Sony Announces PS3 Slim + Price Cut

Kris Erickson • Aug 18, 2009 • Comments ()

Sony fired a warning shot over Microsoft's bow today, with an action-packed press conference in Cologne, Germany. The announcement that we all knew was coming finally arrived at GamesCom, as Sony took the lid off of its new PS3 Slim hardware. The new console, which features a whopping 120 GB hard drive, will arrive in shops around the world between August 24 and September 1 for the price of $299 USD. The previously leaked 299 euro price will now become effective in all European territories.

A series of retailers actually revealed the hardware ahead of time, most notably K-Mart, which provided the following product description on its website earlier today:

"PS3, SLIM High-Definition Blu-ray player for the best movie experience. Free PLAYSTATION Network membership. 120GB HDD for downloading games, music, videos, and photos. Includes DUAL SHOCK 3 controller. HDMI output for 1080p resolution." Yup, sounds about accurate.

The PS3 Slim is significantly smaller than its predecssor. Sony claims that it is 32 per cent smaller, 36 per cent lighter, and consumes 34 per cent less power than the original PS3 phat.

Along with the announcement of new, cheaper hardware, Sony also revealed some cool stuff on the software side.

First of all, The PSN will be getting a brand new look starting September 1st, with "naviagtion and aesthetic improvements". The service will also add a "what's new" tab to the menu.

A representative from Quantic Dream also took the stage to show some new in-game footage from Heavy Rain, which was looking quite nice. He revealed that the game will contain 4 different playable characters, all of whom are linked by their shared concern for another human being. This is shaping up to be some deep stuff if QD can pull it off convincingly.