Okay, well at the moment, you can pick the a 160Gb for £189 in the UK and if you look hard pick up the 320Gb for £199. It looks like the NEW 12Gb PS3's RRP will be £189/£199, similar to the current 160Gb....so what is likely to happen? Is Sony assuming that people will buy the 160Gb version for the same price as the NEW 12Gb version, assuming they are getting a good deal...or will Sony push suppliers to reduce the cost of the 160Gb to get rid of them?

This move is solely to increase profits from the PS brand, that is all, as I am sure they will be making the new PS3 significantly less than the current model.

I am surprised though that they didn't give it a lesser price tag to sell loads more, unless this is linked with a delay to the PS4 era?

Do we expect another 18-24 months before seeing the PS4 being released, hence by then, we will see the price drop considerably to around £150 or even less.

Welcome to the internet of 2012, people and their online personas are sad nowadays, you really cant take that away from them.

I think this is more of Sony and to a certain extent Microsoft putting a floor on the price of their systems because they dont want to destroy an industry that is already in shambles with more and more price cuts.

I'm sure if you cut through the Sony hate (damn if they do or dont) and console fanboyism you can clearly see that.

Both systems will most likely have new variations coming out in the next 12-18 months so having a set price and not changing it would make the most sense if you dont want to your industry to decline 20% every month.

The new PS3 looks to be production efficient while keeping its price, means they are not sacrificing margins and the same price means they see no real threat from the Wii U in its first year in terms of amount of consoles sold.

We should ask Turkish what he thinks of this

Let me guess... "It's going to dominate this Christmas sales. It's a sexy console, I love it. Sony products are the greatest! That 500gb disk is EPIC!" and things like that.

I have said something similiar in my defence by taking glee in the fact I bought mine before the arrival of the list. And considering most are criticising them or not saying anything positive abou the move (save for you and a couple of others).

probably. But never visits threads like this.

500gb ps3 with fifa 13 for 229 pound in uk, i think we will see a lot fo fifa bundles in europe also for the 12gb

http://www.thehut.com/games/consoles/ps3-new-sony-playstation-3-slim-console-500-gb-black-includes-fifa-13/10639529.html?nav=usp

I don't see how a price cut on hardware would weaken the industry ...

I do think that Sony and Microsoft may want to keep the price of their current systems relatively high (compared to consoles at a similar point in previous generations) so that their next system seems to be more reasonably priced at launch. With exchange rates being what they are, the likelihood that the PS4 and 'XBox 720' will be bundled with expensive accessories (Kinect 2, PS Move and/or touch screen controller), and releasing with a system that is more powerful and expensive than the Wii U, it may be difficult for Sony and Microsoft to release their next generation systems for less than $400; and they may be closer to $500 at launch.

The strategy has worked for some products in the past, and it is essentially to convince you that the new product isn't expensive because it is worth so much more than the previous model and doesn't cost that much more.

The number of units that the PS3 and 360 would have to generate to equal or surpass any price cut they impliment now is not worth it this late in the generation, so yes it would have a significantly bad effect on the industry.  Just like the 3DS pre and post price cut and the vita, those enities have not been able to move the needle on declining sales (at least here in the US) at all, add a declining PS3 and X360 (which the Wii U would not be able to make up) and you have a receipe for disaster.