PS3 to Launch at PS2 Price?

Now that we've met the next generation of consoles, the time has come to begin speculation of launch prices. Last week we told you of a report out of Japan's Mainichi Daily News, which cited Sony officials as stating the PS3 will launch at "under 50,000 yen" (US$467). This week, the Japanese web site Impress PC Watch is reporting that Sony has told its business partners that the PS3 will actually launch at a price of "under 40,000 yen" (US$370). This lone comment has caused the buzz in the industry to be that the PS3 will launch at the same price (39,800 yen, or US$368) as both the PS and PS2 did. However, with that being said, there has been no report on how the weak US dollar will fit into this pricing puzzle.