A Play Station 3 price drop in the middle of August? O_o

It seems Sony is trying to make everyone forget the hacker attack that crippled the PlayStation Network and left thousands of  unsatisfied players.

I was surprised when I received this newsletter from Amazon this morning,

Dear Amazon.com Customer,

Customers who have shown an interest in PlayStation 3 might like to know about the recent console price drop.

PlayStation 3 consoles are $249.99 for the 160GB, $299.99 for the 320GB, or $349.99 for the Move console bundle.

This places their 320GB console in pair with Microsoft’s Xbox360 at $299.99 as well.

While the new price will make the consoles more accessible to new gamers, but I really doubt there will be huge lines of people trying to get their hands on a PS3 anytime soon. Sony took a huge hit when their networked was hacked, and there are many gamers who hate their guts with a passion.

What really confuses me is why Sony is cutting the price of their console right before kids go back to school, wouldn’t it make more sense to do it around October or November, or somewhat close to Black Friday?

It seems the gaming industry isn’t doing so well if they have to slash console prices at such an awkward time. First we had Nintendo do a sudden price drop on their 3DS console after it didn’t produce the expected sales, and now Sony does something similar to their flagship console. At this rate I doubt the Sony PlayStation Vita will have such a warm welcoming when it launches.

If Sony had done this price reduction a couple of years ago I probably would have bought a PS3, there are a couple of games I really want to get my hands on, but seeing as how the economy is crap right now and I can’t get a hold of a full-time job I don’t think I’ll be coughing up the dough for a gaming console any time soon.