Price Drop in PlayStation 2

Photo: PS3 to hit market in November

Sony is dropping the price of its PlayStation 2 (PS2) video game console to 129 dollars from 149 dollars in an attempt to boost sales before the company launches the PS3 in November. The PS2 is the world's leading game console, having sold over 101 million units globally since its launch in March 2000, compared with 24 million Microsoft Xbox units and 21 million Nintendo GameCube units.

The price cut comes a month after the Japanese-based company announced that it was postponing the launch of the PS3 until early November due to technical hitches. Sony has dominated the games console market for many years, but in recent times has faced fierce competition from both Microsoft and Nintendo.

The PS3 will compete with Microsoft's Xbox 360, which went on sale last December in Europe, and Nintendo's Revolution, which is due for release in the 4th quarter of this year.