High-def heats up on consoles; Blu-ray PS3 pricing close to HD DVD players.(Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3)

Video Business, May, 2006 by Netherby, Jennifer; Chronis, George T.

LOS ANGELES -- Sony will release the PlayStation 3 in two versions on Nov. 17 in the U.S. with prices starting at $499, putting Blu-ray players on the market priced closely to Toshiba's initial HD DVD players, which also start at $499. Microsoft, meanwhile, did not drop the price of its Xbox 1360, now at $299 or $399 with accessories, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo here last week as some had expected it might.

Neither did the company assign a price to the HD DVD add-on that it is promising for the fourth quarter, only saying that the unit will be a "bargain" compared to other high-definition player options. Sony said at a pre-E3 event on the Sony Pictures Entertainment backlot that it will release a 20GB version of PS3 priced at $499 and a 60GB...

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