Sony Drops PS3 Price, Adds Video Downloads

Sony may have given up on catching the Nintendo Wii (an “expensive niche device,” as Sony CEO Howard Stringer knows it,) but the company hasn’t lost hope of catching up with Microsoft’s Xbox 360. At its E3 press conference, Sony revealed two major strategies for nabbing the big green X: another price drop, and online video downloads.

The price drop will apply only to the current top-of-the-line 80GB PS3, which will fall from $499 to $399. The 40GB model, which currently sells for that price, will disappear completely, leaving just one system in the line-up.

The video delivery service, which seems to be aimed squarely at Microsoft’s Xbox Live, will allow Internet-connected PS3s to download movies and TV shows to rent or own. The initial library of over 300 movies and 1,200 TV shows will come from studios including Paramount, Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Sony Pictures. Some content will even be available in high definition. Movie prices will range from $2.99 to $5.99 for rentals and $9.99 to $14.99 for purchased titles.

Sony will change up its PS3 price structure in September, while the video delivery service for existing PS3 owners began operating Tuesday night.