The official online Sony store in the US, Sony Style, has taken down the ' basic' model of the PlayStation 3 from its Web site, as a number of retailers stop selling the cheaper model of the console in the States.

Today companies including Amazon.com, Best Buy, GameStop, EB Games, and Circuit City were no longer listing the 20GB model on their Web sites.

The move also throws doubt over the launch of the PlayStation 3' s 20GB model in Europe, Australia, and other territories, where currently only the 60GB version is available. The budget version was originally expected to arrive sometime in the " Summer," although no hard date was ever set.

That threw me for a loop. I mean, I figured that' d be a fairly large portion of their sales.

I saw ths coming, I' ve never even seen any in stores. I' ve only seen the 60G model. Considering how much money Sony loses with the 20G model, it' s not surprising at all. It' s a pretty bold move though.

See, that' s funny, because I have a pretty even split in my local EB Games. Then again, I' m pretty sure that' s the same set of units they' ve had since their first shipment, buuuut whatever.

It doesn' t surprise me too much, especially considering I know 7 guys with ps3' s and none of them have the 20GB version. Heck, even my 13 year old cousin just got a ps3 for his birthday and its a 60GB.

As a side note, Calgary just started getting stock of ps3' s a week and a half ago. It' s very odd considering people in the states say they are always stocked. I guess either they don' t ship many to Canada, or the demand for them is quite high here. Oh, and I' ve only seen 60GB units since December, no 20GB' s.

Too bad it didn' t happen sooner.

Are you people retarded the 20gb sku was a great thing,many here doesnt need wifi or multi memory card slots.

Or over 20gb hdd because we have a huge comp with lots of storage for HD movies.

Or over 20gb hdd because we have a huge comp with lots of storage for HD movies.

Actually I' ve already used up 30gb and I' m just getting started. I plan on replacing it with a larger drive from my local parts wholesaler as soon as I get close to filling it up.

20GB is small, and 60gb is a minimum IMO.

I would also rather pay another $50 for card readers a larger HD and wireless rather than have it like the 360 where I have to spend an extra $100 minimum on top of what the console costs to get that. Which I will have to do when I get my Elite.

The first sensible thing Sony have done in a long time IMO.

This is no problem for gamers, but it' s a tactical mistake on the part of Sony since Microsoft had slipped up and released the Elite 360 priced at almost the same pricepoint as the 20GB PS3. In doing so, MS lost much of the psychological advantage of a significantly less expensive console. Now Sony has handed it right back to them. Sony seems determined to pursue the niche market and content with handing over the majority of mainstream market share to the competition.

This is no problem for gamers, but it' s a tactical mistake on the part of Sony since Microsoft had slipped up and released the Elite 360 priced at almost the same pricepoint as the 20GB PS3. In doing so, MS lost much of the psychological advantage of a significantly less expensive console. Now Sony has handed it right back to them. Sony seems determined to pursue the niche market and content with handing over the majority of mainstream market share to the competitio

I definitely agree with you. However, I do think that this is also one small step they are taking towards lowering the costs of production on the ps3 and hopefully helping pave the way to lower costs in stores late in the year.

It is true that the 20GB PS3 was more expensive for Sony to manufacture. According to the figures I' ve seen, Sony was losing about $300 on each 20GB PS3, and only losing $240 on the 60GB model.

IMO this wasnt such a good idea. Alot of people i know, who were planning to get a ps3 later on didnt want the 60 GB version, just like i was going to buy the 20 GB somewhere in the future. Im sure this might have killed some ps3 sales, but in the same sense they were losing like $300 for each 20GB, but then again their still losing like $200ish on the 60GB arent they?

I wanted the 20 GB model myself. I can' t use wireless, wireless doesn' t meet my standards and I have no use at all for media card readers. I wanted to simply buy an 120GB HDD seperately.

I wanted the 20 GB model myself. I can' t use wireless, wireless doesn' t meet my standards and I have no use at all for media card readers. I wanted to simply buy an 120GB HDD seperately.

Exactly. Since you can buy your own HD, why dont they just make a ps3 for like $400 that doesnt have one at all?

Exactly. Since you can buy your own HD, why dont they just make a ps3 for like $400 that doesnt have one at all?

The main reason is that it doesn' t make sense for them to do so. Buying such a huge amount of HD' s is going to make them extremely cheap, add in the fact that they are only 60GB and they are gonna be even cheaper. I wouldn' t be surprised if it cost Sony $5 -$10 for each HD. I don' t even wanna think of how much MS makes off those 20GB HD' s that were cheap in the beginning. Add in the fact that a lot of people are technologically handicapped and they have to offer an HD standard.

For the most glaring reason of all, here it is. By making HD' s standard, Sony gave all the game makers the ability to have installed game data on every ps3. This is done for many reasons, the biggest being decreased load times. So, they simply can' t offer a PS3 w/o one regardless of whether or not someone would immediately put one in on their own. People already shit a brick because they don' t have HDMI cables, imagine if they didn' t include a HD, and therefore couldn' t play any games.

Sony will cut the price of the 60GB model later this year anyway, ...probably October-ish, and we' re fast approaching summer as it is.

It' s not stupid, it' s clever.

They don' t have much of a choice do they? I can' t see them dropping the price by anything less than $50. They' re going to want to look competitive with the Elite, and I' m almost positive they haven' t reduced component costs/manufacturing prices anywhere near enough to take a $100 gouge on every sale.

Sony will cut the price of the 60GB model later this year anyway, ...probably October-ish, and we' re fast approaching summer as it is.

That' s frightening. This year' s going by waaaay too fast. Although I disagree with you on the October thing. I' m expecting Sony to couple the surge of games in November with some slick new advertising & a price drop, keeping the Christmas shoppers on their toes.

Edit: It' s Official