For months we’ve been hearing rumors that Sony intended to once again slim-down the PS3 console case design – while at the same time increasing available space on the HDD.
Now, at the 2012 Tokyo Game Show (TGS), the hardware developer has finally revealed their new ultra slim PS3 – which sports a 20% smaller and 25% lighter design than the already “Slim” PS3 model. The new console will also feature the rumored HDD capacity bumps – 250GB and 500GB models that increase the value of each PS3 SKU.
Unfortunately, the added affordability is reliant on the less bulky form factor and larger HDDs, not a price drop, as the amount of money that potential players will have to dish out for one of the new consoles has actually increased slightly, for the time being, in the lower-cost 250GB model – priced at $269.99 (versus the current 160GB model at $249.99). Despite a $20.00 increase in price, the $269.99 package does offer a better value than its predecessor – since the SKU will include a bigger HDD, the Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: Game of the Year Edition and “a voucher for more than $30 worth of bonus digital content” for Sony’s DUST 514 exclusive.
The price will remain the same for the premium package 500GB limited edition Assassin’s Creed 3 bundle at $299.99 (versus the current 320GB Madden ’12 bundle at $299.99).
Still, for casual players who are less informed about console life cycles, next-gen experiences, online gaming, as well as digital content, among many other deciding factors, and are merely comparing the prices between the base model consoles – a $269.99 PS3 bundle might get lost in the shuffle of brand new hardware (Wii U at $299.99) and lower cost hardware (Xbox 360 at $199.99) even if it does actually offer a very compelling value (especially considering the Blu-ray player and free online gaming).
Of course, including the new 250GB model in a bundle at a higher price still positions Sony’s console below the cost of the (mostly) comparable Xbox 360 250GB bundle SKU at $299.99. Meaning that unless consumers are dead-set on an Xbox 360 or don’t realize that they’ll likely need more than Microsoft’s bare bones $199.99 4GB model in the long run (ask anyone who couldn’t play Halo: Reach co-op), the PS3 could now become a preferable option for potential budget conscious gamers. It’s a long term pricing strategy that we’ve seen Sony succeed with before – given ten years and counting sales of PS2 systems. As a result, expect Sony to lower the cost of the new model (especially without the Uncharted 3 bundle option) to $199.99 in the not too distant future – in addition to further price drops down the line.
The new design is the best looking PS3 model to date – ditching the black on black design of prior hardware for a slick textured finish that will definitely be a draw for buyers who don’t want their game system to stand out too much from other home theater components.
New PS3 buyers, or players looking to buy a new PS3, can get their hands on the $269.99 250GB bundle on September 25th or wait for the $299.99 500GB limited edition Assassin’s Creed 3 bundle alongside the launch of that titular game on October 30th.
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Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates on the PS3 as well as other movie, TV, and gaming news.
Source: Sony
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Why Sony? WHY?!?!
Is Blu-ray even a selling point anymore? The Blu-ray stalls are diminshing in stores, they are hard to find now! I was so excited about getting this console as I had read it was going to carry a much lower price tag but Sony being Sony think their products are worth the earth! I’ll stick with my shoddy xbox for a while longer thanks.
XD like xbox has more to offer…
Like better download times, not waiting for mandatory installations? Huh, it has nothing.
Ppl are just pissy cause you gotta pay a few bucks a month for online.
id rather have bluray… PSN works, thats all that matters XD
@Justin Loomis
A few extra bucks? For adults who pay their own internet, it all adds up. Xbox Live doesn’t offer anything that justifies the price tag. In the end you play online the most, one is the same service for free. Microsoft points and all that Xbox Live is a scam imo, at least if you’re just mainly playing online.
And I think it’s funny when people thought the Xbox was cheaper. Not knowing you have to pay extra to have what the competition has; wifi, online play, wireless controllers, blue tooth, etc. Accessories and service that just added up so Xbox was cheaper to jump into to but way more expensive to stay in. Especially if you had the all too common red ring of death, I lost 2 Xboxs.
Not trying to start a ps3 vs Xbox, that’s just one (or several) arguments. For me, personally, PS3 has always been the better option. But don’t argue price lol
you pay for protection so your credit card does information doesn’t get hacked cough cough psn was shut off for three weeks and people got there credit card info stolen from them so yea its worth the money
@jak Frost i think you need to go and read what your buying. no reported cases of people getting their credit cards stolen, plus if your putting your credit card on the console your an idiot. there is credit at the shops.
Jak:
You must’ve missed these stories: http://gamerant.com/xbox-live-support-hacking-fail-robk-123860/ , http://gamerant.com/xbox-live-hack-banned-tao-128538/
@Jak Frost
PSN was hacked, another valid argument. I’ve heard of Live being hacked too but not to the extent PSN was. Will have to research it at another time.
@Jak Frost: like ATG said, X-Box Live has been hacked as well… multiple times.
It wasn’t nearly as big a deal as the PSN hack (which admittedly, was a huge fail from Sony), but if you think your info is safe with Microsoft, then you’ve in for a bad time mate…
Hackers can get in anywhere they damn well want given enough resources and drive/motivation, and at the risk of sounding like a paranoid weirdo, your personal info isn’t safe anywhere.
yea your right it does get hacked but not shut down for 3 weeks and the reason why people out there credit car info is because so that way they dont have to go get points so i know exactly what im talking about so piss off
I feel that this new system is a waste of Sony’s time. Now you can just go purchase you a 500gb HD for 50 bucks….
Nah I’ll stick to me slim 250gb. I mean if I was first time buyer or in need of another ps3. Honestly I’d probably consider cuz I do like the design model for it. But other then that no.
Looks nice. I haven’t seen anyone clarify this, but does this model have a slot loader, or is that uneven bit on the textured part actually a cover that you slide back and pop the disc in PS1-style?
You just put the disc on top and it absorbs it. It’s a new thing they’re trying.
In all seriousness, it looks like it has a slot loader. You can sort of see it in the third picture. But I’m not too sure.
I see the thing on the front, but I don’t think it’s a slot (unless it’s got a little cover on it for some reason), and looks a little too thin to be a tray. Meanwhile that uneven thing on the textured part looks too conspicuous to just be a design choice.
Actually, you’re right. The part that says PS3 slides to the left (when viewing the PS3 logo) and you put in the disc. I saw a video of it but I can’t find the link.
Why are they getting more expensive? This is the absolute tail end of the console generation, and they’re charging more money for something it costs them nothing to add? I’m not sure who this is for. Even the bundle incentives are stupid.
I agree that vouchers for a F2P online shooter have limited appeal, but what’s stupid about Uncharted 3? I do agree that the 500 GB one is needless, but the 250 GB bundle would look very appealing to me if I didn’t already have a PS3. There’s also a 12 GB one coming soon after these, which I imagine will be much cheaper, like $199 or even $149.
Everyone who wants Uncharted 3 already have it. Everyone who hasn’t played it but wants to, at this point, haven’t played 1 or 2 either. It’s not a real incentive.
Lol you know this how?
Obviously this machine isn’t made for people who already have a PS3 to play Uncharted 3 on. But as to your second point, so what? Like it’s impossible to play these games out of sequence? I don’t think that’s the case. Who here hasn’t jumped into a game or movie sequel without playing/watching its predecessor(s), or into a TV series without watching the pilot first?
Tell that to all the people who didn’t buy Max Payne 3.
I could do that, or I could tell it to the 6.6 million people who bought Oblivion and the 12.7 million who bought Skyrim, and then tell it to the million people who bought Mass Effect 2 and didn’t buy Mass Effect 1. I think I’d rather do that, if it’s all the same to you.
Oblivion and Skyrim are standalone games with no continuous story between protagonists, and are not comparable. Mass Effect 2 is one sequel. A real comparison is how many people bought Mass Effect 3 without buying either 1 or 2. I’ll bet you the number isn’t high.
Haha, your stipulations are funny. Different protagonists, sure, but the same world with the same races and the same lore, plus it has a 5 in its name, which would surely have daunted some would-be initiates if a game’s merely being a sequel was enough to disinterest people. And why should just one sequel be not enough to dissuade newcomers, but two sequels are? That’s silly.
But okay, how about Halo 3 vs. its predecessors? What’s the exception there?
That’s actually an ideal point. How many non-Xbox owners bought a Xbox to play Halo 3 specifically? Do you actually have that data? I don’t. The point is, of all the games they could have put there as the incentive to spend *more* money, that wasn’t a smart choice. For that price, you might as well throw in all three games and dump the 514 crap entirely. Or throw that game and two more platform-defining titles. We’re at the end run of this console cycle. No one is going to pay almost 300 bucks for a system that may not have much life in it. If they weren’t going to go cheaper, which is the road they should have taken, then they need to offer a package that is such a good deal that uninitiated gamers CAN’T say no to it. The competition both have much cheaper offerings and rightly so.
I guess that’s fair enough. I do think Uncharted was probably the best choice, franchise-wise, in terms of mass appeal and such, but I guess the whole trilogy, or perhaps just the 1&2 double pack, probably would’ve been a better choice. Maybe LBP 1&2. OR only put the bundle games in the 500 gig SKU, and no games in the 250, so as to make it cheaper.
I agree that Uncharted is a good choice, but not Uncharted 3 standalone. And I honestly don’t know many people who can or will jump into a series midway. It’s why DC is having so much success with their company-wide reboots. People don’t want to not understand what’s happening, generally speaking.
Well in comic books, it definitely is daunting to jump in anywhere but the beginning (I pretty much only read TPBs of short miniseries and such, where ongoing stories are usually pretty easy to pick up on). But videogames, I feel, are pretty well self-contained most of the time, with regard to narrative. Series often feature the same characters in multiple games, but the plot is rarely such that you can’t follow it without having played the previous games. There are certainly exceptions, like Dead Space or Mass Effect, where the ongoing story is very important from game to game; but those cases are pretty rare, and I don’t think Uncharted is really one of them.
The real headline is that Sony is stalling on the PS4 for another year.
We all know its coming.
I think that with another PS3 model releasing, and the high price of these current gen consoles, next-gen is farther off than we think.
Or they are just trying to milk you for all that you’re worth, and then release a new next-gen system next year or the year after.
Well i may be inclined to some extent, seeing how i have yet to own a PS3, but really Sony all you have to do is this, put the compatiablity factor on it and give it a reasonable price you could make some gamers, like me, go and buy one and not worry about spending comic or bill money. Just wondering anyone’s thought would a used original PS3 model for 125 from a pawn shop be a good choice to go with or just a new system?
Personally, I think this new model is the ugliest PS3 yet. The top looks like a washboard. The Slim (the current model) is sleeker in design, as it’s not interrupted by a washboard. The top loader is a step back from the disc loaders that the PS3 Fat and Slim have. Who cares if it’s lighter? It’s not like you’re ging to be carrying it around all the time. And I don’t have a need for a smaller PS3; the Slim is just fine for me, as it obviously is for everybody else that owns one. AND Sony pushed the USB ports back, so if you set your Super Slim down horizontally, it’s going to be an even bigger b*tch to plug accessories in to the USB ports than it already is with the Slim. Obviously, I think this is a terrible redesign of the PS3.
Well, I do think this new model does looks a lot better than the other PS3 consoles, but really, what does looks have to do with anything?
When I hear the words “slimmer and lighter” all I hear is OVERHEATING, OVERHEATING, OVERHEATING – that’s a problem Sony still hasn’t sorted out with their consoles…
Nah, I’ll stick with my 250GB, Slim-Line PS3. It’s still works fine thank you very much.
*look, not “looks”
Overheating? I’ve never had a problem with my PS2 and PS3 overheating.
That’s weird. Every single person I know who owns a PS3 has the overheating problem (the machine gets really, really hot and then freezes).
I guess it depends on how long you play in one sitting (if you only play for an hour or two in each sitting, then i can see how you’d never have had the malfunction.)
I’ve never had overheating problems either, with the PS2 or PS3. I have experienced freeze-ups of course, but I wouldn’t bet on overheating being the cause in too many of those cases. And I do tend to play a game all day long when I’m really hooked.
hi there no way i am buying sony ps3 ultra slim becuase i bought a ps3 hard drive soo slow too be powered up lag time way too long game load time in about 15 minutes game install takes hours i just stoped playing ps3 i am useing other consoles i was at least hopping for a 10,000 rpm veloci-raptor or a 15,000 rpm cheeta hard drive or a hybride hard drive with solid state drive combo
hi there i will pass on ps3 ultra slim becuase i bought a ps3 hard drive soo slow i dont play ps3 any more
Why Sony have to go through all these remodeling. Sony need to get it right the first time. I luv my Slim
No price drop r u kiddin me
hi there dose the slim have faster boot up time how bad is lag time and game installs times any faster then ps3