CAG user Speedy1961 broke the news that the PlayStation 3 was going to get a $100 price cut on July 12th a few days ago and since then it’s been anonymously supported by a variety of retail sources. Target flyers slated for a July 15th release were spotted with the price cut and some locations have already started changing the price.

I visited my own local Target this morning and asked the nearest employee to the games whether they were breaking the street date on the price drop for the PS3. He said no, they weren’t, and couldn’t change any prices until they were told to do so by upper management external to their store. He asked when it was supposed to take effect and I told him the 12th, so he said I should try back then. I explained I was just curious, and that I already had one.

“Oh,” he said, “sorry to hear it.”

“What?” I stopped walking. “Why?” He’d been very friendly and actually seemed sorry that I’d bought one. I had to know why.

“I used to work at Gamestop. Everything from Sony has always been bad news.”

“The PS3?”

“No, I was there at the PS2 launch. You couldn’t buy a memory card for the thing, and the Sony reps were just horrible. People were stealing memory cards from each other back then, that’s how hard it was to get stuff.”

I mentioned how I’d heard online that the PR people for the big three consoles were always rated with Microsoft out in front, Nintendo in the middle, and Sony dead last. I’d heard that on a CAGcast, by the way, but I don’t recall which one.

He agreed completely, and had to head off to help another customer. I thanked him for his time and went about the rest of my shopping trip.

Even with a $100 price cut, won’t Sony’s relatively poor marketing, PR, and retailer support just keep hurting the PS3? Then again, the PSP only fell $30 with its price cut and it’s already gotten a noticeable boost in sales. It’s going to be an interesting second half of 2007.

Via CheapAssGamer.