It’s official at last. After almost a year ago Sony was launching its PS3 console first in Japan and the United States (Europe was postponed for 2007), this time the Japanese company did it the other way around. Sony announced on Oct. 10 a version of PS3 configured with a 40GB hard drive for Europe, now Sony Computer Entertainment America brought the dumbed-down version to the United States.

At only 400 bucks, the 40GB PS3 is finally the first configuration which is nearly as less costly as an Xbox 360. However, the differences compared with the 80GB hard disk version are not just limited to hard drive capacity. PS3 40GB has less USB ports, specifically two instead of four, and does not feature a flash card reader. In addition, it lacks a feature which probably is the most important difference between the two configurations: it is not compatible with PS2 games. This is a most important problem because the current offer of game titles for the PS3 is still very slim.

Anyway, 2008 will see the launch of a much wider array of games, which means if do not necessarily want the latest games for Christmas, this may be the time to acquire a PS3 because it’s still the cheapest BluRay player on the market. Who knows, there might be a game or two worth playing in the meantime.

What does Sony hope to accomplish with this price cut? Evidently, it wants to boost sales and come back in the ring with Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. That’s why they also cut down the price for the 80GB version by 100 bucks. Even if this is indeed the best time to launch a new, cheaper configuration of its console and to slash the 80 GB price down to 500 bucks, it may well be too little, too late.

The gamers, who are Sony’s target customers, have demonstrated that they are first and foremost interested in games rather than in the intrinsic performances of a specific console. The best example is that of Microsoft and Halo 3.

We thus may well see that despite the price reductions, gamers will not rush to grab PS3s. The important thing is that Sony managed to go at least half way: brought the PS3 at an affordable price. All that’s needed now for overcoming its competition is a mega-game, which would run exclusively on its console. If they do find such a game then 2008 may well be the year of the PS3, if not, we’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out…