40GB PS3 Coming to the States

Sony Computer Entertainment of America has finally confirmed that the 40GB PlayStation 3 sku will be released in the US. This release will coincide with a price drop on the 80GB sku, from $600 to $500. "The 40-gigabyte model has already made its debut in Europe and Japan, and was widely expected to come to the United States ahead of the crucial year-end shopping season that accounts for the largest single chunk of annual video game software and hardware sales." (Via GI.biz)

Yawn

[Eponymous Crowbar]

Wake me up when a compelling game comes out. I've heard decent things about Heavenly Sword, but it isn't my cup of tea. Everything else _so far_ has been a disappointment, delayed until 2008, or I can play it on another system.

No Backwards Compatibilty == No Thanks...

[nweaver]

Sorry, no backwards compatibilty == No Thanks.

I've got a lot of PS2 games still, and I won't be getting rid of em. But there isn't space in my entertainment center housing for a PS2 and a PS3, especially since the PS3 can't have anything stacked on it because of its curvosity.

With GTAIV pushed back to 08....

[the computer guy nex]

What SOFTWARE will help push the hardware? 360 is still cheaper and has more great games being released in a 3 month span (Bioshock, Halo3, Mass Effect) than any PS3 game.

Also don't count out the Madden effect. Since EA couldn't get the game working right on PS3 (30FPS!!!) the 360 looks even better. Price cut won't hurt the Wii at all either.

Re:No Backwards Compatibilty == No Thanks...

[trdrstv]

Backwards compatibility has always been a nice perk, but seriously, I rarely ever use it. I think I used backwards capabilities on the ps2 to play ff tactics, and thats it. I think people put too much value in it. Besides, if you want backwards capability, you can still get it. Just cough up the extra 100

Some people put A LOT of value in it. In fact if the PS3 didn't have either BluRay, or Backwords compatibility I would have zero reason to get one. As of now I'm waiting until "Some magical time in 2008" when the exclusives worth buying hit, until then I'm watching Movies, and playing PS2 games upscaled on it.

from impossible to improbable

[192939495969798999]

All this price cut does is highlight the fact that you can still get a Wii and a few games or accessories for that price. Add in the new first-person sword/lightsaber action here now or coming soon, and I can't imagine any kid that wouldn't rather get a wii. Super-realistic graphics on a car racing game pale in enjoyment compared to reinacting famous swordfights with virtual characters.

Re:Yawn

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

Heavenly Sword is great if you need a game to kill about 4-5 hours with. But paying $500 (or whatever the PS3 costs) plus the $70 for the game for 4-5 hours of gameplay.. Give me my Wii, which for under $500 I've been playing constantly since it came out.

Re:Where is my 500 gig PS3?

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

Sony is pushing it as a media center and not just a console. 40GB isinadequate for what Sony themselves are saying the PS3 is for.

Re:But what about ...

[rhartness]

Simple they will remain at $500 (if they exists). Purchasers will see both for $500 and opt for the 60GBer because its the same price and has more space. Retailers will place them side-by-side in the kiosks so that their buyer will surely see the two models and will draw the conclusion.

That, my friend, is how they clean out your old stock. I've seen GameStop do this type of thing before with New games that are old rather frequently. They actually drop the price of new games that are no longer available from the distributor to the price of the used game. This quickly sells their stock and frees up the real estate in the new games section for games that have recently been released.

This is great

[abigor]

I don't care about backwards compatibility. I just want a cheapish Blu-Ray player and kick-ass game machine. I don't own a 360, so I don't care if the games are exclusives or not, just so long as they are fun to play and look amazing. There are a bunch of games out there for the PS3 that seem to fall into this category, and lots more planned, so this new PS3 variant seems pretty good to me.

Re:Regardless of the lack of games...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, in the same way $500 was once "cheap" for a VHS VCR, or a DVD player many years later.

Yes, I'm a techie, and I do enjoy me some HD, but above that, I'm a cheapskate and advocate of hardware longevity. While I can understand (and even afford, with some discipline) the early-adopter lifestyle, there is no way I would personally spend $500 on a first-generation BR player that would have to share laser time with a game console I intended to use primarily as such.

Other than cost, my concern is the same as with the PS2/Xbox and DVDs, and CD-based consoles with music CDs. These aren't PCs; the HD (if any) is the secondary, not primary, data retrieval device, and when the optical drive's laser dies, the system is worthless until manufacturer-repaired (not user-repaired) or replaced. Whereas those older consoles probably were never the most popular device of their kind for playing their respective media, the PS3 - as the trojan horse that Sony is betting on to push BR sales - is far and away the most popular BR player, implying that most BR playback hours are being logged on PS3s. I sure as hell never used my Saturn or PS as my primary CD players, nor my PS2 as my dedicated DVD player, due to both fear of hardware failure and availability of alternative (and superior) playback hardware. I think people are blinding themselves to Sony's traditionally poor hardware reliability, especially with the PlayStation line, if they think the PS3 is a smart buy right now even when considered only at this level, just because other single-purpose BR players are also ridiculously priced. I really think it's a lack of both perspective and patience that has led to this opinion. I think I'll wait until the life of the PS3's optics under typical shared use has been determined before buying in. And if standalone BR player prices fall to reasonable prices in the mean time, I guess that would just serve to sway my buying decision more towards the strength of the PS3's game library at that time, rather than just seeing it as the "best deal" compared to the other first-gen BR players.

Re:This is great

[abigor]

Yeah, true, but the 360 won't play Blu-Ray movies. That's the dealbreaker. There are enough good games for this casual gamer to make the PS3 worth it right now.