Whither PS3 price cut? Because of the Wii?

At least one game industry analyst thinks so. While others may think that Sony‘s move to cut the price of the Japanese 20GB PS3 (and throw in an HDMI port) was in reaction to Microsoft’s earlier announcements of Japan-targeted Xbox 360 package deals, iSuppli‘s Chris Crotty – we’ve met him before – thinks Sony’s looking more in the direction of the Wii.

And nervously: “I am wondering if this announcement has more to do with Wii and how strong the console will be in Japan,” Crotty says when asked by TG Daily. “It could be an indication that Sony feels less confident about its content.”

But then Crotty hedges his bets, thinking that rather than being worried about competition from Nintendo (or Microsoft, for that matter), Sony might be thinking that the PS3 will do better, period, because of all its great games. “Whenever you lower the price of the console, you increase the burden to back the money through software. In this respect, you can argue that Sony could be feeling more confident that they will have great content (and can sell more games).” Some of that content was laid out and playable during TGS 2006, come to think of it.

(Well, at least we be proven right about one thing: Economists confuse us. Especially with this “on the one hand… on the other hand…” line.)

On the other side of the Pacific, Crotty thinks that even without a similar price cut, the US 20GB model will do “just fine.” “There will be plenty of demand.”

At least one game industry analyst thinks so. While others may think that Sony‘s move to cut the price of the Japanese 20GB PS3 (and throw in an HDMI port) was in reaction to Microsoft’s earlier announcements of Japan-targeted Xbox 360 package deals, iSuppli‘s Chris Crotty – we’ve met him before – thinks Sony’s looking more in the direction of the Wii.

And nervously: “I am wondering if this announcement has more to do with Wii and how strong the console will be in Japan,” Crotty says when asked by TG Daily. “It could be an indication that Sony feels less confident about its content.”

But then Crotty hedges his bets, thinking that rather than being worried about competition from Nintendo (or Microsoft, for that matter), Sony might be thinking that the PS3 will do better, period, because of all its great games. “Whenever you lower the price of the console, you increase the burden to back the money through software. In this respect, you can argue that Sony could be feeling more confident that they will have great content (and can sell more games).” Some of that content was laid out and playable during TGS 2006, come to think of it.

(Well, at least we be proven right about one thing: Economists confuse us. Especially with this “on the one hand… on the other hand…” line.)

On the other side of the Pacific, Crotty thinks that even without a similar price cut, the US 20GB model will do “just fine.” “There will be plenty of demand.”