Source: UK industry news site MCV.

　　What we heard: It's been three years nearly to the day since Sony released the slimline PlayStation 2 in November 2004. Sony trimmed away 75 percent of the original's mass with the new model, while increasing functionality after several internal hardware revisions. After a year and a half on the market, Sony shaved $20 off the redesigned hardware in April 2006, dropping the price of the PS2 from $149 to its current retail price of $129.

　　Now, UK industry news site MCV is reporting that Sony plans to cut the size and price of the PS2 once again, and will release a "compact" $99 model next year in North America. Reportedly the most significant alteration to Sony's legacy hardware is that the power supply will be moved inside the console, reducing manufacturing and shipping costs. MCV did not source its information, though it presumably was not on official word from Sony, as a spokesperson "refused to comment" on the details.

　　Despite the shady credibility of MCV's report, at the very least, a price drop seems to be in the cards for Sony's second-gen console. The console, which just recently celebrated its seven-year, 120 million unit milestone, may finally be showing signs of its age, as Sony recently reported unit sales down 310,000 year-over-year during its second fiscal quarter. However, at 3.28 million units, the PS2 still easily outsold Sony's other offerings during the three-month period, with the PlayStation 3 shifting 1.31 million units and the PlayStation Portable selling 2.58 million.

　　A price drop after the holiday season has some logic to it. Attempting to explain the removal of software-based backward compatibility in the 40GB Emotion Engine-less console (which goes on sale today), Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton told the Wall Street Journal that the move was designed to spur sales of PS3 games. This mentality indicates Sony would prefer consumers focus on its current-generation console for their holiday shopping as opposed to revisiting the PS2. However, with sales of the PS2 still going strong across the globe, Sony will do everything it can to extend the life cycle of its tried-and-true workhorse once the holiday crush has subsided.

　　The official story: "We haven't announced anything along these lines, and can't comment on rumors or speculation." --A Sony rep.

　　Bogus or not bogus?: Entirely possible, but no substantive evidence either way.