Console Specifications and Prices Drop

News out of the console world today is a bit depressing, unless you're keen on buying an Xbox 360 for cheap in the United Kingdom. The sad news? The Sony Playstation 3, anticipated for its hulking power (and certainly not its equally giant price tag) has lost about 10% of its core GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The not-so-sad news? Another retailer has brought down the price of the Xbox 360 across the pond.

When it was first announced a few years ago, the buzz about the Playstation 3 was louder than any Sony system before it, because this time the Japanese hardware king was going to be the most powerful of the lot. And although the Xbox easily trumped the PS2 and the Nintendo 64 KO'd the graphics of the PS1 before that, the PS3 was Sony's chance to prove it could build a system capable of goliath graphics. As you might have read, the price tag -- about $600 USD -- warrants such power.

Insiders aren't sure why Sony owned up to the GPU's loss of 10% speed/power, but investigators at the Inquirer.net have narrowed it down to either a nVidia (the PS3's video card supplier) or Sony itself. (Source: theinquirer.net)

With that said, the PS3's power isn't the only thing slimming down faster than Carnie Wilson (well, at one time). Although we reported last week that a UK retailer had lowered the price of the Xbox 360, it appears another has followed suit. Xbox seller Vole has reportedly dropped the price of the Big M's console from 209 pounds to 199, a decision it says was made by retailers themselves and not Microsoft. (Source: theinquirer.net)

For those keeping track, it seems Nintendo is quiet.