http://www.cheapassgamer.com/?f=1403CAG Oswald9599 provides the scoop with this photo of future signage at FYE. The sign reveals a PS3 80GB console for $299.99 and a 160GB console with Uncharted for $399.99.While the exact date of the price drop is unknown, we are told these signs will be put up in the next "planner period" which is usually the last or first Thursday of the month.
PSN gets a facelift September 1st.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10312144-1.htmlFor months, we've been blogging about rumors that Sony would cut the price of its PlayStation 3 game console from $399 to $299 and possibly announce a new trimmer model called the PS3 Slim. Well, at a press conference in Cologne, Germany, preceding the opening of the Gamescom Expo, the company finally took the wraps off the new console.Earlier Tuesday, Kmart.com jumped the gun on the announcement and accidentally posted an ad on its home page that revealed a price cut to the "old" 80GB and 160GB PS3s to $299 and $399 respectively and hinted at the impending arrival of the new PS3 Slim.In Cologne, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai performed the unveiling, taking the stage and announcing the PS3 was "getting a new model" and that indeed it was called the PS3 Slim.The Slim is hitting stores the first week in September and will cost $299 (or for those who live in other regions, 299 euros or 29980 yen). Hirai says it has the same features and functions as the "old" PS3 but is 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter, and comes with a 120GB hard drive.It's unclear how Sony will sell the old 80GB PS3 at the same price as the new Slim, but we'll have more details as they emerge. Until then, feel free to comment.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/18/playstation-3-slim-unboxing-and-hands-on/Yes, we can hardly believe it ourselves, but Sony came a-knockin' at our door today, and we were more than willing to answer. The PlayStation 3 Slim is now official in-house, and it's a matte-laden beaut. Enough chitchat -- live vicariously through our unboxing and hands-on pics below!Update: Some details for clarification. The buttons in the front are now physical and actually "click" in to function. The PS logo above the disc drive does not rotate for vertical use, and yes, the hard drive is swappable -- as you can see from the pictures, there's a screw on the bottom, hidden by a panel, that lets you take off part of the front for access. We've also lined it up against our standard, fatty PS3, and we gotta say, it's noticeably lighter.Update 2: Here's a more thorough comparison between the slim, the original, and the Xbox 360. Some people were asking about the texture of the matte finish, and compared to Microsoft's console, it's just a teensy bit rougher (and on that note, about the same weight, too). It's still just as glossy as the original on the sides, however. We still gotta compare the noise of the slim, stay tuned!Update 3: While our tests were far from thorough, the initial results from our quick-and-dirty decibel ratings show some promise. At a baseline average of 49 db, the Slim averages between 53 and 56 db when in use / playing a game / installing data (in this case, Metal Gear Solid 4), compared to the 55 to 57 db of the original. Blu-ray movie playback is where it becomes noticeable, as the slim peaked for us at 60 db when the original was doing 70 db running the same disc.
http://www.blpgaming.com/beta/news/64/crossgame-voice-chat-coming-to-playstation-3/discuss.
