Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced a new 80GB model of its PlayStation 3. Beginning in August, the new PS3 model will be available in North America for a suggested retail price of US$599/$659 CND and will be sold with the popular online-enabled racing game MotorStorm. In conjunction with this news, the company also announced that effective immediately, the current 60GB PS3 model will be available in North America for US$499/$549 CND, or $100 below the original launch price for that 60GB model and the same price as the now defunct 20GB model.
By featuring an expanded hard disk drive (HDD), the new 80GB PS3 is designed to appeal to the online gaming and entertainment enthusiast, providing ample storage space to download more games and other entertainment content from the PlayStation Network. There are currently more than 60 playable games and game-related downloads available through PlayStation Store, with expanded entertainment content coming soon. The new model features the million-selling game MotorStorm in the box, allowing up to 12 players to play online at one time, hitting the dirt in this visually-arresting, fast-paced racing title.
Update: The new 80GB PS3 model has everything that the 60GB model has EXCEPT backwards compatibility hardware. Instead the new model will use software emulation to play older Playstation & Playstation 2 titles, just like the Xbox 360. This means you can count on tons of games not working, with Sony adding more to the list. So this is definitely something to think about if you’re considering buying the 80GB SKU.
Thanks to Alan and Joe who sent this in.
Watch SCEA President & CEO Jack Tretton outline the details of the PS3 announcement:
That’s right, he just announced a new video download service that lets you download movies and TV shows to your PS3!
The real question is, how about a price drop for the rest of the world Sony?