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Europe is getting 40GB PlayStation 3
Author: Phil CogarPublished: 5th October 2007
The 40GB PS3 is coming to your favourite European retailers - but will you pick one up since it lacks BC?
Sadly though, backwards compatibility with PS2 games is gone. In a press release, SCEE stated that "the reduced emphasis placed on this feature amongst later purchasers of PS3, as well as the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3 specific titles (a total of 65 titles across all genres by Christmas)" was the reasoning for dropping BC.
Two USB and the multi-memory card ports have also been removed from the 40GB version, though SCEE did not give a reasoning behind that. Maybe some research showed that they were features that games did not really use? Regardless, by dropping components from the hardware, production costs could be dropped substantially which will result in lower prices coming more often than they have (not in the UK).
Still, with all things considered, it's rather strange that BC has been dropped since it's done through software emulation in the UK anyway. Eventually, a more sensible reason may come out instead of the short blurb above...or maybe not.
All in all it's rather sad news for PS3 fans in the UK, but there is some good news to go along with it. The 40GB model will be available on 10 October for €399 in your local game shops and retailers. You are still going to have to wait until next year to get your hands on a Dual Shock 3 controller, though - the new 40GB model will ship with the now-standard Six Axis.
If backwards compatibility is a must have for your PS3, you had better hurry up and pick up one of the 60GB starter packs. According to SCEE, once they are sold out of store inventory, there will be no more. The price has been dropped to €499 to clear out the inventory as quickly as possible, and once they're gone there will be a separate 60GB bundle to replace the starter packs in the UK and Ireland.
Is the PS3 finally cheap enough to get you to pick one up? Maybe you're going to hold off until the old 60GB model drops in price so you'll still have backwards compatibility? Maybe you just plain won't buy one? Sound off over in the forums with your thoughts on the ordeal.
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Comments (44)Stats: 0.167 seconds
I'll put money on this new feature-stripped PS3 not getting any cheaper than the current versions UK price too
Sony seems to have the 'middle finger' approach to the EU for the PS3 for some reason... :?
Hahahaha. :)
'tis madness
microsoft: two starting models, new revisions only add features (hdmi), and a third high end unit, all providing the same user experience
nintendo: one console, one model(wii anyway, ds is another story), simple
sony: hey people, here are two different models, oh wait, you are european? here is something different, meanwhile we will drop some prices in the us, and then suddenly discontinue that model, and replace it with a different model, whoops, where did that emotion engine go? ah well, well put some software in there, and a bigger, no smaller, no bigger hard drive, i cant remeber, is this the model with or without â¬100 of pack in locked in games?, we better remove that emulation software though...
i have to admit, im not really keeping track very well, but sony seems determined to ship a PS3 with every single laptop hard drive size known to man, all the while gnawing away at the feature set, which was a sory excuse for what that list used to be, triple gigabit lan anyone?
Honestly, this is great news: the PS3 is now more affordable and it is still offering everything the 60GB does except 20GB less (if this isn't enough grab a 500GB for cheap on pricewatch.com), backwards compatibility (which like I've said isn't THAT big of a deal, but of course everyone on this forum is going to make it that way), 2 less USB ports (if you need more ports a splitter [up to 127 possible ports per hub port] can be used, but most people won't need more than 2 anyway), and Multi-Memory Card ports. If all of these missing features matter to you, but you don't want to spend the money right now on the 60GB that offers all of these, then I guess you'll have to wait for a price drop on the 60GB models which I wouldn't think to be too far away.
Either way, Sony has listened (sure it may not be the best answer that everyone was wanting, but c'mon) and from what I see, they are trying to make the PS3 available for cheaper and I will atleast give them credit for offering another option.
Apparently you missed that part, devdevil, where Sony has said that BC is cancelled altogether on upcoming models - but only in the EU. :) And since it was software emulation anyhow (which was already written), there's not really any decrease in cost to include or not include it.
The new 60GB models will not have backward compatibility. Once they're gone, they're gone. Except for everywhere ELSE in the world.
As for the rest of your post about the USB, HDD and Memcard readers, I'm completely in agreement. But it almost seems like an excuse to save face while dropping the price - those things matter so little and cost so little to the end product, and yet 100 EUD are shaved off? Seems more like "We wanted to cut the price to promote sales, but we told everyone we couldn't in an effort to promote false value - so here's a "new" version!"
Also, why would Sony not allow for BC if "code is already written" like you said? Is it support or what?
Isn't upgrading the PS3 HDD super-easy? I thought it was a normal HDD interface (maybe I am naive to think that Sony would implement an industry standard interface instead of creating an inferior, propietary one for once in their lives), and swapping out a larger drive was no big production.
On another note, I don't see BC as much of an issue. If you don't want it, don't pay for it and get the 40GB version. If you do want it, buy a used PS2. They're less than the $100 difference between the 60GB and 40GB PS3's, and they don't have any of the hitches, hiccups, and incompatibility lists that inevitably come along with a software-emulated solution.
As for the reason for the cut, I would assume it's simply because developing it in software instead of in the chip form is frankly a giant pain - but that's what exists. People may get mad finding out games don't work and say "hey, it's software, why not patch it?" But that's a huge time-sink to get every game running again via emulation. :(
It really is a shame...it may not SEEM like a big deal, but it really was SUCH a strength with the PS2 - to say it would not be any real deal for the PS3 just goes against history.
Sod it I'm off to play on my megadrive
£280 is a great price which is now in competition with the elite and the best part is, it aint going to cost you £120 for a propriety hard drive like the 360 to only end up with 120GB. Instead you can have 500GB and still have change for your bus ride home. Further more you can run linux.
If you really want BC and the 20GB more with card readers then go ahead and spend £425, but you just want to moan.
This brings up a good question: With all of these revisions, how much will the lifespans of consoles increase?
The reason is because it wasnt pure software. They emulated the EE but the GS w/ ram was still in the hardware. The new console removed the GS w/ ram making it so that they cant run the software they have. Eventually they might have emulation again but they have to recode the whole thing.
This isnt really a bad thing. Truly the US will get the 40GB model soon. Eurasia will probably get the 80GB after the 60GB bundle sells out at the same price the 60 is at. Sony is handling each region a different way so that they can handle each region's differences.
That's what it's sad that Sony has scrapped BC on the PS3.
All this feature removal is for is to seemingly add value to the more expensive SKU. People look at this the wrong way around. They think the "high end" SKU the PS3 and the cheaper one the "budget model". That's not the case according Sony's accounts department.
Sony is having their cake and eating it. They drop the price of the console while simultaneously make people want to spend more money on another model...
The cheaper one's cost savings are already factored in, all the books are aligned to that one. The extra cash on the more expensive unit is garnered as profit to the shareholders. The cost of little metal ports is completely irrelevant. They probably put them there in first place so they had something they could remove later on. Who the hell uses all those ports the first place. How the hell else do they offer tiered SKU's??
The backwards compatibility is the real ******* thing to do though. Despite what everyone has being saying that no one plays their old games, people do! There are just too many PS1/2 games in the world for this not to be a highly desired feature. That's now the main pull of the expensive SKU.
It's all very very petty.
Think that's what you called "owned"?
Other sites have another story though. :)
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/28463/PS3-price-drop-confirmed-40GB-pack-revealed
Think I'll go with the 60GB Value Pack thanks. :)
Sony press release
If you value BC pay more, if you don't then you can pay less.
Time to replace my little 17" fish bowl!
On the note of different console models, here's what I think they should do....
Sell a basic model that has no HDD, no extra slots, no wifi, not even a controller or case (if there are different colours)... basically remove everything that isn't essential to play. Then just sell everything separate. The store you buy it from can set up their own bundle deals or offers for when you decide you want to buy the console with x, y and z. That way you don't have to pay for stuff you don't want.
thus making it nearer to a computer than to a console.....
The only games I really play on the PS2 these days are Guitar Hero 2 and GT4.
The 360 upscales up to 1080p and adds anti-aliasing. The DD or DTS doesn't matter unless the game was created for that since you can't make a real surround sound out of a stereo signal, just "prologic" it. Either way, the 360 outputs in whatever signal you set the system up for, like DD. The PS2 just upscales the already low-res graphics but doesn't add AA or any kind of filtering which would clean the games up and possibly make a big image quality difference.
Possibly... I think I'm going to wait until after the new year though - I've spent enough this year on various bits and bobs (and non-work related flights).
For me though, the problem with PS3 at the moment is that there are literally no games that make me want to buy it, whereas there are a ton of games that I really want to play on the X360. Obviously, that may change when the next Gran Turismo comes out and, depending on when Haze ships on the PC, I might find myself picking a PS3 up to play that particular game a little sooner too.