Today Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) announced that they will be shipping an 80GB PS3 bundle with Metal Gears Solid 4 and a Dual Shock 3 controller for $499 when MGS4 ships (rumor is June 12th).  This bundle is the first to include the new dual shock controller and marks the death of the sixaxis controller.  The 80GB PS3 will offer limited backwards compatibility for PS2 games.

I tend to think this is a really good bundle with a horrible price.  By dropping backwards compatibility in the 40GB PS3 I felt this limited the people that it would appeal to.  If I get a PS3 (eventually I will) I want to be able to play some PS2 games I missed like the previous Devil May Cry or God of War games.  By bringing back the hope of backward compatibility in the MGS4 bundle I'd lean toward buying that bundle.  The only problem is I don't want to spend $500 on a secondary console.  I'm also not convinced BluRay will gain acceptance before digital downloads take over.

So I really hope that Sony is just putting this price out as a place holder so that they can announce a $100 price cut this Spring.  We all know the Xbox 360 is getting a price cut in April so Sony will most likely respond with their own price cut.  At $399 I would be willing to pay that price if it contained a backwards compatibly PS3, BluRay player and a game I could sell back to GameSpot.  Oh, to all you Metal Gear fans don't worry I'd at least play it first but I tend to hate stealth games.  I prefer to announce my presence, not crawl around in barrels.


Source:
kotaku - metal-gear-solid-4-ps3-bundle-announced
kotaku - metal-gear-solid-4-the-ps3-bundle-the-cardboard-box