Rumor has been popping around that Sony will be releasing a $399 PlayStation 3 SKU with a 40GB HDD in the coming holiday season. The site lists the new SKU as part of a holiday pricing scheme that will include a $100 price cut for the new 80GB PS3 SKU, putting it at $499.

One or both models will supposedly include a Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray pack-in. Sony’s last-gen slim PlayStation 2 would also receive a price drop in the rumored holiday lineup, selling for $99, a $30 drop from the current $129 price point.

The details and breadth of the pricing rearrangement lend some credibility to the rumor. The Spider-Man 3 pack-in makes sense because of previous cross-promotion efforts by Sony, including the Spider-Man 2 pack-in for the PSP and, of course, adopting the Spider-Man font for the PS3 logo.

The timing for the new pricing would work out as well, with Spider-Man 3 arriving on Blu-ray October 30. Sony will also come into $2.9 billion from its Sony Financial Holdings IPO on October 11, giving it enough cash to comfortably handle a holiday price drop, as analysts have predicted.

Personally, I’m one of those who don’t give a damn about Spiderman 3. Maybe it was because the Spiderman 3 movie was well received around the world (America and Asia at least) and it was co-created with Sony Pictures that made Sony says “OK, Spiddy can do the job”, but I find it more persuasive if Sony decided to bundle a Heavenly Sword Blu-ray pack-in with the same price. Now, that’s what I call a good deal.