PS3 Slim next year for £200?

Sarcastic Gamer writes - 'Roaming the streets of Glasgow (not the wisest thing to do) the other day, I came across a nice, friendly man from Sony's PR lot in the middle of an anonymous multimedia store. In the midst of discussing Home, upcoming games and how long it was taking for the store's PS3 to download Life With PlayStation (although we didn't discuss why it would need the software, since it would be used in the store for gaming), he pipped up a little bit of information about Sony's plans for the PS3 next year.'

[PirateThom]

Probably true.

[gaffyh]

Probably not true. They need to be quite profitable on the normal PS3 before they move onto making a slim version. Maybe 2010.

btw I didn't disagree with you

[acedoh]

For probably a couple of years. The worst thing about a slow economy is that technology also slows since companies are less likely to invest millions in technology they are not sure about. Hopefully they can still advance Blu-ray and cell technology enough to drop the price of a PS3...

[yog-sothot]

acedoh, I understand what you mean, but I would say that the worst thing with a slow economy is that many people lose their jobs, or that environmental topics vanish from governments priorities, something like that...

[SL1M DADDY]

Maybe the Sony employee misunderstood the board meeting and the truth is a "slim price tag" rather than a slim PS3... No matter, I would be fine with a slim price since the look and size od the PS3 as it is never bothered me.

[The Killer]

slim ps3 means cheaper to produce since they will use less materials on each ps3 sold!!

but i still think its early, but for the price cut damn its not early, they and we need a price cut NOW!!!

[Beast_Master]

If it is cheaper to produce then you may see a PS3 slim hit stores sooner rather than later. But I would be surprised if it hit before E3 here in the states. Now a $300 dollar price tag may be a good sweet spot for consumers. I know it will spike sales.

[anh_duong]

anything from sarcasticgamer isn't worth the electronic paper it is written on.

sensationalist flaming blogs have no place in the real world of gaming.

[jammy_70]

type ps3 slimline into google images, will probs look sumin like that looks really goooood!!!

[Mozilla89]

Sony knows it needs to cut prices at some point. If making a slimed down version of the PS3 will save them money and allow them to drop the price I don't see why they wouldn't do it. $300 sounds like it would be just about right.

[TOO PAWNED]

Hope that it is true, they need to cut cost so they can lower price, that simple.IS it 2 year or 4 years doesnt matter, so Sarcastic gamer calling it "premature" is stupid. Should they be stuborn and wait two more year when it all ends?

[lokiroo420]

Can I ask what makes you a financial analyst and an expert in corporate affairs?

[AznSniper]

I wonder how slim it is going to be.

[Ridrick]

Same but smaller ?

[Baba1906]

seems kind of to early for a slim. i think first they ll make the normal ps3 as cheap as possible and that is not the case right now. more like 2010 or 11 me guesses.

[mindedone]

The act of making a playstation a slim makes it more cost effective. When you make it slim the casing needs less material, thereby costing less.

[Ju]

One big junk of costs today is the size. PCB size, the cooler is to big, to much plastic. Reducing all this is a major cost shrinking factor. A 45nm CELL due early next year will shrink the CPU and hopefully the GPU (and they possibly can merge CPU/GPU onto one die, see EE/GS combo in PS2) and there you go. Less heat, smaller cooling system -> smaller case, cheaper. I can't imagine how they'd get a PSU into a slim case, though. But then, even the latest PS2 has a built in PSU.

[Horny]

doesnt more compact tech usually cost more, yes they will save money on plastic but it will cost more to reduce the size internally.

[Ju]

Its engineering vs. production costs. The first being a one time investment, the later running costs per unit. If you sell a couple of million, guess which one affects the bottom line more.

[Horny]

u got a point ju

[Bren86]

Obviously a load of BS

[baum]

I guess that makes 200 pounds likely. But Slim? Probably 2010 or 2011. My bet is that just as PS2 hasn't even reached $99, it'll take a long time for PS3 to ever go below $199.99 if it ever happens. However, $299.99 is already an acceptable price range, and the difference between $199.99 and $149.99 would be negligible I think. Perhaps Sony will start bundling more games instead once PS3 hits $299 or $199 instead of dropping the price further.

[acedoh]

Isn't because SONY can't it's because it's a big profit maker for the Playstation brand. Chances are they are making $50 off every PS2 which adds up very quickly. Especially when the PS3 is losing money. I think SONY will probably lower the PS2 price by this time next year...

[Counter_ACT]

That would change things a bit.

[ultimolu]

That would be interesting *if* true.

[buy a ps3]

exiting news for 360 only owners they can to own the best console.

[peeps]

lol will eventually see a slim ps3 but not anytime soon :p playstation eventually became psone, ps2 got slimline. so when they are able to fit all the components into a smaller box and are ready to do so they will. and with the price drop. its selling bad in comparisson with its competition but it still is selling. they'll prob keep the price as it is for some time and then have a big drop to boost give a big spike in sales so you can use facts and figures at events like e3 where you say 'sales are up 400%' or wotever

[DeZimatoR]

Wouldn't Sony have to have the 45mm chips already? I mean, it would make sense to make a slim PS3 and sell it for 300$and not put those kind of chips in it to reduce production costs.

Plus, as the author said, 2 and a half years and getting a slim model out would not be very common by Sony's standarts.

This generation hasn't been very kind to the PS3 though, so they may want to get the slim out ASAP to get some more sales...

Its nothing but speculation at this point though, so this might be all complete BS.

[nice_cuppa]

i just want more games and a cheap price !
!

[agent864]

http://arstechnica.com/news...

http://ps3.qj.net/Toshiba-t...

the ps3 actually started development earlier than the 360 so this is entirely plausible. plus sony is / should be desperate to get that price down.

[funkysolo]

I'm pretty sure Sony has been working on a slim version for sometime now, even before the PS3 launch. If you ever see a PS3 next to a 360, then you know why the PS3 is so expensive. A slim version would definitely cut down on the manufacturing process. There is a big difference in weight from the 60gb to the new 80gb PS3, it's like 2 1/2 pounds lighter. I would definitely buy a slim version to install it in my suv

[Sarcasm]

I think most of the weight has something to do with the built-in power brick.

The weight isn't a problem, it's the physical size.

[Ju]

But the weight (==size) of the PSU is directly related to the heat the machine produces and the power requirements for it. So, a lighter machine indicates smaller (and lesser) chips in the system and lower power consumption.

[Ju]

Just to add, if I wasn't clear, less power means smaller PSU (and also lower costs).

[Pizzagaki]

UGH, Pizzagaki will have to buy another model.
Pizzagaki already got 5 360íes and 4 ps3's.

[Meus Renaissance]

A slim PS3 would be like a re-launch of the console, it's a brilliant marketing idea.

[Pizzagaki]

Pizzagaki is strangely aroused from your avatar, is it a girl ?
Pizzagaki wants to make Taco's with it

[OGharryjoysticks]

I bet they strip all the bells and whistles they can from the slim and sell it dirt cheap while still offering the regular model with all its bells and whistles.

[jay2]

Sony have already carried out bargain-basement tactics by removing BC and the USB and memory card slots, which have both failed. The techs there with the chips being shrunk, so I'd say we'll AT LEAST hear about it next year.

[123360]

it could be possible as my 160gb is very cool even after hours and hours of playing, didn,t they mention feb 2009 for the 45nm cell being used which would use less power and less heat,not like i,m going to take my 160gb a part but i can,t recall ever hearing the fan.my mates 60gb fan kicks in now and then its not loud or anythink but that was a launch console.my 360,s fan is on constant never really noticed it before my ps3, but its damn annoying

[PotNoodle]

After a few hours of it being on and my room being hot, i just open the window and turn the heating off for a bit and it goes back to normal :P

[jamesrocks3147]

inside of the ps3? unlike the xbox 360 there is bearly any room to make it any slimer then it is. unless you take parts out i could see the price comin 2 that in 2009. but not a slim ps3 £200/$300 price tag with all the games out now and the line up for 2009 will make the xbox 360 the "sinking ship".

[Arsenal4Ever]

I think we need a new colour in US/EU terroties 1st.

[montavious]

they gotta figure out a way to sell more of the original PS3 first

[josh14399]

if its true sony wins console war because most people dont get the ps3 coz its expensive and £200 us very cheap well to be honest £300 was resonable i payed £440 for mine

[yojoe26]

gonna make me go buy another PS3? I am such a sucker for slim PS3's.

Edit: @Josh14399....yeah agreed. I paid 600 dollars for my 60 gig PS3 and even THAT has been worth every penny to me. I never once complained about lack of games even at launch. One Stellar system.

[Socomer 1979]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

why argue them on the internet?

[heroicjanitor]

A slim xbox 360 first, since that is much older technology used in many pcs, they know their way around it and have shrunk these things many times. The ps3, on the other hand, has everything built specifically for it so I doubt we'll see one soon.

[Pizzagaki]

Pizzagaki owns all 360 and all ps3 models.
Pizzakagaki says the CPU's and GPU's in his 360ies have already been shrunk, to cut back the production cost of the 360.
However, the case has not been shrunk, for that takes more effort then shrinking the CPU and GPU alone.

Compare it to shrinking Pizzagaki's meatballs, the meatballs become smaller, but the pizza doesnt!

[DJ]

It would allow them to drop the price to $299.

[Citizen Cook]

for $200 with a copy of heavy rain!

[Mike134nl]

That would be a good move, though I wouldn't hold my breath for it.

[JD_Shadow]

...it would probably make Microsoft and their fanboys sh!t their pants.

[pcz]

I will wait for the re-design

[tk]

Very likely. The work on shrinking the Cell has been ongoing for a long time so that is most probably a given. And the RSX is the one component that they could focus on. That would obviously mean lower power requirements (meaning savings on heatsink, motherboard), smaller case (savings on material, packaging, shipping costs) etc.

So the overall price of the components and materials would drop a bit - so a price drop would be very likely. Also with the PSone, PS2 slimline models they have quite a bit of experience how to shrink the components and what makes most sense. So in third year from launch it is very possible that they would be ready with the slimline model.

So in March I would guess it would launch, with a hefty price drop and be profitable.

[bviperz]

to believe it...