Sony Unveils New Super Slim PS3

[key2win]

Sony unveils new ‘Super Slim’ PS3

Sony is putting its flagship video game system on a crash diet.

Confirming months of speculation, the company unveiled a redesigned PlayStation 3 at its pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference Wednesday.

The new 'Super Slim' model is roughly the size of a laptop computer and about half as thick as the original PlayStation 3 that hit stores in 2006. Sony says the redesign is 20 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter than the existing model. It also uses a sliding door panel to top load discs, rather than the slot-loading disc drive previous models have used. Functionally, however, it's identical to the current PS3.
In North America, two versions will be available: One packing a 250 GB hard drive for $269, which arrives on Sep. 25, and one with a 500 GB hard drive for $299, which hits stores on Oct. 30.

That pricing scheme has left many scratching their heads. The current entry level PS3 costs $249 -- and with a new Nintendo console hitting in two months at $299, many analysts were expecting Sony to lower the PS3's price even further to woo consumers.

Instead, Sony is relying on the value proposition of the new PS3. The lower-end Super Slim model boasts a bigger hard drive than today's entry-level system (250 GB compared to 160 GB) and will come bundled with Uncharted 3: Game of the Year Edition, as well as a voucher for $30 of "bonus digital content" to be used in the free-to-play title DUST 514. The 500 GB model will come bundled with a copy of Assassin's Creed III.

Still, analysts aren't impressed.

"I think the form factor looks like a nice improvement, but if I were Sony I would focus more on lowering prices," says Colin Sebastian of R.W. Baird. "At this point, in terms of competing at the end of the cycle and in terms of driving more mindshare, I don't think consumers are as interested in the prettiest console they can find, but rather the one that has the best value."

Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter agrees.

"I think Sony is missing an opportunity to differentiate on price," he says. "And I think they're going to be caught flat footed when Microsoft does something like bundles Kinect with the Xbox for $200."

Other global territories will have a couple other options. Japanese gamers will be able to buy a white Super Slim PS3, while European fans will be offered a system that has a 12 GB flash hard drive rather than the standard one found in traditional systems. Users can add their own hard drive to increase the memory, if they'd like.

At present, it does not appear that either of those systems will make it to America.

[B.I.G.Poppa]

Too bad it's not coming to America, I would've bought one since I didn't bring my 360 to college with me lol.

[key2win]

Sony’s explanation for not cutting PS3 prices is astounding

Sony, it seems, thinks you're not a big fan of price cuts. Or at the very least, they think you're tired of trying to figure out where the real bargains are.

With this week's unveiling of the Super Slim PlayStation 3, pretty much everyone thought the company would slash prices on the current, uh, "fat" model to help clear space on shelves for the new hardware.

Everyone, that is, except Sony.

The electronics giant says it doesn't plan to make any pricing changes -- even to the now technologically inferior 160 GB model -- since it believes customers are tired of having to choose between differently priced systems.


"There's no price drop formally, but the thing that's been happening in the market over the last year or so is that there's been so many retail price promotions, and so many different gift card offers and all those things, being done by all of us (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony), that we've heard from our consumer, 'Enough with all these weird price moves. What we really want is content and games and value,'" said John Koller, Sony Computer Entertainment America's VP of marketing, handhelds and home consoles, in an interview with Engadget.

Even in an industry where PR spin can put a nice shine on the lousiest news, a company arguing that customers don't want lower prices is hard to swallow.

It's unlikely that people who already own a PS3 are going to trade it in for a slimmer model with a slightly larger hard drive this late in the cycle. Sony's aiming for late adopters here -- and that's a crowd that makes its decisions purely on price.

Still, there could be a couple of other unspoken factors at work here. It's no secret that Sony is in a financial crisis these days, so there could be orders coming from up high that prevent the PlayStation division from making any formal cuts.

"They want to maintain the brand value and the equity in the Sony name," says P.J. McNealy of DWS Research. "They want to make sure Sony's not associated with a cheap box. So putting in more value also lets them to keep the price up and allows them to charge $60 for AAA titles."

Unfortunately, it also means they've missed out on a great opportunity to severely undercut the newly announced $300 low-end price of the Wii U. Instead, Sony will offer four different PS3 models to consumers: the old 160 GB version for $250, a Super Slim 250 GB model for $270, and, crazy as it sounds, a 320 GB old model and a new 500 GB Super Slim model priced identically at $300. Because you hate price drops.

That might keep the perceived brand value high, but it makes little sense for consumers.

"The reality is Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have two choices now. They can cut prices on current models or they can extend the life cycles of the current machines by adding more technology and bundling games with them. Sony is clearly in the second camp."

Maybe, but it probably could have found a better way of explaining that.

[jsab4807]

Really? They make something that's been out for almost a decade a little skinnier and don't lower the price any? Sony doesn't understand the gaming industry at all. (And that's coming from a PS3 owner.)

[Cool_Hand_Flash]

I like the new look, and my original launch PS3 died last month so the timing is pretty good. (Btw it's launch was 2006, 07 in Europe)

The one first slim was awful looking imo, looked like real cheap plastic as opposed to the original, this is way more acceptable