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Will Australia See The 80GB PS3? [Update: Yes It Will]
Posted by Logan Booker at 4:30 PM on July 16, 2008
Excellent question, and one I asked Sony earlier today. Unfortunately, it has yet to get back to me. What I can say is the announcement of a 80GB unit gives credence to earlier rumours that a new PS3 SKU is on its way to Australia. Not that storage is an exciting commodity, with the average cost per GB of a 500GB HDD coming in at 20c.
There's also the strong possibility the 80GB will replace the 40GB. If the 80GB comes in at the same price as the 40GB in the US, and the 40GB isn't replaced locally or given a price cut... well, I'd be more than a bit upset with Sony, given the massive difference in US/AU RRPs already.
Update: Looks like Sony was too busy talking to Gamespot. It has confirmation the 80GB is coming to Australia, though there are no details on pricing. Thanks Luke P.
Sony have announced that the gun-metal PS3, previously thought only to be a Japanese exclusive, will be making its way to the US for Metal Gear Solid 4's launch. It'll form part of a hardware bundle that Konami are saying is "VERY, VERY Limited Edition", and I'm not inclined to disagree with them on that one. No further details than that, so we don't know how much its going to cost or whether there'll be any hoops to jump through to get one, but it probably won't be cheap, and hey, they'll probably be hard to come by to boot.
Finding some dusty old tapes marked "GDC08", GameDaily have posted an interview held during the conference with Sony's Scott Steinberg, who in case you're not aware, 
The Federal Communications Commission has let slip news of one more addition to the PlayStation 3 hardware family. At some unspecified date, we'll be welcoming little AK8CBEH1101 into the gaming world, kicking and screaming with a new antennae gain for both the Bluetooth and Wi-fi modules. Hopefully, that means less SIXAXIS wonkiness, the kind that leads to Drake walking off a cliff unintentionally. The rest of the new spec is under a confidentially agreement, due to expire on April 14, so we'll hold tight until then for this potentially underwhelming reveal.
Don't think of this as hard evidence of the impending demise of the 80GB PS3. Just think of it as...a rather strong suggestion. Sony's online store, Sony Style, is more than happy to ship you a 40GB PlayStation 3, but an 80GB model? Nunh unh. No longer in stock. No longer even appearing on the page telling you it's out of stock, it's just...not there. With Sony's GDC address tomorrow, whatever, oh, could this mean?
Multiple sources have pointed to a 120GB version of the PlayStation 3 replacing the 80GB model, rumored to be extinct at retail soon. According to a report from GameDaily, however, that talk may be premature. The outlet writes that it has a source close to Sony indicating that the company is still working on its product strategy, that "nothing is final yet".
With the 80GB model of the PlayStation 3 looking less and less likely to continue, following 
We've received multiple tips from readers—ones who also happen to be Best Buy employees—who have informed us that the North American retailer hasn't received stock of the PlayStation 3 80GB model for the many weeks and is expected to discontinue carrying the model soon. According to our sources, Best Buy stores have also been asked to pull advertising materials related to the 80GB model, currently the only version that features PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility.
