Sony lowers price of PlayStation 2 game console to $99

Sony has cut the price of its PlayStation 2 console by $30, to $99, positioning it as an entertainment bargain.

Sony, which has sold more than 136.8 million PS2s since launching the console in Japan in October 1999, noted that there were more than 1,820 PS2 game titles for $29.99 or less. More than 250 titles are $20. Sony said game publishers were planning to release 70 to 80 new titles, primarily sports and casual games, this year, bringing the total to nearly 1,900 by the end of the year.

In addition, publishers are poised to release 70 to 80 more titles in 2010, said John Koller, director of hardware marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment of America, the division that manages the PlayStation business in North America. Koller said Sony was reaching out to families and lower-income households that don’t have a game console.