Sony slashes price of PS3 to $249

Sony said Tuesday that the company is discounting the price of the PlayStation 3 by $50 in North America and Europe, effective immediately.

As of today, the new price of the PlayStation 3 with 160 Gbytes of storage will be $249; Sony will charge $299 for the PlayStation 3 for a 320-Gbyte hard drive.

As of yesterday, Sony charged $299, 299 euro and 29,980 yen for the 160-Gbyte PS3 model; Sony will charge 249 euro and 24,980 yen in Europe and Japan, respectively. Sony also dropped the price of the 320-Gbyte PS3 from 349 euro and 34,980 yen to 299 euro and 29,980 yen. Although the new pricing will take place immediately within European PAL territories, Japanese customers will have to wait for the discounts to take effect on Aug. 18.

At press time, some retailers like Amazon had not lowered their prices.

"With the breadth and depth of services and content available for the PS3 system, including its impressive BD software line-up and the expansive portfolio of more than 60,000 games and video content available on PlayStation Network, the new price will make the platform more accessible than ever and will appeal to a wider audience looking to buy the best entertainment system for their home," Sony said in a statement.

The new price is most likely designed to help spur sales of the PS3, which has trailed behind the Xbox for 13 out of the last 14 months, according to sales data provided by analyst group NPD, and released by Microsoft. NPD has said that it will not publish its own survey finding, but that clients like Sony and Microsoft are free to do so. The Xbox has also outsold the PS3 in the U.S. for seven consecutive months, and retail spending on the Xbox reached $250 million in July, the company said.

Sony has weathered a difficult 2011. In May, Sony said that costs from its infamous PlayStation Network hack would top $140 million. Sony has also confirmed that its next-generation PlayStation Vita game console would not ship to U.S. retailers in time for Christmas. And, in early August, it stole a page from Microsoft's "Summer of Arcade" promotion with PlayStation PLAY offer, which rewards gamers who purchase four specific games online with downloadable content and the opportunity to get a fifth game for free.

This article, written by Mark Hachman, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.