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Sony PlayStation (Games)

Sony Announces 'Superslim' PS3 165

Posted by Soulskill from the you-misspelled-ps4 dept.
Sony kicked off the Tokyo Game Show today by announcing a new, even smaller version of the PlayStation 3. It's 25% smaller than the PS3 Slim and half the size of the original PS3. It will be available next week. The company also announced that the PlayStation Plus subscription service will finally be added to the PS Vita in November, providing automatic game updates and extra storage. "Sony also revealed that the long-awaited PlayStation Mobile service will launch via the PlayStation Store on October 3, with support from Sharp and Fujitsu who have both joined the PlayStation Certified license program."
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Sony Announces 'Superslim' PS3 More

Sony Announces 'Superslim' PS3

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  • Most important question (Score:5, Insightful)

    by wonkey_monkey ( 2592601 ) on Wednesday September 19, 2012 @02:05AM (#41383893) Homepage
    Will it have a flat top so I can put stuff on top of it?

    • And will it still grill my food [engadget.com]?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      What kind of features will they drop this time?

      • Dropped features? I've been pretty impressed with the development happening on the PS3 lately. One thing that is near magical about it is the capability of true stereoscopic 3D, unlike the competition that ruined 3D, if you buy Sony 7 or 8 series TV with the active 3D, combine that with PS3 games like Super Star Dust HD (seriously wow!) or MotorStorm Pacific Rift 3D to see what I mean. Also if you are a photographer, the new photo app is awesome, you can control the view with that analog sticks, I mean flui

        • Re:Most important question (Score:5, Insightful)

          by fyngyrz ( 762201 ) on Wednesday September 19, 2012 @03:51AM (#41384423) Homepage Journal

          Dropped features?

          Yeah. You know. Like the ability to run linux, a feature they advertised and which sold units for them. That they dropped.

          Or the ability to run PS2 games on what was basically PS2 hardware which was part of the original PS3. You remember, when the PS3 hardware was better than it is now... since they dropped that feature.

          Or the two dropped USB connections.

          Oh, and the dropped media slots.

          Or the dropped on-off switch.

          You know... dropped features .

          Given Sony's history with the unit, the GP/AC's question was spot on target, I think, and I'm wondering the same thing: did they drop any features this time?

          • Re:Most important question (Score:5, Funny)

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 19, 2012 @04:08AM (#41384495)

            The disc slot is removed due to piracy. If you have physical copies you want to play, you can exchange them for PSN download versions for a nominal fee, roughly 1x the cost of buying the game on the PSN. They've also closed the analogue loophole by removing all outputs.

        • And there is another interesting feature that I've found, only my PS3 can play and handle1080p / 60fps high-bitrate footage plus Dolby Digital without any problem, even my Sandy Bridge laptop can't really play that without frame drops full screen.

          Then you have a problem with the configuration of your laptop. I play back 20-50Mbps 1080p video everyday, on a system with an Atom CPU and ION 2 GPU. I've thrown a few 60fps files at it too and it never drops frames.

          The PS3 is nothing special in this regards and it's actually a terrible choice as a general video player because Sony have abitrarily limited its container and codec support.

        • Dropped features? I've been pretty impressed with the development happening on the PS3 lately. One thing that is near magical about it is the capability of true stereoscopic 3D, unlike the competition that ruined 3D, if you buy Sony 7 or 8 series TV with the active 3D, combine that with PS3 games like Super Star Dust HD (seriously wow!) or MotorStorm Pacific Rift 3D to see what I mean. Also if you are a photographer, the new photo app is awesome, you can control the view with that analog sticks, I mean fluid zoom and pan into your photo albums using the wireless controller, you can view 3D photos also. And there is another interesting feature that I've found, only my PS3 can play and handle1080p / 60fps high-bitrate footage plus Dolby Digital without any problem, even my Sandy Bridge laptop can't really play that without frame drops full screen.

          Either that was a long way to go for sarcasm (and I respect that) or you work for Sony (probably in the PR department, since even most of their senior staff couldn't say that with a straight face). Either way, good show.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Barryke ( 772876 )

            I would mod you up if i could. You just said what i'd say.

          • The truth hurts sometimes though. For as much irrational hatred slashdot seems to have for them, they have done a lot to add features to the platform via the near constant firmware updates.
        • Halo Anniversary worked in 3D jsut as well as Uncharted 3 on the Playstation 3D Display. Not sure what you are going on about. If your Sandy Bridge comp is dropping frames while playing back anything that isnt 4k, your comp is fail. Hell, My Raspberry PI can play full 1080p high bitrate.

  • Wow (Score:4, Insightful)

    by viperidaenz ( 2515578 ) on Wednesday September 19, 2012 @02:20AM (#41383999)
    Sony revises the design of an existing product to use smaller, cheaper parts, fewer materials and higher shipping density, markets it as a new and improved model to boost sales and sells it for just as much as the old one.
    • Well, on their defense they add a 250GB for the lower end model, 25000 yen model($200-250 in US?, exchange rates don't apply), which is almost two times more than we have here in Japan.
      Plus, for the price point, it's the best media device you can hook up to the TV. Not even the yet to be released WiiU is as featured as the PS3. The only superior product I can think of is a custom made HTPC.

      • Plus, for the price point, it's the best media device you can hook up to the TV. Not even the yet to be released WiiU is as featured as the PS3. The only superior product I can think of is a custom made HTPC.

        If only it could read read mkvs and more codecs.

        I keep hearing good things about WDTV Live. I am debating between that vs a computer. Since I use Linux, I lose netflix on the computer but I gain the ability to seamlessly share my xbmc library. (I know I can use ps3mediaserver or Serviio but the encoding really starts to effect my viewing when I have to rewind and fast-forward what I am watching. Between the 2, Serviio does integrate the best with my xbmc library)

        My wife really loves netflix so I may en

        • I used to use my PS3 for all my streaming from Netflix and PS3 Media Server, but all that ended when they started scanning for Cinavia. Now I use the WDTV Live and Plex Media Server. The WDTV interface isn't as nice or snappy as the PS3, but it certainly does the job.

          • I really am debating using that. I would you XBMC as my media server instead of plex (since xbmc does serve content fairly well over unpn and I already have xbmc running in the living room.) If I have two different systems for the same type of content, one always ends up seeming more difficult since both are different.

    • Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mjwx ( 966435 ) on Wednesday September 19, 2012 @02:56AM (#41384191)

      Sony revises the design of an existing product to use smaller, cheaper parts, fewer materials and higher shipping density, markets it as a new and improved model to boost sales and sells it for just as much as the old one.

      Yes, they release a new model to prevent the old model falling under the magic US$200 price point. They've got to keep the price up somehow.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by indytx ( 825419 )

        Yes, they release a new model to prevent the old model falling under the magic US$200 price point. They've got to keep the price up somehow.

        This exactly. How many people aren't in the market for a game system but would buy one if the price were right. There are probably quite a few people who don't want a Wii (which is now essentially priced at as an impulse buy) who wouldn't mind a PS3. Too bad they won't crank out the old systems for cheap.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mjwx ( 966435 )

          Yes, they release a new model to prevent the old model falling under the magic US$200 price point. They've got to keep the price up somehow.

          This exactly. How many people aren't in the market for a game system but would buy one if the price were right. There are probably quite a few people who don't want a Wii (which is now essentially priced at as an impulse buy) who wouldn't mind a PS3. Too bad they won't crank out the old systems for cheap.

          Sony doesn't want you buying the PS3 for cheap. It dilutes the premium image and Sony needs to make money from the PS3. Profitability is lagging behind MS (Nintendo is on another planet when it comes to making a profit).

          • ah, this was probably done so they could reduce the price to make it a budget system, like they did with the PSP, ps1 and ps2 before it. You literally have no idea what your talking about, so blinded by sony hatred as you are.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by mjwx ( 966435 )

              ah, this was probably done so they could reduce the price to make it a budget system, like they did with the PSP, ps1 and ps2 before it. You literally have no idea what your talking about, so blinded by sony hatred as you are.

              Right, they released a new model with a higher price tag so they could reduce prices?

              In other news, water is dry.

              BTW, in case you didn't see my sig, calling someone a "hater" simply means you cant rationally rebut my argument. So nice try with attempting to nulify my argument by attacking me (an attack you give no evidence of being true) but it didn't work sunshine.

              If you must know, I don't have a dog in the console race. I'm part of the glorious PC gaming master race, to me all consoles are equal,

      • Yes, they release a new model to prevent the old model falling under the magic US$200 price point.

        I know this isn't responding to what you actually mean (below that price on a consistent basis), but the 2011 Black Friday bundle (which I and zillions of other people got) was $199.99 for a PS3 + 2 games. I wouldn't doubt if this year's Black Friday Bundle was below that too, with more games or this new version? (I didn't RTFA, don't know when this new one is coming out.)

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by ccguy ( 1116865 )

      Sony revises the design of an existing product to use smaller, cheaper parts, fewer materials and higher shipping density, markets it as a new and improved model to boost sales and sells it for just as much as the old one.

      Yes, most companies try to do it, it's called increasing the profit margin by being more efficient. Nothing evil about it.

      • Re:Wow (Score:4, Insightful)

        by DrXym ( 126579 ) on Wednesday September 19, 2012 @03:25AM (#41384319)
        The upside for consumers is a smaller PS3 uses half the power of the original PS3. Half the power means far less heat to dissipate so it runs cooler too.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by NoZart ( 961808 )

          OTOH you might get less performance. Wipeout on the FAT was spotless, framerate-wise. On the SLIM, there are points in the game where you get framerate drops now. Nothing gameplay hindering, but noticeable nonetheless.

          • This is baloney. MY slim has no such issues, and gets no where near as hot as my two 60GB fats. Both stutter in the same situations.

            There is ZERO scientific confirmation of this in the wild, which would indicate the SLIM runs hotter which would lead to framerate stutter issues. It certainly wouldn't stutter because it's cooler.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by gl4ss ( 559668 )

              making it run cooler by decreasing the temperature at which it throttles would cause such behavior though.. and make it run cooler.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by DrXym ( 126579 )
                I have a slim and Wipeout and haven't seen any issues in any game. I suppose it's possible that the redesign changed something in some subtle almost imperceptible way, e.g. some minor difference in HDD seek times or memory latency which makes a game drop frames it would otherwise have managed to catch but I can't say since I've not noticed it.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Battery life and Antenna (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    With a device that slim, I'm concerned about it's battery life and antenna reliability ....

  • Note that Sony US announced two models: one with a 250 GB hardrive and the other with a 500 GB one (link [playstation.com]). Sony Europe announced a 12 GB model and an other one with a 500 GB HD (link [playstation.com]). 12 GB seems quite suprising for modern games (GTA IV: 3.5 GB required... you won't install many games !) and sony pushing for the use of playstation network an the playstatin store...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by hattig ( 47930 )

      From the Sony EU website:

      connect a 5 inch SATA internal hard drive

      Cripes. Where can we get 5" SATA drives?

      12GB is a little low. Maybe it's 120GB? Or it's a 16GB flash that is also used for the system firmware?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      I can't make any sense of the 12GB option although Eurogamer hints that there is a dedicated external drive. So maybe Sony hope to hook people in with the cheaper price and then flog them the overpriced drive later. The real question for me is does the new PS3 let people replace the HDD like the older models. If so, if you have a spare HDD lying around you could pop the cover and stick it in or just buy one online.

      The only other context I see it makes sense in is if Sony were to launch a cloud service whe

      • play certain games remotely with lag and A LOT of bandwidth (hop your are on a uncapped ISP)

      • Sony's never sold first party drives for the ps3, it uses any standard 2.5 inch drive you can get off any pc hardware site. Installation was pretty painless, and was even detailed in the consoles manual.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by DrXym ( 126579 )
          No not in the past, but according to Eurogamer they're selling a dedicated 250GB drive for the 12GB model. So the immediate question is whether the model is expandable at all by 3rd parties or not. Maybe all it means is it comes preinstalled in a tray that you just pop a hatch and slam in, but it maybe it means something else.

  • I don't own a PS3 because of its opening price (Score:3, Informative)

    by tuppe666 ( 904118 ) on Wednesday September 19, 2012 @02:44AM (#41384123)

    I think current PS3 owners will be made up with the continuing support from Sony. Personally as someone who expected to own a PS3 by now, having lusted after it at launch, but scoffed at its ludicrous price [I bought a wii]. My problem was never the size...I have a 40" TV, and the last reversion was as small as I could have ever wanted it.

    But today my attention is focused elsewhere because the PS3 failed to live up to its promise
    * As a multimedia centre having never contained an inbuilt decent Dual TV tuner [I have an ageing Pentium 4 under my TV]
    * As a computer crippling the Linux on launch, and dropping it once they failed to get the tax break they deserved, and haven't returned it post Surface.
    * Its not smart. In a world that knows smart. Google knows it. Apple knows; I think even Sony knows it.

    I bought an Ouya on kickstarter., a Nexus 7, I traded in my Nintendo DS for an Xperia Play[Its wonderful and from Sony], and am occupying myself with the revival of Indie Gaming on Linux no Less[Humble Bundle 6!!!! is out this week].

    Sony could have had my money and I was/am desperate to give it them. It could have my money today, but as a single purpose device, I'll take my gaming...and money elsewhere.

    • Re:I don't own a PS3 because of its opening price (Score:5, Insightful)

      by RogueyWon ( 735973 ) * on Wednesday September 19, 2012 @03:18AM (#41384285) Journal

      Or alternatively, you could get it for... like... you know... the games?

      It has a huge library by this point and you can get some of the best titles available for the system very cheap, via budget releases, multipacks or plain old retailer-discounting.

      The proportion of cross-platform games this generation has been very high between the PS3 and 360 (probably because, despite the differing architectures, they have very similar overall capabilities). Now, PC ports have become more common over the last 18 months or so (that market's getting harder to ignore, particularly for developers wanting practice for next gen hardware). But there are still an awful lot of PS3/360 games out there that you could get access to if you don't already own a 360. Admittedly, the difficulties of developing for the PS3 mean that it tends, in general, to get slightly inferior versions of multi-platform games (though it often needs detailed tech comparisons to point out the differences) - but there are a few Japanese developers, particularly Square-Enix, who are actually better on the Sony hardware.

      Then there are the exclusives. Actually, I tend to think some of the big-name PS3 exclusives are over-hyped. The first Uncharted was fun (as is the Vita game), but 2 and 3 were a bit too "interactive movie" as opposed to game. And the Killzone series is a hateful trudge through the least-likeable sci-fi setting ever devised, in which it is impossible not to want to kill each and every one of the characters in unimaginably painful ways.

      But then there are some of the best games of this console generation as well. The first and third Resistance games are fantastic console fpses, which shun many of the hateful cliches that go with the genre these days (2-weapon limits, cover systems and regenerating health). The Ratchet & Clank titles are the best action-platformers I've seen in years (and I'm including the Mario Galaxy games in that assessment) - with Crack in Time in particular having some puzzle sections that are reminiscent of the best bits of Portal. And Valkyria Chronicles has made more of an impression on me than any other new IP of this generation (just a pity they mismanaged it with the PSP sequels). You've also got the "definitive" version of Eternal Sonata (the 360 version is lacking large chunks of content), which is probably the best traditional Japanese RPG of this generation (maybe tied with Lost Odyssey over on the 360). By contrast, 360 exclusives (of which there were many early in the generation) have felt quite thin on the ground lately, particularly if Halo's not your thing. The only one to excite me over the coming months is Forza Horizons.

      So actually, there are lots of reasons to buy a PS3 and - particularly if you don't have a 360 - it's a good way to get access to a cheap games library (late in the console cycle is always good for this).

      Alternatively... well... there's Humble Bundle 6. Which is good and worth and all that, but isn't all that exciting no matter how many exclamation marks you want to stick after it.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by collet ( 2632725 )

        Gran Turismo 5 is a big deal for me. If I had the money, I'd probably go for the PS3 over an Xbox because of this.

        • Gran Turismo 5 is ok, but to be honest, Forza Motorsport 4 is better both as a racing game and as a driving simulator. GT5 has some very specific features that appeal to hardcore car nerds (it has some interesting and obscure old cars, plus a detailed encyclopedia). If that's what you want then GT5 is for you.

          Ultimately, however, Forza 4 has better graphics (outside of the relatively small number of "premium" cars, GT5 can be surprisingly ugly), better tracks, better online modes and better customisation op

          • Gran Turismo 5 is ok, but to be honest, Forza Motorsport 4 is better both as a racing game and as a driving simulator. GT5 has some very specific features that appeal to hardcore car nerds (it has some interesting and obscure old cars, plus a detailed encyclopedia). If that's what you want then GT5 is for you.

            Ultimately, however, Forza 4 has better graphics (outside of the relatively small number of "premium" cars, GT5 can be surprisingly ugly), better tracks, better online modes and better customisation options. GT5 could have been awesome, but it needed more attention to the actual gameplay mechanics as opposed to the car-count to really get there.

            I would normally leap to the defence of GT5 at this point, but the 400hrs+ I've put into FM4 tells all that needs to be told. Having said that though, I'd take Grand Valley and Deep Forest over Ladera and Iberian any day.

            • I still can't believe they dumped Midfield Raceway from GT5. In previous installments that had been the perfect track for races between players of... shall we say... differing skill levels. It was pretty easy to get around without spending most of your time off the track and staring at crash barriers, but had a lot you could do around optimising racing lines. So using horsepower handicapping, you could have races on it between good players and very poor players which were fun for both - ideal when you have

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Barryke ( 772876 )

        Or alternatively, you could get it for... like... you know... the games?

        Well that all depends on who you are asking. If you ask me (i own a PS3) the only fun games are BackToTheFuture (also available on PC) and LittleBigPlanet1.
        I did not enjoy that game with the diver and little girl (i forgot the name) and Gran Turismo. I found both very boring and even cumbersome.

        I find Wii games more enjoyable and exciting. I use my PS3 exclusively with PS3MediaServer to browse my videos. I expect to buy an XBox for that in the next few years. For games, i expect to buy the Wii U.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hattig ( 47930 )

      * As a multimedia centre having never contained an inbuilt decent Dual TV tuner [I have an ageing Pentium 4 under my TV]
      * As a computer crippling the Linux on launch, and dropping it once they failed to get the tax break they deserved, and haven't returned it post Surface.
      * Its not smart. In a world that knows smart. Google knows it. Apple knows; I think even Sony knows it.

      1) It's a games console and blu-ray player, not a digital television decoder. Even so, Sony did release the Play TV.
      2) It's a games console, the Linux function was a bonus on the first system, and was irrelevant by the slim (256MB Linux system, woo!)
      3) It's a games console. What do you mean by "smart"? Do you mean it can play internet video streams - it can do that. I have iPlayer and 4od installed on mine. It has a store.

      It also has professional games with tens of hours of playability. That's because it's

      • It's a games console, the Linux function was a bonus on the first system

        For one thing, why did Sony have to take away the bonus in firmware updates included with later game discs? For another, there exist games that aren't on PS3 but are on Linux, so the loss of Linux took away games.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      The PS3 did have a TV tuner called PlayTV although never built in, instead being a USB DVBT tuner. It's a mystery they didn't produce a model with one in it given the minimal expense that could lead to extra sales, especially in Japan where a TV tuner / BDR enabled PS3 would sell extremely well.

      Anyway the story with Linux is well established by now. It was "crippled" in the sense that it was using a hypervisor, in particular to protect the GPU. This was to protect the game console underneath, to stop peo

  • Eh? what? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I really don't give a fuck how big the box is that sits near my tv. Within reason.

    Why not add something like more memory. more storage. give back the fucking other os option... something worthwhile might make me care..

    But slimmer? its not a cellphone. that's just a fucking stupid thing to sell a console for.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Khyber ( 864651 )

      "But slimmer? its not a cellphone. that's just a fucking stupid thing to sell a console for."

      Some countries don't have the luxury of large living spaces. Specifically, Japan.

      Oh, where's the PS3 made, again?

  • That thing has been around for years, no? Is it so good there is no point in making a PS4?
    • My theory has been that the investment and complexity for pulling an even mightier console is already so large that you can't do it that so often any more. However I too am surprised how long we have been going on with the PS3 / Xbox 360 generation.
      • News like this could be a sign that dedicated consoles, consoles for the hardcore gamer are a dying breed. Whle I won't go so far as say that the iPad is going to kill the XBox, buy your Galaxy Tab now, I see gaming consoles evolving into a kitchen sink type of device where the ability to play games is one of a range of functions. The next console would be a gadget that allows you to play games better than a general-purpose tablet or media PC, a function that modern consoles can do now anyway.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      I think they're in a waiting game, this generation of consoles has lasted long and the next generation is likely to last longer as 1080p resolution will be standard for TVs for many, many years so it's better to have a PS4 that's 10% faster than the xbox720 for 10 years than it is to get a year's head start on sales - many people will wait until they can compare them anyway.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      The PS3 was staggeringly expensive to design because of the Cell processor. It is also probably more expensive to produce (well, they had to disable a SPE to increase yields...) and this was reflected in the initial system cost. Sony can't afford to bring out the PS4 yet. They need to make more money on PS3. They have now done two cost reductions and yet are not passing this savings on to the customer. This is Sony's admission that they have nothing for the next generation of console wars. If Microsoft gets

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by gl4ss ( 559668 )

        sony released psone right at the time of ps2 release.

        if you can sold more of the old - why not do it? they can sit on their new hw designs and wait for the component prices to drop.

      • I think they made the investment back long ago, seeing as they sold 60 million of them, plus a ton of games. As for admitting they have nothing, I'm not seeing that here. If anything, this is just a parts reduction to lead the console to it's budget days, to prep for a ps4 announcement sometime in the spring or e3. As for passing the savings on, the console launched at 499/599, and is now $250 with a bundle. that's one hell of a price reduction over it's lifespan.

        • As for passing the savings on, the console launched at 499/599, and is now $250 with a bundle. that's one hell of a price reduction over it's lifespan.

          Introducing the console at $599 was, quite frankly, ridiculous. Sony themselves proved that $300 is about the most people will spend beginning with Playstation vs. Saturn. Then they said it was "probably too cheap" and it should last ten years. Remember when console games had impressive graphics?

  • have a die shrink down from 45nm?

  • Sony announces... nothing.
  • thank god for this new slightly smaller PS3. I happen to only buy tiny doll furniture, so this will really make a difference in my miniature entertainment center.

  • will be my next console sorry SONY got tired of waiting for the a current hardware PSx

  • A MORE expensive PS3? In this economy? They should have brought the price down to $199 not raised it by $20.

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