Hasta La Gadget!

Great news! Sony will drop the price of the PlayStation console today by almost a quarter. The catch? It’s the PS2, not the PS3 — the big brother will remain at a customer-repelling $400.

The PS2 will, from today, sell for $100, down from the current price of $130, a 23% drop. This is, according to Reuters, to "woo budget-minded families," although the price reduction has been made possible by increased efficiency in making the console — squeezing more components onto less chips, for example. This means that Sony will still be making plenty of cash selling the PS2.

Speculation has therefore turned to an imminent PS3 price-reduction. The difference, we think, is that Sony is making little on the machines, or even still losing money trying to get the white-elephant Blu-ray player into homes. While this continues, don’t expect any price cuts.

In fact, one thing really confirms Sony’s plans to keep the PS3 cost high — when asked for comment, the company gave none. As soon as a Sony executive denies the rumor, we’ll know it’s true.

Sony cuts price of PlayStation 2, not PS3 [Reuters]
Sony cuts PlayStation 2 price by 25 percent [Network World]