"Blu-ray Will Always be a Part of PS3"

This is a quote from Kim Nguyen, Sony's Marketing Manager, in response to the recent rumours the PlayStation 3 was about to loose its Blu-ray drive.  Kim was speaking to the Business Insider concerning this and the possibility of a PS3 price cut, however both were shot down both as pure speculation and he re-affirmed what many pointed out; that PS3 games are on Blu-ray and to be without it would destroy the brand.

Seeing as a PS3 without the Blu-ray drive would pretty much make it a PS2, this seems sensible, however the lack of any price cut for the console will continue to hurt sales.  Sony have also denied they will release a console without online capabilities, or to introduce a fee-based system for online play, in a similar vein to Microsoft's Xbox business model.  This is considerable dedication to the PS3 and we love the fact Sony say online gaming is a 'first amendment right'!

With this denial coming directly from Sony, it should mark the end of such rumours, however as with everything consumer electronics related these days, nothing would surprise us!