(originally written April 12, 2007) Sony today confirmed that the $499.99 version PS3 will no longer be available. Sony's Dave Karraker cited "overwhelming demand" for the $599.99 model during launch for the move to one system at retail.

Opinion- As always, Sony makes a confusing move. Who stands to benefit here, other than Sony? One of the biggest problems people have had with the PS3 is its pricing, and the $500 model becomes even more attractive with the $480 Xbox 360 Elite competing with it. Speaking of 360, Sony seems to have just justified Microsoft's pricing by distancing themselves $120 from Xbox.

Removing options can never really be a good thing, and the "overwhelming demand" statement becomes rather hollow when you realize that the majority of shipments were for the more expensive model. The $500 PS3 was fully featured for gaming, unlike Microsoft's Core package, and I'm sure I'm among many non-PS3 owners who would have chosen the $500 version when software starts coming.

The real question is without the $500 version, does that become a begrudging $600 purchase, or another $600 model sitting on the shelf?