Europe - NEW 40gb PS3, 60gb Price Drop

[Lenny]

I'll find the European prices in a moment. First, I'll post the article link and explain it:

Sony drops 60GB PS3 price to £349, introduces 40GB model // GamesIndustry.biz

Today, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE - European division of Sony), announced two things - first, the entry of a new PS3 SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) to the market, and secondly, a price drop for their current SKU.

First let's look at the new model.

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The 40gb PS3 is 100% PlayStation 3. By this I mean it will only play PS3 games - that is, there is NO backwards compatibility with PS2 and PS1 games. There are also a couple of minor changes to the system in that two of the USB ports have been removed, as have the memory card readers. What you do get, though, is, everything else. And all for a very low price of £300.

The 60gb PS3 hasn't been changed a bit. It still has software emulation for PS1 and PS2 titles (with about 80% backwards compatibility so far, I think), four USB ports, and the memory card readers (not PS1 and PS2 memory cards, but rather SD, Smart, MicroSD and so on). The only difference is the new price - for £349 you can get the PS3 console, two first-party games, and a single controller. It's a far-cry from the £588 I paid in March, I'll you that!

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The better deal? Personally, I think that it's the 60gb PS3. Not only do you get your four USB ports (and they do get used - I've always got one controller on charge, and a USB pen in the other port, just in cae I want to transfer files. Add to that my USB keyboard and mouse, which I occasionally plug in, and that's all four ports used), and your memory card readers (you might not think you need them, but having them is great. I find it quicker to put transfer files from my phone card to the PS3, onto USB and then onto my computer than straight from phone to computer via USB cable. And add to this that fact that the majority of digital cameras and phones have memory cards that the PS3 can read, well, you'll be surprised how much you'll actually use them), but you also get backwards compatibility. And let me tell you, a PS2 game through HDMI, with full 1080p upscaling and colour correction on a PS3 looks superb! Hell, even PS1 games look good. The fact that with the 60gb bundle you also get two forst-party games (which would normally cost £40 each), and, well, you're looking at a no-brainer.

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Oh, European prices:

40gb - €399
60gb - €499

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If you ask me, £349 for a PS3 and two games is a, and pardon my French, bloody good deal. And there's the fact that it's a Blu-ray player.