News - Sony surprises nobody with official PS3 slim announcement
Posted by
Richard Brownell
at 08:54:16 PM EST on 8.18.2009.
Sony today announced what many potential PlayStation 3 owners have been waiting for, the new PlayStation 3. It's lighter and slimmer and will come with an all new price, $299. The new system includes a 120GB hard drive. The existing 80GB model will be reduced to $299 on August 18. The existing 160GB model will be reduced to $399 on August 18.
The new PS3 is scheduled to be released September 1 in North America, Europe/ PAL territories and Asian countries and regions that aren't Japan. Japan will get the new system on September 3.
The new system has been completely redesigned. It weighs about 2/3 of the original 60GB model and requires about 2/3 of the power, which helps to reduce fan noise. It's also got a new design with a new finish intended to appeal to a wider, casual audience.
Additionally, the new PS3 will feature a Bravia Sync feature. This allows the PS3 to sync up with Bravia TVs, which allows users to control the Xross Media Bar with their TV remotes.
For those that prefer their consoles vertically oriented, Sony is offering a vertical stand that is sold separately. It will be released in North America for $24 some time after launch. It will come out in Japan on September 3.
The new PS3 will include all the features PS3 gamers have come to expect with one notable omission. The "Install Other OS" feature will not be included. Sony says this is to emphasize the focus on delivering games and content. Additionally, there was no mention made about expanding the existing backwards compatibility of this new PS3 over current PS3 offerings.
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i_like_pizza 8.24.2009 at 11:35:59 PM
I'm pretty sure Nintendo keeps its secrets by forcing all employees and contracted workers to sign a "death-by-samurai" waiver if they give up any information.
As far as PS3 is concerned, the cost is getting more and more in my price range all the time. I'm actually glad the thing flopped (kind of), because if it hadn't, I wouldn't ever be buying one. At this rate, I'll probably buy one in another year.
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azu 8.23.2009 at 06:26:05 AM
Meh, I don't count different HDD sizes as being completely different versions of a console. And I was thinking of the European situation, since I forgot American & Japanese PS3s had the fully hardware based PS2 b/c. We've only had the more software based emulation, no emulation at all, and now Slim (= three versions). Everything else has just been about offering different HDD sizes. Different people, different needs for different HDD sizes. Some don't use PS Store much -> no need for a big HDD -> can get the cheaper model with a smaller HDD. The functionality is still very much the same. You can do everything with an out-of-the-box 40GB PS3 you can do with a 80GB or 160GB one.
It's not like how it is with Xbox 360 Elite, Arcade and Pro where one offers HDMI output and HDD, one doesn't have HDMI output but does have a HDD and the third has neither ( other possible differences I don't remember atm).
Besides, Xbox 360 has had tons of hardware revisions as well (probably more than PS3). From offering all these confusing Core, Pro, Elite etc. models with completely different out of the box functionalities, but they've also added smaller CPUs, better DVD drives and made lots of other improvements to existing models. They've just usually kept the HDD size the same so you might not have noticed the change by just looking at a list of different sized HDDs they've offered during the years. Sony has added bigger & bigger HDDs because at some point having a 20GB HDD in a PS3 has actually been more expensive than a 40GB one.
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thehawk 8.20.2009 at 11:18:27 AM
Azu, you're skipping a lot of them.
20gb PS3 with hardware-based PS2 compatibility
60gb PS3 with hardware-based PS2 compatibility
60gb PS3 with software-based PS2 compatibility
80gb PS3 with software-based PS2 compatibility
40gb PS3 with no PS2 compatibility, 2 USB Ports
80gb PS3 with no PS2 compatibility, 2 USB Ports
160gb PS3 with no PS2 compatibility, 2 USB Ports
Slim - 120gb PS3 with no PS2 compatibility, 2 USB Ports
So it's the eighth iteration of the console.
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azu 8.20.2009 at 02:52:53 AM
"So, what is this, the SEVENTH version of the PS3?"
Third (launch unit with b/c, removal of b/c and now Slim).
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cainkid 8.19.2009 at 11:37:32 AM
Good move and a good price coming out of it. Not going to buy one still mind you, but at least that decision is about the games now instead of about the games and the price.
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thehawk 8.19.2009 at 10:35:06 AM
So, what is this, the SEVENTH version of the PS3?
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shin gallon 8.19.2009 at 02:57:32 AM
If it had backwards compatibility, I'd be sorta tempted to trade up my BC 80 gig.
I wouldn't need the stand either, all my consoles are horizontal and will remain that way.
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jekku 8.19.2009 at 12:18:31 AM
Sony should call up Nintendo and find out how they keep their stuff under wraps until the last second.
digg this story!
