SONY will have to drop the price sooner or later if they want to be the KING OF CONSOLE"S.They need to work something out to get the PS3 sales moving. I mean here in Australia the PS3 cost's 1000$ there's not that many parent's out there that can afford a 1000$ gaming Machine to buy for their kids in this XMAS.So they have to do something. Look at Xbox 360 is moving up especially now with Halo 3 out.

20gb 40gb 60gb 80gb, they need to pick a size that they want to keep the ps3 at, change the price depending on the options, and leave it at that.

who in there right mind would buy this even if its true? no USB or backwards compatibilty! now sure its more affordable than the standard at the moment but tbh might aswell buy a 360 if hasnt got basic features. (not a fan boy incase ne1 starts i own both, just sayin silly to cut those features)

I say just go with bundles, like SCEE. Imagine a MGS4 bundle next year! Like the Motorstorm starter pack. And a Killzone 2 bundle. And a FFXIII bundle. (Limited edition bundles, mind you. Like the Crisis Core one.) It doesn't have to have anything special. The PS3 doesn't have to have different colors or paint schemes for these bundles.

A lot of owners are (or have bought) the PS3 for MGS 4 and/or FFXIII, for example. And what better way to reward their patience with a bundle? The early adopters can still buy these games separate. But those who still haven't bought one would very much appreciate a bundle. Buying a PS3, and getting the game they have been waiting for, for free! Nothing can beat that.

Of course, I understand the difficulty of such manner. Final Fantasy XIII and MGS4 are not owned by Sony, so it'll be hard to get those in a bundle. Still, it'd be nice. Price cuts are all well and good, but bundles are just as good. Get everything you'll ever want or need in one payment, and you'll hardly think twice about the price.

The PS3 has sold less than 5Million according to VGChartz meanwhile the other 2 are almost at 12Million, sony has to do something specially after the HS+liar fiasco.

@Radha

I understand your Lair fiasco statement...but I wouldn't include Heavenly Sword in that--it's the best single player game on the ps3 by miles...(and not all reviews were bad, just a few biased ones...heck, it even got some 9 & 10's elsewhere).

Anyhow, Sony needs to introduce a $399.00 sku...DEFINITELY!

Anyhow,

Zippie, this has been discussed a million times, of course there will be usb ports, you need the usb ports to charge the controller, there is no way sony could not include usb ports and there will also be backwards compatability, they are just removing the hardware and replacing it with a software emulator, which saves sony money.  infact the 80gb model already runs like this in north america.

but anyway, I still feel sony is releasing the 40gb model, there were just way to many rumors going around on to many websites, sony is probably just keeping it underwraps for as long as possible.  think about it, if you wanted to buy a ps3 today, and you heard rumors you could save money on it by getting the 40gb instead of the 60gb, then you'd be smart to wait it out, sony wants the 60gb depleted and out of the stores before they announce another sku.

Sony needs this anyway, they need to move units, and the only way they are going to do that this holiday season is with a price cut

lol USB ports removed. you know its fake hearing that

80GB isn't enough, why don't they just sell the base machine for £200 and let us buy our own HDD (250-300GB)?  Many will rip out the 80GB HDD and upgrade soon after purchase anyway.  This pricing dependant on HDD capacity is silly.

SoNy RuLeS For LiFe

XBUM 3 sickly .... I mean Xbox 360 Sucks... Why do you think people love halo because it sucks. ; )

Well..well.. that makes it official then a 40Gb is on the way :-) When a Sony starts to reply to rumours and decline that it is true...  that normally means that the rumours are true!

psn id: gingo.... i thought this was an amazing idea and i wish ony would do it becasue it would increase sales here dramatically

I think the 40gb sku is a good idea at a lower price, but how would they be able to get away with no USB ports? How would we recharge the controller without it? Or maybe they're thinking about bringing out a 120gb sku and cut the price of the current 80gb model. Who knows hehehe

Whatever, 600$ is not expensive at all. Anyone disagreeing is a whiner.

People just can't get things too cheap, lol.

Well, there goes another chance for a person that cannot afford 600 bux to get into the Blu Ray game!   Wasn't there just a discussion on how Sony wants to push the PS3 as a BD player?  Well here is a tip Sony, LOWER THE PRICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My friend wants to play MGS4, but not till the PS3 hits $399.99.

-dad

the 40gb is almost real unless sony is dumb and i dont think they are. ps3 needs to get a lower price fast no matter how much people says that the price is fine because they are wrong.

the lack of games is no longer a problem there are good games on the ps3 now a better ones coming so what stop ps3 sales getting serious? well you know the answer.

mgs4 will make the PS3 sell no matter what the price is.

carpet stain!

Sony will drop it's price around Christmas, that's the best time to do it....and it's always bin like that..

people complaining about the usb ports going away... they are not going away they are just taking away 2 ports leaving you with 2 which i think is ok because that is about how many I use anyway

THANK YOU!!! Finally! I kept telling you guys it was all bunk, I even pointed out the article on PSU where the M$ spokes person started the lame rumor. You cant reduce backwards compatability because it's in the firmware, so if you did it on one system you have to do it to them all. (except for the ones with the emotion engine at launch, the rest since the UK launch have software enabled Backwards compatability!)

I agree with Arion, Sony has to deny this becuase if they don't, people will hold on buying ps3's until this comes out. Almost every single thing they've denied has come to us, and everything they're quiet on, doesn't (i.e. slim psp having built in camera) but they did deny the slim psp at first

I think it's good that they don't start making a 40 gig! Parents (and most kids under 14) will probably just get confused since most of them don't got to sites like this and IGN (lol, i'm 13 and from Denmark). Besides, just stick with the 60gb, backwards compability is a good thing! And so is a lot of USB sticks lol!

Wow, Sony always deny things until they announce it

GOOD !! lets just hope they keep debunking !! And guys stop asking for it cause they might actually do it !! It is not what we want or need !!

That still doesn't make it a debunked rumor....

"Sony shoots down 40GB PS3 rumours"

begs to differ

Well whether or not the 40gb SKU is reality or not, the 60gb model in Europe has had the backwards compatibility removed to save moeny, yet us Europeans still pay more for the damn thing than anyone else (bar you Aussies out there, although you're still part of the PAL territories). Sony desperately need to drop the price, their rediculous claims that they can reach 11m units SOLD by March 2008 without a price drop are nothing short of madness. They really have lost the plot big time on this one and I think despite what they think they've already lost the console war. I love my PS3 but my 360 and wii get just as much play time and to be honest Sony's "exclusive" line up despite how good it looks just can't justify the 425GBP's that they are charging us here in the UK. Its a joke.