Sony confirmed in the early hours Tuesday that it will be dropping its price by $30 for the Playstation 2 to $99.99. The price drop was previously leaked by an insider at retailer Kmart, who spotted a price change in his system and tipped off gaming blog Joystiq about the news.
Price cuts are always welcome, but it's not quite what hardcore gamers were hoping to hear. Consumers and industry analysts have been calling for a price cut on Sony's flagship Playstation 3 system for months now: the PS3 is the most expensive games machine on the market by a hefty margin. But Sony put a stop to that speculation in a statement today, saying "We do not have plans for a PS3 price drop, and any rumors to that effect are false and are the result of speculation."
So, is the nine-year-old PS2 a good deal at less than $100? Assuming you don't already have one, there's no question about it. Sure, it's no match for current-gen consoles like the Xbox 360 or PS3 (or even, more arguably, the Wii) but it has a software selection that's absolutely superb. If you're looking for a way to play great games on the cheap, and you're prepared to be a little behind the tech state-of-the-art, you can't do much better.
