Last month, Janco analyst Mike Hickey predicted a PS3 price drop, driven by a new, cheaper model without a Blu-ray drive. In a statement to Silicon Alley Insider, Sony's Kim Nguyen took on the new hardware rumor, basically killing it for anyone who believes Sony PR: "That would pretty much destroy the PS3's backbone, our games were built on Blu-ray." Nguyen then said the fairly clear, "Quote that: Blu-ray will always be part of PS3." While a cheaper PS3 may be nice, we really don't think Sony would want to harm its movie business by taking the Blu-ray capability out of its best-known Blu-ray player. Sony also denied the price drop in general, as well as an annual fee for an online gaming service. "Online gaming is like a First Amendment right," Sony's Susan Panico said.[Via VG247]Sony: Blu-ray will always be part of PS3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments