UPDATE: Sony has confirmed that the UK won’t be getting a price cut. PS2 stays at the RRP of £94.99

Sony had hinted at something big happening this week, but it wasn’t the PS3 price cut we were all hoping for. Instead, it’s the long-serving PS2 that’s getting the few quid shaved off the retail price, and will drop from $129 to $99 in the US from tomorrow.

So far, no similar price cuts have been announced in the UK, although Europe gets 30 Euros shaved off their PS2s. That could be another sign of the difficult exchange rates, or it could be that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe just hasn’t gotten round to its own PS2 price cut announcement. (Update: MCV has since confirmed that the ‘European’ price cut does not apply to the UK.)

A quick check of most major online retailers reveals a surprising shortage of new PS2 consoles. That could mean the stores have been running down their inventory ahead of the price cut, or that with 140 million of the consoles sold, everyone who wants one has already bought it.

Sony’s director of hardware marketing, John Koller, is confident that the aging console is still relevant today though. “This new price means that more people than ever will be able to join in on the fun that so many of you PlayStation 2 owners have been enjoying for years, which means new families will become part of the platform’s record-breaking install base,” Koller writes on the official PlayStation blog.

And to be fair, there are loads of brilliant games on the PS2, which may lack the graphical spectacle of the likes of Killzone 2, but are still well worth a look if you value gameplay over the number of onscreen pixels.

Sony says there’s more coming too and that the PS2’s gaming library will grow to nearly 1,900 titles this year, albeit “with particular focus on the social and sports genres that are so popular with the emerging family demographic”. Oh, so it’s all party games and EA Sports titles. Joy.

We remain optimistic that a PS3 price could still emerge in due course, if only because it seems paramount that Sony closes some of the price gap between the PS3 and rival systems. With so many excellent titles just launched or in the pipeline for the rest of the year, it would seem a shame for hardware sales to be hampered by an utterly un-credit crunchy price tag.

PS2 Out Now | From £99.99 | PS2 (available at Game.co.uk)

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  • Simon

    So yet again, the gaming media get everything wrong. last week they made fools of themselves by telling us Firmware 2.70 was out last week because Resistance2 patch needed it (turned out to be false).

    This week they made idiots of themselves by telling us a PS3 announcement was forthcoming and even that it would be a PS3 price drop. Both again false.

    Proof again, you can’t trust anything you read on the internet.

  • bentleznadbenz

    The PS3 is not an expensive console. Just think about all the extras it comes with compared to xbox. Just by the darn system at the price it´s at, I personally think it’s a bargain at $400USD.

  • http://8kfromtokyo.wordpress.com Jdmtee

    Sony have lost the plot this time… essentially a £10 ish drop on a console that we all own? of if not we can get a second hand one from GAME for 40 quid with a years warranty?

    FFS stop fannying around and drop the price on the 3, move on and stop trying to flog an old dying horse.

    oh and hurry up with GT5!

  • Simon

    Jdmtee, I don’t think the PS3 needs a price cut. £279 for what you get is unbelivable value for money.

    What Sony need to do, is convince people it’s worth the extra. Personally, these days there is little to choose between XboxLive and PSN (PSN is generally quicker due to use of dedicated servers), so 3 years of Xbox Live fees negate any price difference, and thats not even including the Blu-Ray player, the Wifi, the better rechargable controllers, the better build quaility, the quieter operation, the better streaming and format support, the better HDMI and audio output standards, the better user interface, Playstion Home, Folding@Home, and the awesome lineup of PS3 exclusives this year…

    Why again does it need a price drop? If you want a better product, be prepared to pay a few quid more… Simple as that, the 360 is cheap and unreliable tat, the wii is just tat…

  • DAVID

    Told ya;

    http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2009/03/30/sony-ps3-price-cut-tomorrow/

    It makes sense for a PS2 price drop. Any casual gamers who might be tempted by the really cheap 360 are going to find the PS2 even more attractive and if they buy a PS2 they will obviously be more likely to get a PS3 at some point in the future.

    For what the PS3 does it isn’t expensive in the slightest and its sales are showing that people are recognizing that. Last year for instance Sony sold 10.6m PS3′s worldwide compared to the 10.9m 360′s sold by Microsoft. Almost identical sales despite the 360 costing half the price.

    When you are selling as well as your rival at twice the price why drop it, especially when you have a far stronger lineup of software coming?

  • Greg Strachan

    You’re all right about the price and value for money issue, although there’s always the fact that people rarely look for the best deal overall and are more easily drawn to what has the lowest price on the shelves.

    Sony will never beat Nintendo or Microsoft on console prices, so arguably it’s not worth trying. I still feel it needs a price drop though; not because it’s going to suddenly make the PS3 more appealing but because it’s got to the stage where a small nudge is needed to turn lingering potential PS3 customers into PS3 owners.

    I know loads of people who won’t buy the PS3 now because it seems like too much of an outlay. Push the price down by even as little as £20 and just the fact that there’s been a drop might be enough to get people into the shops and buying them.

  • http://8kfromtokyo.wordpress.com Jdmtee

    Ok there is no way im going to fall into the console debate, calling other machines ‘tat’ is like playing the ‘my dads better than your dad’ game! I still play my dreamcast not because of any nostalga or loyalty, but because it plays great games. I have no loyalty whatsoever to any company. That said, I think the PS3 could really use a drop in price, just to make it a little more accessible to more potential gamers. I have a 6 game rule before I buy a console, I’m at 5 for the PS3 and could see myself breaking the rule if the price was more attractive.

  • Ben Sillis

    @Jdmtee I like your logic, that’s a good number. I’m not partisan – I remember rolling my eyes back in the 90s when Nintendo mags would call the PSX “Greystation” – and all issues about profit aside, I’m siding with you and Greg in that a lower PS3 price would definitely tempt more people to splash out.

  • Dave

    Simon, times are tough and prices matter, PS3 NEEDS a price cut. High price only puts people off, they’ll look to do the cheaper alternative.

    Sony are gonna do to well to convince the millions that they NEED a Blu-ray, when not everyone has a HDTV. And not everyone has WIFI.

    Blu-ray is too slow for games, hence ALOT of games FORCING mandatory installing to HDD.

    Controllers more expensive, plus they feel cheap and tacky. SixAxis is a joke, poorly implemented. Then adding rumble (DualShock 3) after uproar it caused when they thought it was ‘unnecessary’.

    Backwards compatibility… oh wait, not supported any more.

    Card reader… oh wait, not included any more!

    Folding = pointless

    Home = pointless and crap

    Streaming: sure since nobody buys blurays they need to stream their MKVs and DIVXs.

    Format support isn’t much better.

    Slow, painful updates.
    Slow, painful installations for the updates and demos.
    Note: updates every two/three weeks (repeat painful cycle)

    To add salt to the wound, it touts itself as HD machine yet doesn’t come with any form of HD (HDMI/component) cable. Well it says it all.

    I don’t wanna even go into the awful “THIS IS LIVING” adverts.

    They’ve lost the plot this time round.

  • Rasheed_1971

    ps2 buring game

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