When the PS3 was first announced, Sony intended to trump the 360 and Wii, claiming that its PS3 system was an Ultimate Media Center, and not just a gaming console. This theory was pushed heavily by Sony top boffins at E3 and similar gaming conventions but now, after seeing significant stagnant sales in what should be an ever-growing market of consumers, Sony has said they are going back to marketing the PS3 as a traditional gaming console.

“[The PlayStation3] is starting afresh as a console to play games with. Although pricing strategy is important, now we would like to put our strength in the number of software games,” Sony Computer Entertainment’s Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai told the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. Hirai also said he wanted to see the PS3 “escape as soon as possible from the red and return to the black in fiscal year 2008.”

The douching-up of the PS3 has been ongoing for a few years now, but gamers are finally starting to see prices come down to a reasonable level. With Sony wanting PS3 to start “afresh” as a console to do gaming on, we may see Sony re-embrace the casual gaming market with further price drops.