New PS3, likelihood of a price drop or U3 bundle?

[I4AT]

I have a lot of Gamestop credit so I was planning on taking advantage of their Black Ops bundle + $50 gc deal and pre ordering U3 with the gc. I have no interest in Black Ops so I figured I could sell the game and DLC for $40. In the end that's a pretty good deal, but now I'm thinking maybe I should wait for the new model that was just announced. 200 watts power consumption down from 230 and .88lbs reduced weight would be nice. From what I've read it's gonna be a 320gb unit at $299 though.

I thought all the recent giftcard deals were signs of a coming price drop but it might just have been to clear old stock for the new model. So I'm stuck with a tough decision between getting the BO bundle now for like $260 + tax - my credit (after selling the game) and getting U3 basically for free, or waiting for the new model to be released and hope there's an equivalent deal.

Cause 4 months is a long time in the video game industry, if they released the new model bundled with U3 free (unlikely?) and I bought the BO bundle I'd be pissed. Or if the new model came out at $249 I'd wait for it over buying now. On the other hand, if the new model was $299 with no other incentives the reduced power consumption isn't worth a $50+ premium, and I missed a good deal on the BO bundle. What are your predictions for the PS3 market by November 1st?

 

[Todd33]

Whatever you save if you wait (unless there was a $100 price drop) is outweighed by the extra time you have playing games. Get the BO bundle and sell/trade BO. Get a bunch of the $20-$30 older games that are must plays. UC1/2, Demon's souls, GOW3, infamous, LBP, etc.

The details about the new PS3 model also indicate the price reductions in the colling system may make the current model better.

 

[Queasy]

Current rumor is that a PS3 price drop will be announced in August at Gamescom.

Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are going to have to drop prices sometime before the holidays.

That said, you can always find a gift card type deal that will likely equal the upcoming price drop. At least one retailer is running one every week.

 

[I4AT]

Whatever you save if you wait (unless there was a $100 price drop) is outweighed by the extra time you have playing games. Get the BO bundle and sell/trade BO. Get a bunch of the $20-$30 older games that are must plays. UC1/2, Demon's souls, GOW3, infamous, LBP, etc.

The details about the new PS3 model also indicate the price reductions in the colling system may make the current model better.

Yeah I had a PS3 a while ago so I've already played most of the older titles, gave it to a family member for their birthday knowing I'd get another eventually.

I was actually just reading up about the cooling system in the new unit last night and I've decided to get the Black Ops bundle. Apparently the 120mm fan has been replaced by an 80mm one.

I'm not sure where the 230w to 200w consumption numbers are coming from, but actual tests run by a Japanese site show only 1-2 watts difference when gaming and during Blu Ray playback. And that may just be from the removal of LED's lol.

Link

The biggest difference is 4w at the XMB, and I'm not gonna be sitting there staring at the dashboard very often. Also the google translated Japanese is a little hard to understand, but it seems to indicate that at full load the 80mm fan is much louder, reminiscent of the 60GB launch unit?

And based on a few teardown pictures I've seen the heatsinks seem to be cheaper, but the Cell heatsink is actually welded to the metal shielding. So even with the lesser heatsinks and the smaller fan temperatures may be similar, but load noise is probably higher, so I think the CECH 2500 is probably the better unit.

 

[mmntech]

Current rumor is that a PS3 price drop will be announced in August at Gamescom.

Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are going to have to drop prices sometime before the holidays.

That said, you can always find a gift card type deal that will likely equal the upcoming price drop. At least one retailer is running one every week.

I can't see it being a significant drop though. Maybe $50 tops, more like $20-$30. I expect to see value bundles replacing hardware price drops from here on out.