From gamespot.com:
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One of the most immediate differences between Microsoft's Xbox Live online platform and Sony's PlayStation Network is that one is free to console owners and the other is not. For Xbox 360 owners to receive the full benefits of Microsoft's online service, including networked play and guaranteed day-one content downloads, Xbox Live users pay a minimum of $50 annually. On the other hand, PSN users receive full access to the system's online service free of charge.

However, that free experience changed on October 1, 2008--though it wasn't consumers who suddenly found themselves footing the bill. Citing a number of publisher sources, MTV reports today that Sony began charging companies $0.16 per gigabyte for paid and free content distributed through the PSN.

Reportedly, the surcharge is dropped for free content such as demos after the first 60 days, but paid DLC will be subject to the fee permanently. As one publishing source told MTV, "It's like leaving your phone off the hook for a long-distance call. The meter is still running."
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Full Story: gamespot.com
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Here are the NPD hardware U.S. sales numbers for February 2009:
* Wii - 753,000
* Nintendo DS - 588,000
* Xbox 360 - 391,000
* PlayStation 3 - 276,000
* PSP - 199,000
* PlayStation 2 - 131,000

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From bloomberg.com:
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"Sony obviously still has a ways to go with their pricing," Moore, a former executive in Microsoft's Xbox division, said in an interview. Electronic Arts is committed to the PS3 and expects a cut eventually, he said. PS3 games increased to 27 percent of the company's console sales last quarter, bolstered by a popular soccer title.

Sony has no immediate plan to reduce prices, said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America in Foster City, California.

"Everybody in the development community would love for the PS3 to be free, so they could just sell razor blades," Dille said in an interview. Sony is concerned with profitability, as well as the installed base, he said.

Sony reduced the PS3 price from $499.99 in October 2007 and sales more than doubled in the next month. In September, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft released its lowest-priced Xbox 360, at $199.99. The company almost doubled Sony's U.S. shipments from October to January after trailing PS3 in the prior three months, NPD data show.
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Full Story: bloomberg.com
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From gamasutra.com:
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The knell for PlayStation 3 price cuts is getting louder. Both Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey and Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans -- whose LittleBigPlanet has been a major driver for the platform -- feel the price of Sony's console should go down soon.

Evans believes Sony's core audience has their PS3s already, and broadening the install base will be a boon: "They've had all these, you know, SingStars and the EyeToy games. They've had their casual gaming audience on the PS2, and they have to translate that over to PS3 now."

The LBP co-creator explains: "As they do that, I'll be very happy with that, because that's how I see PS3 growing. That's why I'm kind of comfortable with it for now... As soon as they drop their price, ho ho ho."

Amends the Media Molecule co-founder, "I shouldn't say that, but it's true. I mean, you know."
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Full Story: gamasutra.com
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