Someone bless Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter -- his enthusiasm's contagious (even if his predictions can be a tad inconsistent). He predicted an Xbox 360 price drop at the start of E3, and I for one thought he was dead on, but (alas!) come show time, nothing happened, owing perhaps to Microsoft's hardware warranty woes. So take this next bit with the usual dot of sodium.
Speaking with Gamasutra today, Pachter says the $500 PS3 price cut is here to stay. Meaning when the 60 GB model clears the shelves, something Sony predicts will happen in the "next several months," the company will drop its $600 price on the 80 GB model -- which currently includes a copy of Evolution Studios' well-liked $60 racer MotorStorm -- to $500. (No word on whether Sony would keep that game bundle in effect, but I'm predicting it won't.)
Before we get back on the Sony praise-wagon, assuming that price prediction is valid, let's talk tech notes. You maybe heard that the 80 GB model uses software emulation for backwards compatibility, while the 60 GB model includes physical emulation hardware? True story. In fact, the new specs released with the 80 GB model include a disclaimer that reads:
Backwards Compatibility -- Some PlayStation 2 or PlayStation format software titles may perform differently on this system than they do on PlayStation 2 or PlayStation systems, or may not perform properly on this system.
CYA for the 80 GB model? Hard to say. I'm not sure the analogy to Microsoft's Xbox 360 backwards compatibility list others are speculatively making is functionally helpful, but the "issues list" may indeed be longer, though software emulation's been going strong on the PAL version of the PS3 for months. And to be fair, even the 60 GB model with hardware-emulation has a backward compatibility list, and not everything's on it or functioning glitch-free. So don't assume software emulation will alter the existing backward compatibility landscape dramatically.
Also, watch for an Xbox 360 price drop to either precede or complement Sony's 60 GB SKU closeout. Pachter speculates the warranty issues are to blame for the lack of an E3 drop but that a price adjustment from Microsoft is more or less imminent. So would-be 360 owners hedging costs against holiday timing, you might want to do exactly what Microsoft doesn't want you to, and hold off a few more months, which may just line up perfectly with games like Grand Theft Auto 4, Blue Dragon, BioShock, Mass Effect, and Halo 3.
