Another PS3 Price Drop Announced

Sony just announced during GamesCom 2011 that the PlayStation 3 is now cheaper than ever, just $249. It's a great price for non-PS3 owners. But will this help them compete with Xbox 360 this holiday season?

For the past few months, according to the NPD numbers, the Xbox 360 has been dominating sales, and the Playstation 3 has been on and off, battling it out with both Microsoft and Nintendo. The console is selling more units in the U.S. than any other console in 12 of the past 13 months, even while console and software sales across the industry have slowed. The chances are now higher of us seeing Microsoft make the same move by announcing a new price drop for their console and Kinect. Can Sony’s exclusives compete with Gears of War 3 and Star Wars Kinect (Let’s be real; this game is going to sell a lot of units.)? Plus, a lot of UFC fans will be buying the console too, thanks to the addition of live UFC events to Xbox Live. There’s also the Halo CE 10 year anniversary (rumored to be bundled with a Halo 4 beta access code). I can keep on and on with why Sony will have some tough competition later this year.

Just because a company drops the price of their hardware, it doesn’t really mean sales will greatly improve. It’s all about the games & marketing. I was reading some comments posted on Twitter by Sony fans, saying how this PS3 price drop will “destroy” Microsoft . I have to disagree with this one, and here’s why: Sony needs to step up their marketing game. They have some great hardware, and they’re releasing some amazing games later this year, like Battlefield 3 from Electronic Arts, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 from Activision, Assassin’s Creed Revelations from Ubisoft (along with an exclusive on the beta), Resistance 3, The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and more. With this holiday season lineup, if they don’t beat Microsoft, then what’s the next excuse from the fans? Don’t say this too early: “Sony just kicked Microsoft in the b*lls” or “Microsoft isn’t innovating anymore“.

I have a question for you guys:

With Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 coming out later this year, what version of the games are you planning to get? And why?

Marketing is what it’s all about. That’s how you get consumers to buy your products. Remember last year? Kinect was too “casual,” but later, it managed to sell over 10 million units worldwide. I really want Sony to do great this holiday season because of this price drop. But remember, Microsoft can do the same thing later this month by slashing the price of its Xbox 360 — maybe even a cheaper Kinect. Competition in this industry is getting really good for us consumers. I’ll give Sony a few more months before saying that they won this holiday season.

But for now, I stand by this: The PS3 price drop will help Sony improve their unit sales, but they won’t beat Microsoft’s Xbox 360 this holiday season.