Would you please be so kind as to send me a link to where I can buy that 599.99 80gb PS3? NJ5? Because last time I checked... THEY DONT SELL IT YET! So that means, there are NO PS3's for sale for over 499.99 (Unless they didnt get the memo to drop the price)

I'd say that's a price cut.

Did you actually read this thread? For example, the post starting with "I'm not sure". Check it please.

 Responding to your first paragraph, yes for the 60GB model the price is lower, so in that regard it is a price cut.  Add in the fact that they are not going to ship/make any more and you have what is called a clearance sale.  A clearance sale is just a price cut with the goal of getting rid of stock.  But if you want to say "The PS3 got a price cut." then when the 60GB models are all gone you need to also say "The PS3 got a price increase!".

 Responding to your second paragraph, your post betrays you and tells everyone in this thread that you have failed to read the thread and just posted as a knee-jerk reaction.  Or if you did read it, then you have low reading comprehension.  Nobody is claiming that introducing a higher priced model somehow "negates" a price cut.  What people have said is that the lowest price point that the PS3 has sold at has not changed.   

Right guys.

Firstly, the price of the only PS3 on the NA market has been reduced from $599 to $499 to hence a $100 pricecut.

Secondly, Sony are theoretically selling off all the 60Gb PS3's (please note the only current model on the market) and once they are all sold, the new 80Gb model will take its place.  We do not know how many 60Gb PS3 there are already in the marketplace in NA and at the moment Sony is still making 60Gb PS3's for both the European and Japanese markets at least.

Thirdly, the new "Special Edition" 80Gb with Motorstorm bundle is yet to be released (approx 2 weeks away) and no comments on whether this will take over as the only NA based PS3 unit or not or whether another unit wil be released into the market.

All in all.  Sony have reduced the cost of the PS3 seeing as the PS3 was $100 more expensive a week ago.  Yes in that respect, the PS3 was only $499 at launch, but seeing as the entry level 20Gb lower spec model was discontinued a few months ago, the PS3 went back up in price and has now come back down.  As I've said already, we have no clue as to how many 60Gb PS3's there are left to sell to the NA community, but my guess is that there is 1m at the very least.

Peter Moore can twist facts all he wants, but what he will find out is that this "pricecut" WILL mean that more PS3's will be shifted last week than 360's and he will also find that he will need to follow suit pretty soon or in the medium term, the PS3 WILL sell more units than 360 in NA. 

And here I thought the 360 had sold just over 10 million. Boy, was I wrong! :p

On topic: In The Netherlands we have a saying for price drops like this.. but I'm not going to tire you with our lame sayings.. Fact is that it's just one model that's receiving a price cut. If there would be a new Wii on the market in a couple of months for 250 bucks and the 'old' version was for sale for 200 bucks shortly afterwards, it would still be just a price cut for one model.. :)

That argument would make sense if anyone bought an average 360.

 All this carping over terminology is pointless when, in fact, we all agree on the basic facts:

The cheapest PS3 is still the same price as it was a year ago, only it's now a better model, and thus a better deal. The same is true of the highest priced PS3.

As for the 360, the models that were around a year ago are still around, at the same price, so consumers today get the same basic deal, no better, no worse (unless you include the extended warranty), but they have the option of one addition, more expensive model.

That argument would make sense if anyone bought an average 360.

 All this carping over terminology is pointless when, in fact, we all agree on the basic facts:

The cheapest PS3 is still the same price as it was a year ago, only it's now a better model, and thus a better deal. The same is true of the highest priced PS3.

As for the 360, the models that were around a year ago are still around, at the same price, so consumers today get the same basic deal, no better, no worse (unless you include the extended warranty), but they have the option of one addition, more expensive model.

The lowest price point would change if the Wii were dropped to 200 and a new model were introduced at 250 so it would in fact be a full price cut. The distinction is that when the lowest price changes you get the full impact of the "cheap-o" people (no disrespect intended). They are waiting for that lowest point to go down to buy. Price cuts to more expensive models usually does not entice the entire spectrum of customers.

That being said, yes in your scenario only one model got a price cut. Even if the new model was introduced at $100,still only one model got a price cut. The new model was just introduced at $100 so you wouldn't say that it got a price cut, but you could say that the Wii in general got a price cut for two reasons!

Ultimately I would be sort of upset if they added new functionality to the Wii and released a new one this close to launch, they had better wait at least another year! (new colors don't count, and I wouldn't mind if they added DVD playback as I already have DVD players strewn about my house).

 When people here are referring to the price of the console, they do not mean the average cost over all SKUs.  They mean the entry cost of the console.  For the Xbox 360 line, that amount is still $300.  Thus, no price hike.  Likewise, with the PlayStation 3, the entry cost is still $500.  Thus, no price cut.  In the first example, Microsoft simply added a new model, at a greater cost.  In the second, Sony changed up what was bought at each price.  To put this into perspective, an identical move on Nintendo's part would be to release a "Wii Plus" or something, maybe with some extra HD space, DVD functionality, etc.  If they discontinue the current Wii and only sell the Wii Plus, at $249, no price cut has taken place.  It is simply a swapped model.

Ok if you dont take averages then it is the same price as it was.