Sony has teased gamers for the past few days when a rumor began circulating that a global announcement would be revealed on March 31.  While many argued about the details Sony would eventually be revealing, the most obvious declaration was that the Playstation 2, entering its ninth year on store shelves, would be getting a price drop.  The theorists got it right, with Sony announcing today that the Playstation 2 would be dropping in price starting in April to $99.99 making it the cheapest and most affordable console on the market right now.

With a massive library and quite possibly the best collection of third-party support on any console in history, the PS2′s success is hard to ignore yet many publishers have stated recently that with production costs rising and the economy slumping, developing games on the PS2 would be cumbersome due to the high price of the console.  Activision was one of the biggest petitioners, and with high caliber titles like Call of Duty and Guitar Hero that can spread across all platforms, the lowered price of the PS2 means more sales for a potential audience.

SCEA President Jack Tretton said the price cut is also good for the PS3 in hopes that more people will now buy the PS2 and be hooked into the Playstation name.  Sure, that sounds like a reasonable figure, but given that the PS3 is still selling for $400 at its cheapest model and the library is still lacking a handful of stellar titles, how many gamers are really going to shell out the big bucks?  The PS2 seems more inclined now to take back the top selling spot over the PS3 in April, and I won’t be surprised if it outsells the Xbox 360 or the PSP either.

But then again, how many gamers out there who have been playing for most of their lives have a PS2 already?  Based on comments gathered from various gaming forums, a lot.  Many people hoped for a PS3 price drop to try and match the Xbox 360 and Wii’s budgeted prices, but with Sony losing money on the PS3 already, that kind of announcement might not happen for a while.

Many gamers have felt the need to express their feelings towards Sony in biased rants, grunts and displeasured attitudes across the giant gaming landscape.  Here are a few excerpts from comments related to the PS2 price drop:

“Ha, that’s a joke of a price drop. Almost 3 1/2 years ago I bought a used PS2 for $70. I wouldn’t pay more than $25 for a new one today. Kind of shows you how desperate Sony is to make a profit on anything.”

“PS2 should have been $99.99 Two years ago when PS3 came out or shortly after. $100 off the current PS3 price would be nicer.”

These messages were taken from several forums where the majority consensus is angered at the PS2 price drop.  Rather than Sony focusing on a nine-year-old console they should be setting their sights higher with the PS3 and potential releases and product changes.  The PS2 price drop is sure to shake things up in stores who were hoping to discontinue the systems to make room for newer items, but in any case, the PS2 looks to hang around at least for another year and hopefully should please those publishers that still see the system as a cash crop.

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About This Author: Josh Schwartzman

Been into gaming for as long as I can remember and have enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoy playing with everyone and anyone online and I am an avid PS3 and Xbox 360 player.

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