In an effort to make the prospect of creating titles for PS3 more appealing to developers worldwide, Sony announced today that it is cutting the price of its PS3 Reference Tool hardware to $2000 dollars. A real bargain considering it used to cost more than twice that amount.

The DECR-1400A sports the same form factor as a retail PS3 but is designed to run specialized firmware apt for debugging purposes and running pre-production code. According to Sony, this redesigned Reference Tool allows for “advanced game programming and more efficient computer graphics rendering.” The unit’s Japanese variation contains the same feature set but carries a different model number, DECR-1400J, and is priced at 200,000 yen.

Additionally, Sony says it is working hard to enhanced its range of software tools available to developers. Back in February of last year it introduced the SNC PPU toolchain, a specialized code compiler designed to optimize and auto-tune code written for the PS3. The SNC kit is widely used amongst licensed development studios, including Guerrilla Games of Killzone 2 fame and Bethesda Softworks, which were responsible for Fallout 3.

Read more: Expect More PS3 Home Details At GDC 08, Sony To Drop PS3 Price, Announce 40GB In Europe Tomorrow, PS3 Unreal Tournament III Mod Tools Now Available, Pachter: $499 PS3 Not Going Anywhere, Elite PS3 Confirmed?