The 20GB PS3 from Sony must surely hold the record as the shortest lived console in the world, at least in North America. This model will no longer be available to consumers living on that part of the world since Sony claims on behalf of its consumers and retailers that the demand favoring the 60GB model was 10 to 1. I personally find these numbers hard to believe, particularly when Sony acted unfairly and supplied a minute supply of 20GB models to retailers around the country. Many speculate that this is due to the higher financial losses incurred whenever somebody picks up the 20GB model, so pulling the plug on this SKU so early in the game means Sony is trying to stem the bleeding.

According to Dave Karraker of Sony America, he mentioned, and I quote verbatim, “At launch, we offered two separate models of PlayStation 3 to meet the diverse needs and interests of our PlayStation fan base. Initial retail demand in North America was upwards of ninety percent in favor of the 60GB SKU, so we manufactured and shipped-in accordingly. Due to the overwhelming demand for the 60GB model from both retailers and consumers, we have ceased offering the 20GB model here in North America. In addition to the larger internal hard drive, the 60GB PlayStation 3 features added storage media slots and built-in Wi-Fi not found in the 20GB system. Based on retailer and consumer feedback, we have decided to focus our current efforts on the more popular 60GB model.”

Anyone with half a brain probably won’t buy Sony’s corporate BS any more. After all, the company has done much damage to its own reputation by spinning half truths and even outright lies, pushing technologies that people don’t want into their purchases and having a stranglehold on their own proprietary formats that make device interconnectivity a difficult and convoluted process. Do you seriously think that 60GB PS3s are exactly what gamers want? The last time I checked, gamers wanted nothing but Wiis. Going by the same train of logic, does this mean Sony is manufacturing Wiis now instead of PS3s?

Source: Joystiq

You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Add to Del.icio.us