Given the tone of my previous posts, you’d think it isn’t, but some analysts are claiming that it just might be. If you’d ask me though, all signs point to no. The price drop was announced the other week at GamesCom, a European game industry convention that’s open to everyone who wishes to attend. Held in Germany this year, the convention was host to a number of game companies who hoped to take advantage of the convention to announce new titles and hardware prior to Tokyo Game Show, which is coming up soon. While rumors had been flying around for quite some time now, the thought of Sony actually releasing this console so early in the PS3’s life cycle seemed a bit odd to most, which is why still took many by surprise, despite numerous leaks.

The new $299 price tag, actually went into affect the day after the announcement, with retailers everywhere dropping the price of the current model to match. One would think they’d lower the price even further in order to clear the current stock of PS3 supplies, but that doesn’t seem to be the case–at least, in most places. One reason could be that the console itself has already started to phase out, with many retailers reporting that the old model hasn’t been resupplied for quite some time, leaving me to believe that this was the plan Sony had in the first place. It’s probably a good thing too, since the new console is much lighter, and contains a slightly faster 45 nanometer processor. Don’t worry, it doesn’t make your old PS3 completely obsolete, it just might load a few things faster, that’s all. The only draw back to buying the new console, from what I can tell, would be that you’re no longer able to install a new OS on the system–not that anyone I know actually used that feature in the first place. If you are looking for a good deal though, I did see the price of the 160gb Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune bundle drop from $399 to as low as $325.  Assuming that it’s still in stock, that’s a deal worthy to beat out waiting for the slim.

[Image Source: Sony Computer Entertainment Japan]