SONY CONFIRMS PLAYSTATION 3 PRICE DROP, ANNOUNCES 80GB SYSTEM BUNDLE

In a post over at PlayStation.blog, Sony Senior PR Manager Patrick Seybold confirmed the rumored PlayStation 3 $100 price drop and took the opportunity to announce that Sony will be making an 80GB model of the PlayStation 3 available with a bundled copy of MotorStorm for $599 starting this August.

"…we’re introducing a new PS3 model with a 80GB hard drive which will include a free copy of MotorStorm, all for the retail price of $599. This 80GB package will be available starting in August, just a few short weeks from today. The larger hard drive will give players more of an opportunity to take advantage of all the downloadable games and trailers on the PLAYSTATION Network, including the content from our forthcoming download service which will include videos, movies and other entertainment content.

In addition, as some of you speculated last week, we confirmed today that we are lowering the price of our current 60GB PS3 by $100, to $499, effective immediately in North America. I know many of you were eager to hear this and we’re thrilled to share this with you now as we head into E3." – Patrick Seybold

While I believe the price drop was an absolute necessity for Sony, I’ve got to question the wisdom of this new 80GB SKU. In essence, what Sony is offering here is a copy of MotorStorm ($59.99) and an extra 20GB of hard drive space for $100. It just doesn’t add up – why not just buy the 60GB model for $499, a game of your choice at $59.99 and keep the rest for another purchase.

One big question being repeated by commenters over at PlayStation.blog is whether the 80GB SKU will include the PlayStation 2 Emotion Engine chip or rely on software based emulation for backwards compatibility. We’ll be sure to keep you updates on any additional information about the new SKU as it becomes available. Personally, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that Sony will throw early adopters some kind of bone to make up for the price drop and lack of titles available.

• New PS3, New Price Drop & More News Coming – PlayStation.blog

PLAYSTATION NETWORK TO FEATURE E3 VIDEO CONTENT

Just a quick note here – Sony has announced that they will be putting many of the trailers and videos of upcoming PlayStation 3 games on the PlayStation Network over the course of the coming week. There is no word on whether they’ll be throwing playable demos into the mix as well, but we can all hope.

• PlayStation Network – Information page at PlayStation.com

THIS WEEK’S RELEASES: JULY 9TH – JULY 15TH

If you thought last week’s release list was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. This week’s list is so devoid of anything worth talking about that my advice to you is to save your cash, catch up on the games you’ve been meaning to play and follow the announcements coming out of E3 – maybe even catch up on some personal correspondence if you have the time. How about calling your mom? You never call, you know. Remember all those shows you have saved on your TiVo but haven’t had the time to watch? Now is the time to do it.

I could go on and on, but there’s more important news afoot, so I’m going to cut this short and go to the list. Enjoy.

• Jewels of Cleopatra – PC – 7/10/2007
• Blitzkrieg Strategy Pack – PC – 7/11/2007
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – GBA – 7/11/2007
• Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception – 360 – 7/11/2007
• Riviera: The Promised Land – PSP – 7/11/2007
• Smash Court Tennis 3 – PSP – 7/11/2007
• Sword of the New World: Granado Espada – PC – 7/11/2007
• Vegas Casino: High 5 – DS – 7/11/2007
• Let’s Ride: Friends Forever – PC – 7/12/2007
• Ride! Carnival Tycoon – PC – 7/12/2007

Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.