Target stores selling PS3 at $499

Listen up boys and girls, if you've been cramming change into your piggy banks and patiently waiting, you'd better go get a hammer, because Target has got your PS3 for $100 cheaper. Hot on the heels of the Circuit City circular rumors, we've gotten word that certain (read: not all) Target stores are offering the Sony game system for $499.99, although it appears that the reduction is making its way through the company's computers. Either Sony is headed towards a price drop, or Target is just being real generous.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[damnfool @ Jul 9th 2007 7:52AM]

My prediction: this is a clearance sale. Meaning, the major retailers are gearing up to slash prices on PS3s so they can get rid of these overpriced and underselling consoles once and for all. Then Sony will cry.

[bigbrew @ Jul 7th 2007 5:20PM]

This is nice and all -- but Sony needs games for their system more than anything. Right now the PS3 is only a blu-ray player. I'll buy one when a must-have game that is exclusive to Sony comes out.

[Josef F @ Jul 7th 2007 6:59PM]

bigbrew: "I'll buy one when a must-have game that is exclusive to Sony comes out."

I agree, but make that *several* must-have games for me. There's no one game that I'm going to pay $500 to play.

[Big @ Jul 7th 2007 7:30PM]

You've got to give SONY props for pulling the ol' switcheroo on the gamers of the world.
They had me convinced that picking up a $600 PS3 was gonna allow me to play lots and lots of games that were suppossed to be superior to everything on Xbox360.

They had everyone lining up around stores for days waiting to drop their cash on the PS3. They had every blog site online talking about the PS3 - how hard it was to get one - and how great it was suppossed to be.

Months later, only now are we realizing that PS3 is a glorified video game system with no games to play.

games are being released so slowly for the system that when a single game comes out, it automaticaly goes to the top of PS3's charts by default - anyone see the new Nina Gaiden Sigma?

SONY's got all the money from all the stores who bought as many consoles as they could at $600 a piece ( 20GB is discontinued).

SONY gotcha.

[Grant @ Jul 7th 2007 7:53PM]

i completely agree with you and josef f, the PS3 needs games more than anything to sell.

people would pay $600, but they need to see something that is worth $600, and no great(barely even a handful of good) games after more than half a year (almost 3/4ths) is not going to move anything.

Unfortunately, the wii is in a similar situation, but since it has more mainstream appeal and a much lower entry cost, it is still able to ride on it's minimal games list. Hopefully nintendo will pick up the pace and break their console tradition of releasing 3 or 4 worthwhile(albeit great) games, or soon they might find themselves in a similar slump.

Sony brought this on themselves though, they ignored and assumed themselves impervious to market conditions and simple business practices since the PS2 was such a success. They decided to pull a Field of Dreams and assume "if we make it, people will buy it". This ignored the fact that in the PS2 era, they did not have competition (the original xbox was more of a market test than a serious competitior) and assumed that the xbox 360 would continue to hold a similar market share and not be a competitor again. They assumed they didn't need to be developer friendly. They assumed they could build an $800 machine and sell it for $600 and people would see it as a "bargain". In the mean time, xbox 360 took note of all these issues, and it is doing very well. The only thing that stopped the 360 from dominating this round is the fact that it has had such an issue with the 3-rings-of-death, but with the recent increase in warrenty, that should seriously smooth over that issue.

As for the PS3, i want one, i want one for $450 at the most, and i want good games to play on it. Until Sony can deliver that, i don't think even the most hardcore gamers that are console neutral will be able to cough up the cash for one.

[melican @ Jul 7th 2007 5:26PM]

Does it still come with 5 free Blu-ray movies?

[Paul @ Jul 7th 2007 6:15PM]

yes it does.....but you only get to select from about 25 or so movies and certain ones from each section....just go here
http://www.bluraysavings.com/

[Shawn Wildermuth @ Jul 7th 2007 10:40PM]

The movies it offers for free are mostly crap IMHO. Chicken Little? Pearl Harbor? Phantom of the Opera? Harts War? Underworld Evolution? Ick

[Ferny @ Jul 7th 2007 5:26PM]

hey thats great if sony doesn't offer a price drop by E3 then we will at least have an unofficial price drop from all due to pressure from other stores.

next up walmart to drop the price.

[Jonathan Keim @ Jul 7th 2007 5:57PM]

Won't be much of an announcement then...

Management is absolutely awful at Sony right now. There are some 10 year olds that could give them advice.

[NineT9 @ Jul 7th 2007 5:41PM]

Sony is most likely announcing the PS3 Price Drop at E3, but until then they are probably denying all rumors like most companies would...until they can officially announce it themselves

but im probably wrong, so no need to reply to my comment

[Kush Mangal @ Jul 7th 2007 5:52PM]

Does this signal a price drop in the Xbox 360 or the 3 year warranty is the true deal?

[FrankTheCrank @ Jul 7th 2007 8:47PM]

Dude...that would suck. If Micro$oft intends on trading in the price drop with a 3 year warranty, that's facking lame.

M$, scrap 360 v.1, come out with a new updated 360 with a quieter DVD Drive, 65nm CPU and HDMI. And please make sure it doesn't RROD. Oh yeah, and drop the price in half, so as to compete with the soon to be next gen leader, Nintendo's Wii.

[Weezy @ Jul 7th 2007 8:00PM]

This is just AweSOME! i hope that their really is a huge price cut for all stores becuz i just so happen to be returning my newly bought, unopened iphone back to the store for my money, to avoid being mugged and a ps3 would seem like a good invesment i already have a wii and xbox 360.

[Evan @ Jul 7th 2007 5:58PM]

I just got off work today at Target (Columbus, OH) and we are still selling them at $599. Also, if anyone is interested I am betting Sunday's ad will have something about the Wii, at least for our area. I saw I think 10 on the back room electronics shelves marked "do not stock until ad"

[Michael Christoffersen @ Aug 21st 2007 1:49PM]

Amazing, none sony-hate/blu-ray-hate posts yet! Have we finally grown up?

[cg0def @ Jul 7th 2007 6:30PM]

too bad this news is actually not real. Also no store will drop the price by $100 unless Sony does that first. (not even for the Thanksgiving Sales). But there will most likely be a price drop soon. There is no other way that Sony can boost their sales and they really need to switch from PS2 sales to PS3. To me it's unbelievable how much of Sony's profit still comes from ps2 related sales. I think there is a lesson for MS here...

[ddaw735 @ Jul 7th 2007 7:02PM]

I dont think sony cares what price stores sell the thing at. Once the ps3s are in a store sony made thier money. Now if the stores lowered the price to get rid of the stock sony should be scared because stores arent going to buy as many next time around.

[Grant @ Jul 7th 2007 8:00PM]

if things don't sell, stores sell them at a loss all the time.
while i don't think this is an issue of clearance, stores will also sell things at a loss to try and make it up with sales in accesories or games.
Games don't have a high profit margin, but accesories do.
Also, target is the kind of store where all you need to do is get people in the doors and they will buy all kinds of other stuff. Sales aren't ever about the item that's on sale, it's about everything else people buy thats not on sale.

[cg0def @ Jul 8th 2007 4:04AM]

do you really believe that any major chain sells products at a loss (rebates really don't count since the store still gets your money)? It does happen in very rare occasions but PS3 is by no means a low demand item. So a major chain like Target will NEVER loose $100 on every PS3 that they sell. Also I am not sure if you know this but with most products there is up to 100% markup on the original price so that the store can cover expenses such as transportation cost employee salaries etc. This is why in places like bestbuy and CC you can get an employee discount which is 50% off the regular price on most products.
Also I never ment that Sony will stop a store from reducing the price. First of all this is illegal and 2nd ... well you really don't need 2nd.
Hey I'm all for a lower PS3 price because this is the major reason why I don't own one. Than and the fact that there are still not enough games out there. But it's way to early for any major sales.

[bechne @ Jul 8th 2007 8:18AM]

sell things for a loss? yeah, stores do it all the time...it's called a loss leader. they sell something below cost or at least below market price to get you in the door to buy other goodies. it's the grocery store that lowers the price of peanut butter, knowing that you're likely to buy bread, jelly, milk, eggs, and everything else you need while you're in the store.

[kyle @ Jul 7th 2007 6:44PM]

target just wants to get rid of the console its costing money and there not making any money with it just sitting there colecting dust like most ps3's are doing

[ibelli @ Jul 7th 2007 7:02PM]

Not in the San Francisco, Bay area they aren't. I just contacted the five stores in the area and all are still at $599. Interestingly enough, they were sold out of them at two of them. Hmmm...

[ET @ Jul 7th 2007 7:05PM]

If I have $499, I could have bought the 20Gb version.

[Ben @ Jul 7th 2007 7:33PM]

Hey just to give you guys the heads up. From a business standpoint Sony has to be floundering here. First they are already taking a huge monetary hit per system sold. Second they discontinue a PS3 model within the first 6 months of the system lifetime. And now they drop the price even more. Newsflash, this is an act of desperation! This system was released about 3 years before it should have and Sony is paying for it

[SimbaDogg @ Jul 8th 2007 12:59AM]

Umm...if you still think they're taking a huge monetary losss on each unit, then you must be looking at figures from 8 months ago. Because, there haven't been any close to official numbers on the cost per unit within the last few months, especially w/ the changes in blu ray diode prices. So...do some research first yah? Think of it this way...if sony has many enough advancements in the blu ray field to drop their 2nd gen blu ray player by 50%, they're probably going to be saving quite a few dollars on the ps3 unit as well...and not taking the Two hundred and some dollar loss they were before...

And for the non-thinker that said that sony is dying because they're doing a price drop, and discontinued the 20 gig within a few month...don't be an idiot. They discontinued the 20 gig because NO ONE BOUGHT IT. In the many months that i worked with best buy when the PS3 was there, people would flat out PASS on the 20, so they could get the 60 gig when it game in (back in january, feb, when the 60s were still hard to get in stores).

[Big @ Jul 7th 2007 7:33PM]

the 20GB version has been discontinued.

In the long run, you'd actualy be getting more out of a $500 60GB PS3... that is... if it had games to play.

Lack of games and high system price is what killed Atari Jaguar when it actualy did have a chance to survive. I doubt SONY would let the PS3 slip through its fingers but ultimately what PS3 needs is a plethora of PS3 ONLY titles. And right now, its XBOX who's got those.

[Steve @ Jul 7th 2007 7:51PM]

Why do all the good games have to be on a system with a 33% failure rate?

[FrankTheCrank @ Jul 7th 2007 8:54PM]

I second this. I was looking forward to an eventual price drop, the 65nm CPU, quieter DVD drive and HDMI but with this whole RROD mess, it doesn't seem like Microsoft is going to be eager on dumping money into a new design when they just blew a BILLION dollars to fix the last one.

GUYS, A FACKING BILLION DOLLARS!! THAT's A THOUSAND MILLION DOLLARS!!! HOLY MACKEREL.

[Einhanderkiller @ Jul 7th 2007 9:38PM]

Come Fall 2007, the PS3 will be loaded with awesome games.

[Paul @ Jul 8th 2007 1:32AM]

@ FrankTheCrank

wow you sure are wiping Nintendo's butt with your comments on here. wii = next gen console?? are you kidding me....you must not be very smart. it is selling well but it is in no way next gen. also, have you heard of the xbox 360 elite? i have one and it does have hdmi and a quieter dvd drive. it doesn't have the 65nm cpu in it but the way you are talking i don't think you have any clue what that is or would even know how to tell.....

[Frangible @ Jul 7th 2007 11:04PM]

The PS2 had similar weak launch titles, and it did have competition- the Sega Dreamcast. I own a Dreamcast and it was an excellent system, looking better than the PS2 and its limited video memory in many respects. Yet it still failed, despite having (at the time) much better graphics and titles than the PS2. /mourn Sega's hardware division

The PS2 was very expensive when it was released, and like I said, due to programming difficulties the Dreamcast games looked better. What the PS2 had going for it was it was a DVD player, and could play PSX titles. The conditions for the PS3 are identical. The PS2 did *not* achieve widespread success initially, if nothing else, due to availability problems.

Yes, the PS3 is expensive, and I won't buy one until they're more like $400 and have more appealing games to me (though Ninja Gaiden Sigma looks tempting).

But the PS3 does have a failure rate of less than 1%, compared to the 360's ~35% failure rate. Sure, MS is giving us a 3 year warranty, but they're not fixing the underlying problem, will I even be able to play my 360 in 10 years? I doubt it.

The PS3 has absurdly good cooling, and is made in Japan. Part of that price is the quality that went into it. In the case of the PSP, they moved production from Japan to China to lower the cost to $170. Is Sony moving the PS3's production to China for the PS3's price drop here? Or will they do so in the future? And if they did, would you pay more to get an older made-in-Japan unit if the quality and failure rate were significantly better?

Considering the quality difference, and huge huge huge difference in failure rates between the 360 and PS3, I don't mind it costing more. It just needs a larger game library.

[Constable Odo @ Jul 7th 2007 7:57PM]

Nice price drop. By the time Gran Turismo 5/HD comes out maybe the PS3 will drop another hundred. Come on fire sale. I wonder if the PS3 considered a flop now.

[Big @ Jul 7th 2007 8:26PM]

Actually the PS3 is far from a flop. Sure it has barely any signature games and costs too much, but contrary to popular belief, the system - even at its $600 price point, is still selling considerably well.

How many $600 electonic toys have you seen fly off shelves for months at a time?

[Constable Odo @ Jul 7th 2007 8:48PM]

I was only wondering if it was a flop since the Wii system is outselling the PS3 by so much and that Sony may be losing money on each system it sells. I've really wanted to purchase the system for my HDTV but I guess I'll have to pass for now. I even waited to buy my PS2 after it dropped in price. My PS2 is still going strong and I used to run it for days or even a week playing GT4 without shutting it off even during the hot summer months. I must have gotten a bulletproof model.

[aboriginal @ Jul 7th 2007 8:00PM]

Gamestop was sellin' 'em for 500 a month or so ago when you brought in your PS2, second controller and a memory card- who knows what they were really gonnd do with them . . . any kids in Africa need a PS2? I'd want clean water and food myself. And although the 5 freebies are nice the pickins are slim, but there are a few I'd like . . . BlueRay Blazing Saddles . . . excuse me while I whip this out . . . NO, NO! My credit card silly.

[Miles @ Jul 7th 2007 8:02PM]

Anyone who buys one of these consoles shouldn't be allowed to spend money.

Also, what good games are ever coming out for it?

The only two I hear people raving about are Katamari and Metal Gear Solid, which both suck.

[Evan @ Jul 8th 2007 5:27AM]

Katamari reportedly is being scrapped for the PS3.

[NineT9 @ Jul 8th 2007 6:14AM]

Thank you! I agree on the comparing Wii to PS3 / PSP to DS, its just silly!

They are both (DS/PSP & PS3/Wii) in completly different categories...People say Wii is KILLING the PS3 in sales... and the 'PSP' is a complete flop because of the DS... This is just plain silly...

Just because they are both console/handhelds doesn't mean they are in the same category...for example:

It's like saying the Ford Escort is beating the Ferrari Enzo in sales! Sure they are both cars...but you just don't compare the 2.

[Aaron @ Jul 9th 2007 9:42AM]

More games would be nice, but the PS3 has Ninja Gaiden Sigma (recently released) and it's pretty frickin' phenomenal. It could sell the console on its own. I'd say Ninja Gaiden Sigma blows any other video game out of the water, on any console (yes, it's way more fun and does have better game play than Gears of War)...

[Big @ Jul 7th 2007 9:44PM]

WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP COMPARING PS3 to WII and PSP to DS?

First of all, Ps3 is superior technology. Nintendo wii is just a game console that is not very flexible. The only reason its outselling PS3 is because it costs LESS THAN HALF the price of a PS3.

Same goes for the PSP. The PSP's sales are still good and now that its gotten 2 price drops its selling steadily. The DS costs less than the PSP which is why it sells faster. PSP is still the superior technology with flexibility as a media player.

The only thing hurting sony is a lack of games for both systems. But, when it comes to overall market penetration, SONY's actualy doing well.

[FrankTheCrank @ Jul 7th 2007 9:01PM]

MICROSOFT,

sCRAP XBOX 360 V.1, move along.

Put your big XEROX machine on and copy the folks at Apple and Sony again....this time make something sexy like Apple would, but with the reliability of a Playstation 3. And while your at it, cut the price in half to compete against the soon to be leader of next gen consoles, Wii.

[ddaw735 @ Jul 9th 2007 1:12PM]

Then you would bitch about them copying apple and sony.

[Mike @ Jul 7th 2007 9:03PM]

There's got to be an official price cut coming. Retailers make deals with certain vendors like Sony to price their products just so, much in the same way Apple and Bose make retailers agree to sell their products at set prices. While it's not uncommon for the average store to sometimes go its own way, the fact that Circuit City has a (seemingly) official circular advertising the lower price, coupled with what seems to be many Target stores starting to do the same thing, leads me to believe that these price cuts must be real. E3 is right around the corner, it doesn't strike me as odd that Sony would deny these price cut rumors only to announce them next week. Sony's also been making public statements in the past that they are considering a price cut, and would "have a decision" at least by the end of the year.

Of course, it's possible that everybody's jonesin' for a PS3 price cut so badly that a fake circular has set off this chain of events. But I think they're real simply because Sony needs so badly to do it. Next step: justify the $499 pricepoint by getting some outstanding games out the door (which, so far, they seem to be on track to doing this holiday season).

[LJKelley @ Jul 7th 2007 9:19PM]

Ever consider that Circuit City and Target are trying to get rid of PS3s that cost them money in storage and no sale? I think you will see less or hardly any PS3s for sale any longer until more games come out.

[Rob @ Jul 7th 2007 9:43PM]

I went to Circuit City yesterday and asked the guy at the register if it was true that they were planning a $100 discount. He said "yes, I read that somewhere." Now, I don't know exactly if he was confirming my statement, or just going along with me, and following the rumors just like we all are here in Engadget. That "somewhere" could mean somewhere in the Circuit City employees' information, or anything generic as a rumors site. I really don't know.

I'm not speculating that I got confirmation of the discount. All I'm offering is what the guy at the register said. Let's hope that the rumored discounts is true.

[SilkyZ @ Jul 9th 2007 12:00PM]

now that sony has a good price, it needs good games. or just a big selection of games. I've gone to 3 (yes THREE) gamestops, target, and wal-mart to check out games. GS only had a single shelf of PS3 games and GEAR!!! come on. sony needs games, thats whats killing them.
but at least sony took the price down a little more. i call the nest cut at $299

[Manny S. @ Jul 7th 2007 10:26PM]

PS3 is dieing a slow death. Game companies are making sure of that.

[Technophile @ Jul 7th 2007 11:10PM]

Current Figures:
Wii : ~250,000 units sold
PS3 : ~61,000 units sold
360 : ~16,000 units sold

Not bad for a $600-700 machine with no games ;)

[Geoffrey King @ Jul 8th 2007 1:49AM]

These figures are from Japan and traditionally MS has struggled in that market. The 360 has sold nearly 12 million to date, with the mass majority sold in the States.

Realistically, the Wii really only has one decent game - Zelda. It is amazing out it continues to sell out with just one game. While I do have a Wii, I mainly play games from the Virtual Console since I finished Zelda several months ago.