Sony unveils new PS3 model
By
Laura Parker, Associate Editor
[UPDATE] Publisher announces new models of its home console in Tokyo; 250GB model bundled with Uncharted 3 available Sept. 25 for $270; 500 GB version arriving with Assassin's Creed III in October.
[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, Sony confirmed that the new 250GB PlayStation 3 model will launch on September 25 bundled with Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for $270. A 500GB version will arrive alongside Assassin's Creed III in October.
The original story follows below
Sony today unveiled a new PS3 model at its pre-Tokyo Game Show briefing today in Japan. The new PS3 will have a new body and design, approximately 20 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter than the current PS3.
The new PS3 will be available in 250GB and 500GB versions, in both black and white colours. The black model will be released on October 4, while the white model will be released on November 22.
Sony revealed the new 250GB PS3 will be available on September 25 in North America for US$269.99 as part of a limited edition bundle featuring Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Game of the Year edition, and a voucher for more than US$30 worth of bonus digital content for the title Dust 514.
The new 500GB PS3 will be available in North America in a limited edition Assassin's Creed III bundle on October 30. Sony did not reveal US or Japanese pricing for this model.
The PAL versions of the two new PS3 models is slightly different: while the 500GB version will be identical, the version replacing the current 250GB model will come as a 12GB flash memory model. Users who buy this model will be able to upgrade to a HDD, but will lose the 12GB as internal storage when they do. This version of the new PS3 will be available in Europe and Australasia. The 12GB flash memory PS3 model will be released on September 27 in Australia for AU$300, and on October 12 in Europe for €229. For more details on Australian pricing and release date, check this story.
Elsewhere in the conference, Sony revealed its PlayStationPlus subscription service will become available for PlayStation Vita in November this year. Different subscription options will be available in each territory, including a 30-day plan (Japan: 500 Yen, Asia: HK$38); a 90-day plan (North America: US$17.99, Europe: €14.99); and a 365-day plan (Japan: 5,000 Yen, Asia: HK$233, North America: US$49.99, Europe: €49.99).
According to Sony, PS Vita will integrate all of the PS3's entertainment options with PlayStation Plus.
Sony also announced it will be opening up PlayStation mobile stores all around the world (Japan, North America, EU, and Australia) later this year, and that its PlayStation Network service has reached 2.4 billion downloads worldwide to date.
On the Vita front, Sony revealed two new colours for the portable console--red and blue--to launch on November 15.
Software
Sony announced Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Vita will be launching in December, while Keiji Inafune took to the stage to announce Soul Sacrifice will have cross-platform functionality but has been delayed to 2013.
Sony also unveiled new Vita title Valhalla Knights 3, coming 2013; and Oboro Muramasa: The Demon Blade, a remake of Muramasa: Demon Blade. Koei Tecmo also announced a new title, Toukiden, featuring a female protagonist. Toukiden will be made by Omega Force, the studio behind Dynasty Warriors, and will have a joint release for PSP and Vita with cross-platform play.
GameSpot will continue to update this story as news comes in.
By
Laura Parker, Associate Editor
Laura Parker is the Associate Editor of GameSpot Australia. She loves adventure games, sparkly stuff, Trivial Pursuit, cake, Master Chief, earthworms, and rhetorical questions. She once stole a sandwich from Peter Molyneux.
849 comments
Uhhh I dont know what u guys hate about the new super ps3 slim , i mean i have seen no new features except for the shape and the GB increase but I freaking love it
because I dont have a Ps3 yet so i like the new ps3 super slim, but 1 thing i need to know is that i heard people saying that u can use ps2 games in the new ps3 super slim because i have a ps2 slim i just want to know if u can use ps2 games in the new ps3 super slim.
With the PS4 scheduled for 2013 I have decided to wait. If the guts of the new slimmer console is the same why buy it for only a larger hard drive?
Hey Laura...you stated...."The new 500GB PS3 will be available in North America in a limited edition Assassin's Creed III bundle on October 30. Sony did not reveal US or Japanese pricing for this model.".......is the US the same as North America or no??? Just wondering......you have me confused now...... :*
@Killer6b9 Well, the US is IN North America but does not constitute the whole of it - Canada & Mexico are also part of the continent and they don't use US $ - are you less confused now? ;-)
My 60 GB ps3 PHAT went YLOD in May and I'v been going crazy since then from lack of gaming.
I'v been saving to buy a new ps3 and I'v saved enough to get the 160GB slim, but have been holding back from getting it just yet because of the new ultra slim and in anticipation of price cuts in the old slim.
I might buy this new ultra slim or the old slim if its price gets discounted, but as yet am un-decided.
@F-14-D_TOMCAT Couldn't you just fix it? I fixed my YLOD PS3 for ~$10 worth of parts. All I really needed was thermal paste, and if you haven't taken it apart before you'll need a torx screw driver (t-10 I believe) Also needed is a heat gun capable of 350 degrees F (about 177 C). After putting it back together, it worked fine. Total process took me about 2 hours, including the cool down time (heat it for 15 seconds, let it cool for 20-30 minutes, have to do this on both sides of the board). I could probably get that time down to about an hour and 15 min now that I have done it. Look for videos on youtube, they are all over there.
I took it apart intending to do the heat gun reflow, but I have not done it yet coz I heard reflowing is a temporary fix and YLOD ends up coming back in like 3 to 6 months, requiring more reflowing.
Re-balling is better but that is complicated, only pros can do it.
@F-14-D_TOMCAT Couldn't you complain Sony about that problem? I know it's really old but those models had serious manufacturing flaws so there still could be a possibility to get a new one.
I wish I could but the warranty lapsed ages ago, I bought mine in 2007.
Yes the older consoles suffered excessive heating leading to YLOD but Sony refused to admit that their precious ps3 had a deffect,
leaving us the consumer to suffer the loss (in my case 600 euros, which was the price for the EU launch ps3 I bought).
After warranty expires Sony used to charge 150 bucks to exchange your YLOD console with a refurbished console.
Lucky indeed to sell it at release price.
Yeah the phat ones after 60 gb have crappy blu-ray lens.
@F-14-D_TOMCAT @-Nintendude- i was lucky enough to sell my 60gb one after 2 years for the release price on ebay bought the 80 gb one instead and some games but dont worry tomcat my current ps3 is my (4!!), all 3 predestors got a blueray drive crash after the warranty *_*
@F-14-D_TOMCAT @-Nintendude- lol YLOD was so freaking rare, I wouldnt call it scummy business practice. ANyone whos ever bought consoles should know the first gen of any new hardware will always be faulty, PS1, PS2, and the PS3 all launched with a slew of problems, but the PS3 had the smoothest launch this gen. Microsoft's RLOD was so bad they had to give away free Xboxs.And the Wii's controllers lacked the foresight to include freaking straps so people all across the world were putting holes in their thousand dollar flat screens.
@F-14-D_TOMCAT @-Nintendude- I was so upset about this issue that I got an xbox instead. not sure i like the switch, i miss ps3, but i dont approve of scummy business practices that make me lose money. xbox hasnt broke yet, as i got it after the heating issue was fixed. maybe next gen ps will revive my faith, but for now im sworn off them.
I would love to see both the black and white versions of this new gorgeous ps3 slim come out here in north america.
Of all the things they could have done to improve it, they just make it slimmer...What about some extra ram?? or video memory?? Fucking pointless...
HA! this in itself has made my black friday that much more confusing. Should i go ahead and buy my wii u, or finally get a ps3... AAAARGH!
1 Like ps3, you got the entire game library and the ps3 will keep on rocking for a few more years. I bet u have a nes, snes, gamecube, n64 maybe even a wii to play the same old hash nintinto games. i got over mario after snes
3 Like the tweaks are smaller components, lighter, and the HD may be diff then whats available now otherwise it saves them money from shipping to production and production time. same thing happened to the ps2 and ps. i have whats called a psone its about the size of a lnksys router and is cheap to make. looks like the original ps system had a baby
I'd rather buy a ON Serious Mass to get big so that I will be noticed by chicks and get laid, than to buy this one.
1 Like The PS3 has always been a bloated system as far as costs go. It's good they're finally cutting costs further so they can support it longer, though I still prefer my fat one to the tiny ones.
Ohhhhhh cool ! My living room will look better now....c'mon guys....i want new stuff some sick aSS new gen console....
1 Like The bundle games are there to entice newcomers to the PS3 world, how ironic/inappropriate for them to use sequels that indicate an already established gamers' base for Unchartered/Assassin's Creed who already have a PS3!!! At least there is a new white color version. I guess Sony is simply trying to renew gamers' interest in PS3 since Wii U will be launching around the same time. They should at least include a huge commercial Blu-ray movie release such as "The Amazing Spider-Man" or "MIB3" or even "Dark Knight Rises".
1 Like Doesn't look much different from the original Slim. I paid $299 for my 320GB PS3 Slim Bundle (Uncharted 3, Cod:MW3 & GT5 XL). Which is the better deal? lol!! I already owned a 60GB PS3 original that plays all the PS2 games. I heard a lot of gamers say these things overheat and break easily, but mine is still jugging right along. I've literally left it on for more then 24hrs several times. Well, my daughter turned it on without my knowledge. It still works great. I see absolutely no reason to purchase this newer PS3 Slim. Save your money for the PS4.
@blackace Notice the new trend from MS and Sony. After the initial price drops in 2008-2009 or so, since then they refuse to drop prices and instead add useless features such as shrinking the console and adding more useless hard drive space. Unless you store your blu-ray movies on your PS3, what do you need 500GB of hard drive space for? Consumers would be better off if Sony dropped the price on the 160GB model to $199. Instead they added 250GB hard drive, shrunk the same components and charging $269 for it with 1 game. I expect Sony and MS to pull this same stunt next generation. They'll keep the prices high for as long as possible and after the first 1-2 price adjustments, just continue to increase hard drive space and charging the same price as if we need more space! Especially in the case of PS3 where you can just go out and buy any hard drive or SSD you want and swap it in yourself.
@BestJinjo @blackace You're logic is quite flawed. I use up my HDD space all the time on my PS3, because you have to install game data on many games to the HDD, not to mention games that I download off of PSN, and other media like DLC, etc etc. Its easy to gobble up all that space. Now lets talk about hard drives, so lets say sony releases a barebones system for 199 with no hard drive. Okay well every PS3 game requires an HDD to play, so basically you now own a 200 dollar brick until you purchase a hard drive, so either way you are spending between 268 dollars to 350 dollars anyway when you include the price of the hard drive, so your point is completely moot. Id rather just pay the 268 up front and have a PS3 with a hard drive already in it.
@MXVIII @blackace My point is not moot. Sony could have easily dropped the price to $199 and retained a 120-160GB hard drive. If you need more space than that, go out and buy a 750GB hard drive at BestBuy for $65-70. You can search and there plenty of those.
In other words:
1) 90% of people who don't need more than 160GB hard drive on PS3 would have loved the new $199 price;
2) 10% of people who need > 160GB of hard drive space would have purchased A LOT more HDD space for less in the open market and just plugged that hard drive into the PS3 since it accepts any hard drive.
And if you shop around, you can buy a 1-2TB hard drive for $70-90 at places like Newegg and Amazon.
Either way, Sony is ripping us off. With next generation of consoles around the corner, no way a 6 year old console should cost $270-300. That's a joke.
@blackace The current Slim also plays PS2 games. They made a compatibility patch several months ago. People just don't know it.
Is this true? Because I would buy one of these Sony mongoloid machines, come to your doorstep and beat you with it if it's not PS2 backwards compatible. This is a clincher for me if this machine can play my old PS2 games. But their is no information on the net about backwards compatibility. Are you lying or misinformed?
No backwards compatibility? No new features? Waste of time. Unless you don't already own a ps3.
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