After reports of select Target stores dropping the price of their PlayStation 3s by $100 last weekend, Sony formally announced today that it will drop the price of its 60 GB version of the gaming console immediately. That means a 60 GB PS3 will now cost you $499 if you want to get one right away. However, if you can wait until August then you can get your mitts on a 80 GB PS3 for $599 and it will come with a free copy of “MotorStorm”, Sony’s ultra-pretty racing sim that shows off the capabilities of its Cell processor.

Sony is third in the next gen console war and desperately needed to do something to reverse its course. A price drop is a good start but what the PS3 also needs are some killer titles to get gamers lined up to buy the console. That may now be the direction that Sony intends to take. “The introduction of the 80GB PS3, the new pricing for the current 60GB model, the availability of more than 100 new software titles this fiscal year and, finally, the expansion of services for PlayStation Network, will provide even more options for users and will help bring new consumers into the PS3 fold,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of SCEA. With E3 taking place this week Sony may be in a position to strike and steal some of the thunder that Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s Wii have had to date.

Release