In a move to get ahead in the market Sony has cut $100 off the price of its new next-generation Blu-ray player, offering for the first time a standalone player cheaper than the PlayStation 3 gaming console.

When Sony announced the BDP-S300 player in February, it put the price at $599, but it has now set a list price at $499. The price cut is due to falling production costs and the growing demand for Blu-ray products, according to Chris Fawcett, vice president of Sony Electronics' home products division.
While electronics company, Toshiba, is selling its rival HD DVD player format for less than $300, neither format has caught on strongly with consumers, arguably because of the uncertainty of choosing between two similar but incompatible formats. Sales of the PS3 however, have significantly aided Blu-ray in the high definition format war against the HD DVD camp by getting Blu-ray players into the homes of gamers.

Could this price cut hurt PlayStation 3 sales even further? With the console priced at $599, buying one for the included Blu-ray player is no longer an option because it's now too expensive, not to mention its relatively loud fan makes it a less than ideal movie player. Sony has given customers one less reason to buy its next gen console in favor of Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360; maybe we’ll see them slashing the price of the PS3 too?