Struggling to catch up with the Nintendo's console Wii, Sony on Tuesday slashed the price of the PlayStation 2 to $99.99, representing a 23% drop. According to Sony, which is apparently looking to steal console market share from Nintendo's Wii, the new price of PS2 is effective from today (Wednesday).

Speaking of the PS2 price cut, the Director of hardware marketing for Sony, John Koller, in the company's blog, said, "We do think the $99 price point could steal some share [from Wii]. From a technological standpoint, the Wii is much closer to the PS2 than it is to the next-gen consoles. It's obviously not an HD box and the software development is on a par with where PS2 development is, so that's a much more realistic and similar demographic."

Koller wrote, "Nintendo has done a fantastic job of capturing young and female, which are two areas the PS2 has started to really grab a lot of share recently as well. That's an interesting battle and we'll see how it shapes up, but we feel very confident that the $99 price level will allow us to grab our share."

According to the reports, Sony is also considering slashing the price of the PlayStation 3, which is still lagging behind Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii in sales. Launched with price tag of $500, the PS3 is presently priced at $399, but it is still costlier that Nintendo's Wii and still priced about $100 more than Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Commenting on the PS3 price drop, Koller wrote, "I think a lot of people just say, 'drop price, drop price' ... but we need to run this as a responsible business. There certainly is a profitability mandate, but we also do believe in the overall value of the box and the perceived value that's inherent in the PS3 as a premium product is important. So we're doing our best to message that."

According to Sony, 136 million units of PS2s have been sold since its release eight years ago. Generally, the lifespan of video-game consoles is five years, but the recent price cut will help extending the life of PS2 to 10 years. The new price of PS2 will help luring the new-bie gamers.