No US PS3 price drop

Sony Computer Entertainment America has reportedly clarified that the Japanese PlayStation 3 price drop announced overnight will not affect US pricing.

At the end of his keynote address on the opening morning of the Tokyo Game Show, SCE president Ken Kutaragi said that the console would retail for 49,980 yen (EUR 335 / GBP 225).

That's a drop of EUR 85 / GBP 57 since E3, and apparently came in reaction to a poor response from consumers and retail.

However, it sounds like we've not been shouting enough, because SCEA has told 1UP that the US$ 499 and US$ 599 pricing for the respective 20GB and 60GB versions of the consoles will remain in place.

There's no word yet on whether pricing in Europe will see a reduction ahead of the launch here - currently set for March 2007.

There is some good news though - as well as a Japanese price drop, Kutaragi also revealed that both versions of the console would incorporate an HDMI slot, and the company has confirmed that this will also apply across the globe.