RSSPS3 Slim: A virtual repeat of the PSP Go?
By Tim Conneally | Published August 18, 2009, 11:47 AM
At Sony's big press conference scheduled today in Germany for Gamescom, the long-rumored PS3 Slim, a much cheaper, much smaller PlayStation 3 with a 120 GB HDD and requisite Blu-ray player, was finally unveiled. However, it wasn't too much of a surprise for eager potential buyers, as several online retailers prematurely posted product pages for the device.
It is similar to the situation with the PSP Go! at E3 this year. Just days before the new, smaller PlayStation Portable was slated to make its big debut, Sony's own Qore magazine leaked a picture of it. Sony Computer Entertainment's President and CEO Kaz Hirai called it the "Worst-kept secret of E3."
But the lid was pulled off of this particular secret months ago. PS3 Slim rumors began when spy camera shots of a new PlayStation 3 chassis and retail box were leaked to gaming sites. Though very little was known about the device, it fueled the already heated discussion about a cheaper Sony console. Sony has not been able to achieve the market dominance it had with its last generation PlayStation 2, largely because the PlayStation 3 is the most expensive video game console of the "big three" (Wii, 360, PS3.)
Just hours in advance of Sony's press conference, retailers Kmart and Sears put PS3 Slim product pages live on their online stores, essentially confirming all rumors. Both sites had the console priced at $299.99 with a pre-sale release date of next Monday. Neither site, however, has an image of the new console yet.
Sure enough, at Sony's press conference today, Hirai appeared to debut the 120GB PS3 Slim for $299, which will be available on September first.
I think this is going to be great for the PS3. At a price of $299 with a Blu-Ray player included and free online play...Its actually a pretty great buy. Even if you are not interested in the bluray player, the fact that it includes one is still a motivator.
Naturally the xbox will match the price drop with news of their own. Very interesting to see what they come up with.
Oh, and whats with the lack of information from the story? I guess this is just a story comparing the psp with the ps3. Good job Tim.
Score: 0
|Looks nice. Imagine hardware convergance where you could plug your phone into a dock on the Play Station so you charge it up. And as well as playing games, the Play Station could access iTunes where you could download games and any phone access the iTunes store. Ahh what a dream hey.
Score: 0
|too little too late. They needed this price last Christmas
Score: 1
|Agreed.
Score: 3
|I like the new design BTW. Understated and simple.
Score: 0
|I would have prefered a PS3 modeled more after a typical blu-ray player. I think that would have been much better then the PS3 slim. A PS3 that looks like a blu-ray player with LED display, Infrared remote..etc.
The probably don't want to compete with their standalone players though.
Score: 0
|I have a launch day PS3, and I have no interest in buying another PS3 because it's slimmer but a lot of Sony fanboys will. Remember when the PS2 slim was released and millions of people with perfect working fat PS2s ran out and bought them.
After a year of waiting, Sony finally stepped up and updated the PS3's BD profile and it rocks, still the best BD player out there. I don't want to hear about Oppo, they are overpriced and side by side, no one can tell the difference between a PS3.
MS needs to get off their asses and come up with higher capacity storage games. They should have used HD-DVD as their medium when Toshiba quit the format war.
Score: 0
|I'm guessing since they already pulled that compatibility out of the current PS3 i highly doubt it will be in the slim. too bad really. backwards compatibility is really a nice sweet deal. I don't know if any apps exist already that allow you to play old PS1 and PS2 titles on the PS3.
Score: 0
|@dracodos - You don't need any special app to play PS1 games. The PS1's CPU is the I/O controller for the PS3.
Score: 0
|Yes i see that so it still runs PS1 games. It's not using hardware though for PS1 compatibility. It's using software emulation. I'm wondering then if the output for PS1 games would go through HDMI? On the PS2, output on PS1 games is ONLY standard A/V it doesn't support Component, which sucks.
Score: 0
|Any word on PS2 backward compatibility?
Score: 0
|wow PC_Tool i guess we can file you under one of those people who just want to get something for nothing
Score: 0
|Umm I don't think he is the only one. The pice has been over priced for a while now and people keep telling them that they aren't willing to pay that much for it especially with their main competitor outselling them in the gaming market and their console cheaper. I still can't believe I paid full price for the system (which is collecting dust btw).
@ Terminalx if your paying 300 bones for a bloray player your overpaying, and as for a "media server" I bet there are less expensive options on the market.
Score: 0
|"wow PC_Tool i guess we can file you under one of those people who just want to get something for nothing"
Hey, if Jessica Alba happens to be one of those people who just want to get something for nothing, feel free to file me under her. ;)
Otherwise, you're way off base. I don't like consoles...so why would I pay $300 for one?
Nice to see how little it takes for you to "know" something...
Score: 0
|Your fanboy is showing...its all three things...I should have probably emphasized that more.
If you want to play ps3 games, need a blu-ray player and have a need for a decent media server to play downloaded movies or stream to your tv via the ps3 then $300 is a good deal provided you don't miss 2 extra usb ports and the card reader and no backwards compatibility for the ps2, It can however play psone games.
Score: 0
|$300 is still more than I'd be willing to pay. I'll stick with the PS2 for now, thanks.
Score: -1
|$300 is good if
A. you really want to play ps3 games
B. Want a good Blu-Ray player
C. Want a media server.
Not so good if you want to be able to play your ps2 games on it as of now the ps3 is not able to.
Score: 1
|It cant play my xbox games either! :( lol
Score: 0
|My older bro has been saying that since 2007 when I got a 40gig ps3 @ $400, he actually bought a ps2 last year, mainly because he didnt own a HDTV... last month he bought a LCDTV and so I decided to bring over the monster (ps3) and show what his TV is capable of.. first we watched Spiderman3 on Bluray so his son and wife can see the diff, which they loved... and bammn!! video game titles like SF4 had me and my 32y/o bro trash talking eachother like we did with the SegaGenusis! lol
Today I sent him a weblink showing the newest price cut, he will be buying one for xmas :) now we can play online and I can stay home and play with him and his son...
so for you PC_TOOL, I will say samething I told him.. $400 was a bit much,$300 is a no brainer!! (unless u do not own a HDTV--then stick w/ the ps2)
Score: 1
|...
Not interested. Rarely play console games, don't need an HD player other than my laptops. $300 just isn't worth it for how little it would be used.
Score: 0
|like mine!
Score: -1
|