I believe the rumored price of "$1.99" for PS2 could be totally accurate. They don't even need the money now.

I'm guessing $249. I'd be blown away if it was $199. Who knows, Sony could be gunning straight for Nintendo. Then again, they could just wanna make Xbox seem expensive.

I couldn't find any other news stories about it though, but I'll do a more thorough search tomorrow. Though at this point, I'm highly skeptical that Sony has made any official statement about the matter. They may indeed be planning to announce a price cut at E3, but they'd be stupid to actually admit it right now. It would completely kill PS2 sales until then.

BTW, back in November, in that same FT interview that spawned all the rumors of a premature PS3 release, the president of Sony mentioned that they had been able to cut the cost of production for the PS2 such that they were no longer losing money on each unit they made. I read that to mean that they're profitable on an operational basis. There's no way they've already paid off the cost of the fabs that they built.

So Sony has had plenty of room for a price cut if they ever needed one. Unfortunately for consumers, they have been and probably will continue to be in such a strong position such that they don't really need to cut prices at all.

Sony is the ONLY console company that isn't losing money on consoles. Sony makes their own hardware and hence can turn profit on it. Production costs are low for Sony. Microsoft and Gamecube both lose money on each hardware system sold. Price drop is way overdue. Most likely will be 50 bucks, but could even be 100 bucks to bring it down to Gamecube level... Sony at this price would still make money on consoles. Sick thought, isn't it? This is great news for me though cuz i was thinking about picking one up cuz of Stuntman and Mr. Mosquito and a few other titles. Otherwise I'm happy with my Xbox and only have game envy for a few random titles.

I'll believe it when it actually happens. The link up above doesn't site a source at all...so as far as I'm concerned this is just as valid as the "Next month...this time for sure!" rumors that have been floating around for the several months.

Just another reminder: Sony doesn't need to lower the price on the console. It is still outselling the competition by a wide margain at the current price point, despite being over a year old.

Actually, TheGia sites ps2.ign.com as a source.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/354/354528p1.html

God, why is this so hard for you people to believe!?

Sorry, I missed that part. My mistake.

Looks like this may be the real deal.

Quote:

God, why is this so hard for you people to believe!?

Because every week somebody is in here posting a new rumor. It's like the boy who cried wolf.

Unfortunately the boy cried wolf a bit too much in this regard and any proof (whether true or fake) is blown off until people see it. I believe this is actually the truth...the GIA is very good at reporting truthful news.

LOL, I understand the boy who cried wolf... but there's sources, people! Sources! I suspect Gamespot will have the news today, too.

True but a price drop would sell even more consoles and give them an even wider margin over the other systems. A price drop now would likely stretch the lead to the point that the Gamecube, and especially the X-box if it stays $299, will never catch. But in reality, neither of those systems has a chance to catch the PS2 anyway, they're just battling for second place.

I am definitly buying a PS2 after E3. I hope around May, the only reason I didn't buy one before is to see how these new consoles were. The thought of a price drop (I would guess like $50), only sweetens the deal .

PS2 for $250 that would be great!

I just did a quick tour through the usual game sites and didn't see any other sites picking up on it. The GIA website does include a link to ps2.ign.com as a "source," but I couldn't find anything about it at ign. I hope to god they don't mean the ign message boards.

If Sony did make an official statement about this matter or if even some emloyee went on record with public statements to that effect; it would be headline news (at least in the gaming community). Unless someone can point me towards better supported sources, I'll have to assume that this is just yet another BS rumor.

BTW, I do think it's perfectly possible that Sony is planning such an announcement at E3. I just think it'd be insanely stupid of them to pre-announce an announcement. (Did that make a lick of sense? :P)

Couple questions maybe you guys can help me out with.

1) I was under the impression that ALL the manufactors were losing money on the systems they sell, even Nintendo for the first time. However, I was also under the impression Nintendo was the closest to selling their units close to actual costs. (loss of 20 bucks) Can someone provide links of trusted sources stating that the PS2 is now profit making from a hardware standpoint. (console only)

2) Why would Sony let this leak now? We are basically 3 months from E3 and there are plenty of PS2's in the stores. Wouldn't Sony like to keep selling through the consoles at this point? Why inform people and have them hold off to save money? Makes no sense.

3) Why lower the price at all? It's selling in far greater numbers then the xbox and GC. It's not like it's in any trouble. Is it a squeeze on MS to kill them for sure in Japan?

Any feedback would be helpful. I'm not saying this ins't true news, just some strong questions I have that I found little answer for.

A post of mine has a link to the article from PS2 IGN.

You mean that link? The article's about the Greatest Hits re-release of old hit games. I didn't see any mention of a price cut to the console.

It was there. Looks like Sony had them remove that.

No one outside of MS, Sony, and Nintendo really knows for sure how much money each of those companies are making/losing on each console they sell. Most of the numbers that you see thrown around in public are based on analysts' educated guesses. The actual numbers are closely guarded secrets.

From time to time, though, executives will make general statements regarding the matter. The interview I cited above can be found at this link:

http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pag...id=ZZZT22LCC0C

Towards the bottom of the interview, he talks about the relative merits of manufacturig in-house vs. outsourcing:

"It does take a huge investment to do this in-house," said Mr Ando. "But when you have control of the process you can work hard on reducing costs and control your pricing. Since August, we have cut costs enough that we are no longer losing money on each PlayStation 2 we make."

Answer for #3. My guess is, Sony can get a bigger market share in the video game industry. That will attract more video game companies to develop games for PS2. As we know, more good games is very important for a game console, so more people will buy PS2. And at the same time, Sony can make more moneys by selling the games. So, I think lower the price will actually help Sony to have a bigger market share and to make more money instead of from the system, but from the games and accessories... And that will give a very difficult time for Microsoft to compete with Sony, because I doubt if Microsoft can afford to lower theXBox price in a year.

2. This is actually pretty simple if you analyze it. We are in the middle of what is commonly called the "dead zone" in regards to game releases. The games released now either did not make their original Christmas date or were already marked for early 2002 (Maximo, JSRF). With JSRF out now there's really not anything huge on any horizon until maybe April (Spider-Man multiconsole) or if you wish to count games such as GunValkyrie (March) as a big game.

Doing a little blurb about announcing a price cut at E3 would put Sony in a great situation. Nintendo has made it known that their AAA title StarFox Adventures and Eternal Darkness will not be out until June (although there is a rumor going around that SA's date is a "soft" date and it may come out months earlier...something Nintendo has never done before in this era). With a cut in PS2 price it can go head-to-head with GameCube and its AAA games coming in June. This is also a big slap for X-Box obviously as the PS2 will now be cheaper.

3. I think it's always been known that a price drop for the PS2 would come at some point. There has already been a price drop both in the UK and Japan (making your "kill X-Box in Japan" pretty much obsolete), but maybe they will drop it more in those countries. I think this is a strategic move against the GameCube more than the X-Box in this situation. Nintendo has AAA games coming soon after E3 whereas it seems neither Microsoft or Sony and their 3rd parties have much in the way of AAA titles coming right after E3. Of course a price drop kills two birds with one stone though (Nintendo and Microsoft).

I'm not sure Sony is in this to kill either company off. I think they're in it to keep the #1 position by a large number. They know both systems outdo the PS2 on hardware and that they have to make the PS2 more attractive. I think in the end all 3 companies will still be around in the console market and I really don't see any of them killing each other off. As long as all 3 consoles get a good foothold both here and abroad along with a strong batch of 1st, 2nd and 3rd party games they can all co-exist theoretically. Microsoft has the money to eat through to wait for the X-Box to sell as does Nintendo to a smaller degree. However no one can beat Nintendo in the 1st and 2nd party game department and that is what keeps them afloat.

Anyway, I think I've said enough. This is just my analysis of the situation and obviously could be wrong. Thanks for listening.

This price drop might lure me to get a 3rd console, but I have to know... are there are more red hot AAA games coming to the PS2 in the future, like for next Xmas? We know what Nintendo has instore, and Xbox has some cool looking stuff coming too, but what about PS2? GTA3.1/4(the miami thing) still seems like a rumor.

Can anyone help me?

GT3 CONCEPT
Madden 2003
FFXI
GTA3: Miami (which rockstar has been quoted on)
SPIDERMAN: THE MOVIE
SUPERMAN
XMEN: ND
MORTAL KOMBAT
And something being called "FUTURAMA"


ummm....
Britney's Dance Beat
Simpsons Skateboarding


My theory is you can call a AAA title, "AAA" until you have it unwrapped and you've been playing it nonstop for hours I don't think PS2 will disappoint in 2002.

Cool. Nothing jumps out at me from that list, but I'm sure some unknown titles will come out of nowhere and be great like ICO. Right now, it's looking like a great vulture system for me to get. You know, after its demise, you sweep in and get it for $100, a la Dreamcast and N64, pick up cheap games, enjoy the hell out it. Hopefully GCN/Xbox/Strong PC will cover my bases for a few years until the next generation.