Well, it’s “been rumored“, it’s been “teased“, and there’s even been “a little bit of a pre-order situation going on over at Kmart,” but up until now, Sony has been all but against the thought of a slim PlayStation 3. It looks things are changing though, and for the better. As that Kmart pre-order screen shows us, the slim PS3 will boast a 120GB hard drive, come bundled with a DualShock 3 controller, as well as an HDMI port that supports 1080p high definition.
Since Kmart jumped the gun this morning and updated their site to tease the upcoming Sony PS3 Slim, we’ve been eagerly hitting their link in the hope that the preorder page might show up. Sure enough, the PS3 Slim has made an appearance – although in a very spartan listing with no image as yet – priced at $299.99.
Hot on the heels of FYE’s apparent PS3 price cuts comes a prominent new banner on Kmart’s website confirming “The rumors are reality”. According to the retailer, there’s a “new low price and a new exciting Playstation 3″; it seems their banner designer is yet to alert their pricing team to that fact, though, as clicking through takes you to the existing, non-discounted prices.
Rumors of the imminent PS3 Slim continue, with the latest fuel for the speculative fire being new promotional material talking up price cuts for the existing console at FYE. A store employee sent images of the posters in to Kotaku, with the cuts billed as a “new low price” rather than a “sale”. The 80GB PlayStation 3 is down $100 to $299.99, while the 160GB drops to $399.99.
The end of the week is here again and here we go with a rundown of some of the coolest stories we have seen this week. Monday marked the day the Asus Eee PC 1101HA went on sale in America. The rig is a netbook in name only; the beastie is expensive at about $430. The same day Gigabyte quietly unveiled the T1028X convertible touchscreen netbook. The device has a screen resolution of 1366 x 768 and other than the screen, the rest of the machine is typical netbook fare.
Threatening or generally thumbing your nose at Sony seems to be an increasingly common pastime for developers, as the latest to climb on board is perennial PS3 cynic Gabe Newell of Valve. Interviewed for GameTrailers TV, Newell was asked by host Geoff Keighley whether the studio was currently working on PS3 title development, only to shoot the possibility down in no uncertain terms.
Rumors are always just rumors until the press release drops in our inbox, but evidence for Sony’s PS3 Slim update continues to pile up. After the leaked photos and the anonymous mutterings from retailers, Pocket-lint is next to stick their neck on the line and say that their sources – “close to the product” but, as always, unnamed – have tipped the refreshed console as launching next week at GamesCom in Cologne, Germany.
Microsoft have begun to push out the Xbox LIVE update for their Xbox 360 console, and along with the games on demand, new avatar customization and UI improvements comes confirmation that the company has signed an exclusive deal with Netflix for instant streaming to a console. The partnership means that the Xbox 360 will be the only console on which Netflix streaming is possible, effectively cutting the PlayStation 3 and Wii out of the loop.
The Sony PS3 Slim rumors refuse to die down, as anonymous French retailer seemingly confirms not only the existence of the low-profile console but a European launch in September. According to gaming site JVN’s research, the PS3 Slim will land priced at around €299.99 ($424), which is €100 ($141) less than the current PlayStation 3 retails for in Europe.
Reports are coming in that the anticipated next installment of the Tony Hawk skateboarding series has been set for November 17 here in the States, which we’re hoping means all three console-based variations will be hitting shelves on that day.
SlashGear Japan
