Sony to drop US prices, Kmart lists PS3 for pre-order

Announcement expected Tuesday evening

Sony to drop US prices, Kmart lists PS3 for pre-order. Gaming, PS3, Gaming hardware, Kmart, Sony, Sears, Fye 1

18 August 2009 15:24 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Sony is to drop the price of its PS3 console in the US to $300 according to adverts from retailers Sears, K-Mart, and Fye.

"New low price" reads the advert for f.y.e with the 80GB model coming down from $399.99 to $299.99 and the 160GB model with Uncharted coming in at $399.99 instead of $499.99

K-mart has even gone as far as to splash the new PS3 Slim model and pricing across its website homepage.

"The rumours are reality, New Exciting PlayStation 3...Pre-order now," reads the banner before linking through to a page for the PS3 Slim costing $299.99 with a release date of 24 August.

The model, according to the listing will feature a Blu-ray player, 120GB HDD, a DUAL SHOCK 3 controller and HDMI output for 1080p resolution.

Meanwhile in the UK ASDA has started selling the 80GB PS3 console for £250 with the film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on Blu-ray and the game Terminator Salvation, as well as either Ghostbusters The Game or Infamous.

A spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz this morning that the offer would continue until stock ran out as Sony was thought to be discontinuing the model.

The news confirmed sources close to the product that told Pocket-lint that a new slimmer console would be announced on Tuesday by Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai head of Sony's console division at GamesCom in Cologne, Germany.

The console, which has been rumoured to be coming for some time, will land in shops in time for Christmas in both the UK and the US, and follow the company's history for creating slimmer versions of the console.

Sony has previously sold slimmer versions of the PSone and PS2 in the past.

The news is the latest in a long line of leaks that saw the PSP Go leaked ahead of its announcement at E3 earlier this year.