sku
Will Australia See The 80GB PS3? [Update: Yes It Will]
4:30PM Logan Booker | 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. More » 
Should Australia Expect A New PS3 Model Soon?
2:30PM Logan Booker | Microsoft has the Pro, Elite and Arcade consoles, while the Wii has enough peripherals to kill an elephant – if pachyderms were vulnerable to nunchucks and remotes. Sony, however, has one type of console on offer – the 40GB unit – and the choice of Sixaxis or Dual Shock 3 controllers.
With no backwards-compatibility or card reader, the 40GB PS3 is a shell of the 60GB model consumers could buy at launch. Not that this has stopped the PS3 being a strong seller. With blockbuster titles like GTA IV and Metal Gear Solid 4, the console has shed its biggest problem – a lack of quality games.
Even so, the PS3 has troubles ahead, especially in Australia. Microsoft has dropped the price on all models of the Xbox 360, and there’s a chance the PS2 will be cheaper soon as well. With the Wii floating around the $399 mark, the PS3 is the most expensive console in the country, with an RRP $200 higher on average than its competitors.
Now, there are rumours that Sony has a new SKU planned for Australia – one we could see as soon as next month. No details, no pricing and no word from the company. At least for now.
It’s speculation at this stage, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony did introduce a new, cheaper PS3, in the face of recent developments. Regardless of the choice Sony makes, it can only be good for us.
[Thanks Lance] More » 
MGS4’s “Steel” PS3 Coming To The US
7:30AM Luke Plunkett | 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. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – Product Details Revealed! [PlayStation.Blog] More »
80GB PS3 To Stick Around, At Least For A While
6:30PM Luke Plunkett | 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, bleeds Sony. Steinberg eventually gets onto the PS3’s somewhat-controversial SKU strategy, where he seems to suggest – while explaining why the 80GB model ran dry at Christmas – that the larger PS3 is here to stay: More »
At Least One More PlayStation 3 Model Coming
8:40AM Michael McWhertor | 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. AK8CBEH1101 Report [FCC via NeoGAF - thanks, Elaine!] More »
80GB PS3 Missing From Sony’s Online Store
3:30PM Luke Plunkett | 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? PlayStation 3 [Sony Style, via Gizmodo AU] More »
Sony Still Undecided On New PlayStation 3 SKU?
3:50PM Michael McWhertor | 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”. The report goes on to mention that Sony may be looking at differentiating the two versions of the PS3 by including 160GB worth of storage and packing in a DualShock 3 controller. If accurate, it would appear that the successor to the top-tier version of the console isn’t arriving any time soon. Ugh. Someone, please, stop the PlayStation 3 SKU ride. We want to get off. Source: Sony Mulling Over PS3 SKU Strategy [GameDaily] More »
SCEE Scuttles PlayStation 3 120GB That No One’s Announced Yet
9:46AM Michael McWhertor | With the 80GB model of the PlayStation 3 looking less and less likely to continue, following Best Buy’s plans to drop the configuration and a telling “no comment” from Sony Computer Entertainment America, what will fans of large gigabyte counts do? Turn to the rumoured 120GB model of the PS3, hinted at by retail employees to us and Ars Technica, we suppose. The new model, says Ars, will come with a DualShock 3 packed in and feature plenty of porn storage. But who’s not getting it, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe? The UK! SCEE tells GamesIndustry.biz that it does “not currently have any plans to release a 120GB PlayStation 3 in the UK”, which is PR speak for “Please wait for us to finish approving our press release on the matter”. Sony: no plans to release 120GB PlayStation 3 in UK [GamesIndustry.biz] More »
Best Buy Says PlayStation 3 80GB Is On Its Way Out
2:45PM Michael McWhertor | 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. Rumours of a 120GB model have been spread to retail employees, but this conflicts with reports from other Best Buy moles who say that internal communications indicate only one model—the 40GB barebones edition—will be stocked after January 28th. PS3 Fanboy has visual evidence of the notice to employees about the 80GB discontinuation, further proof that backwards compatibility may soon be a thing of the past. We’ve been bugging Sony about the situation all day, but have yet to receive anything other than a paraphrased “hold tight” about the rumours. Best Buy discontinuing 80GB PS3 [PS3 Fanboy] More »
