Analyst: $100 PS3 price drop coming by June ‘at the latest’

A massive drop in the PlayStation 3 video game console’s price tag, which will lower the cost of Sony’s next-generation game platform US$100, is expected as early as this April according to respected analyst Mike Hickey of Janco Partners.

Hickey says that cutting the PS3’s price down will trigger a significant boost in hardware sales for Sony. If a price drop does happen, that’ll knock to price of the 80GB PlayStation 3 down from $399.99 to $299.99 and the higher-end 160GB model down from $499.99 to $399.99.

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If Sony does not cut the price of their console, we expect the continuation of languishing PS3 hardware sales and the potential for publishers to accelerate their reallocation of resources away from the PS3 console. We believe the market is expecting a PS3 price cut in April or by June at the latest.

-Mike Hickey

PS3 hits 14.4m as Sony game income rises

A burden on the Japanese electronics giant following the PlayStation 3‘s 2006 launch, Sony Computer Entertainment has steadily risen, attaining profitability during the third of its 2007 fiscal year. Though the division’s annual revenue was still in the red for the year, its losses halved from the prior year, thanks to lowered production costs, increased PS3 and PSP sales, and still-strong PlayStation 2 and software sales.

For the first fiscal quarter ended June 30, Sony’s games division reaped ¥229.6 billion (US$2.1 billion), a 17 percent increase over the ¥196.6 billion (US$1.8 billion) the business brought in over the same period last year. PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable sales drove growth for SCE, and the publisher noted that the stalwart PlayStation 2 continues to show signs of age, seeing a slip in year-over-year sales. Despite the slip, the publisher noted that PS2 software and hardware sales continue to contribute to the games division’s operating income, which stood at ¥5.4 billion (US$50 million) on the quarter, up from a loss of ¥29.2 billion (US$270 million) a year ago.

Global quarterly sales for the PlayStation 3 hit 1.56 million, a 123 percent increase over a year prior and 260,000 units more than the 1.3 million Xbox 360s Microsoft sold during the same period. Sony has now sold more than 14.4 million PS3s globally since its November 2006 launch. In comparison, Microsoft has sold over 20 million Xbox 360s internationally since its November 2005 launch as of last week. Nintendo, which will release its quarterly financials tomorrow, reported 24.4 million Wiis were sold worldwide from November 2006 to the end of March 2008.

While not quite as dramatic as the PS3’s gains, PSP sales rose 75 percent to 3.72 million units for the quarter. PS2 sales slid 43 percent, down to 1.51 million units for the three-month period.

Popluar PS3 Games !!!!!

Grand Theft Auto IV

Release Date: Apr 29, 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV casts players as Niko Bellic, a recent immigrant to Liberty City who, finding himself immersed in a world of crime,

tries to make the best of it.

Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns Of Patriots

Release Date: Jun 12, 2008

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots marks the debut of Konami’s popular Metal Gear series on the PS3.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

This game features a pack of new Japanese sports cars along with signature GT racing.

Assassin’s Creed

The first game in the Assassin’s Creed franchise is set in 1191 AD, when the Third Crusade was tearing the Holy Land apart.

Rise of the Argonauts :

Release Date: TBA 2008

Rise of the Argonauts is an action RPG set on an epic scale, in the world of Greek myth and legend.

Call Of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare

The venerable Call of Duty series leaves its familiar WWII battlefields behind to tackle warfare in a modern setting.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

This is an amazing role-playing game that should not be missed.