I’ll start this out with a caveat: I personally think this rumor is borderline horeshit. But I would have printed it too.
The rumor goes something like this: Ars Technica (which is actually a pretty great site that I try to read as much as I’m able) has a rumor mole of sorts that predicted both the Xbox 360 Elite and the lack of wireless in the retail box of Rock Band for the 360. Both of these proved to be true, but I would also argue that they border on the ridiculously obvious.
Microsoft was on record saying that if consumers demanded an HDMI solution for the 360 they would provide it, and seeing as how it was becoming a bullet point for the competition ad nauseum to lord over the 360, adding it was sort of a no brainer. As for the wireless issue with Rock Band, we’ve known since launch that Microsoft’s licensing agreement is incredibly strict in regards to third party controllers, especially with their proprietary wireless standard. The PS3 and Wii on the other hand use Bluetooth, which is an open standard (although that’s about the nicest thing I can say about it).
The 40 GB PS3 though is sort of out of nowhere for a few reasons. First, there are several things making the PS3 expensive, and the hard drive certainly isn’t one of them. As people who complain about the 360 hard drive state repeatedly, there’s no reason for it to cost that much going off of standard hardware margins for hard drives. Since the PS3 can use standard off the shelf hard drives, it doesn’t require the most expensive hard drives on the market.
And in case we all forgot, Sony is eating considerable losses on the PS3 already. Slimming the drive down isn’t going to shave a hundred off the cost of manufacture, and Sony can’t afford another price cut this soon (as evidenced by the reintroduction of a 600 dollar model in August). Sony has demonstrated a continued unwillingness to truly support two console SKUs, as most who tried to find a 20 GB PS3 at retail can tell you. The idea that they’ll reintroduce a cheaper, less feature rich version (even with their flagship Blu-ray title) is counter to every move Sony has made this generation, and also in direct contradiction of their current financial situation. Sony is a company in turmoil, and the heads are more interested in how the system is helping their Blu-ray installed base than how well it’s faring against the 360.
The 500 dollar 80 GB model though, I can definitely see happening. Especially when PS3 sales decrease in August amidst a 360 surge. Christmas might be pushing it, but Michael Pachter may have something when he posits that by next April we’ll see the 500 dollar PS3 again. And a 99.99 PS2 is a no brainer as well, as all of the next-gen consoles that consumers will be able to find this holiday are still too expensive for the majority of the mainstream.
