You can hear it from the horses mouth (Kaz) here:

http://atvs.vg.no/?id=10235

"Once that product (60gb) is gone from the retailers shevles,  then we're back to the $599 sku only"

Denial is not a river in africa.

EDIT:  100th post WOOT!

Until the limited edition 600 dollar SKU with the pack in game is over with and then the 80 gb system is sold alone not for 600 dollars.

this was debunked... by SCEA.

I admit that this was all done very sneakily but if the main SKU is 600 dollars for the holidays which I don't think will happen then it will be a big mistake by Sony.

Also, they should have never revealed this right now and kept it until the 60gb units had sold out then said: 'oh the 60 gb SKU is done, the new 80 GB SKU is now 500 dolalrs'.

That would have saved 'em so much trouble. The head of Sony Europe is pretty disconnected from the situation in Sony America obviously.

i thought this story was already debunked... http://kotaku.com/gaming/durr/the-great-60gb-phase-out-clusterfuck-278256.php....could have sworn that was for europe only

they clearly stated that they will be producing 60 and 80 gigs for the american market only

http://razorwire.warcry.com/news/view/74802-SCEA-denies-60GB-PS3-getting-axed-but-Kaz-Hirai-says-it-is

So, if SCEE President says 60GB is no longer in production, and the SCEA President says 60GB is no longer in production, who said it wasn't getting axed?

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9744323-1.html

I pray to the heavens that it doesn't go to $599 for the holidays. Talk about HUGE mistakes...

Watch the video. It's Kaz Hirai, the big boss. He is talking about the AMERICAN MARKET in DOLLARS not EUROS.


http://atvs.vg.no/?id=10235

For those asking why they wouldn't say now that the 80 gb will be the new sku at 500 dollars after the limited edition is done:

The reason is simple, they want to sell as many of the limited editions, and if people knew that they could get the same thing minus the game for 500 dollars later, they will wait instead of buy it.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/13/sony-says-60gb-is-not-over-in-us/

Update 4: We got this clarified statement from Karraker, who said "The 60GB PS3 will be available in North America for $499 until supplies of that unit are depleted. We have ample inventory to meet the immediate needs of consumers in this territory for several months to come. We won't be making any further announcements regarding our PS3 model hardware strategy in North America until the 60GB model is exhausted and market conditions are evaluated."

At the point where that happens they will stick to the one SKU as they have said and it will be the 80 gb without the pack in game at 500 dollars. Make sense now?